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7 Nov 2006 : Column 1094W—continued
Petrol Stations
Mr. Binley: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many petrol stations there are in the UK. [100275]
Malcolm Wicks: The number of petrol retail filling stations in the UK is 9,626.
Catalist Ltd. “Market Summary Report” published in July 2006.
Post Offices
Mr. Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much his Department has spent introducing the Post Office Card Account. [98764]
Jim Fitzpatrick: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for City of York (Hugh Bayley) on 27 February 2006, Official Report, column 138W.
Mr. Leech:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what written representations he has received from elected representatives of Manchester city council regarding the proposed franchising of Chorlton Crown post office since 15 October 2006; what discussions have taken place between
Government Ministers and such representatives on the proposed franchising since that date; and which such representatives have met Ministers to discuss the franchising since that date. [100313]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The Department has not received any written representations from representatives of Manchester city council since 15 October 2006.
I am due to meet with representatives from the council shortly in response to a representation received in late September.
Renewable Energy
Alan Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on plans to stimulate the development of renewable energy technologies through the planning system. [99934]
Malcolm Wicks [holding answer 6 November 2006]: My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, and I have held regular discussions with the Department for Communities and Local Government on a range of energy issues including the development of renewable energy technologies through the planning system.
Royal Mail
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many accidents resulting in death or serious injury occurred to Royal Mail employees in the last 12 months for which figures are available; and what percentage of these accidents were as a result of road traffic accidents. [100259]
Jim Fitzpatrick: This is an operational matter for Royal Mail. I have therefore asked Adam Crozier, the chief executive of Royal Mail, to provide a direct reply to the hon. Member.
Timber
Paddy Tipping: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will take the conclusions of the Forestry Commission's report ‘United Kingdom: New Forecast of Softwood Availability’ into account in his Renewables Obligation Statutory Consultation to the Renewables Obligation Order 2007; and if he will make a statement. [99654]
Malcolm Wicks: The Government will consider the Forestry Commission’s report ‘United Kingdom: New Forecast of Softwood Availability’ as part of the statutory consultation on the Renewables Obligation Order 2007. The consultation closes on 15 December. All responses and other relevant information will be considered together at that point.
Wind Farms
Mr. David Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what proposals he has been informed of for wind farms with a generating capacity in excess of 50MW in (a) Clocaenog Forest, (b) Denbighshire and (c) the county borough of Conwy. [99937]
Malcolm Wicks: No onshore wind farm applications above 50MW are currently being considered in Wales. However, a pre-application scoping opinion was requested and subsequently given on 12 May 2006 under the Electricity Works (Environmental Impact Assessment) (England and Wales) Regulations 2000 for the proposed Brenig wind farm at Tir Mostyn, Denbighshire. This may or may not result in an application.
Minister for Women
Departmental Expenditure
Grant Shapps: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality how much was spent by her Office in respect of hotel and other similar privately-provided accommodation (a) in the UK and (b) abroad for (i) herself, (ii) staff and (iii) other persons in each year since 2001-02. [91911]
Meg Munn: The Department for Communities and Local Government do not hold the information in the form requested, which can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Information relating to overseas travel by Ministers is published on an annual basis. Information for the period 2 May 1997 to 31 March 2006 is available in the Library of the House. Information for the financial year 2006-07 will be published as soon as it is ready after the end of the current financial year.
All expenditure is made in accordance with published departmental guidance on financial procedures and propriety, based on principles set out in the Ministerial Code, Travel by Ministers, and the Civil Service Management Code.
Solicitor-General
Departmental Expenditure
Grant Shapps: To ask the Solicitor-General (1) how much was spent by (a) his Department, (b) its agencies and (c) its non-departmental public bodies in respect of hotel and other similar privately-provided accommodation (i) in the UK and (ii) abroad for (A) Ministers, (B) staff and (C) other persons in each year since 2001-02; [91895]
(2) how much was spent by his Department on food and alcohol for its staff working out of office in each year since 2001-02. [91896]
The Solicitor-General: It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Departmental Staff
Harry Cohen:
To ask the Solicitor-General if his Department will (a) carry out an age audit of its staff to establish an age profile of its work force, (b) negotiate an age management policy with trade unions and employees to eliminate age discrimination and retain older workers, (c) identify and support training needs and offer older staff flexible working to downshift towards retirement and (d) extend to
over-fifties the right to request to work flexibly and the right to training with paid time off; and if he will make a statement. [96486]
The Solicitor-General: The information is as follows:
(a) The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) carried out an age audit of its staff in the summer of 2005 and 2006; the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) produces a monthly HR report to its board which includes detailed statistics on the age profile of its work force; the RCPO has now adopted staff profiling and a new database will enable regular age audits; the Treasury Solicitor’s Department keeps a record of the age profile of its staff and Her Majesty’s Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate plans to carry out an age profile of its staff in the near future.
(b) The CPS carried out a review of all human resources policies to ensure they were age compliant, and as a result has updated its retirement age policy to reflect the new contractual retirement age of 65; the SFO has taken steps to remove any potentially discriminating measures as regards age, for example, by changing its policy on annual leave, and the SFO also offers a flexible policy, allowing staff to select a retirement age of 60-65; the RCPO is drafting new retirement policy and procedure and will consult Union representatives before implementing; the Treasury Solicitor’s Department and HMCPSI ensure that all terms and conditions of employment are applied equally to staff of all ages.
(c) The Treasury Solicitor’s Department, the CPS, the SFO and HMCPSI identify and support training needs for all its employees, irrespective of their age; RCPO has doubled its training budget this year and will continue to support the training and development needs of all staff.
(d) In the Law Officers’ Departments all employees, irrespective of age, can request to work flexible hours and the flexible working policy ensures that all requests are treated fairly.
Fraud
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Solicitor-General what the levels of serious fraud have been in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [98270]
The Solicitor-General: Fraud is by its nature surreptitious and that highlights the fact that at present there are no entirely reliable estimates of either levels of fraud, or the cost of fraud to the economy as a whole. The report set out in an annex existing methodologies for measuring fraud; but went on to recommend the establishment of a measurement unit, within a national fraud strategic authority, which would have the responsibility for producing accurate measurements of the extent of fraud and which would track the success of initiatives to tackle that fraud.
Legal Aid
Mr. Djanogly: To ask the Solicitor-General what assessment he has made of the implications arising from the Carter Review of legal aid. [92005]
The Solicitor-General: It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Culture, Media and Sport
Concorde
Mr. Randall: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether she has had discussions with British Airways about maintaining a flightworthy Concorde for use on special occasions. [100121]
Mr. Lammy: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him today by the Under-Secretary of State for Transport, my hon. Friend the Member for Lincoln (Gillian Merron).
Creative Partnerships
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much has been allocated to creative partnerships between schools and arts organisations in (a) 2005-06 and (b) 2006-07. [99290]
Mr. Lammy: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport allocated £32 million to the Creative Partnerships Programme in 2005-06. For 2006-07 the Department has allocated £34 million to the Programme. In addition, Creative Partnerships receives £2.5 million per annum from the Department for Education and Skills.
Departmental Redundancies
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many redundancies there were in her Department in each year since 1997; what the cost of such redundancies was in each year; how many temporary staff were employed in each year; and how many staff were seconded by outside organisations to posts within her Department in each year. [95250]
Departmental Staff
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many staff in her Department received bonus payments in each of the last five years for which information is available; what proportion of the total workforce they represented; what the total amount of bonuses paid has been; what the largest single payment was in each year; and if she will make a statement. [98530]
Mr. Lammy: The Department makes bonus payments to its staff for two purposes: (a) special bonuses to reward outstanding contributions in particularly demanding tasks or situations; and (b) performance bonuses to reward highly successful performance over a whole year.
| 2001-02 | 2002-03 | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | |
| (1) In any one year, some staff may receive both a special bonus and an end year performance bonus. (2 )This information is not available. | |||||
The largest single bonus payments for each year were as follows:
| £ | |
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