| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
23 Oct 2007 : Column 295W—continued
Social Enterprise
29. Tom Levitt: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what steps the Government are taking to promote social enterprise. [159757]
Phil Hope: The Government set out its approach to supporting social enterprise in the Social Enterprise Action Plan, published on 16 November 2006. This includes a commitment to work closely with the sector to foster a culture of social enterprise, helping more people to understand social enterprise and raising awareness among potential social entrepreneurs, customers, investors and support providers. Three key elements of this work are:
Developing a programme, run by the sector, to support 25 social enterprise ambassadors to use their personal stories to raise the profile of social enterprise.
Supporting the Make Your Mark: Change Lives campaign to encourage young people to use enterprising ideas for social or environmental change. This includes Social Enterprise Day on 15 November which will see events taking place across the country.
Sponsoring the annual enterprising solutions awards which celebrate the achievements of the best social enterprises.
Departments: Aviation
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster pursuant to the answer of 9 October 2007, Official Report, column 530W, on departments: aviation, how much was spent on non-ministerial flights in (a) first class and (b) business class in the last six months. [160034]
Edward Miliband: The information is only available at disproportionate cost.
All travel is undertaken in accordance with the Ministerial Code and the Civil Service Management Code.
Departments: Furniture
Norman Baker: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how much was spent by the Cabinet Office on acquiring furniture in (a) 2005-06 and (b) 2006-07. [151263]
Gillian Merron: The available information on how much was spent by the Cabinet Office on acquiring furniture in (a) 2005-06 and (b) 2006-07 is shown in the table.
| £ | |
A significant portion of the expenditure in 2005-06 was spent on replacing existing furniture to meet health and safety requirements.
Departments: Manpower
Andrew Selous: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many and what percentage of employees in (a) his Department and (b) each (i) executive agency and (ii) non-departmental public body funded by his Department are above state retirement age. [158934]
Gillian Merron: The Cabinet Office currently has:
Six employees (0.4 per cent. of all staff) who are above the statutory retirement age of 65; and
22 employees (1.6 per cent. of all staff) who are above the state pension age of 65 for men and 60 for women.
The Cabinet Office does not have responsibility for or fund any executive agencies or non-departmental public bodies.
Departments: Recruitment
Mr. Amess: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will bring forward proposals to allow contractors employed by his Department to apply for internal job vacancies advertised within his Department; what recent representations he has received on this issue; and if he will make a statement. [152987]
Gillian Merron: The Cabinet Office has not received any recent representations on this issue. Recruitment into the civil service is governed by the Civil Service Commissioners' Recruitment Code (the Code).
Internal vacancies are open only to serving civil servants and employees of those non departmental public bodies approved by the Civil Service Commissioners as having followed recruitment practices that are consistent with the code. There are currently no plans to amend the code in this regard.
Departments: Road Traffic Offences
Norman Baker: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many fixed penalty tickets were incurred by vehicles within the purview of his Department in the last year for which figures are available; and what the total cost was. [157883]
Gillian Merron: The Cabinet Office only has one vehicle and has not had any fixed penalty tickets in the last year.
Other vehicles are provided by Government Car and Despatch Agency (GCDA) and our facilities management (FM) provider. Our FM provider has had a total of two tickets in the last year. These were paid by the FM provider and there was no cost to the Cabinet Office. In respect of GCDA provided vehicles, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by Secretary of State for Transport on 18 October 2007, Official Report, columns 1185-86W.
Departments: Secondment
Norman Baker: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many staff are seconded to the Cabinet Office from outside Government; from which outside body each has been seconded; and what the length is of each secondment. [157884]
Gillian Merron: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Parliamentary Secretary in the Leader of the House of Commons on 18 October 2007, Official Report, column 1182W.
Departments: Training
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how much was spent by his Department on staff away days in the last 12 months. [153284]
Gillian Merron: All Cabinet Office expenditure on away days is made in accordance with published departmental guidance on financial procedures and propriety, based on principles set out in Government Accounting and other HM Treasury guidance.
Details of how much the Cabinet Office spent on away days and communication training in the last 12 months is not held centrally and therefore this information is available only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how much was spent by his Department on (a) staff training and (b) communication training in the last 12 months. [153285]
Gillian Merron: The Department spent £2,137,000 on staff training during the 2006-07 financial year, which includes communication training.
The Cabinet Office is committed to staff training which addresses both the identified needs of staff to achieve continued development in line with Professional Skills for Government, and ensures value for money.
Devolution: Codes of Practice
Mr. David Jones: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what discussions there were between Government Ministers and Ministers of devolved Administrations on the preparation of the Ministerial Codes of those Administrations. [159710]
Edward Miliband: Preparation of guidance documents for the devolved Administrations, including the Ministerial Codes of those Administrations, is a matter for the Administrations themselves.
Detail of Ministers' contact with their counterparts in the devolved Administrations is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. There has been no contact between Cabinet Office Ministers and Ministers in the devolved Administrations about the preparation of their Ministerial Codes.
Experience Corps
Greg Clark: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster whether the Experience Corps has paid any fees to the Government with regard to assets accumulated during or as a result of its period of grant funding by the Home Office. [156942]
Phil Hope: The Government provided funding to Experience Corps between 2001 and 2004. From the information available Experience Corps has not paid any fees to the Government with regard to assets accumulated during or as a result of its period of grant funding by the Home Office.
Since March 2004, the programme has continued to run independent of Government funding.
Government Communication Network
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will place in the Library copies of the guidance documents the Government Communication Network has issued to staff in departments in the last three months. [159785]
Gillian Merron: The Government Communication Network (GCN) is a virtual organisation and does not issue guidance. The Government Communication team within Cabinet Office which supports the GCN has not issued any guidance to the network in the last three months.
National Lottery: Grants
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster whether the National Lottery's Community Assets fund is in addition to the Community Buildings Programme. [158192]
Phil Hope: Community Assets is a programme of the Office of the Third Sector in the Cabinet Office, administered on its behalf by the Big Lottery Fund.
The Community Buildings Programme is a three-year £50 million programme being funded from lottery money. The Community Assets Programme is not funded through the lottery and is a completely separate fund.
Official Residences: Ministers
Mr. Maude: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (1) which Ministers occupy the three official ministerial residences in Admiralty House; and on what date each moved in; [158680]
(2) which Minister occupies the ministerial office formerly occupied by the right hon. Member for Kingston-upon-Hull, East in 26 Whitehall. [158684]
Gillian Merron: I refer the right hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister to the hon. Member for Lewes (Norman Baker) and the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar (Mr. Pickles) on 17 October, Official Report, column 1135W.
Prime Minister: Civil Servants
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many civil servants have moved from the Treasury to work in No. 10 or the Prime Minister's offices since May 2007. [159931]
Gillian Merron: No. 10 Downing street and the Prime Minister's offices are part of the Cabinet Office. A total of nine members of staff have joined the Cabinet Office from Her Majesty's Treasury since May 2007.
Voluntary Organisations
Helen Southworth: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what guidance has been given to local authorities and primary care trusts on practical aspects of commissioning of services from the voluntary sector, particularly on (a) funding arrangements for a period longer than one financial year and (b) agreeing common reporting mechanisms where more than one public body is commissioning or funding a service. [160225]
Phil Hope: The pre-Budget report, published in December, established the expectation that three-year funding would be passed on to third sector organisations as the norm rather than the exception and the comprehensive spending review allocated resources on this basis.
Communities and Local Government will shortly publish for consultation Statutory Guidance on ‘Strong and Prosperous Communities’, which will include guidance on three-year grant funding in line with Government commitments on stable funding for the third sector.
For PCTs, the Commissioning Framework for Health and Wellbeing sets out a vision for commissioning within the NHS that acknowledges the need for fair and open procurement and contractual processes which are proportionate, neutral between different types of providers, transparent on pricing and allows for longer term contracts where appropriate.
‘Guidance to Funders and Purchasers’, published by HM Treasury in May 2006, draws together best practice in funding the third sector. It highlights the roles of common data standards and monitoring requirements and the use of ‘lead funders’ to reduce bureaucracy.
Prime Minister
10 Downing Street: Official Hospitality
Norman Baker:
To ask the Prime Minister pursuant to the Answer of 15th October 2007, Official Report,
column 819W, on 10 Downing Street: official hospitality, for what reason he did not provide the information requested on (a) hon. Members, (b) former hon. Members and (c) Peers who are not members of the Labour Party. [160449]
The Prime Minister: I have nothing further to add to the answer I gave the hon. Member on 15 October 2007, Official Report, column 819W.
Departments: Road Traffic Offences
Norman Baker: To ask the Prime Minister how many fixed penalty tickets were incurred by vehicles within the purview of his Department in the last year for which figures are available; and what the total cost was. [157911]
The Prime Minister: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Secretary to the Cabinet Office (Gillian Merron) today.
Departments: Training
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Prime Minister how much was spent by his Office on staff away days in the last 12 months. [153153]
The Prime Minister: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Secretary to the Cabinet Office (Gillian Merron) today.
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Prime Minister how much was spent by his Office on (a) staff and (b) communication training in the last 12 months. [153154]
The Prime Minister: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Secretary to the Cabinet Office (Gillian Merron) today.
Members: Overseas Residence
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Prime Minister if he will bring forward legislation to exclude from membership of Parliament any individual who is not a UK resident for tax purposes. [159985]
Helen Goodman: I have been asked to reply.
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Justice has confirmed to me that the Government have no plans to bring forward such legislation.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |