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9 Jan 2006 : Column 199W—continued

Civil Service

Mr. Heald: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster when he expects to be in a position to bring forward a Civil Service Bill. [39654]

Mr. Jim Murphy: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I provided on 8 November 2005, Official Report, column 159 to the my hon. Friend the Member for Cannock Chase (Dr. Wright).
 
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Departmental Expenditure

Mr. Spellar: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how much his Department spent on bottled water in 2004–05. [40342]

Mr. Jim Murphy: The provision of water dispensers/coolers in the Cabinet Office, which are located in reception and common areas, are provided as part of the total facilities management contract. The cost in 2004–05 was £23,000. The figure excludes the National School for Government in Sunningdale and the Emergency Planning College in York as such costs are included within an overall service charge paid as part of a public private partnership/private finance initiative and multi-activity facilities management contract, respectively.

Costs identified for the provision of bottled water for hospitality purposes would not fully reflect the Cabinet Office as a whole as other such costs are either included within an overall service charge and therefore cannot be separately identified or obtained without incurring disproportionate costs.

Departmental Staff

Mr. Spellar: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many civil servants in his Department worked from home for at least one day a week in the last year for which figures are available. [40297]

Mr. Jim Murphy: Cabinet Office does not hold figures on the number of employees who have worked from home for at least one day a week in the last year.

Cabinet Office recognises occasional working from home as an option available to employees within our flexible working policy. The policy also includes flexi-time, condensed hours and part-time/term time working. Employees agree their work patterns with line managers, and these are managed at local unit levels. Employees can participate in a formal departmental staff network for those working part-time and alternative working patterns.

Departmental Websites

Mr. Duncan: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster which companies provided sponsorship towards the cost of his Department's getsafeonline website; how much each provided; and if he will make a statement. [39426]

Mr. Jim Murphy: Get Safe Online is a joint public and private sector initiative to raise awareness of internet security among the general public and micro-businesses. Its main emphasis is a new website, www.getsafeonline.org, which provides reliable, trustworthy and up-to-date information about online safety to give home users and small businesses the advice they need to use the internet safely.

There are 10 founding sponsors of Get Safe Online including the Cabinet Office. Each of the following organisations has contributed £150,000 including advertising/public relations contributions to the promotion of the campaign: BT, Cabinet Office, Dell, eBay, HSBC, Lloyds TSB, Message Labs, Microsoft, Secure Trading and Yell.com.
 
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Both industry and Government have an interest in making the internet a safe place for people to go about their business. Just as the retail and financial sectors need to ensure that their customers feel secure in shopping and banking online so do we in Government want to make sure that people have the necessary trust and confidence in using Government services online.

We are very pleased to be involved in Get Safe Online. It has been a very good example of Government, private sector and law enforcement coming together to address an issue that affects us all. We are continuing our involvement and will work with the other sponsors to ensure the ongoing success of the campaign.

Mr. Duncan: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many IT companies have provided sponsorship for his Department's getsafeonline website; and which of these companies are UK-based. [39734]

Mr. Jim Murphy: Get Safe Online is a joint public and private sector initiative to raise awareness of internet security among the general public and micro-businesses. Its main emphasis is a new website, www.getsafeonline.org, which provides reliable, trustworthy and up-to-date information about online safety to give home users and small businesses the advice they need to use the internet safely.

The campaign is driven by sponsorship in from Government as well as the retail, financial and technology sectors. There are three sponsor organisations which could be broadly termed as information technology companies. These are: Dell, Message Labs and Microsoft. Of these, Message Labs is the only UK based company. The sponsorship provided by these companies and the other sponsors is not only for the website but for the marketing and public relations activity to promote awareness of internet security as well as the website.

Government Information Service

Mr. Heald: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what the running costs of the Government Information Service were in each year since 1997. [39657]

Mr. Jim Murphy: The Government Communication Group (GCG) in the Cabinet Office is the central unit now responsible for standards in Government communication, the professional network for Government communicators and cross-departmental co-ordination of communications. Its expenditure and that of its predecessor the Government Information and Communication Service are shown in the table; no figures are available for years before 1998–99. GCG's budget allocation for 2005–06 is £2,388,000.
Expenditure of Government Information and Communication Service £000

	Expenditure
1998–99	543
1999–2000	513
2000–01	570
2001–02	805
2002–03	4,510
2003–04	2,374
2004–05	1,295

 
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Costs have varied significantly over this period as various functions have been transferred into and out of GCG/GICS and it has taken on new projects. The most significant changes have been:

responsibility for emergency communications co-ordination from 2001–02 to 2003–04;

organising HM Queen's Jubilee media facilities in 2002–03;

the 2005–06 Budget reflects the impact of implementing the Phillis review, an independent review of Government communications, which the Government accepted in 2004 and which established a new Government communication network and a Government communication group, including responsibility for co-ordinating cross-departmental communication issues.

Ministerial Committee on London

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many times the Ministerial Committee on London has met in the last 12 months. [39484]

Mr. Jim Murphy: It has been the practice of successive Governments not to disclose information relating to the proceedings of Cabinet Committees, including the number of times they have met.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

African Parliaments

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what action the Government have taken to establish partnerships to strengthen (a) parliaments in Africa and (b) the pan-African Parliament since the publication of the Commission for Africa report; and if he will make a statement. [39415]

Hilary Benn: In support of partnerships to strengthen African Parliaments, DFID has recently provided £282,000 to the Parliamentary Network on the World Bank (PNoWB) to support the establishment of three new African 'Chapters' (or regional networks). The PNoWB will help build the capacity of parliamentarians in Africa to be more effective advocates for national policies and plans focused on tackling poverty. This will be achieved through enhancing their role as legislators, and strengthening their capacity to hold their Governments to account and scrutinise the role of donors. Our support will also help build links with developed country Parliaments and development partners, the Pan-African Parliament (PAP), the African Union (AU) and the African Union-New Partnership for Africa's Development (AU/NEPAD), and other parliamentary organisations in Africa.

The PAP receives its core funding from the AU's regular budget. It held its first inaugural session in March 2004, and as a young organisation is still primarily focused on adopting its rules and procedures. DFID has not, as yet received any request for funds for support to the PAP, but would be happy to consider such a request in due course.

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