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7 Dec 2005 : Column 1306W—continued
Queen's Diamond Jubilee
Mr. Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment her Department has made of the merits of linking London's 2012 Olympic games with celebrations for Her Majesty the Queen's diamond jubilee. [34438]
Mr. Caborn: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has not made any assessment of linking the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games with the Queen's diamond jubilee in 2012. Any announcement of plans will be made closer to the time.
Television Licences (Exemptions)
Mr. Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many businesses in Kettering constituency are exempt from requiring a television licence under the exemption scheme for people aged over 75 years. [34435]
James Purnell: The over-75 concession is not an exemption from the television licensing requirements but an entitlement to a free licence. It is available only to people aged 75 or over for their sole or main residence. It is not intended for business premises and there are accordingly no records of free licences issued for such premises.
Video Lending
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport who is responsible for regulating and inspecting libraries to ensure compliance with the age restrictions on videos for loan. [35597]
Mr. Lammy:
The display and loan of age restricted items is the management responsibility of library authorities who are bound by the laws for sale or loan of age restricted items within the terms of the Video Recordings Acts 1984 and 1993. Enforcement is the responsibility of local trading standards departments.
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CABINET OFFICE
Prime Ministerial Staff
Chris Grayling: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what proportion of posts in (a) the Prime Minister's Delivery Unit and (b) the No.10 Policy Unit (i) is occupied by non civil-servants and (ii) was filled after open competition recruitment processes. [32491]
Mr. Jim Murphy:
There are no non-civil servants working in either the Prime Minister's Delivery Unit or the No.10 Policy Directorate. Permanent civil service appointments are filled in accordance with the requirements of the civil service commissioners' recruitment code and the civil service management code. The job of the head of the PMDU is currently the subject of an external open competition. Under the terms of the
7 Dec 2005 : Column 1308W
Civil Service Order in Council, special adviser appointments are exempt from the normal civil service recruitment processes.
SOLICITOR-GENERAL
Lenient Sentences
Mr. Amess: To ask the Solicitor-General how many sentences were challenged for being unduly lenient in each year since 2000; and what the result was in each case. [34505]
The Solicitor-General: The following table shows the numbers of cases considered by the Law Officers as potential unduly lenient sentences in each year since 2001, and the outcomes.
(4) As of 1 December 2005.
(5) Part of year.
Prosecutions
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Solicitor-General how many prosecutions were dropped in each government region in England in each quarter since April 2004; what percentage of all cases each figure represents; what the total cost of cases dropped was; what the total cost of all cases was; and what the reason recorded on the Compass Case Management System was for each case dropped. [35413]
The Solicitor-General: I have placed in the House of Commons Library the number, percentage and costs of prosecutions dropped over the period from April 2004 to September 2005 in respect of magistrates courts cases and that of the Crown court. The detail is too lengthy to provide in a simple parliamentary answer.
Broad average costs of prosecutions dropped have been calculated by applying the CPS activity based costing model, using average staff input times which enable costs for dropped cases in the magistrates court and the Crown court to be calculated. The broad average cost to CPS of a case dropped in the magistrates courts is £208, and for a case dropped in the Crown court is £1,840. The cost figures represent the internal cost to the Service but do not include disbursements such as counsel fees or witness expenses.
The total cost of cases dropped over the 18 month period was £79 million. The cost of prosecuting all cases including cases dropped was approximately £450 million. Again, these figures exclude disbursements such as counsel fees and witness expenses.
TRANSPORT
0870 Numbers
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the occasions in the last five years on which 0870 telephone numbers have been used by his Department as contact numbers for members of the public; and how much revenue was received from the use of 0870 contact numbers in each of the last five years for which records are available. [24459]
Ms Buck: DfT HQ buildings do not have any centrally provided 0870 numbers. The following DfT Agencies do use 0870 numbers.
VOSA—have one 0870 number (0870 60 60 440) providing a national inquiry service which was activated on 21 November 2000. The revenue received until 15 April 2004 was on average £380 per calendar month. From 15 April 2004, VOSA have received £41,924.29.
MCA—have used only one 0870 number in the last five years—0870 600 6505—for the 'One Stop Shop' (also known as the 'Infoline'). This number is not revenue generating.
DVLA—have fronted over 50 public services with 0870 numbers during the last five years. Currently DVLA use 10 0870 numbers to front public services. Rebate figures for the last five years are as follows:
| Amount (£) | |
|---|---|
| 2000–01 | 76,763 |
| 2001–02 | 247,807 |
| 2002–03 | 656,164 |
| 2003–04 | 1,109,719 |
| 2004–05 | 2,285,528 |
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DSA—have used the following numbers over the past five years:
Income figures are only available back to 2003–04, as follows:
| Amount (£) | |
|---|---|
| 2003–04 | 908,536 |
| 2004–05 | 1,268,007 |
| 2005–06 | (6)350,838 |
(6) To June 2005.
Accountancy Firms
Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the (a) nature and (b) value was of all contracts, consultancies or other services placed with the accountancy firms (i) Deloitte and Touche, (ii) Ernst and Young, (iii) KPMG, (iv) PricewaterhouseCoopers and (v) other accountancy firms in (A) 2004–05 and (B) 2005–06 by the Department and its agencies. [25704]
Derek Twigg: A table showing the nature and value of the contracts/orders placed with the above accountancy firms has been placed in the House of Commons Library.
Airport Runways
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions he has had with Birmingham airport regarding the establishment of an (a) additional and (b) extended runway. [34706]
Ms Buck: The Secretary of State for Transport has not had any discussions with Birmingham airport regarding the establishment of either an additional or an extended runway since the publication of the Air Transport White Paper in December 2003.
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