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Women's Shelter (Atcham)

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will encourage Shrewsbury and Atcham Borough Council to provide a shelter for homeless women. [52256]

Yvette Cooper: The Government's aim is to tackle homelessness more effectively and has provided over £200 million to support local authorities' prevention strategies. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is providing practical assistance for authorities in delivering these strategies whose purpose is to ensure that accommodation and support are available for people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. It is therefore a matter for Shrewsbury and Atcham to decide on the provision of a shelter for homeless women in the area.
 
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CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT

Burma

Vera Baird: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what estimate she has made of the number of British tourists that have visited Burma in each of the past three years. [54448]

James Purnell: Estimates of the numbers of British visitors to Burma, for the three most recent years for which there are available statistics, are as follows:

	Number of British visitors
2002	2,400
2003	3,100
2004	1,900

These estimates are based on data from the Office of National Statistics' International Passenger Survey. They include visits for all purposes; there is no available data for tourist visits only.

Casinos

Mr. Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions her Department has had with Abbeygate Developments about the possibility of building a casino in Milton Keynes. [53178]

Mr. Caborn: None.

Civil Service (Workforce Reductions)

Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what is the target level of employment expressed as full-time equivalents in her Department by April 2008, in order to meet her Department's civil service work force reductions target set out in the 2004 Spending Review. [52844]

Mr. Caborn: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport's baseline headcount figure at April 2004 was 506 full-time equivalent (FTE) staff. The Department has a target to reduce headcount by 27 FTE staff by April 2008, benchmarked against those activities that the Department undertook as at April 2004. However, in the light of changes to the Department's responsibilities (notably the fact that London has now won the right to stage the Olympic Games in 2012), the figure is currently being revisited. Until this is resolved it will not be possible to give a target level of employment for April 2008.

Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what interim targets she has set for achieving (a) the agreed efficiency target for her Department and (b) the civil service work force reductions targets for (i) gross reductions in posts, (ii) net reductions in posts and (iii) relocations for her Department, as set out in the 2004 Spending Review; what the baseline figures are against which these interim targets are assessed; on what dates they will take effect; and by what dates these interim targets are intended to be met. [52911]

 
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Mr. Caborn: The great majority of the Department's spending is channelled through its NDPBs. Details of their expected efficiency savings are set out in the answer to PQ52919. The Department has a target to save 2.5 per cent. of its administrative spending, as follows:
£ million

	Admin spend	Efficiency gain
2004–05(65)	49	0
2005–06	49	0
2006–07	48	1
2007–08	47	2

⁽⁶⁵⁾ Baseline.

DCMS has a target to reduce its headcount by 27 by 2008, benchmarked against the number of staff and level of activities as carried out at April 2004. It is intended that these reductions will take place in three equal tranches as part of the natural turnover of staff.

DCMS NDPBs have a target to relocate 600 posts outside London and the South East by 2010. Plans to relocate over 900 posts are currently being developed. The relocation of a total 560 posts from the Big Lottery Fund (300 posts to Birmingham and Newcastle, planned completion June 2006) and the Gambling Commission (260 posts to Birmingham, planned completion September 2007) has already been announced.

Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much is expected to be saved as a result of meeting the civil service work force reductions targets for her Department set out in the 2004 Spending Review; and whether these savings count towards the agreed efficiency target for her Department set out in the review. [52801]

Mr. Caborn: The Department's SR04 target was to reduce its headcount by 27 full time equivalent posts by March 2008. In a full year, this will equate to just over £1 million. The financial savings secured from this reduction will count towards the agreed efficiency target for the Department.

Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much of the agreed efficiency target for her Department set out in the 2004 Spending Review is to be cashable; and under what budget headings these cashable efficiency savings will be re-spent. [52825]

Mr. Caborn: At least £131 million, or 50 per cent. of the Department's efficiency target is to be cashable, with efficiency savings being reinvested in frontline services. It is for NDPBs and local authorities to decide which of their frontline services they will spend their cashable efficiency savings on. The Department is responsible for over 50 NDPBs which operate in a number of sectors. Accordingly, savings will be recycled into a wide variety of activities.

Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what total efficiency savings were achieved by her Department in 2004–05; and whether these count towards the agreed efficiency target for her Department set out in the 2004 Spending Review. [52865]

 
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Mr. Caborn: £28.5 million of efficiency savings were achieved in 2004–05, which will count towards the Department's agreed efficiency target set out in the 2004 Spending Review.

Consultants/Special Advisers

Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to her answer of 6 December 2005, Official Report, column 1094, on consultants/special advisors, if she will place in the Library a copy of the PricewaterhouseCoopers report on London 2012 costs and benefits; and if she will make a statement. [40751]

Mr. Caborn: I am placing copies of the PricewaterhouseCoopers report on London 2012 costs and benefits (the full title of which is Olympics Bid London 2012—Probability Assessment for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, dated 13 January 2003) in the Libraries of both Houses.

PricewaterhouseCoopers was commissioned by the Department to provide an assessment based on the probabilities of the risks and uncertainties involved in a bid to hold the Olympic games and Paralympic games in London in 2012. The report was produced in January 2003 and formed part of the early preparation work on the bid. Many of the figures included in the report are now out of date or have been overtaken by events.

Departmental Recruitment

Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many job advertisements were placed by her Department (a) in total, (b) in print newspapers and magazines and (c) on a recruitment website in each year since 1997; and at what (i) total and (ii) average cost in each case. [50752]

Mr. Caborn: Information on the numbers of external adverts since 2001–02 is shown in the table. Data for earlier years could be provided only at disproportionate cost. Adverts that are placed in print in newspapers and magazines are also placed simultaneously on the DCMS website.
Number of external adverts, 2001–02 to 2004–05

	(a) Total	(b) Print newspapers and magazines
2001–02	9	9
2002–03	13	13
2003–04	12	12
2004–05	12	12

The cost of advertisements in newspapers and magazines cannot easily be separated from other recruitment costs such as executive search firms who provide recruitment services and could be provided only at a disproportionate cost.

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