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17 May 2006 : Column 982W—continued
Ministerial Visits (Accommodation)
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the total cost was of overnight accommodation for Ministers of State in her Department on foreign visits in each of the last three years. [69119]
Mr. Lammy: All travel by DCMS Ministers when travelling on official business is undertaken in accordance with the Ministerial Code on Travel by Ministers. Since 1999 the Government have published an annual list of all visits overseas undertaken by Cabinet Ministers costing £500 or more during each financial year, this information includes accommodation costs. Copies are available in the Libraries of both Houses.
Private Office Staff
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what percentage of her private office staff is (a) male, (b) female and (c) disabled. [69127]
Mr. Lammy: Some 87 per cent. of private office staff are female and 13 per cent. male. At present, there are no disabled members of staff working in the private office.
Promotion Boards
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what promotion boards have been held in her Department in each of the last five years. [70482]
Mr. Lammy: The Department held annual promotion boards for all permanent staff below the senior civil service until 2004. In November 2005, the Department introduced a new selection to post system in which staff may apply in competition for posts either at their current grade or at a higher grade.
Racial Abuse Complaints
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many complaints of racial abuse have been (a) investigated and (b) upheld in her Department in each of the last five years. [70484]
Mr. Lammy: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has not had any complaints of racial abuse in the last five years.
Staff Surveys
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many staff surveys have been conducted in her Department in each of the last three years. [70485]
Mr. Lammy: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport conducts Staff Opinion Surveys every two years as a way of gathering valuable feedback from staff. In the last three years the Department has conducted two staff surveys, one in June 2003 and one in June 2005.
Television Licence
Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions she had with the BBC about the role of the Post Office in supplying TV licences prior to the decision to end the contract. [71173]
Mr. Woodward: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has not had any discussions with the BBC on this matter. The award of the contract for over-the- counter sales of television licences is a commercial matter for the BBC as television licensing authority. The Government have no power to intervene in such matters, nor would it be appropriate to comment on the Corporation's decision. DCMS officials were informed by the BBC of the proposal to put the contract out to tender and were notified by the Corporation prior to the announcement of the award of the contract. DCMS liaised with the DTI to keep them informed of developments.
Unspent Budget
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much of the budget for her Department remained unspent in the 2005-06 financial year. [70480]
Mr. Lammy: The accounts for financial year 2005-06 have not yet been finalised. The provisional outturn indicates a total resource under spend of £58 million. This equates to 3.3 per cent. of the total budget.
Deputy Prime Minister
Ministerial Responsibilities
10. Jeremy Wright: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what he expects the cost to public funds to be of his fulfilment of his new role in each of the next three years. [71288]
The Deputy Prime Minister: As I said earlier, the Prime Minister has today announced the details of my new responsibilities, and these are now available in the Library of the House.
In carrying out this role, I will be supported by a private office, a secretariat and the Cabinet Office as relevant to my responsibilities.
11. Mr Gauke: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what his responsibilities are in his new role. [71289]
The Deputy Prime Minister: I refer the hon. Member to the responses I gave the hon. Member for Daventry (Mr. Boswell) and the hon. Member for Bexleyheath and Crayford (Mr. Evennett) today.
Office Staff
13. Mr. Heathcoat-Amory: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many staff will be working for him in his new office. [71291]
The Deputy Prime Minister: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Reading, East (Mr. Wilson) today.
14. Hugh Robertson: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether his new office will have a diary secretary. [71292]
The Deputy Prime Minister: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Reading, East (Mr. Wilson) today.
15. Peter Viggers: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what criteria staff in his office have to fulfil before they become eligible for fully paid leave. [71293]
The Deputy Prime Minister: Staff management issues are the responsibility of the civil service.
Prime Minister
Social Behaviour
11. [71304] Mr. Allen: To ask the Prime Minister pursuant to his oral answer of 1 February 2006, Official Report, column 316, on social behaviour, if he will meet the hon. Member for Nottingham, North to discuss the teaching of social behaviour in primary schools in areas of educational under-achievement.
The Prime Minister: I met my hon. Friend recently to discuss these issues. I pay tribute to my hon. Friend for the leadership he shows on these issues, and in his constituency. Ministers at the Department for Education and Skills will continue to work closely with him on these issues.
Staffordshire Ambulance Service
12. [71305] Michael Fabricant: To ask the Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the future of the Staffordshire ambulance service.
The Prime Minister: I refer the hon. Member to the statement made on 16 May 2006, Official Report, columns 849-51 by my hon. Friend the Minister of State for Health (Andy Burnham).
Deputy Prime Minister
Mr. Amess: To ask the Prime Minister (1) if he will list the official duties of the Deputy Prime Minister; what his annual salary will be; what official accommodation he has been allocated; how many staff he has been allocated; at what grade; what the official office address will be; and if he will make a statement; [70076]
(2) if he will list the Cabinet Committees which are chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister. [70876]
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Prime Minister (1) how many full-time equivalent staff the Deputy Prime Minister will have working for him in his new role; [70664]
(2) where the Deputy Prime Minister’s new office will be based; and whether he will retain his offices at 26 Whitehall; [70669]
(3) whether the Deputy Prime Minister will retain his official residences; [70670]
(4) whether the Deputy Prime Minister will have a (a) private parliamentary secretary and (b) junior Ministers assisting his brief; [70671]
(5) To ask the Prime Minister whether the Deputy Prime Minister will appoint a special adviser; [70735]
(6) which Cabinet Committees the Deputy Prime Minister will (a) chair and (b) be a member of. [70740]
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Prime Minister where the Deputy Prime Minister’s office will be located; and how many civil servants will be attached to it, broken down by grade. [70313]
Mrs. May: To ask the Prime Minister under which departmental budget the cost of the Deputy Prime Minister’s office will fall; and what estimate he has made of the cost in 2006-07. [71071]
The Prime Minister: The business of Government is by nature cross-departmental and the main way of agreeing policy and driving reform across departmental responsibilities is through Cabinet Committees and sub-Committees.
Like previous holders of the office, the Deputy Prime Minister will act with my full authority in overseeing the delivery of Government business, including delivering key pledges in the 2005 manifesto. He will have a wide-ranging brief across the full range of domestic policy areas, and will continue to deputise for me domestically, including at Prime Minister’s Questions, and in his current international role.
Following the reshuffle, the full list of chairs of Cabinet Committees and sub-Committees has today been announced in a written ministerial statement. The Deputy Prime Minister will chair nine Committees, a net addition of four to his previous responsibilities. This includes chairing the Domestic Affairs Committee, which takes decisions across the range of domestic Government business.
The full list of Committees chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister is:
Domestic Affairs (DA)
Public Health (DA/(PH))
Housing and Planning (HP)
Inspection (RB(I))
Post Office Network (MISC33), a new Committee
Ageing Policy (DA(AP))
Local and Regional Government (LRG)
Local Government Strategy and Performance (LRG(P))
Animal Right Activists (MISC13)
In addition, the Deputy Prime Minister will play an active role as my deputy on the following seven Committees:
Anti Social Behaviour (ASB)
Asylum and Migration (AM)
Energy and the Environment (EE)
National Health Service Reform (HSR)
Public Service Reform (PSR)
Schools Policy (SP)
Serious Organised Crime and Drugs (SOC)
The Deputy Prime Minister is also entitled to attend all other Cabinet Committees, as he judges necessary.
The Deputy Prime Minister has also agreed to work with Cabinet colleagues on improving the effectiveness of policy development across Government, and in particular with respect to the major issues which require an effective cross-Government response. He is also looking at our practice in developing policy, and how this can be improved.
Additionally, the Deputy Prime Minister will continue to assist me with my international duties, along with his other international work particularly in respect of the China task force, and, in recognition of his work in delivering the Kyoto treaty, to work with the Foreign Secretary, the Secretary of State for the Environment, and other departments across Government on promoting the Government’s post-Kyoto agenda.
The Deputy Prime Minister will continue to have the use of Dorneywood. Under the terms of the Dorneywood Trust, there is no cost to public funds. The Deputy Prime Minister will be supported by a private office and secretariat, allocated from within existing civil service resources. This expenditure will be accounted for and audited in the normal way. In his Cabinet Committee work he will be supported by the Cabinet Office's secretariats, and will draw on the support of officials in other Departments as necessary to fulfil his other responsibilities.
Minister Without Portfolio
Mr. Heald: To ask the Prime Minister what the responsibilities are of the Minister without Portfolio; and what salary is paid to her in respect of these responsibilities. [70010]
The Prime Minister: The Minister without Portfolio is a member of Cabinet and will be a member of a number of Cabinet Committees. A full list of the membership of Cabinet Committees will be published shortly. The salary of the Minister without Portfolio is paid for by the Labour Party.
Ministerial Visits (Accommodation)
David Simpson: To ask the Prime Minister (1) on how many occasions (a) civil servants and (b) special advisers in his Office have stayed overnight in (i) five star, (ii) four star and (iii) three star hotels in each of the last three years; [69246]
(2) what the total cost was of overnight accommodation for (a) civil servants in his Office and (b) special advisers staying overnight in (i) mainland Great Britain, (ii) Northern Ireland, (iii) the Republic of Ireland and (iv) other countries in each of the last three years. [69247]
The Prime Minister: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 8 December 2004, Official Report, column 566W to the hon. Member for Chichester(Mr. Tyrie).
Television Licences
Danny Alexander: To ask the Prime Minister what discussions his Office had with the BBC about the role of the Post Office in supplying TV licences (a) prior to and (b) since the decision to end the Post Office's contract for this work. [71175]
The Prime Minister: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Leader of the House (Jack Straw) on 11 May 2006, Official Report, columns 517-18 to the hon. Member for Orkney and Shetland (Mr. Carmichael).
Cabinet Office
Social Exclusion
9. Mr. Drew: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what support has been made available since 1997 to tackle social exclusion in the most deprived areas of the United Kingdom, with particular reference to rural areas. [71287]
Hilary Armstrong: Tackling social exclusion is one of this Government’s most ambitious and important goals. The Social Exclusion Unit aims to explore the rural dimension in all its work. Furthermore, the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund was established in 2001 and £45 million of NRF funding is currently allocated to 16 rural areas. DEFRA provides £73 million per annum to RDA budgets and is committed to establishing the Commission for Rural Communities.
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