| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
14 Dec 2004 : Column 1021W—continued
CCTV (Wandsworth)
Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much has been spent on CCTV in the London borough of Wandsworth in each of the last five years. [201851]
Ms Blears: Between 1999 and 2002 the Home Office gave a total of £311,500 to the London borough of Wandsworth under the Close Circuit Television initiatives, which formed part of the Crime Reduction Programme.
Since the completion of the Crime Reduction Programme, crime reduction funding has been allocated directly to the local Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership through the Building Safer Communities
14 Dec 2004 : Column 1022W
Fund and to the police Basic Command Unit (BCU) through the BCU fund. These funding streams finance a variety of interventions, including CCTV, to tackle local crime priorities. Information about the exact allocation of that funding is not held centrally.
Community Support Officers
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many community support officers are in post; and how many he expects will be in post in each month up to March 2005. [203282]
Ms Blears [holding answer 7 December 2004]: At the end of September there were 4,199 community support officers (CSOs) in post. We do not monitor CSO recruitment on a monthly basis but we expect that there will be at least 5,500 CSOs in post by the end of March 2005. Forces are recruiting to fill the CSO posts allocated to them under the third round of CSO funding, announced in May, and also the additional CSOs posts allocated under the first round of the Neighbourhood Policing Fund, which were announced on 23 November.
Departmental Costs
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the total cost to his Department was for accountancy services in each of the last two years. [200756]
Fiona Mactaggart: The Home Office has interpreted accounting services to mean all services provided by professionally qualified accountants whether employed or bought in. The method of accounting for accountant salaries and bought in services does not allow for these to be separately identified from central records. It is not possible to provide this information without disproportionate costs being incurred.
Departmental Staff
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many staff were employed by (a) his Department and (b) its agencies in each year from April 1997 to April 2004; what the reasons are for the change in staff numbers; and if he will make a statement. [200248]
Fiona Mactaggart [holding answer 1 December 2004]: The following table provides the number of staff employed in the Home Office and its agencies from April 1997 to April 2004.
Note:
All figures within the table are full-time equivalents of permanent staff and this information can be found on the Cabinet Office website: up to 1 September 2003, Criminal Records Bureau figures were incorporated within those for the United Kingdom Passport Office.
Changes in the numbers of permanent civil servants reflect the operational needs within Immigration and Nationality, UKPA and the Prison Service. Staff numbers in the non-agency Home Office have changed
14 Dec 2004 : Column 1023W
mostly in Immigration and Nationality where there had been significant increases in asylum applications, leave to remain decisions, the transfer in of the responsibility for processing work permits and the increased number of staff in border controls. Staff numbers in UKPA have changed as a result of the increased workloads. Staff numbers Prison Service have changed as a result of the growth of the prison population.
The Government remain committed to reducing the size of the Home Office headquarters by the equivalent of 2,700 posts by 2007–08 and these changes will be reflected in future staff levels.
Departmental Websites
Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his Department's .gov.uk websites comply with the World Wide Web Consortium's Web Content Accessibility Guidelines adopted by the Government in 2001; and if he will make a statement. [199629]
Fiona Mactaggart: The Home Office takes the issue of accessibility very seriously and we do strive to maintain usability and accessibility standards on all our websites.
We recently commissioned an audit of a selection of our sites against the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines and have embarked on a programme of work to implement changes where necessary. This is being run alongside a bigger programme of website rationalisation and redevelopment which will be completed in 2005
Home Office (Lighting)
Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for what reason the lights in the new Home Office building in Marsham street are being left on for 24 hours a day; and if he will make a statement on the energy efficiency of lighting on the Home Office estate. [199574]
Fiona Mactaggart: The developer is currently commissioning the building at 2 Marsham Street. This involves 24 hour working to test building system—hence the lighting required. 2 Marsham street is due to be handed over to the Home Office on 26 January 2005 and until then the developer will meet the costs of the electricity. When the building becomes operational, the lighting system will sense movement and will not operate unless people are present. The contract requires Anne's Gate Property, our PFI partner, to operate the building at levels that are at least 10 per cent. below the best practice benchmark in the Government's Energy Efficiency Best Practice Programme Energy Use in Offices Guide.
The Home Office is committed to reducing energy consumption across its estate. As part of the cross Government targets contained in the Framework for Sustainable Development on the Government Estate, the Department will benchmark its key sites to identify those, which have the highest consumption per square metre. Energy surveys will be undertaken at those sites and no cost/low cost measures implemented. Best practice guidance will also be disseminated to building managers.
14 Dec 2004 : Column 1024W
The Home Office undertook a campaign earlier this year, aimed at encouraging staff to switch off lights, IT and electrical equipment. This involved a poster competition, articles on the Department's intranet and in-house magazine.
Home Office Legislation
Mr. Shepherd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list all Home Office Bills that have been enacted since May 1997. [200142]
Fiona Mactaggart [holding answer 29 November 2004]: Since the 1997 General Election 45 Bills on Home Office policy areas have received Royal Assent. These are:
Royal Assent received during the 1997–98 Session
Royal Assent received during the 1998–99 Session
Royal Assent received during the 1999–2000 Session
Royal Assent received during the 2000–01 Session
Royal Assent received during the 2001–02 Session
Royal Assent received during the 2002–03 Session
Royal Assent received during the 2003–04 Session
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |