| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
17 Oct 2005 : Column 759W—continued
Legal Deposit Libraries
Mr. Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs whether the Government have produced guidance on the effect of the Legal Deposit Libraries Act 2003 on political parties and their constituent organisations; and if she will make a statement. [17464]
Ms Harman: No guidance has been produced on the effect of the Legal Deposit Libraries Act 2003 on political parties or their constituent organisations, nor do we currently intend to issue any guidance.
Lyons Inquiry
Mr. Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what guidance has been issued to the Lyons Inquiry into local government funding on whether the inquiry is a public authority under the Freedom of Information Act 2000; and if she will make a statement. [17467]
Ms Harman: The Lyons Inquiry into local government funding is not a public authority for the purposes of the Act. As an independent organisation it is also not part of any other public authority. A report will be published when the inquiry is complete. Information held by the inquiry will then be transferred to either HM Treasury or ODPM and then will be covered by the Act.
Marked Electoral Registers
Ian Lucas: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how the fee payable for delivery of the marked elector register following the 2005 General Election is calculated for each parliamentary constituency. [17124]
Ms Harman: The fees structure for purchasing copies of the marked electoral registers for the 2005 General Election, have been set by the Clerk of the Crown, withagreement by HM Treasury, as required under Rule 57(3) of Schedule 1, The Representation of the People Act 1983.
They stand at 35p per copied page of A4; an £8handling charge: and, postage and packaging at cost. These fees exclude VAT.
17 Oct 2005 : Column 760W
Mr. Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs if she will list what representations and complaints her Department has received since the general election in relation to the marked register service provided by Pickfords; and if she will make a statement. [17468]
Ms Harman: Seven written representations have been received by my Department. four of these were from MPs: George Madie MP, Lynne Featherstone MP, SirGeorge Young MP and Kevin Jones MP. Two were from political party constituency associations; Selby Conservatives and Poole Liberal Democrats. One representation was received from the electoral services manager for Mansfield, on behalf of a local political party constituency association.
Opinion Surveys
Mr. Weir: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the (a) subject matter and (b) dates were of opinion survey research undertaken by the Department and its agencies in the last 12 months; if she will place copies of the results of each survey in the Library; which companies were used in conducting the research; and how much each was paid. [14813]
Ms Harman: The information requested is not held centrally A fully comprehensive reply could be provided only at disproportionate cost. Six major studies of public opinion were undertaken on behalf of DCA in the past 12 months, to inform policy development. Each is directly supportive of DCA's objective of putting excellent service to the public at the heart of everything it does, as outlined in the Department's five-year strategy.
(30)Exc. VAT
Copies of all published results of this research will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses, as they become available.
Postal Voting
Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many and what percentage of (a) votes cast in each constituency at the last general election were postal votes and (b) postal votes were disallowed, listed in descending order according to the highest percentage of postal votes disallowed. [17939]
Ms Harman:
My Department does not hold this information. The Electoral Commission will be publishing this information as part of their official report on the 2005 General Election, and has indicated that these figures will be published shortly.
17 Oct 2005 : Column 761W
Property Repossessions
Mr. Peter Robinson: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many courtrepossessions of property there were in the last 15 years. [18246]
Bridget Prentice: The Enforcement of Judgments Office (EJO) carries out evictions of property on foot of repossession orders.
Statistics on the number of evictions carried-out by the EJO have been collated since October 2001.
| Number | |
|---|---|
| 2001(31) | 52 |
| 2002 | 106 |
| 2003 | 212 |
| 2004 | 218 |
| 2005(32) | 177 |
(31)October to December.
(32)Up to end of September.
WORK AND PENSIONS
A Helping Hand for MPs"
Mr. Robathan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what the total cost was, including man hours of research, of the production of A Helping Hand for MPs by the Health and Safety Executive; [15929]
(2) what market research was carried out to ascertain whether hon. Members (a) wanted and (b) needed the handbook A Helping Hand for MPs. [15930]
Mrs. McGuire: The decision to produce the handbook was based on various sources of feedback from MPs and their researchers. This included surveys conducted by NFP Synergy on the attitude of MPs towards various non-departmental public bodies. The research indicated that MPs wished to have more contact with HSE, and that health and safety issues were a common theme in constituency correspondence that they deal with. As a result, the handbook was produced to provide an easy source of reference for answers to a typical range of questions about health and safety, and to provide helpful contact details for more information. The total cost of producing the handbook (including HSE staff time) was £12,000. A number of MPs have thanked HSE for the handbook.
Opportunity for All"
Mr. Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he will publish the Opportunity for All report for 2005. [18041]
Mr. Blunkett: I am today publishing the 7th Opportunity for All report for 2005 and will be launching the report at the End Child Poverty Conference.
A copy of the 7th Opportunity for All report for 2005 is available in the Library.
17 Oct 2005 : Column 762W
Benefits Agency Database
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many independent companies have access to the Benefits Agency database; and if he will make a statement. [16988]
Margaret Hodge: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus, Lesley Strathie. She will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Lesley Strathie to Ms Lynne Featherstone, dated 17 October 2005:
The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions has asked me to reply to your question concerning how many independent companies have access to the Benefits Agency database. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
It may be helpful if I first explain that Jobcentre Plus came into existence as a national organisation at the beginning of April 2002. The Benefits Agency and Employment Service ceased to exist at the same time.
Jobcentre Plus takes its responsibilities under the Data Protection Act very seriously and does not allow independent companies access to any benefit databases, or to any other customer information.
As part of the normal business of Jobcentre Plus, a benefit customer may receive information about national or local initiatives or programmes that may assist them in finding employment, including information from organisations delivering these initiatives and programmes. This contact will be made through Jobcentre Plus only and at no time will an independent company have access to our databases.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |