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7 Feb 2007 : Column 1009W—continued
Deliberative Forums
Mr. Heald: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if she will place in the Library copies of the official papers to be given to members of the new deliberative forums. [116532]
Mr. McFadden: The papers for the participants at the forthcoming regional Citizens’ Forums are currently being prepared by Ipsos MORI. They will be placed in the Library for the reference of Members after the conclusion of the project in early March. Other material on the Government’s Policy Review has already been placed in the Library for the reference of Members.
Departmental Buildings
Mr. Heald: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what payments will be made by the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office to the Cabinet Office for the use of the Ripley Building in (a) 2006-07 and (b) 2007-08. [119319]
Hilary Armstrong: The Deputy Prime Minister’s Office is responsible for payments to the Cabinet Office for the use of Ripley Building.
Dorneywood
Mr. Heald: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what guidance or advice has been issued to the Civil Service on the (a) use and (b) availability of Dorneywood for Government meetings and seminars. [119173]
Hilary Armstrong: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 25 January 2007, Official Report, column 1960W.
Ministerial Duties
Mr. Heald: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many instances there have been under section 5.17 of the Ministerial Code of a Minister in the Cabinet Office having duties removed to avoid a potential conflict of interest since May 1997. [119325]
Hilary Armstrong: The Ministerial Code makes clear that information about Ministers’ interests is treated in confidence.
Ministerial Policy Advisers
Mr. Heald: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster when the Code of Conduct for Special Advisers was originally drafted; and what changes were made in the July 2005 edition. [119320]
Hilary Armstrong: The “Code of Conduct for Special Advisers” was first introduced in 2001. It was revised in July 2005 to take account of recommendations made by the Public Administration Select Committee and the Committee on Standards in Public Life, including clarifying the relationship between special advisers and permanent civil servants and specifying that the role of special advisers is to “assist” Ministers. Copies of both versions of the Code are in the Library should the hon. Member wish to make a detailed comparison.
Trade and Industry
Departmental Contracts
Mr. Grogan: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry which public affairs firms have been given contracts by (a) his Department and (b) public bodies sponsored by his Department in the last five years; and what the purpose was of each contract. [118496]
Jim Fitzpatrick: DTI electronic central records do not present information to this degree of granularity, and it would require disproportionate cost to gather it manually.
Employment Protection: Gender Identity
Lorely Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he plans to introduce general employment protection on the grounds of gender identity in addition to protection for those who seek or who have had gender reassignment surgery. [118338]
Meg Munn: I have been asked to reply.
The Government are considering this issue as part of the Discrimination Law Review.
Post Offices
Mr. Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry on whom the obligation to ensure convenient access for communities with real special need referred to in section 3.4 of the consultation document on the future of the Post Office network is to be placed. [119238]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The obligation to ensure convenient access for communities with real special need referred to in section 3.4 of the consultation document on the future of the Post Office network is to be placed on Post Office Ltd.
Mr. Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what formal role (a) the Scottish Executive and (b) Postwatch Scotland have in the consultation on the future of the Post Office network. [119240]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The Scottish Executive and Postwatch Scotland have no formal role in the national consultation on the future of the Post Office network, but comments from these and any other interested parties are welcome.
Mr. Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to the consultation document on the future of the Post Office network, what the definition is of (a) urban, (b) rural and (c) remote rural areas; and if he will list the post offices classified as remote rural, indicating in which (i) local government area and (ii) county each is located. [119287]
Jim Fitzpatrick [holding answer 6 February 2007]: In relation to the Post Office Network consultation document, an urban area is defined as a settlement of more than 10,000 inhabitants. A rural area is defined as a settlement of fewer than 10,000 inhabitants. There is no departmental definition of a remote area as no access criteria proposals relate solely to ‘remote’ areas.
Alongside the Government’s proposed national access criteria, is the criterion that 95 per cent. of the population in postcode districts should be within six miles of a post office service. Implicit in this criterion is a safeguard for people in remote areas who might otherwise not have been assured of reasonable accessibility to services under nationally applied criteria alone.
Mr. Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry which post offices in the constituency of Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk are classified as (a) urban, (b) rural and (c) remote rural. [119288]
Jim Fitzpatrick [holding answer 6 February 2007]: This is an operational matter for Post Office Ltd. (POL). I have therefore asked Mr. Alan Cook, managing director of POL, to reply direct to the hon. Member.
Royal Mail
Alan Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether the Shareholder Executive plans to replace the chairman of Royal Mail. [110632]
Jim Fitzpatrick [holding answer 23 January 2007]: Allan Leighton’s term as chairman of Royal Mail runs until 25 March 2008. The Department will consider what action should be taken, in line with OCPA guidelines, to appoint a chairman thereafter.
Sub-Post Offices
Mr. Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many trials of the proposal to allow sub-post offices to act as collection points for mail order and internet delivery services referred to on page 6 of the consultation document on the future of the Post Office network are (a) planned and (b) under way; where they are, or will be, taking place; and how long they will last. [119291]
Jim Fitzpatrick [holding answer 6 February 2007]: This is an operational matter for Post Office Ltd (POL). I have therefore asked Mr. Alan Cook, managing director of POL, to reply direct to the hon. Member.
Health
Agenda for Change
Mrs. Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate she has made of the number of NHS staff whose pay has been (a) frozen and (b) reduced under the agenda for change; and if she will make a statement. [116408]
Ms Rosie Winterton: From the central data collected on agenda for change assimilation, at the end of March 2006 4.7 per cent. of staff had their pay protected. The protection arrangements under agenda for change, agreed in partnership with the unions, were intended to ensure that no one had their pay reduced on assimilation to the agenda for change pay system.
Asset Disposals
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer given by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury to the hon. Member for Rayleigh (Mr. Francois) of 8 January 2007, Official Report, columns 417-18W, (1) if she will list all fixed asset disposals in her departmental group in (a) 2004-05 and (b) 2005-06, broken down by the organisations which disposed of the fixed assets; and what the function or former function was of each fixed asset disposed of; [116138]
(2) on Government assets, if she will list the fixed assets disposals in her Department group in (a) 2004-05 and (b) 2005-06; who each asset disposed of was sold to; what plans she has for the disposal of fixed assets in each of the next five years; and if she will make a statement. [117023]
Andy Burnham: The information is shown in the tables.
Over the next five years, the Department will continue to dispose of assets within the retained estate that are surplus to the requirements of the national health service.
| Land sales from the Department’s retained estate, 2004-05 | ||
| Property | Purchaser | Previous function |
| Land sales from the Department’s retained estate 2005-06 | ||
| Property | Purchaser | Previous function |
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