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7 Nov 2006 : Column 1176W—continued
Muslims
Mr. Paul Goodman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what arrangements his Office has in place for offering him advice on Islam and matters relating to Muslims; and who his advisers are on Islam and Muslim affairs. [94332]
The Deputy Prime Minister: I take advice from officials across Government as appropriate. Specifically, the Department for Communities and Local Government is the lead Department on domestic matters relating to Muslim communities and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office is the lead department on international matters.
Duchy of Lancaster
Admiralty House
Mr. Hands: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how much has been spent on renovations, minor works and refurbishment on (a) the flat in Admiralty House occupied by the Deputy Prime Minister and (b) other parts of Admiralty House in each year since 1997-98; what proportion was spent on (i) carpets and (ii) wallpaper; and what plans there are for further works. [89789]
Hilary Armstrong: Admiralty House contains residential accommodation for Ministers and the occupying Departments are responsible for relevant costs associated with each of the residential flats.
Expenditure on maintenance works (which include renovations, minor works and refurbishment) which were carried out on the non residential areas of Admiralty House is shown in the following table.
| Expenditure | |
The increase in expenditure in 2004-05 was due to essential redecoration which is part of an ongoing programme of works required to maintain the fabric of a Grade 1 listed building.
The increase in expenditure in 2005-06 was partly due to the fitting of disabled toilets on the ground floor and the redecoration of the basement areas. These
toilets were built in order to comply with accessibility requirements under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995. Also included in this figure is the cost of redecoration works to the basement of the building and essential works to remove asbestos from the site. These measures are also part of an on-going programme of works.
Accurate figures for maintenance works prior to April 2002 are not available.
Departmental Expenditure
Mr. Heald: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what the annual expenditure on training and development for her Department was in each year since 1997-98; and what the expected costs are for 2006-07. [99957]
Mr. McFadden: Expenditure on training and development incurred in the Department in each year since 1997-98 is shown in the table.
| Expenditure (£000) | |
The costs shown include all expenditure on staff training incurred by the Cabinet Office and the National School of Government.
Costs incurred on training and development in 2006-2007 will only be available when the Department's resource accounts are fully audited and laid before Parliament. This is expected to be before the 2007 summer recess.
The rise in expenditure on training since 1997-98 can be explained by the increase in the number of staff working in the Department. In addition, training costs have increased as a result of the Cabinet Office's ‘Investors in People’ accreditation. ‘Investors in People’ is the National Standard, which sets a level of good practice for an organisation's performance through its people.
Departmental IT
Mr. Prisk: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many and what percentage of information technology projects undertaken by or for her Department since 2001 have been delivered (a) over budget, (b) after their original deadline, (c) on budget, (d) under budget, (e) on their original deadline and (f) ahead of their original deadline. [97558]
Mr. McFadden: The information requested is not available in the form requested from the Department’s accounting systems. It is therefore available only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Prisk: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster which web-related information technology projects cost her Department more than £50,000 since 2001; which companies submitted qualified tender proposals for each project; and which company was awarded each contract. [97568]
Mr. McFadden: According to available records, listed are those web-related information technology projects since 2001 that cost my Department more than £50,000. In each case and subject to records being available, those companies who tendered and were awarded contracts are identified.
An on-line network available to all who have attended National School of Government (previously the Civil Service College) corporate programmes, designed to extend learning beyond those programmes.
The contract was awarded to EPIC, and up to five other tenders were considered but records are not available for these.
Supports a range of National School (previously Civil Service College) programmes and networks. Users can access training materials, further reading and other items of interest. They can also collaborate on work via the discussion forums and separate libraries.
The contract was awarded to the University of Durham Business School, and up to six other tenders were considered but records are not available for these.
Enterprise Information Portal/Policy Hub
An on-line network providing access to resources to support better policy making.
The contract was awarded to Compaq with Logica/CMG as sub-contractor. No information is available on other companies that tendered for this project.
Government Communications Network
An on-line system supporting staff working in Government communications.
The contract was awarded to IT-Zone. No information is available on other companies that tendered for this project.
To develop an improved and well co-ordinated departmental web presence.
The contract was awarded to Trinity Expert Systems Ltd. with Computacenter acting as value added re-seller (VAR). This project went through a two stage tendering process with a pre-tender VAR competition under the auspices of the Government Catalogue (GCat) between Computacenter, Specialist Computer Centre (SCC) and PC World Business. Competing tenderers via the chosen VAR were Trinity Expert Systems, Eduserv, White Clarke Technologies, Vamosa, COLT, BT and Attenda.
Civil Service Recruitment Gateway
An on-line system to promote civil service career opportunities.
The contract was awarded to McCann Erickson, in competition with Barnard Modes.
Consolidated hosting of systems: provision of a data centre and managed services.
The contract was awarded to ITNet, since acquired by SERCO. Atos Origin and Fujitsu were the other prospective suppliers taken to ‘invitation to negotiation’ stage.
Government Gateway Managed Service Provision
The Government Gateway is an application which interoperates with other government systems to provide secure
access to online public sector services. The contract was awarded to Atos Origin; with CapGemini and EDS taken to ‘invitation to negotiation’ stage. The first iteration of this service, known as Government Gateway, was awarded to Compaq Computer.
The flagship government digital service designed to assist citizens and business obtain information about government; this service superseded UK Online, was developed in-house.
The predecessor to Directgov designed to assist citizens and business obtain information about government. The service was provided by British Telecom with PA Consulting. Information on other companies that tendered for this project cannot be provided without incurring disproportionate costs.
Mr. Prisk: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster which non-web-related information technology projects cost her Department more than £1 million since 2001; how many qualified tender proposals there were for each project; and which company was awarded each contract. [97569]
Hilary Armstrong: According to available records, the following are those non web-related information technology projects.
The project is being delivered through the Department’s existing IT managed services contract by the incumbent supplier Hewlett-Packard.
The project was delivered through the Department’s existing IT managed services contract by the incumbent supplier Hewlett-Packard.
It is not the practice to publish the costs of intelligence-related programmes.
Mr. Prisk: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how much her Department has spent on (a) information technology projects generally and (b) web-facing projects in each year since 2001, broken down by (i) expenditure on consultants and (ii) other costs. [97571]
Mr. McFadden: The information is not available in the form requested from the Department’s accounting system and is therefore available only at disproportionate cost.
Engagements
Mr. Heald: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster pursuant to the answer of 23 March 2006, Official Report, column 480W, on engagements, what public events she has attended since the period referred to. [99963]
Hilary Armstrong: Since my appointment as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in May 2006 I have contributed to a number of public events on mental health, social capital, volunteering, early intervention and parenting. I have also visited various regions including the North West, Yorkshire and the West Midlands. In addition I have visited Staffordshire on Duchy business.
Ministerial Travel
Mr. Pope: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what steps she has taken to offset the carbon dioxide emissions caused by ministerial travel in her Department. [98744]
Edward Miliband: All central Government ministerial and official air travel is being offset from Saturday 1 April 2006. Departmental aviation emissions are calculated on an annual basis and subsequently offset through payments to a central fund. The fund purchases Certified Emissions Reductions credits from energy efficiency and renewable energy projects with sustainable development benefits, located in developing countries.
Official Residences
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how much was spent on refurbishing the flat above 10 Downing Street in the last 12 months. [94859]
Hilary Armstrong: Between Friday 1 April 2005 and Friday 31 March 2006 there was no expenditure by the Cabinet Office on refurbishing the flat above 10 Downing Street. Audited information for the year 2006-07 will not be available until the end of the financial year.
Pensions
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (1) what the arrangements are for the payment of pensions to people who retire early through ill-health in each pension scheme for which her Department is responsible; what the incidence of ill-health retirement was as a percentage of all retirement in such schemes in each year since 1988-89; and if she will make a statement; [96020]
(2) what the current rate of ill-health retirement is for each public sector pension scheme for which her Department is responsible; and if she will make a statement. [96054]
Mr. McFadden: The Cabinet Office participated in the inter-departmental review of ill-health retirement in the public sector, the report of which was published by Her Majesty’s Treasury in May 2000. The civil service’s approach to the recommendations of this report was set out in an action plan which included the setting of ill-health retirement targets for participating Departments. These targets required Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme (PCSPS) employers to reduce ill-health retirement rates, by 2005, to no more than 3.72 per 1,000 staff; a higher rate of 4.84 per 1,000 staff was set for the Prison Services. Active management by employers resulted in the target being met and, for the year to Friday 31 March 2006, the overall ill-health retirement rate for employers generally was 1.76 per 1,000 staff and the rate for the Prison Services was 3.40 per 1,000 staff.
The PCSPS provides ill-health pensions to members who are assessed by the scheme’s independent medical adviser as being permanently incapable, by reason of ill-health, from carrying out their job. Qualifying members
receive their accrued pension benefits paid immediately on an unreduced basis. Additionally, depending on the section of the scheme the member belongs to, the individual’s length of service and the severity of their incapacity, reckonable service may be enhanced. The introduction of new pension terms for new entrants from October 2000 provided an opportunity to differentiate between those whose breakdown in health renders them incapable of any gainful employment and those who are incapable of carrying out their own job.
Most civil servants joining the civil service on or after 1 October 2002 can, as an alternative to joining the PCSPS, opt for a partnership pension account which is a stakeholder arrangement with an employer contribution. The conditions for ill-health retirement are as for members of the PCSPS but the member receives a lump sum of 20 per cent. of pay per year of service rather than an ongoing annual pension.
Information about the number of members who retire early on the grounds of ill health as a percentage of all retirements for the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme for the period from October 2002 onwards is shown in the following table.
| Period | Ill health retirements as a percentage of total retirements |
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