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17 Oct 2007 : Column 1076W—continued
Wales
Departments: Correspondence
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what guidance his Department follows on the maximum time taken to respond to hon. Members’ correspondence; and what performance against that target was in the most recent period for which figures are available. [158582]
Mr. Hain: The Wales Office complies with Cabinet Office guidelines for the maximum time for responding to correspondence.
The Wales Office publishes correspondence statistics in its annual report and to the Cabinet Office for their annual report to Parliament.
The latest figures for April 2006 to March 2007 were 93 per cent. of correspondence answered within 15 days of receipt.
Departments: Manpower
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many people were employed by his Department on 1 January in each of the last five years; and how many of these staff were (a) permanent employees, (b) temporary staff and (c) contractors. [158326]
Mr. Hain: The Wales Office publishes staffing figures within the Departmental Annual Report. The 2007 Report (CM7110) provides data on staff including staff numbers, permanent and temporary staff. A copy of the report can be obtained from the Library of the House or it can be viewed on our website:
The Wales Office has not employed any contractors in the last five years.
Departments: Official Hospitality
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how much was spent by his Department on official hospitality in the last 12 months. [158906]
Mr. Hain: Wales Office records are kept in financial year.
£12,265 was spent on hospitality in financial year 2006-07.
Departments: Policy
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what policy changes his Department has implemented since 27 June 2007. [159285]
Mr. Hain: I was delighted to be re-appointed Secretary of State for Wales. I have pressed forward the same policies of deepening devolution in Wales, particularly under the framework set by the Government of Wales Act 2006, and championing Welsh interests.
Northern Ireland
Departments: General Elections
Dan Rogerson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what contingency preparations his Department made for the possibility of a general election in autumn 2007; and what the costs of those preparations were. [156994]
Paul Goggins: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 15 October 2007, Official Report , columns 822-23W, by my right hon. Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office (Edward Miliband).
Departments: Internet
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many websites his Department operates; how many it operated at 1 January 2005; and what the estimated annual cost has been of running his Department's websites in the last five years. [157881]
Paul Goggins: The Northern Ireland Office operates 15 websites. On 1 January 2005 the Department operated 11 websites. The estimated annual cost of running the Department's websites in each of the last five years is detailed in the following table.
| Estimated cost (£) | |
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many hits the (a) most popular and (b) least popular website run by his Department has received since 1 January 2007. [157882]
Paul Goggins: The most popular website run by the Northern Ireland Office is www.nio.gov.uk; it received 8,767,572 hits between 1 January 2007 and 31 August 2007.
The website used least was www.howsecureismyhome.com; it received 5,909 hits over this same period.
Departments: Secondment
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many staff are seconded to his Department from outside Government; from which outside body each has been seconded; and what the length is of each secondment. [157880]
Paul Goggins: The Northern Ireland Office currently has no staff seconded from outside Government.
Electoral Commission Committee
Political Parties: Finance
Mr. Maude: To ask the hon. Member for Gosport, representing the Speaker’ Committee on the Electoral Commission if he will make a statement on steps being taken by the Electoral Commission to investigate the permissibility of the donation by Mr. Michael Brown to the Liberal Democrats. [158697]
Peter Viggers: I refer my right hon. Friend to the answer I gave my hon. Friend the Member for North-East Hertfordshire (Mr. Heald) on 16 May 2007, Official Report, column 748W.
Culture, Media and Sport
BBC: EU Grants and Loans
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much the BBC received in the form of (a) loans, (b) direct payments and (c) indirect payments from EU institutions in each of the last five years. [158605]
James Purnell: This is a matter for the BBC. The BBC Group finance director will consider the question raised by the hon. Member and write to him direct. Copies of the reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Departments: Internet
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many hits the (a) most and (b) least popular website run by his Department has received since 1 January 2007. [157890]
Margaret Hodge: The information requested is as follows:
Visitor statistics 1 January to 31 August 2007
The following statistics refer to ‘unique visitors’ rather than ‘hits’ which is accepted as a more useful indicator of the popularity of sites.
The most popular site was the main website at:
| Month | Number |
The least popular was ‘Where We Live’ at:
| Month | Number |
Digital Broadcasting: Whitehaven
Mr. Vaizey: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what percentage of those eligible have applied for assistance with digital switchover in Whitehaven. [158568]
James Purnell: As of 15 October 2007, 33 per cent. of those identified as being eligible for assistance from the digital switchover help scheme in the Whitehaven area had contacted the help scheme administrator. 25 per cent. of those eligible for assistance opted to receive help; 8 per cent. of those eligible for assistance chose to opt-out of the scheme.
Internet: Copyright
Mr. Vaizey: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions he has had with the Secretaries of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills and Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform on the implementation of recommendation 39 of the Gowers Review, on internet service providers’ responsibility for copyright theft. [158203]
Margaret Hodge: As Minister with responsibility for the creative industries, I have had discussions with my hon. Friend the Minister for Intellectual Property and Quality at the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills, and my right hon. Friend, the Minister for Competitiveness at the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform in relation to progress on the implementation of a range of recommendations from the Gowers review, including recommendation 39.
Members: Correspondence
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when he will reply to the letters from the hon. Member for Forest of Dean dated 20 April and 18 July regarding the Waterways Museum in Gloucester. [158040]
Margaret Hodge [holding answer 15 October 2007]: I replied to the hon. Member's letters on 16 October. I apologise for the completely unacceptable delay in responding to this correspondence. I am taking steps to ensure that officials respond efficiently to correspondence we receive.
Television: Licensing
Mr. Alan Reid:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many television licences have been issued to addresses in (a) Argyll and Bute
constituency, (b) the STV Central region and (c) the STV North region. [158718]
James Purnell [holding answer 16 October 2007]: The BBC has responsibility for the administration of the television licensing system and the maintenance of television licence records. I understand from the BBC, however, that they are not able to provide a breakdown by constituency or TV region of the number of TV licences issued, as there is no operational need for the BBC to hold the information in this way. The information is recorded at individual address level and aggregated to national level for reporting purposes.
Visit Scotland
Mr. Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the locations are of the overseas offices of (a) VisitScotland and (b) VisitWales. [157303]
Margaret Hodge: Neither VisitScotland nor VisitWales operates overseas offices.
However, under an agreement made between DCMS and the Scottish Executive in March 2005, VisitScotland carries out overseas marketing through VisitBritain's offices in Germany, France, the Netherlands and Eire.
VisitWales has two members of staff working in VisitBritain's New York office. These are the only representatives from VisitWales located overseas.
Mr. Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much funding his Department provided to (a) VisitScotland and (b) VisitWales in each of the last five years. [157304]
Margaret Hodge: VisitScotland and VisitWales are fully funded by the Scottish Executive and the Welsh Assembly respectively. Neither receives any funding from DCMS.
Children, Schools and Families
Children: Day Care
Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what estimate he has made of the percentage of families who have access to affordable childcare places in England, broken down by (a) region and (b) constituency. [157729]
Beverley Hughes: Information is not available in the form requested.
Ofsted have produced figures on the numbers of registered child care providers and places on a quarterly basis from March 2003. Their latest figures were published in their report “Registered Childcare Providers and Places, June 2007”, which is available on their website,
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