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21 Feb 2007 : Column 772W—continued
| 2002-03 | ||||
| £ | ||||
| Cost of core services | Cost of other regional services | Total cost of core services and other regional services | Staffing costs of core services | |
Retirement Age
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland pursuant to the answer from the Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office, the hon. Member for Wolverhampton, South-East (Mr. McFadden), to the hon. Member for Blackpool, South (Mr. Marsden) of4 December 2006, Official Report, columns 189-90W, on the retirement age, what his Department’s policy is for the setting of retirement ages for staff below the senior civil service under the Civil Service (Management Functions) Act 1992. [108009]
Paul Goggins: The Northern Ireland Office retirement age for staff below the senior civil service is the national default retirement age of 65. It was adopted on Sunday 1 October 2006 when the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations took effect, making it illegal for an employer to retire an employee below the age of 65. Employees have the right to request to work beyond the default retirement age of 65, but they also have the right to retire from age 60, the minimum pension age.
Saville Inquiry
Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will break down by main category of expenditure the cost to public funds of the Saville Inquiry into events in Londonderry in January 1972; and what items of expenditure have been incurred since the last sitting day of the tribunal. [103289]
Mr. Hanson:
On the figures available at the end of October 2006 the total cash spend of the Bloody Sunday Inquiry was £174.36 million. Breaking this down into the main categories previously requested by the hon. Member gives the following figures. The figures in columns 3 and 4 include the retrospective
payment of fees to legal representatives for work carried out up to the completion of final submissions to the Inquiry, fees to Inquiry Counsel and the
continuing administrative and operational expenditure of the Inquiry and the MOD.
| £ million | |||||
| 1 NIO (total) | 2 MOD (total) | 3( 1) NIO (post December 2004) | 4( 1) MOD( 2,5) | ||
| (1) Expenditure in columns 3 and 4 is included in the totals given in columns 1 and 2. (2) Payments since February 2004. (3) For the NIO this figure includes salary costs of tribunal members (except Lord Saville) and inquiry staff, witness expenses, expert witnesses, office services and security, telecommunications and other miscellaneous office expenditure. (4) For the MOD this figure includes inquiry related staff and support costs, accommodation, a police investigation and other miscellaneous fees and expenses. (5) Payments since April 2004. | |||||
Secondments
Mr. Duncan Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland which staff in his Department are seconded from organisations with charitable status; and which have (a) costs and (b) salaries met (i) in part and (ii) in whole (A) from public funds and (B) by the charity from which they are seconded. [102415]
Paul Goggins: The Northern Ireland Office does not currently have any staff seconded from organisations with charitable status.
Work and Pensions
Attendance and Disability Living Allowances: Bristol
Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how many people in Bristol, East are in receipt of disability living allowance high rate case component as well as high rate mobility; [120479]
(2) how many people in Bristol East constituency are in receipt of (a) attendance allowance and (b) carer’s allowance. [120482]
Mrs. McGuire: The administration of attendance allowance, disability living allowance and carer’s allowance is a matter for the Chief Executive of the Disability and Carers Service, Mr. Terry Moran. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
Letter from Terry Moran, dated 21 February 2007:
You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in Bristol East are in receipt of disability living allowance high rate case component as well as high rate mobility. You also asked how many people in Bristol East constituency are in receipt of (a) attendance allowance and (b) carer's allowance.
The Minister for Disabled People, Anne McGuire MP, promised you a substantive reply from the Chief Executive of the Disability and Carers Service.
With regard to your first question, at May 2006 there were 620 Disability Living Allowance customers in receipt of highest rate care component as well as higher rate mobility component in the Bristol East Parliamentary Constituency.
Notes:
Caseload (Thousands) Total shows the number of people in receipt of an allowance and excludes
people with entitlement where the payment has been suspended, for example if they are in hospital.
Parliamentary Constituencies are those used for the Westminster parliament.
Source:
DWP Information Directorate; Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study.
Definitions and Conventions: Figures have been rounded to the nearest ten; some additional
control has also been applied.
The information available is respects of your second question is in the attached annex.
| Attendance allowance and carer’s allowance in Bristol East parliamentary constituency May 2006. | |||
| Attendance allowance | Carer’s allowance | ||
| Entitled cases | Entitled cases | Cases in payment | |
| Notes: Entitled cases totals show both the number of people in receipt of an allowance and those with entitlement where the payment has been suspended, for example if they are in hospital. Parliamentary constituencies are those used for the Westminster parliament. Source: DWP Information Directorate; Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study. Definitions and Conventions: Figures have been rounded to the nearest ten; some additional control has also been applied. | |||
There are no figures currently available for cases in payment for attendance allowance.
British Food
Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of food served in buildings occupied by his Department was of British origin in (a) 2005 and (b) 2006. [111114]
Mrs. McGuire:
Precise figures are not available as the Department's estate is managed through a facilities
management contract, including catering where premises allow. Therefore DWP has no responsibility for the procurement of catering except on a local level for receptions and meetings. Information systems do not allow us to analyse expenditure on food of British origin separately and data could be obtained only by a special exercise to examine both the Department's and our supplier's purchasing transactions. This would incur disproportionate costs.
Cemeteries: Safety
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the Health and Safety Executive’s most recent estimate is of the number of deaths in a year in cemeteries due to falling headstones. [120773]
Mrs. McGuire: The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is not aware of any deaths due to falling headstones since 2004, when the chairman of the Health and Safety Commission wrote to all local authorities on this subject. Between 2000 and 2003 there were three fatal accidents involving headstones and HSE is aware of at least three further fatal accidents going back to 1982.
In addition, 18 major injuries involving headstones were reported to HSE in the five-year period from 1999 to 2004.
Departments: Equal Opportunities
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps his Department (a) has taken and (b) plans to take to ensure that it and related bodies are in compliance with the gender equality duty in the Equality Act 2006 by the April 2007 deadline. [120993]
Mrs. McGuire: My Department has assessed its functions and policies for their impact on gender equality. Each business in the Department has published a gender equality scheme, committing to objectives and action plans for addressing any areas of concern and for ensuring that we meet the requirements of the Gender Equality Duty. Our gender equality schemes were published in December 2006.
In preparation for the duty, all staff are receiving equality training on this and all other equality requirements, and there has been widespread communication about the new duty. There will be further communication about the new duty as it comes into force in April.
Related bodies, such as the Health and Safety Executive, publish their own action plans within their equality schemes. Other partners, suppliers and contractors who provide a service to the public on our behalf have diversity and equality policies that demonstrate their compliance with the Equality Act 2006.
Departments: Furniture
Mr. Francois: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many items of furniture were (a) lost and (b) stolen from his Department in each year since 1997; and what the value was of those items in each year. [120719]
Mrs. McGuire: DWP was formed in June 2001 from the former Department of Social Security and parts of the former Department for Education and Employment including the former Employment Service.
The Department pays a facilities unit price to Land Securities Trillium for such accommodation which includes the cost of providing furniture. If any furniture is lost or stolen, replacement is provided by Land Securities Trillium under the terms of the contract and the costs covered by the FUP. No central records are kept of lost or stolen furniture.
The Health and Safety Executive joined DWP in July 2002 and they have confirmed that there are no recorded losses or thefts of furniture.
The Rent Service joined DWP in April 2004 and they have confirmed that there are no recorded losses or thefts of furniture.
Departments: Incentives
Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the total sum of bonuses paid to civil servants in his Department was in (a) 2005 and (b) 2006. [121561]
Mrs. McGuire: Performance bonus payments are awarded to employees on the basis of their individual performance. They are paid after the completion of the performance year.
The expenditure incurred is as follows:
| The amount paid in bonuses to DWP staff from 2005 to 2006 | ||
| Performance year | Year paid | Total aid (£ million) |
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