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13 Jan 2005 : Column 623W—continued
Quangos
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much has been spent by his Department in each year since 1997 on taskforces and similar bodies. [204715]
Maria Eagle:
Since 1997 the Department has established two taskforces, the Employers Task Force on Pensions in June 2003 and the Ethnic Minority
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Employment Task Force in September 2003. It is not possible to disaggregate expenditure on taskforces from the overall administrative running costs of the Department.
Special Advisers
Mr. Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on how many occasions between 31 March 2002 and 31 March 2003 his special advisers travelled abroad in an official capacity; what places were visited; and how much each visit cost. [207172]
Maria Eagle: All travel by special advisers is undertaken in accordance with the guidelines set out in the Ministerial Code and the Civil Service Management Code.
Departmental special advisers travelled abroad on one occasion to Boston and Washington, USA at a cost of £4,900.00.
Winter Fuel Allowance
Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioners did not receive winter fuel allowance payments in 2004 in (a) England and (b) each local authority area due to administrative errors; when such pensioners can expect to receive their entitlement; if he will make it his policy to pay interest on delayed payments based upon the time elapsed between the date on which the payment should have been made and the date when the payment is actually received; and what steps he is taking to prevent further such problems from occurring. [208356]
Malcolm Wicks: 11.5 million pensioners were sent their winter fuel payments before Christmas as planned. 4,503 of these payments could not be delivered. We are investigating these but most could not be delivered because customers had failed to report changes to either their address or bank account. The final date for claims to be received is 30 March 2005. We expect to have sent the last payments by early June.
LEADER OF THE HOUSE
MPs' Children
John Mann: To ask the Leader of the House what estimate he has made of the number of hon. Members who (a) have children at school and (b) have children at school within or near to their constituency. [207881]
Mr. Hain: This information is not held centrally.
Rail Season Tickets
John Mann: To ask the Leader of the House what assessment has been made of the merits of providing hon. Members with annual rail season tickets. [207788]
Mr. Hain: I understand that hon. Members are encouraged to take advantage of annual rail season tickets where these provide value for money.
I refer the hon. Member to Paragraph 7.1.14 of the Green Book on Parliamentary Salaries, Allowances and Pensions. This explains that Members can claim rail season tickets to Westminster if they make, or expect to
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make, four return journeys per week to Westminster during sitting weeks. I suggest that Members who have other patterns of parliamentary travel and believe that a season ticket would provide value for money should discuss their needs with the Department of Finance and Administration.
WALES
E-mails
Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement on his Department's policy regarding the retention of e-mails in electronic form (a) after and (b) up to 1 January 2005; and what instructions have been given regarding the deletion of e-mails prior to 1 January 2005. [206947]
Mr. Hain: The Wales Office continues to implement well established policies and procedures for the review and disposal of files in accordance with its administrative needs and the Public Records Act.
E-mail messages that form part of the official record are saved for as long as business needs require and stored corporately in accordance with departmental record management procedures. Further e-mail guidance is available on the National Archives website at: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/electronicrecords/advice/pdf/managing emails.pdf.
Special Advisers
Mr. Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales on how many occasions between 31 March 2002 and 31 March 2003 his special advisers travelled abroad in an official capacity; what places were visited; and how much each visit cost. [207184]
Mr. Hain: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him on 8 September 2003, Official Report, column 38W.
All travel by special advisers is undertaken in accordance with the guidelines set out in the "Ministerial Code" and the "Civil Service Management Code".
TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Arms Exports (Indonesia)
Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what amount is outstanding from the sale of (a) Scorpion and Stormer vehicles and (b) Hawk jets to Indonesia; and over what period payments are due to be made. [206155]
Mr. Alexander [holding answer 21 December 2004]: The amounts outstanding as at December 2004 were:
Through the Paris Club, Indonesian debt has been rescheduled under three agreements. The last payment is due in June 2021.
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Business Support Initiatives
Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to the answer of 7 December 2004, Official Report, column 465W, on Business Support Initiatives, what core UK Trade and Investment services are (a) free and (b) subsidised; and at what cost to the Government. [206919]
Mr. Alexander: Advice and information made available through UKTI's website, information centre and inquiry service is free. UKTI's Export Communications Review Scheme, Market Visit Support, Inward Mission Scheme, and Solo Show Support are subsidised. Two UKTI products—OMIS (Overseas Market Introduction Service) and NPFB (New Products from Britain) are chargeable, but at highly subsidised rates to customers.
UKTI's products are paid for through its programme budget, currently around £100 million. Some four-fifths of this is estimated to go on support delivered directly to individual companies. There are also administration costs associated with delivery of the services concerned.
Departmental Expenditure
Mr. George Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the running costs of the Department were in each year since 1997, broken down by (a) electricity, (b) water, (c) gas, (d) telephones, (e) mobile telephones and (f) televisions. [206669]
Jacqui Smith: The running costs for DTI HQ estate in respect of utilities since 1997 is based on available information. The figures are as follows.
| Electricity (£000) | Water (£000) | Gas (£000) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003–04 | 957 | 90 | 137 |
| 2002–03 | 942 | 137 | 103 |
| 2001–02 | 855 | 137 | 121 |
| 2000–01 | 929 | 171 | 115 |
| 1999–2000 | 1,036 | 165 | 100 |
| 1998–99 | 917 | 151 | 108 |
| 1997–98 | 1,065 | n/a | 108 |
| Telephony (£000) | Mobile telephony(7) (£000) | |
|---|---|---|
| 2003 | 3,898 | 410 |
| 2002 | 3,792 | 343 |
| 2001 | 3,668 | 343 |
| 2000 | 3,477 | 227 |
| 1999 | 2,837 | 263 |
| 1998 | 3,099 | 91 |
(7) Centrally managed contracts.
(f) Televisions. Information is not held centrally.
Fast Patrol Vessel Defender
Mr. Arbuthnot: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what progress the Government office for the east of England, in conjunction with her Department, has made in ascertaining details of the acquisition, whereabouts and condition of the Fast Patrol Vessel Defender, donated by the Sultan of Oman to Lowestoft. [207721]
Mr. Alexander:
The Government office has been informed of the condition of the vessel by Lowestoft Maritime Defence Museum Ltd., and that it has been
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sold. The company has reported that the condition of the vessel had deteriorated, and has provided a marine surveyor's assessment from December 2003 with details. The company has explained that it considered that maintenance of the vessel was not economically viable and decided to sell it.
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