| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
24 Oct 2007 : Column 316W—continued
White Fish
Mr. Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the volume of wild bass stocks. [159471]
Jonathan Shaw: Scientific advice from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea in 2004, suggested that the bass stock is fished sustainably. A more recent study assessing bass stocks in British coastal waters by the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas) suggests the biomass of the adult population has approximately doubled between 1995 and 2004, though there is no estimate of the absolute biomass of bass stocks. Catches in the UK fishery increased from 1234 to 2211 tonnes over the same period. Cefas expects to update the stock assessment for bass later this year.
International Development
EU Aid
Mr. Marshall: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether UK aid channelled through the EU may be earmarked by the UK for specific (a) purposes and (b) countries; and if he will make a statement. [160052]
Mr. Thomas: UK aid channelled through the EU cannot be earmarked for specific countries or purposes. This aid is managed by the European Commission, which bases its country allocation decisions on agreed criteria, and develops its strategies for each country on the basis of the development priorities of that country’s Government. The UK and the other member states oversee the Commission’s decisions on aid allocations through attendance at the relevant management committees.
EU Aid: Commonwealth
Mr. Marshall: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the total amount of EU aid to Commonwealth countries was in each of the last five years; and what proportion was attributable to the UK in each year. [160047]
Mr. Thomas: Official Development Assistance (ODA) from EU member states and the EC to Commonwealth countries over the last five years is laid out in the following table:
| Table 1: ODA to Commonwealth Countrie s from EU members and EC, 2001- 05 | ||
| £ million | ||
| EU Members and EC ODA to Commonwealth Countries | UK ODA to Commonwealth Countries | |
| (1 )In 2005, Nigeria received large sums of debt relief of £3,024 million from DAC EU members, of which £1,136 million from UK. | ||
Work and Pensions
Council Tax: Durham
Dr. Blackman-Woods: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in each of the districts of County Durham qualify for council tax benefit but do not claim it. [160633]
Mr. Plaskitt: Estimates of the numbers entitled to, but not claiming, council tax benefit are not available below the level of Great Britain. Latest estimates of the numbers entitled but not claiming at that level can be found in “Income Related Benefits Estimates of Take-Up in 2005-06”. A copy of the report is available in the Library.
Departments: Advertising
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his Department's projected spending is on advertising and promotional campaigns for (a) 2007-08 and (b) 2008-09, broken down by cost relating to (i) television, (ii) radio and (iii) print media. [155888]
Mrs. McGuire: The Department for Work and Pensions runs a number of promotional campaigns aimed at increasing awareness of rights and responsibilities among the general public, benefit claimants and employers. Some of these communications campaigns include advertising through TV, radio and press media and are detailed in the following table.
The table gives the figures for projected media spend to the end of the financial year 2007-08. These figures remain provisional as we continually assess the effectiveness of our activities throughout the remainder of the year.
Projected spend for 2008-9 is not available as budgets have yet to be finalised.
Departments: Contracts
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many and what proportion of contracted provision being delivered by a private sector provider for which his Department is responsible was won against a public sector bid; and what the value is of such private contracts. [154315]
Mrs. McGuire [holding answer 8 October 2007]: The Information is not available in the format requested and could be obtained only at disproportionate costs.
Departments: Manpower
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 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. [158328]
Mrs. McGuire: Information on the number of staff employed by the Department for Work and Pensions as at 31 March 2007 is published by the Office for National Statistics in table 6 of the Quarterly Public Sector Employment First Release at:
This is the key official source of work force numbers for the civil service and provides a breakdown of permanent and temporary employees by Department.
For earlier years, the source is at table A of the Civil Service Statistics publication.
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vink=2899&;Pos=&ColRank=1&Rank=422
For 2005 and 2006, the civil service statistics were not published with the permanent and temporary breakdown so the information is available in the following table.
| Permanent | Temporary | Total | ||||
| Headcount | FTE | Headcount | FTE | Headcount | FTE | |
Statistics on the number of contractors employed by the Department are not published. The civil service statistics represent those employees paid directly from the Department’s payroll. Any contractors employed via agencies and so not paid directly by the Department are not included.
Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 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. [158938]
Mrs. McGuire: The number and percentage of employees above state pension age, of 65 for men and 60 for women, for Departments and Executive agencies is not available from published sources, but information collected from the last Annual Civil Service Employment Survey in September 2006 is in the following table.
| Number of staff | Percentage of staff | |
A total of 2,455 staff in DWP are above state pension age, of 65 for men and 60 for women (1.91 per cent.).
The information requested is not available for non-departmental public bodies.
Departments: Standards
Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many of his Department's public service agreement targets (a) take and (b) do not take account of rural proofing. [159634]
Mrs. McGuire: Over the Comprehensive Spending Review 2007 period (2008-11) the Department has lead responsibility for two PSAs; “Maximise Employment Opportunity for All” and “Tackle Poverty and Promote Independence and Well-being in Later Life”.
The Department and its delivery partners remain committed to taking account of rural issues when delivering services and policies in support of both PSAs.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |