Written Answers to Questions

Monday 25 June 2007

Minister for Women

Flexible Working

Ms Abbott: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality what assessment the Government has made of the merits of encouraging employers to advertise posts as available for flexible working to help lone parents and carers back into the workplace; and if she will make a statement. [140850]

Meg Munn: The benefits of advertising posts as available for flexible working are to give employers access to a bigger pool of potential employees, including lone parents and carers. My right hon. Friend the Minister for Women (Ruth Kelly) opened a debate on how to take flexible working into account in the recruitment process in a speech to employers on 16 May 2007 at the Work Wise UK Summit 2007. Many employers already advertise posts as suitable for job share or flexible hours and there are specialist recruitment agencies which bring together people looking for flexible work and the jobs that can be done flexibly, but these are still the exception.

Scotland

Absent Voting

David Mundell: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many complaints were lodged with returning officers in respect of people not receiving their postal ballot papers in time to vote in the recent Scottish elections in May, broken down by Scottish (a) parliamentary constituency and (b) region. [145652]

David Cairns: Returning Officers are not required to provide this information to the Secretary of State. This information is not held centrally.

Departments: Home Working

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many people in his Department have been allowed to work from home for part of the week in the last year; and if he will make a statement on his Department’s policy on home working. [143878]

David Cairns: All the staff in the Scotland Office are on secondment from the Scottish Executive or the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) who are both committed to achieving a work life balance for all staff. No staff in the Office have formally worked from home in the last year.


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Departments: Manpower

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many people granted (a) temporary part-time, (b) temporary full-time, (c) permanent part-time and (d) permanent full-time contracts of employment in his Department in each of the last three years were (i) male, (ii) female, (iii) registered disabled and (iv) aged 55 years or over. [143901]

David Cairns: The Scotland Office does not directly employ any staff; all staff are seconded from the Scottish Executive or the Ministry of Justice, as necessary. The Office does not hold personnel records that would allow age to be determined.

The gender breakdown of the Scotland Office, and information on disabled staff, is published in the Office’s annual reports, copies of which have been placed in the House Library.

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what percentage of staff in his Department are (a) male, (b) female, (c) registered disabled and (d) aged 55 or over. [143918]

David Cairns: The gender breakdown of the Scotland Office and information on disabled staff is published in the Office’s annual report, a copy of which has been placed in the House Library. The staff in the Office are seconded from the Scottish Executive or the Ministry of Justice and the Scotland Office does not hold personnel records that would allow age to be determined.

Departments: Remploy

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what (a) services and (b) products his Department has procured from Remploy in the last 12 months; and at what cost. [143789]

David Cairns: None.

Elections

David Mundell: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he has met Scottish Ministers to discuss the Electoral Commission’s statutory review of the Scottish parliamentary elections. [145653]

David Cairns: My right hon. Friend and I have not had any discussions with Scottish Ministers on this issue. The Electoral Commission and its statutory review are both independent of Government. The Commission is only bound by statute to report on the Scottish Parliament election but, at the request of Scottish Ministers, will also include the Scottish local government election.

David Mundell: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he was consulted on the final ballot papers adopted for the Scottish parliamentary elections in May which were issued to voters. [145654]

David Cairns: Returning Officers were not required to consult the Secretary of State on the final ballot papers issued to voters for the Scottish Parliament
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elections in May. The Scottish Parliament (Elections etc.) Order 2007 sets out the rules that Returning Officers are required to follow in printing the ballot paper.

David Mundell: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what level of consultation was undertaken with political parties about the design and format of ballot papers used in the Glasgow and Lothian regions for the recent Scottish parliamentary elections. [145655]

David Cairns: There is no duty on Returning Officers to consult political parties on the design of ballot papers to be used in their area. They are required only to follow the statutory requirements for ballot papers laid out in the Scottish Parliament (Elections etc.) Order 2007. These statutory requirements, debated and agreed by Parliament, were finalised following a substantial consultation process, including a public consultation exercise which all political parties were invited to respond to. Many, though not all, political parties in Scotland responded to that consultation.

Solicitor-General

Armed Conflict: Journalism

Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Solicitor-General what (a) correspondence and (b) discussions the Law Officers’ Department has had with (i) European counterparts and (ii) others to seek the earliest possible compliance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1738, on the protection of journalists in armed conflict; and if he will make a statement. [140889]

The Solicitor-General: None.

Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Solicitor-General what steps have been taken by the Law Officers’ Department to ensure the UK's compliance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1738, on the protection of journalists in armed conflict; and if he will make a statement. [140890]

The Solicitor-General: The United Kingdom takes seriously its obligations, under international humanitarian law, to protect journalists and other civilians in situations of armed conflict and already has in place the necessary measures to ensure compliance. The Law Officers’ departments have not been required to take additional steps following the adoption of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1738 (2006).

Crown Prosecution Service: Powers

Peter Bottomley: To ask the Solicitor-General what consideration the Government has given to the proposals made by the Chairman of the Criminal Cases Review Commission in Birmingham on 10 May, with particular reference to extending the powers of the Crown Prosecution Service relating to the instigation and conduct of prosecutions to those areas currently within the remit of the Health and Safety Executive and other regulatory or enforcement bodies; and if the Government will respond to the proposals. [144215]


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The Solicitor-General: There are no plans, at present, to extend the powers of the Crown Prosecution Service, which are set out in the Prosecutions of Offences Act 1985.

Data Protection: Prosecutions

Norman Baker: To ask the Solicitor-General what criteria are followed by the Director of Public Prosecutions in deciding whether to give his consent pursuant to section 60 of the Data Protection Act 1998 to a prosecution for a non-notification offence under that Act. [144334]

The Solicitor-General: In cases requiring the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions, specific consideration must be given to the decision to institute or continue proceedings.

A crown prosecutor can give consent on behalf of the Director of Public Prosecutions by virtue of section 1(7) of the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985.

The decision to grant consent should be taken applying the principles set out in the Code for Crown Prosecutors and the CPS’s policies. Consent cases should be reviewed at the earliest possible opportunity.

The Code for Crown Prosecutors is a publicly available document, which can be accessed from the CPS’s website at

Departments: Advertising

Grant Shapps: To ask the Solicitor-General (1) which (a) advertising agencies and (b) other organisations supplied consultancy services for advertising campaigns for the Law Officers’ Departments in each of the last five years; and what the cost of these services was; [139444]

(2) how much was spent on advertising by (a) the Department and (b) its non-departmental agencies in each of the last five years. [139529]

The Solicitor-General: The Law Officers’ Departments advertise solely for recruitment purposes, with one exception: within the Treasury Solicitor’s Department (TSol) the specialist Bona Vacantia division regularly places advertisements in the press seeking kin in cases where individuals have died intestate with no apparent claimants to the estate under administration. The costs for this activity are treated as an expense on the Crown Nominee’s Account that is presented separately to Parliament.

The Law Officers’ Departments’ expenditure in the last five years on recruitment was as follows:

£
2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07

TSol

132,718

128,124

50,786

125,611

*132,891

HMCPSI

15,283

53,859

11,914

54,332

63,875

RCPO

n/a

n/a

n/a

9,634

9,634

SFO

n/a

7,252

26,745

42,236

51,259

CPS

n/a

n/a

n/a

356,986

437,881

Totals

148,001

189,235

89,445

588,769

695,540

n/a = not available

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The Treasury Solicitor also handles recruitment advertising for the Attorney General’s Office, and for HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate.

The Revenue and Customs Prosecution Office was established in April 2005 and therefore has no data before this.

The Crown Prosecution Service recruitment advertising costs prior to 2005 are not available as they are not recorded centrally and can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

The Serious Fraud Office uses the services of a media agency, WDAD, who are an approved supplier under a Cabinet Office framework.

The CPS uses Barkers to place its advertisements through a Central Office of Information contract.

Departments: Property

Grant Shapps: To ask the Solicitor-General what the cost of leasing buildings and office space for the Law Officers’ Departments was in each of the last five years. [139464]

The Solicitor-General: The Law Officers’ Departments’ expenditure is set out in the following table, where the figures for the Attorney-General’s Office and Her Majesty’s Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate are included within the Treasury Solicitor figures:

£
2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07

TSol

1,107,017

1,040,500

1,040,513

2,754,822

(1)4,005,836

RCPO

(2)

(2)

(2)

1,591,000

1,789,000

SFO

1,499,380

1,605,518

1,672,570

2,295,100

2,718,206

CPS

33,461,460

36,593,182

38,428,070

36,047,186

37,822,083

Totals

36,067,857

39,239,200

41,141,153

42,688,108

46,335,125

(1) Forecast
(2 )The Revenue and Customs Prosecution Office was established in April 2005 and therefore has no data before this.

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