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27 Feb 2006 : Column 44W—continued
E-government
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what progress has been made in implementing the e-transformation agenda in North Yorkshire; and if he will make a statement. [51648]
Jim Fitzpatrick: I have been asked to reply.
31 December 2005 was the target date for the achievement of e-enablement of local authority services under the Local e-Government Programme. The North Yorkshire authorities reported the following BVPI 157 results by this date:
| Percentage | |
|---|---|
| Craven | 99.38 |
| Hambleton | 99.36 |
| Harrogate | 97.48 |
| Richmondshire | 100 |
| Ryedale | 96.79 |
| Scarborough | 99.93 |
| Selby | 99.19 |
| North Yorkshire | 100 |
27 Feb 2006 : Column 45W
Government Communications
Mr. Heald: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster pursuant to the answer of 2 February 2006, Official Report, column 666W, on Government communications, what the total cost has been of implementing the recommendations of the Phillis Review of Government communications; and how many new posts have been created in implementing the recommendations of the Phillis Review of Government communications. [52347]
Mr. Jim Murphy: Since the Phillis report was published in January 2004 the focus of the GIGS centre and then the Government Communication Group has been on implementing the recommendations of the independent Phillis Review of Government Communication. Their total expenditure (including on staff) in the 2004–05 financial year was £1.3 million and to date in 2005–06 £1.44 million
Four new posts have been created in strategic communication and marketing, as recommended by Phillis, and one new post to support the permanent secretary.
Mr. Heald: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster pursuant to the answer of 2 February 2006, Official Report, column 666W, on Government communications, what was the total cost to his Department of moving the Government News Network to the Central Office of Information; and how many new posts in each salary band have been created by moving the Government News Network to the Central Office of Information. [52349]
Mr. Jim Murphy: The cost of moving the Government News Network to the Central Office of Information was less than £16,000. The move did not create any new posts.
Mr. Heald: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster pursuant to the answer of 2 February 2006, Official Report, columns 666–67W, on Government communications, how much of the running costs of the Central Office of Information were accounted for by (a) staff costs, (b) office costs and (c) other costs; and how much the Central Office of Information spent on (i) consultants, (ii) contractors, (ii) agencies and (iv) other external service providers in each year. [52350]
Mr. Jim Murphy: Running costs for the Central Office of Information in each year since 1996–97 are shown in the following table.
27 Feb 2006 : Column 46W
Consultants costs, as included in other costs in the table, were:
| Costs | |
|---|---|
| 1996–97 | (12)— |
| 1997–98 | 66,395 |
| 1998–99 | 30,972 |
| 1999–2000 | 17,468 |
| 2000–01 | 48,980 |
| 2001–02 | 52,170 |
| 2002–03 | 18,886 |
| 2003–04 | 259,580 |
| 2004–05 | 153,788 |
(12) Not separately coded and is, therefore, unavailable.
All of the services that resulted in other costs, as shown in the table, were provided by external service providers. A breakdown between contractors, agencies and others could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Heald: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster pursuant to the answer of 6 February 2006, Official Report, columns 849–50W, on Government communications, how many staff are employed by the (a) Government Communications Network and (b) Government Communications Group, broken down by pay band; how much his Department has spent on each since it was established; and what the projected budget of each is for 2006–07. [52351]
Mr. Jim Murphy: The Government Communication Network is a virtual organisation and does not employ staff. It is a professional network which is open to all those working in communications across government. It is administered by Government Communication Group (GCG) staff.
Government Communication Group staff numbered by grade in January 2006 are shown in the table.
Grade | Staff in GCG (full-time equivalent) |
|---|---|
| Permanent Secretary | 1 |
| Senior Civil Service | 6.7 |
| Band A | 4.4 |
| TIS3 | 3.1 |
| B2 | 6.8 |
| TIS2 | 9 |
| B1 | 11 |
| C2 | 1 |
| Total | 43 |
This includes 15 staff in the Media Monitoring Unit and 6.6 staff working on customer focus issues who were transferred to GCG in January 2006 from the former Office of Public Services Reform within the Cabinet Office.
27 Feb 2006 : Column 47W
GCG was established in June 2005 and staff costs from then up to and including January 2006 were £1.3 million. Budgets and therefore staff costs for 2006–07 have not yet been set.
Mr. Heald: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster pursuant to the answer of 6 February 2006, Official Report, column 849W, on Government communications, how many (a) press officers and (b) public relations staff were allocated to each unit within his Department in each year since 1997–98. [52354]
Mr. Jim Murphy: The Cabinet Office has always had a dedicated press office and manages its press operations centrally. Press officers are allocated primarily according to Government policies, themes and emerging issues and not allocated to specific units. Cabinet Office does not employ public relations staff. When this function has been necessary the work is contracted through the Central Office for Information.
Mr. Heald: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster pursuant to the answer of 6 February 2006, Official Report, column 849W, on Government communications, what the reasons were for the increased number of posts advertised by his Department between 1998–99 and 2000–01. [52359]
Mr. Jim Murphy: The increase in the number of posts advertised between 1998–99 and 2000–01 is mainly attributable to the structural changes within the department in response to taking forward the Government's delivery and reform agenda.
Mr. Heald: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster pursuant to the answer of 6 February 2006, Official Report, column 849W, on Government communications, what his Department's total expenditure was in 2001–02 on the UK Online advertising campaign; and how much was accounted for by (a) in-house staff costs, (b) contractors' costs, (c) consultants' costs, (d) agency costs, (e) print advertising, (f) radio advertising, (g) television advertising, (h) online advertising and (i) other advertising. [52360]
Mr. Jim Murphy: The total expenditure was £2,491,500. Of this £2,206,126 was spent on TV media and £285,374 was for agency production costs.
Mr. Heald: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster pursuant to the answer of 6 February 2006, Official Report, column 849W, on Government communications, how much of the expenditure on advertising in each year since 1997–98 was accounted for by (a) print advertising, (b) radio advertising, (c) television advertising, (d) online advertising, (e) other advertising, (f) in-house staff costs, (g) contractors' costs, (h) consultants' costs and (i) agency costs. [52364]
Mr. Jim Murphy: Expenditure broken down into the categories requested is not separately identifiable on the department's accounting system and is therefore available only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Heald:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster pursuant to the answer of 2 February 2006, Official Report, columns 666–67W, on Government communications, how many staff are employed by the Central Office of Information, broken down by salary
27 Feb 2006 : Column 48W
band; and what the (a) running costs and (b) staffing costs of the Central Office of Information were as a percentage of turnover in each year since 1996–97. [52365]
Mr. Jim Murphy: The number of staff in post (including part-time) at 31 January 2006, broken down by salary band, is shown in the following table.
Of these, 141 are in the Government News Network.
Running costs and staff costs as a percentage of turnover are shown in the following table.
| As percentage turnover: | ||
|---|---|---|
| Running costs | Staff costs | |
| 1996–97 | 20.6 | 15.9 |
| 1997–98 | 13.7 | 8.9 |
| 1998–99 | 9.2 | 6.4 |
| 1999–2000 | 9.0 | 6.3 |
| 2000–01 | 7.0 | 4.5 |
| 2001–02 | 8.6 | 6.3 |
| 2002–03 | 9.9 | 7.6 |
| 2003–04 | 7.4 | 5.7 |
| 2004–05 | 7.8 | 6.0 |
Excluding exceptional items (primarily redundancy costs following the decision to withdraw from the provision of some services) the 1996–97 figures for running costs and staff costs as a percentage of turnover were 13.8 per cent. and 9.2 per cent. respectively.
Mr. Heald: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how much his Department has spent on websites for (a) Government Communications Network and (b) Government Communications Group. [52443]
Mr. Jim Murphy: The cost of establishing, developing and maintaining the Government Communication Network (GCN) website to end-January 2006 was £133,975 (excluding VAT). This includes the cost of setting up the site, updating its content and delivering communications and services to GCN members across Government.
These on-line services include an internal job market for professional communicators, a cutting-edge self-assessment skills framework, a directory of external training courses and advice on propriety and other key issues.
The site continues to be very popular with those who use it. Recent research showed that 76 per cent. of GCN members find it useful and October 2005 it has averaged more than 150,000 page impressions per month.
The Government Communication Group does not have a website.
27 Feb 2006 : Column 49W
Mr. Heald: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what the total cost has been of creating the (a) Government Communications Network and (b) Government Communications Group. [52444]
Mr. Jim Murphy: The external costs incurred in creating the Government Communication Network in January 2005 were £40,487 (excluding VAT).
Government Communication Group was created in June 2005 using existing Cabinet Office staff and so incurred no external cost.
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