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11 Dec 2006 : Column 792W—continued
Cabinet Office website costs are not available before 2004-05 as budgets for communication activity (including website development and maintenance) were devolved to Cabinet Office business units.
Directgov website costs (which cover services across government) are not available before 2004-05 as it was previously funded from within the UKOnline budget which was the responsibility of the Office of the e-Envoy (now eGU), and it has not been possible to obtain this financial information.
The Cabinet Office costs shown include the following elements:
web hosting and infrastructure leasing,
security auditing and software,
domain name registration and renewal,
application development and maintenance,
software licences and renewals, and
telecommunications rental and usage.
As the primary electronic channel to citizens for government, Directgov aims to be the one-place citizens turn to for the latest and widest range of public services. Directgov supports services on the web via www.direct.gov.uk, digital television (DTV) via Sky, ntl: and Telewest, and is available via mobile phones. Independent research has shown high levels of customer satisfaction, far exceeding the average rating for a government on-line service and on a par with the commercial sector.
Furniture
Mrs. Moon: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how much was spent by the Cabinet Office on furniture made by British firms in each year since 2000. [105070]
Edward Miliband: The information requested isnot held centrally and can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Parliamentary Questions
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if she will place in the Library a copy of the guidance published for Departments on answering parliamentary questions; and when the guidance was last updated. [106825]
Edward Miliband: The Cabinet Office “Guidance to Officials on Drafting Answers to Parliamentary Questions” was last updated in February 2005. Copies of the Guidance are available in the Library for the reference of Members.
The hon. Lady may be aware that the disproportionate cost threshold when answering parliamentary questions has increased to £700. I refer her to the statement made by my hon. Friend the Financial Secretary to the Treasury on28 November 2006, Official Report, column 87WS.
Social Exclusion
John Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what assessment she has made of the effect of financial hardship upon social exclusion. [105032]
Mr. McFadden: A strong and stable economy and our commitment to eradicate child poverty helped ensure that the proportion of low-income families experiencing severe hardship fell by half between 1999 and 2002, from 36 per cent. to 17 per cent.
V Charity
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what funding her Department provided for the v charity launch event on 8 May 2006. [106538]
Edward Miliband: To date, v has been allocated£1.26 million for marketing and communications activities in 2006-07. The costs of the launch event were met from within this budget. The budget covers a range of marketing and communications activities devised to promote awareness of v to young people and others through conferences and events; development and production of promotional materials; market research; public relations and public affairs and the wider work of the marketing and communications team.
Trade and Industry
Companies Bill
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of Statefor Trade and Industry pursuant to his answer of4 December 2006, Official Report, column 15W, on the Companies Bill, what estimate he has made of the difference in savings to business between the point at which they were assessed as a result of discussions with businesses in the course of developing the Companies Bill and the Bill as it received Royal Assent. [105754]
Margaret Hodge: The Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) for the Companies Act 2006 is currently being reviewed and updated in the light of changes made to the Bill during its passage through Parliament, and further discussions with business and others over this period. A final RIA incorporating any necessary changes will be published shortly. Copies will be placed in the Libraries of the House.
Consumer Direct
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many (a) hits the Consumer Direct website received and (b) consumer complaints were submitted to the website in each quarter since it became available. [102774]
Mr. McCartney: The Consumer Direct website has received 1,234,832 hits to date. A breakdown of the use of the website is listed in the table (annex a).
The number of complaints submitted through the Consumer Direct website for each quarter is listed in the table (annex b).
The Government established Consumer Direct to offer practical advice for consumers. 350,000 consumers have had access to advice in this year alone, with estimated total benefits to consumers worth£135 million.
| Annex( a) Consumer Direct website statistics | ||||
| Quarter 1 | Quarter 2 | Quarter 3 | Quarter 4 | |
| (1 )Statistics start on 30 September 2004 (2 )Statistics start on 31 March 2005 Note: Q3 is not finished | ||||
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