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6 Nov 2006 : Column 850W—continued
(28) for what purposes her Department employed Punter Southall; [98972]
(29) for what purposes her Department employed Lexicon Ltd.; [98973]
(30) for what purposes her Department employed Maitland Consultancy; [98974]
(31) for what purposes her Department employed Haygarth Group; [98975]
(32) for what purposes her Department employed Ask Europe Plc.; [98976]
(33) for what purposes her Department employed IPPR Consulting Ltd.; [98977]
(34) for what purposes her Department employed Logica CMG UK Ltd.; [98978]
(35) for what purposes her Department employed Cleo Nicolau; [98979]
(36) for what purposes her Department employed Parity Resources; [98980]
(37) for what purposes her Department employed Synopsis Communication Consulting Limited; [98981]
(38) for what purposes her Department employed JMH Consultancy; [98982]
(39) for what purposes her Department employed Capita Resourcing; [98983]
(40) for what purposes her Department employed Hudson Global Resources; [98984]
(41) for what purposes her Department employed VP Treen and Associates; [98985]
(42) for what purposes her Department employed Chesterton; [98986]
(43) for what purposes her Department employed Cornwell Management Consultants; [98987]
(44) for what purposes her Department employed Watson Associates; [98988]
(45) for what purposes her Department employed NCC Services Ltd.; [98989]
(46) for what purposes her Department employed MORI; [98990]
(47) for what purposes her Department employed Assessment and Development Consultancy; [98991]
(48) for what purposes her Department employed Communication Engagement and Change Ltd.; [98992]
(49) for what purposes her Department employed John Garnett; [98993]
(50) for what purposes her Department employed Human Assets Ltd.; [98994]
(51) for what purposes her Department employed Methods Consulting; [98995]
(52) for what purposes her Department employed Gartner UK Ltd.; [98996]
(53) for what purposes her Department employed Anagram; [98997]
(54) for what purposes her Department employed Wheelers; [98998]
(55) for what purposes her Department employed Insight Consulting Ltd.; [98999]
(56) for what purposes her Department employed Hurd Rolland; [99000]
(57) for what purposes her Department employed Enodian Ltd.; [99001]
(58) for what purposes her Department employed BTF Associates; [99002]
(59) for what purposes her Department employed BTA Consulting; [99003]
(60) for what purposes her Department employed Ernst and Young LLP; [99004]
(61) for what purposes her Department employed The Ingram Partnership; [99005]
(62) for what purposes her Department employed DTZ Debenhan Tie Leung; [99006]
(63) for what purposes her Department employed ORC International; [99007]
(64) for what purposes her Department employed Towers Perrin; [99008]
(65) for what purposes her Department employed Mouchel Consulting Limited; [99009]
(66) for what purpose her Department employed KPMG; [99010]
(67) for what purpose her Department employed PA; [99011]
(68) for what purpose her Department employed Deloitte MCS Ltd.; [99012]
(69) for what purpose her Department employed PricewaterhouseCoopers. [99013]
Vera Baird: I refer the hon. Member to the document “Summary of Expenditure on Consultancy in DCA in 2004-05”, a copy of which has been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Coroners
Mr. Hollobone: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what arrangements will be made for periods when coroners' offices are closed for contacting the next-of-kin within 24 hours of a death being reported. [99291]
Ms Harman: Coroners are currently expected to have arrangements in place to ensure a 24 hour, seven day a week service to deal with deaths reported to them, including liaison with bereaved relatives. To reflect this good practice, a requirement to contact the next-of-kin within 24 hours of a death being reported is included in the charter for bereaved people which accompanies the draft Bill on coroner reform. The charter is an “illustrative draft” and its content, including specific targets, will be the subject of further consultation.
Mr. Hollobone: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what analysis was undertaken of the contracted hours and hours of overtime worked by (a) full-time and (b) part-time (i) coroners and (ii) coroners' officers in the preparation of the Coroner Reform Bill. [99293]
Ms Harman: In England and Wales there are currently 32 full-time coroners, 86 part-time coroners and around 430 coroners’ officers.
The analysis of the impact on resources of the proposed legislation is set out in the Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) that was published alongside the draft Bill.
As the RIA shows, we have concluded that the reform proposals will not materially increase the caseload of the service. Therefore, providing the coroner service is currently being resourced adequately by the relevant local authorities. There should be no requirement to increase the overall hours provided by coroners or coroners’ officers in a particular area.
As we further develop the detail of our proposals, we will be carrying out analysis on the options for new coroner areas, and in particular whether changes in geography affect this position significantly.
Mr. Hollobone: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what estimate has been made of the number of staff required to meet the additional commitments in the proposed Draft Charter for Bereaved People. [99294]
Ms Harman: The charter included with the draft Bill is an “illustrative draft” and as such its content, including specific targets, will be the subject of further consultation. However, when finalised, the charter is intended to represent a level of service that each area should deliver within current staff numbers, provided that local authorities are, at that time, resourcing the service adequately.
Mr. Hollobone: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what assessment has been made of the (a) current workload and (b) the expected workload under the proposed new arrangements in the Coroner Reform Bill of (i) coroners and (ii) coroners' officers. [99314]
Ms Harman: Latest statistics show that, in total, coroners and coroners’ officers dealt with 232,400 cases reported to them in 2005. The draft Bill proposals do not, of themselves, produce any increase in overall caseload or workload.
Mr. Hollobone: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs who the employer is of (a) coroners and (b) coroners’ officers. [99365]
Ms Harman: Coroners are not employees, but independent judicial officers, appointed by local authorities who also pay their salaries. In most cases coroners’ officers are employed by the relevant police force, although a minority are employed by the relevant local authority.
Electoral Arrangements
Mr. Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs whether her Department has initiated the procurement process to find providers of the e-voting pilots in the May 2007 local elections. [99626]
Bridget Prentice: My Department is currently conducting a procurement exercise to establish a framework of suppliers which was initiated by notice to the Official Journal of the European Union on 1 August.
The framework will last until 2010 and be available to support local authority e-counting and e-voting pilots until that time.
Mr. Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs if she will place in the Library a copy of the presentation and handouts produced by her Department’s head of electoral policy for his talk to the International Centre of Excellence for Local e-Democracy’s conference in Budapest in July 2006. [99630]
Bridget Prentice: My Department’s head of electoral policy attended the Budapest conference in July 2006 and participated in a debate entitled “Voting in our pyjamas—which channel is best?” This was a debate about the merits of different remote voting methods. He did not make a slide-based presentation or provide any handouts. However, I will place a copy of the notes that he used for his talk in the Library.
Mr. Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what guidance her Department has issued to local authorities on the percentage of individual identifiers on postal votes that must be verified against the original identifiers by returning officers during an election count. [99633]
Bridget Prentice: The draft Representation of the People (England and Wales) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2006 require a minimum of 20 per cent. of the personal identifiers supplied with postal votes to be verified before the election count. A returning officer has discretion to check more than the minimum 20 per cent.
It is the responsibility of the Electoral Commission to issue guidance to returning officers. The Commission has advised that it intends to do so on the implementation of the Electoral Administration Act 2006. We understand that this guidance will include the Commission’s advice to returning officers on the checking of identifiers.
Mr. Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how much funding the Government are providing to local authorities for local elections in 2007 to fund the new electoral arrangements introduced under the Electoral Administration Act 2006. [99634]
Bridget Prentice: Funding being provided to local authorities in England and Wales for elections in 2007 is expected to be in the region of £34 million. The final figure will depend on the precise cost of the new postal voting identifier arrangements.
Parliamentary Boundaries
Mr. Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the timetable is for ratification and implementation of the new parliamentary boundaries for England. [99213]
Bridget Prentice:
I refer the hon. Member to the written answer I gave the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar (Mr. Pickles) on 24 October 2006,
Official Report, column 1775W, in relation to the timetable for laying the draft Order to give effect to the new English constituencies.
The subsequent timing of debates on the draft Order and the making of the Order in Council are matters for the Parliamentary Business Managers and the Privy Council respectively.
Once the Order is made, it does not take effect until the next general election thereafter.
Political Donations
Mr. Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs if she will make a statement on the timetable for the end of double-reporting of donations by hon. Members. [99628]
Bridget Prentice: The Electoral Administration Act 2006 provides for the removal of the requirement for a Member of the House of Commons to report a donation to the Electoral Commission, where it is received either in his capacity as a Member of the House of Commons or in his capacity as a member of a registered political party.
Section 59(3) and 59(4) of the Electoral Administration Act 2006 provide that the Electoral Commission must be satisfied that the House of Commons has the necessary arrangements in place to meet the requirements of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 and the Secretary of State may not make a commencement order unless he is informed by the Commission that those arrangements are in place.
The Department understands that the Electoral Commission and House of Commons authorities will be liaising closely in order to allow the Electoral Commission to make an assessment as to whether the House of Commons has the necessary arrangements in place to meet the requirements of the 2000 Act and—when appropriate—to recommend to the Secretary of State that the provisions of the 2006 Act may be commenced.
Prime Minister
Department of Trade and Industry
Mr. Laws: To ask the Prime Minister what plans he has for the future of the Department of Trade and Industry as a separate Department of Government; and if he will make a statement. [98863]
The Prime Minister: The allocation of responsibilities across Government is kept under close review and changes to the machinery of government are made as and when necessary.
Departmental Expenditure
Mr. Heald: To ask the Prime Minister what the total cost of his Office was in each year since 1996-97. [96380]
The Prime Minister:
For figures before 2005-06, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon.
Member for Southend, West (Mr. Amess) on 21 July 2005, Official Report, column 1935W.
Figures for 2005-06 are set out in the following table.
| £ million | |
The increase in running costs (excluding infrastructure) was largely as a result of the UK’s Presidency of the EU and G8 Conferences.
Departmental Telephone Numbers
Mrs. Dunwoody: To ask the Prime Minister how many ministerial offices have 0870 telephone numbers on their headed notepaper; which are the Ministries concerned; and what instructions are given to the switchboards of each such Ministry about access to private offices. [99068]
The Prime Minister: I refer my hon. Friend to the answers given by the then Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Paul Boateng, to the hon. Member for New Forest, East (Dr. Lewis) on 16 December 2004, Official Report, columns 1237-38W.
Minister for Europe
Mr. Keith Simpson: To ask the Prime Minister in what capacity his right hon. Friend the Member for Ashfield (Mr. Hoon) attends meetings of the Cabinet. [99649]
The Prime Minister: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for North-West Cambridgeshire (Mr. Vara) on 18 May 2006, Official Report, column 1140W.
Ministerial Code
Mr. Bone: To ask the Prime Minister what arrangements are in place to allow hon. Members to report the Prime Minister for alleged failure to comply with the Ministerial Code. [98621]
The Prime Minister: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Isle of Wight (Mr. Turner) on 9 October 2006, Official Report, column 5W.
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