---

3 Nov 2004 : Column 267W—continued

SCOTLAND

Press Releases

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many press releases have been issued by his Department in each month of 2004; and if he will make a statement. [195456]

Mrs. McGuire: The number of news releases issued by the Scotland Office in each month from 1 January 2004 to 29 October 2004 is as follows, and does not include operational notes issued to the media in connection with public engagements carried out by Ministers, or Scotland Office contributions to joint news releases with other organisations:

	Number
January	4
February	4
March	4
April	3
May	2
June	4
July	4
August	3
September	6
October	2

Special Advisers

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many unpaid special advisers the Department has; what their names are; and which
 
3 Nov 2004 : Column 268W
 
Government (a) bodies, (b) committees and (c) strategy groups each unpaid adviser (i) belongs to, (ii) advises and (iii) works alongside. [194061]

Mrs. McGuire: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office on 28 October 2004, Official Report, column 1380W.

CABINET OFFICE

Civil Servants

Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the latest figure is for the average length of continuous service for civil servants within the Cabinet Office. [194405]

Ruth Kelly: The latest figures for the average length of continuous service for civil servants in departments and agencies (where known) as at 1 April 2004 have been placed in the Library.

Departmental Responsibilities

Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office pursuant to the answer of 11 October 2004, Official Report, column 59W, on departmental responsibilities, what sum has been earmarked from within the existing Cabinet Office budget to meet the cost of appointing a separate Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. [191819]

 
3 Nov 2004 : Column 269W
 

Ruth Kelly [holding answer 18 October 2004]: The cost will be accounted for in the Cabinet Office Annual Report and Resource Accounts.

MINISTER FOR WOMEN

Special Advisers

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Minister for Women how many unpaid special advisers her unit has; what their names are; and which Government (a) bodies, (b) committees and (c) strategy groups each unpaid adviser (i) belongs to, (ii) advises and (iii) works alongside. [194056]

Ms Hewitt: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to him by my hon. Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office on 28 October 2004, Official Report, column 1380W.

HOUSE OF COMMONS COMMISSION

Official Report/Order Paper

Norman Baker: To ask the hon. Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire, representing the House of Commons Commission how many paper copies of the (a) Official Report and (b) Order Paper are (i) produced, (ii) distributed to hon. Members, peers, staff and visitors and (iii) unused, on an average sitting day; what use is made of paper copies of the Official Report and the Order Paper which are not distributed to hon. Members, peers, staff and visitors; and what the total cost per day of producing the (A) Official Report and (B) Order Paper was in the last period for which figures are available (1) per copy and (2) in total. [194340]

Sir Archy Kirkwood: Typically, 1,736 copies of the daily part of the Official Report and 2,930 copies of the Order Paper are produced overnight for issue in that form. This includes copies produced for sale. The House of Commons takes 1,089 copies of the daily part of the Official Report and 2,693 copies of the Order Paper.

493 copies of the Official Report are distributed direct to Members, the Press Gallery and Departments of the House. The Bookshop receives 50 copies. The remaining House copies are retained in the Vote Office for the whole of the current and subsequent Session of Parliament, as required by the House, for issue on demand over that period to anyone entitled to receive a copy. Other than for purposes of management of overall paper stocks within limited storage space, which is infrequent, copies are not disposed of during this time. At the end of the period any remaining copies are disposed of as waste for recycling.

1,423 copies of the Order Paper are distributed direct to Members, to the Galleries for visitors, to the Press Gallery and Departments of the House. The remaining House copies are retained in the Vote Office for issue on demand to anyone entitled to receive a copy. Other than a few record copies, copies of the Order Paper are not retained beyond the day of issue and any remaining are disposed of as waste for recycling. The surplus varies
 
3 Nov 2004 : Column 270W
 
widely, but ranges between fewer than 100 copies and up to 300 copies. The print run is regularly reviewed to ensure any consistent surpluses are minimised.

The daily and copy costs of producing the Official Report and the Order Paper are not held in the form requested, as the present printing contract pricing structure allows for payments in relation to printing consolidated classes of papers supplied complete, with rebates for quantities exceeding pre-determined limits. Internal staff, and other costs, are not associated with them or apportioned to individual documents. The following figures have been derived from printing contract data. The total printing expenditure per sitting day on the daily part of the Official Report for financial year 2003–04 is estimated at approximately £10,000, which equates to about £9.30 per House copy. The total printing expenditure per printing day on the Order Paper for the same period is estimated at approximately £5,400, which equates to about £2.00 per House copy.

Passes

Tom Cox: To ask the hon. Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire, representing the House of Commons Commission how many passes have been issued to former hon. Members in each of the last 10 years. [194749]

Sir Archy Kirkwood: 120 former hon. Members have passes at present. A breakdown by year of issue cannot readily be provided.

Mr. Gummer: To ask the hon. Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire, representing the House of Commons Commission what percentage of 9A and 9B House of Commons hon. Members' staff passes are held by hon. Members' staff employed on the Department of Finance and Administration's contract of employment and whose salaries are met from the hon. Members' staffing allowance. [194800]

Sir Archy Kirkwood: There are currently 1,451 pass holders with category 9A and 9B passes. All of these passes are held by Members staff, on the basis of an application from the Member concerned. Category 9A and 9B passes are not limited to those paid on the standard Department of Finance and Administration contract of employment, nor to those whose salaries are met from the staffing allowance. Because pass records are not sorted by the contractual status of the individual concerned, I am unable to give the percentage figure sought.

DEFENCE

Departmental Properties

Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the properties occupied (a) by his Department and (b) by its agencies in (i) 1997 and (ii) 2004, showing (1) for each and (2) in aggregate (A) the area and (B) the annual rental value. [195428]

Mr. Caplin: The information is not held centrally. I will write to the hon. Member and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.
 
3 Nov 2004 : Column 271W
 

Iraq

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what impact the redeployment of troops outside South East Iraq will have on his decision to cut the number of regiments in the Army. [193304]

Mr. Ingram [holding answer 25 October 2004]: The requirement to reduce the infantry is a result of two factors. First, the improving security situation in Northern Ireland and the prospect of normalisation—which has provided us with an opportunity to make reductions in the routine support that the Army provides to the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI)—and second, the decision by the Army Board to stop the infantry arms plot.

The Army is working on its proposals for a restructured infantry which, with more battalions at its general disposal, will be more, not less, deployable.

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many military reservists from Northern Ireland have so far been mobilised for operations in Iraq; and what the average period of Service is. [193558]

Mr. Caplin: So far approximately 360 members of the Territorial Army and Regular Army Reserves from Northern Ireland have been mobilised for operations in Iraq. The average period of their Service is nine months, six of which are spent in theatre.

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what role Iraqi troops are playing in Iraq. [193649]

Mr. Ingram: The role of the Iraqi Security Forces is to support the Iraqi Interim Government in providing security in Iraq. They continue to develop the capacity to undertake this activity through a variety of security organisations, namely, the Iraqi Police Service, National Guard, Army, Facilities Protection Service, Coastal Defence Forces, Air Force and the Department of Border Enforcement.

---