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Literacy and Numeracy

Mr. Gibb: To ask the Solicitor-General how many employees in his Department requested training to improve their (a) literacy and (b) numeracy skills in each year since 2002. [23416]

The Solicitor-General: Of the Departments for which I am responsible, no records have been identified of requests by staff for literacy and numeracy training from the Treasury Solicitor's Departments, the Serious Fraud Office, the Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office and HM CPS Inspectorate.

For the CPS no information is held regarding individual requests. Areas may fund individuals to improve their literacy and numeracy skills, and some have relationships with local colleges and Learning Skills Councils, but this is usually for level 3 and above as there is little need for levels 1 or 2.

Parachute Regiment (Prosecutions)

Mr. Robathan: To ask the Solicitor-General whether the Attorney-General was consulted by the Army Prosecution Authority before the prosecution of the seven recently acquitted members of the Parachute Regiment took place; and if he will make a statement. [27055]

The Solicitor-General: The Army Prosecuting Authority took the decision that there should be prosecutions in this case. As three of the accused were no longer serving soldiers it was not possible to prosecute them by court martial without the express consent of the
 
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Attorney-General, in accordance with section 132A of the Army Act 1955. The APA sought the Attorney-General's views on the appropriate jurisdiction and his consent to prosecute those three soldiers advising that they considered that there was a realistic prospect of conviction against all the accused on a joint charge of murder and a second charge of violent disorder.

The Attorney-General accepted the advice that therewas sufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction and granted his consent to the prosecution of the three soldiers as required. He did not provide advice on the case.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Broadband

Mr. Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry where the 0.2 per cent. of telephone lines in England which at present cannot get broadband are located. [26962]

Alun Michael: I am unable to add further to the answer I provided on 27 October 2005, Official Report, column 476W, namely that the information is not available in the form requested.

BSkyB

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what formal representations BSkyB has made to the Office of Fair Trading in each year since 1997; [23214]

(2) what formal representations have been made to the Office of Fair Trading concerning BSkyB in each year since 1997. [23215]

Mr. Sutcliffe: Having consulted the Office of Fair Trading I understand this information is not held in a form that would make it possible to answer this question without incurring disproportionate cost. OFT stores information by individual cases or mergers, not by the parties that submit representations.

Company Directors

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of the number of 16 and 17-year-olds who would opt to become a company director should the legal age be reduced to 16 years; and how many company directors there are aged 18 years. [27000]

Alun Michael: There is no minimum age for company directors and therefore no proposal to reduce the legal age, as implied in the question. The Company Law Reform Bill introduces a minimum age, 16, for an individual person to be a director. The Bill also contains a clause which confers on the Secretary of State power to make regulations specifying the circumstances in which someone under 16 may be the director of a company. As to the number of company directors there are aged 18 years, this cannot be ascertained without disproportionate cost noting that the records do not easily distinguish between those directors that are corporate bodies and those who are individual people.
 
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Departmental Staff (Relocation)

Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many people in his Department (a) were relocated in 2004–05 and (b) are expected to be relocated in 2005–06 following the Lyons Review; where they have been relocated; and if he will make a statement. [25076]

Alan Johnson [holding answer 8 November 2005]: The information is as follows.

(a) In 2004–05 the Department relocated 171 posts against a target of 85 posts by 31 March 2008. Posts have been relocated to; Sheffield, Billingham, Belfast, Cumbria, Cardiff, Manchester and Newport.

(b) So far in 2005–06 a further 23 posts have been relocated to Cardiff, Newport and Belfast. A further tranche of 491 relocations are planned to take place up to 31 March 2010. Locations include; Manchester, Sheffield and Glasgow with further locations to be confirmed once detailed plans are finalised.

Gershon Review

Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many full-time equivalent employee reductions have been made as a result of the Gershon review; what (a) cost savings relating to IT projects and (b) total value of efficiency savings (i) were achieved in 2004–05 and (ii) are expected to be achieved in 2005–06; and if he will make a statement. [25080]

Alan Johnson [holding answer 8 November 2005]: DTI is making good progress toward meeting the SR04 headcount reduction of 1,010. As of 1 October 2005 headcount had been reduced by 720 posts including 80 in Government offices. UKTI has reduced headcount by 94 posts towards its target of 200. Further progress will be reported in the Department's autumn performance report.

(a) (i) Cost savings achieved relating to IT projects in 2004–05 are not held. There are however (ii) expected efficiency savings of a least £7.3 million as detailed in the Departmental efficiency technical note (ETN) to be realised in 2007–08.

(b) For the total value of efficiency savings achieved in 2004–05 (i) progress will be reported in the Department's autumn performance report and for those expected to be achieved in 2005–06 (ii) the Department has an efficiency forecast saving of £129.8 million for 2005–06 as detailed in the ETN.

Grocery Trade

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many individual responses his Department has made in the last 12 months to (a) members of the public, (b) commercial organisations, (c) hon. Members and (d) other bodies in response to inquiries, questions and representations about (i) the grocery trade and (ii) Tesco; and if he will make a statement. [26877]

Mr. Sutcliffe: The Department currently handles around 50,000 letters a year and approximately 200,000 e-mails on a wide range of issues. Further breakdown in the form requested is not available.
 
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IT Projects

Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list for each IT project his Department has undertaken since May 1997 which has incurred a total expenditure of £5 million or more (a) the name of the project, (b) its intended purpose, (c) the principal contractors involved and the payments made to each, (d) the original estimate of the cost of the project, (e) the actual outturn of expenditure on the project, (f) the intended date on which the project was to be fully implemented, (g) the actual date on which it was fully implemented or cancelled, (h) modifications which have been made to the project since it was first commissioned, (i) contractors on the project whose contracts have been cancelled, (j) replacement or additional contractors on the project, (k) the most reliable estimate of public expenditure saved as a result of implementing the project and (l) the most reliable estimates of improved performance of departmental functions as a result of implementing the project. [20622]

Alan Johnson: During the period May 1997 to the present the Department's IT services have been provided through a PFI agreement with Fujitsu Services. This covers desktop services, web infrastructure services, documents management and HR systems. However, due to a change in the Department's accounting system during 2003–04 and the devolved nature of the ICT, consistent data on all the information requested cannot be obtained without disproportionate cost.

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