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25 Jun 2007 : Column 292W—continued


Crimes of Violence: West Mercia Police

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many incidents of so-called honour (a) attempted murders, (b) other acts of violence and (c) forced imprisonment have been reported to his Department by the West Mercia Police in the last 12 months. [144226]

Mr. Coaker: In terms of the recorded crime statistics, there is no requirement for any police force to notify the Home Office of ‘honour’ crimes. It is the offence as defined by law which will be recorded by the police and reported to the Home Office e.g. serious wounding, common assault, etc. Details of the circumstances for individual offences are not collected centrally.

Deepcut Barracks

Lembit Öpik: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) when he was informed that Devon and Cornwall police were of the view that Surrey police should have held a murder inquiry only into the deaths at Deepcut Army Barracks; and if he will make a statement; [143276]

(2) if he will request that a murder inquiry be opened into the deaths of Army recruits at Deepcut Barracks; and if he will make a statement; [143400]

(3) if he will require the publication of the report by Devon and Cornwall police into Surrey police’s handling of the investigations of the deaths at Deepcut Army Barracks; and if he will make a statement. [143401]

Mr. McNulty: The report by Devon and Cornwall police was prepared at the request of the chief constable of Surrey police. It is for the chief constable to decide whether to publish the report.

The decision on whether to treat an incident as a possible criminal matter is an operational issue for the police and Ministers have no role in the decision making process.


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Departments: Aviation

Mr. Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many flights to overseas destinations were taken by (a) civil servants and (b) Ministers in his Department in each of the last three calendar years; and what the total cost of such flights were. [144942]

Mr. Byrne: This information can be provided only at disproportionate cost. Since 1999, the Government have published on an annual basis, a list of all overseas visits by Cabinet Ministers costing in excess of £500, as well as the total cost of all ministerial travel overseas. Copies of the lists are available in the Libraries of the House. Information for 2006-07 is currently being compiled and will be published before the summer recess. All travel is undertaken in accordance with the Civil Service Management Code, the Ministerial Code and Travel by Ministers.

Departments: DVD

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which DVDs have been produced by his Department in the last 12 months; how many copies of such DVDs were produced; and what the cost to the public purse was of the (a) development, (b) production and (c) distribution of each DVD. [144562]

Mr. Byrne: DVDs are one of a wide range of communication approaches used by the Department. They are only produced if considered the most appropriate vehicle for communicating a particular message or range of information to the audience.

Information on the number of DVDs produced by the Department is not held centrally.

Departments: Energy

Mr. Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many energy saving light bulbs were purchased by his Department for use on the departmental estate in (a) 2005 and (b) 2006. [144941]

Mr. Byrne: Home Office policy on the procurement of energy saving light bulbs is to meet the minimum environmental standards outlined in the guidance provided in the Office for Government Commerce Buying Solutions' ‘Quick Wins 2007’ framework. There is no requirement to monitor the number of energy saving light bulbs purchased. This information is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Departments: Home Working

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people in his Department have been allowed to work from home for part of the week in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement on his Department's policy on home working. [143881]

Mr. Byrne: Information about the number of individuals working from home is not collated centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.


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Home working is one of the flexible working options available to Home Office staff, but there is no entitlement to it. All members of staff are able to apply to work flexibly, including working at home. Applications are subject to local management agreement, based on a number of factors including the particular circumstances of the request and the business and operational needs of the department.

Departments: ICT

Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the (a) originally estimated, (b) most recently estimated and (c) outturn cost was of each of the five largest information technology contracts agreed by his Department with outside suppliers over the last five years. [135695]

Mr. Byrne: The information requested is provided in the following table:

£ million
Business a rea Contract O riginal estimate of cost Most recent estimate of cost Outturn C ost

NOMS

OMNI (Steria)

250

250

(1)250

IND

TBC (Atos Origin)

200

200

(1)200

IND

Mycroft (SERCO)

42

42

(1)42

IND

Semaphore (IBM)(2)

30

37.16

45.7

Corporate Services

EDRM (CapGemini/Sirius)

16.5

16.8

8.9

(1) Forecast. (2) The approved budget for Semaphore was increased in March 2006 in response to terrorist attacks in the UK in July 2005, and to the requirement from the Home Secretary to extend e-Borders data capability.

Departments: Manpower

Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were employed in his Department in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available. [144756]

Mr. Byrne: The Information requested is contained in the Home Office Annual Report(s) 2006-07 and 2004-05 respectively which are available in the Library of the House and on line at:

Departments: Marketing

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what promotional items bearing his Department’s name or logo or other branding have been procured in each of the last five years; at what cost, broken down by item; and how many units of each item were purchased over that period. [141383]


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Mr. Byrne: There is no central record of procured promotional items bearing the Department’s name or logo or other branding. To manually examine files across all areas of the Department for specific procured items in each of the last five years would incur disproportionate cost, however, the total expenditure for promotional material for the financial year 2006-07 was £110,000 and for 2005-06 £101,000. Expenditure information for these two years is available following the implementation of the Department’s Adelphi Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system Accounts Payable Module.

Departments: Official Cars

Mr. Simon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what make and model of car (a) he and (b) each Minister in his Department selected as their official ministerial car; and what criteria were used when making the decision in each case. [141986]

Mr. Byrne: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to the hon. Member for South Thanet (Dr. Ladyman) on 14 June 2007, Official Report, column 1269W.

Departments: Pensions

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the current rate of employer contribution is to each public sector pension scheme for which his Department has responsibility; what the revenue impact would be of capping the employer contribution to each such scheme at 14 per cent. and if he will make a statement. [144297]

Mr. McNulty: The Home Office has policy responsibility for police pensions. The employer contribution rate is 24.6 per cent. of an officer’s pensionable pay. This rate is common to members of the 1987 Police Pension Scheme and the 2006 Police Pension Scheme and applies across all forces and ranks.

It would involve disproportionate costs to calculate the complex effects of capping the employer contribution rate at 14 per cent.

Departments: Public Participation

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many public consultations his Department has undertaken in the last 12 months; and what the cost was of each consultation. [145278]

Mr. Byrne: Over the 12 months to end May 2007, the Home Office launched 20 formal public consultations in order to inform the Department's policy development. Information on the cost of each consultation and the total cost of all consultations could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Departments: Public Relations

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) much was spent by his Department on public relations in each of the last five years;[139426]


25 Jun 2007 : Column 296W

(2) which (a) advertising agencies and (b) other organisations supplied consultancy services for advertising campaigns for (i) his Department and (ii) its agencies in each of the last five years; and what the cost of these services was. [139437]

Mr. Byrne: The Home Office uses the Central Office of Information's (COI) framework of agencies to work on advertising campaigns.

Under the terms of the COI framework agreements, advertising agencies are contracted to supply advertising services only, i.e., creative products based on a communications strategy. Advertising agencies on COI's roster do not supply broader consultancy services. On occasion wider ranging consultancy projects may inform campaign work but the costs would not be attributed to the campaign.

The amount spent on PR to support individual campaigns and ensure broader reach of our target audiences is in the following table.


25 Jun 2007 : Column 297W
Amount spent on PR to support individual campaigns and ensure broader reach of our target audiences
£

2002-03

Drugs Misuse

79,219

Criminal Justice

36,900

Mobile Phone Safety

44,190

Child Protection on the Internet

97,175

2003-04

Holocaust Memorial Day

44,142

Security Industry Authority

150,573

Domestic Violence

75,000

Sexual Offences Act

56,465

Citizenship

650,729

2004-05

Mobile Phone Safety

44,190

Acquisitive Crime Reduction

260,373.99

Anti Social Behaviour

646,570

Sexual Offences Act

128,359

Criminal Justice

982,410

Domestic Violence

75,000

Year of the Volunteer

210,789.95

Police—High Potential Development

62,760

Alcohol and Violent Crime

501,692

Drugs

71,239

Communities

18,412

Familial Homicide

4,940

Holocaust Memorial Day

30,586

2005-06

Antisocial Behaviour

363,040

Criminal Justice

265,780

Year of the Volunteer

74,027

Police—High Potential Development

41,400

Community Support Officers Recruitment

2,380

Tackling Violent Crime

156,620

Drugs

474,386

2006-07

Criminal Justice

174,473

Community Sentences

193,181

Drugs

374,666

Single Non Emergency Number Pilots

29,186

Community Support Officers Recruitment

113,511

Police—High Potential Development

28,716

Respect

61,568


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