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25 Jun 2007 : Column 457W—continued

Departments: Advertising

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much was spent by his Department on advertising in the last 12 months. [145913]

Mrs. McGuire: The Department runs a number of promotional campaigns aimed at increasing awareness of rights and responsibilities. The following table details spend on advertising campaigns run by the Department in the 2006-07 financial year.

Government policies and programmes affect the lives of millions of people and in order for them to work they must be communicated effectively. But that also has to be done with cost efficiency in mind and there are strict rules to ensure value for money on Government advertising.


25 Jun 2007 : Column 458W
Departmental advertising costs 2006-07 £000

Age Partnership Group

9

Age Positive

40

Targeting benefit fraud

5,418

Reducing customer error

45

The Pension Service core benefit take up

881

Winter fuel payments

343

Child maintenance enforcement

107

Jobcentre Plus promotion to Black and Minority Ethnic audience

687

Job Done

765

Jobseeker’s Allowance 50+ Pilot

83

Lone parent

171


Departments: Aviation

Mr. Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 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 was. [144954]

Mrs. McGuire: 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 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: Booktrust Charity

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much funding his Department has provided to the Booktrust charity in each year since 2001. [142755]

Mrs. McGuire [holding answer 14 June 2007]: DWP supports Bookstart via the Sure Start programme. Sure Start is a joint initiative with DfES, although the funding for the programme is held within the DfES Delegated Expenditure Limit.

For details of the amount of funding, I refer the hon. Member to the written answer given by my right hon. Friend, the Minister of State for Children, Young People and Families on 18 June 2007, Official Report, columns 1464W.

Departments: Credit Cards

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much was spent by staff in his Department via departmental (a) credit, (b) procurement and (c) fuel cards in each of the last three years. [145304]

Mrs. McGuire: The total spent by staff in the Department is in the following tables.

(a) Credit cards. Information prior to December has been archived and can be obtained only by incurring disproportionate costs.

£

2005-06 (December to March only)

14,858

2006-07

57,431


(b) Procurement Cards—The Government Procurement Card is now DWP’s preferred method of payment to support greater efficiency in low value purchasing


25 Jun 2007 : Column 459W
£

2004-05

15,906,425

2005-06

16,852,044

2006-07

17,426,530


(c) Fuel cards—A chargecard for the purchase of fuel is provided for official vehicles only.

£

2004-05

645,341

2005-06

634,491

2006-07

477,446


Departments: Energy

Mr. Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many energy saving lightbulbs were purchased by his Department for use on the departmental estate in (a) 2005 and (b) 2006. [144953]

Mrs. McGuire: Light bulbs are supplied to the Department by our Estates Partners, Land Securities Trillium under the terms of our PFI contract for serviced accommodation. As information is not collected or retained centrally on the volume of light bulbs purchased for the Department's 1,221 sites it is not possible to provide this information. It is, however, departmental policy that energy saving light bulbs are used wherever practicable.

Departments: Foreign Relations

Mr. Carswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many Memoranda of Understanding are in force as a result of agreements with foreign Governments entered into by Ministers in his Department; and what Executive actions each entails. [144463]

Mr. Plaskitt: Ministers have signed a number of bilateral co-operation agreements, including some formal Memoranda of Understanding, with countries including China, France, Ireland and the Netherlands. Most of these aim to facilitate exchanges of information and experience on employment and labour market policies or combating welfare fraud.

Departments: Manpower

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) 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; [143905]

(2) what percentage of staff in his Department are (a) male, (b) female, (c) registered disabled and (d) aged 55 or over. [143923]

Mrs. McGuire: The information requested in both questions is in the following tables:


25 Jun 2007 : Column 460W
As at 31 M arch each year
2005 2006 2007

Temporary part-time

Male

208

134

80

Female

632

425

237

Registered Disabled

3

0

23

Age 55 and over

80

47

35

Temporary full-time

Male

1,901

1,365

890

Female

2,213

1,510

1,063

Registered Disabled

18

18

170

Age 55 and over

265

200

128

Permanent part-time

Male

3,113

3,379

3,464

Female

37,251

37,562

36,979

Registered Disabled

2,054

2,015

2,122

Age 55 and over

4,175

4,598

4,944

Permanent f ull- t ime

Male

36,501

34,899

33,269

Female

51,652

47,875

44,505

Registered Disabled

4,752

4,407

4,564

Age 55 and over

11,368

11,533

11,272

Notes:
1. Figures in the above table are shown in headcount terms and are based on the Office for National Statistics definition.
2. Figures for ‘Registered Disabled’ reflect the numbers of staff who have declared a disability.

Percentage of staff as at 31 March 2007

Male

31

Female

69

Registered Disabled

6

Age 55 and over

14

Notes:
1. Figures in the above table are based on the Office for National Statistics definition.
2. Figures for ‘Registered Disabled’ reflect the numbers of staff who have declared a disability.

Departments: Marketing

Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions which advertising and marketing campaigns were run by (a) his Department and (b) its agencies in each of the last five years; which external agencies were involved; and what the cost was of each campaign. [144623]

Mrs. McGuire: The Department runs a number of promotional campaigns aimed at increasing awareness of rights and responsibilities. The following table details spend on advertising and marketing campaigns run by the Department in each of the last five complete financial years.

Government policies and programmes affect the lives of millions of people and in order for them to work they must be communicated effectively. But that also has to be done with cost efficiency in mind and there are strict rules to ensure value for money on Government advertising and communications.


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