Written Answers to Questions
Tuesday 27 November 2007
Women and Equality
Equality
Jo Swinson: To ask the Minister for Women what consideration the Government gave to inclusion of matters relating to gender identity or gender expression in its definition of equality. [166344]
Barbara Follett: I refer the hon. Member to my written answer of 18 October 2007, Official Report, column 1236W, which stated that the Government’s vision of an equal society is one where there is opportunity for all and responsibility from all.
Wales
Comprehensive Spending Review
Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales pursuant to the oral answers of 21 November 2007, Official Report, columns 1172-77, on the comprehensive spending review and legislative competence, if he will place in the Library copies of the correspondence and paperwork exchanged with National Assembly for Wales Ministers which set out the specific instances and road schemes in Wales affected by clause 109 of the Local Transport Bill. [168942]
Mr. Hain: There has been no exchange of such correspondence between Ministers.
Departmental Data Protection
Mr. Gauke: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many of his Department's (a) computers and (b) laptops have been stolen in 2007; and what the value of those items was. [168602]
Departmental ICT
Gordon Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales which manufacturers' software is used in his Department. [167219]
Mr. Hain: The Wales Office does not record which manufacturers' software is used as all software currently used within the Wales Office is provided by the Ministry of Justice.
Departmental Pay
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many people in his Department and its predecessors were paid over £100,000 in each year since 1997. [167203]
Departmental Publicity
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how much his Department and its agencies spent on staff working on (a) marketing and (b) branding in the last 12 month period for which figures are available. [167295]
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how much has been spent by his Department on advertising in the last 12 months. [167945]
Official Engagements: NAW Deputy First Minister
Mr. David Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how frequently he meets the Deputy First Minister of Wales; and on how many occasions he has done so since the conclusion of the All Wales Accord. [168312]
Mr. Hain: I have met the Deputy First Minister of Wales on several occasions since that date.
Northern Ireland
Departmental Flexible Working
Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many staff (a) have applied to work flexible hours and (b) work flexible hours (i) in his Department and (ii) the executive agencies for which the Department is responsible. [164327]
Paul Goggins: Within the Northern Ireland Office staff are expected to work conditioned hours, however there is a considerable amount of flexibility in the way staff are permitted to work. Flexible working time (that is, a flexible start and finish each day) is available to the majority of staff where operational/business needs permit.
In line with the Employment (NT) Order 2002 the Northern Ireland Office has processes in place to allow staff to request flexible working hours to enable them to balance their family and employment responsibilities. As decisions are made by the business area concerned the information on the number of staff who have applied to work flexible hours under this order is not collated centrally.
The following table shows the number of staff within the NIO who currently work reduced hours, job share or term time.
| Number | |
Departmental ICT
Gordon Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland which manufacturers’ software is used in his Department. [167223]
Paul Goggins: The NIO currently uses the following list of manufactures’ software.
SAP
Oracle
iB Solutions
Croma Photobase
Sopra Newell and Budge
Computer Associates
Seagate
Dataflex
Adobe
Symantec
Microsoft
Tower
Livelink
Kofax
Netiq
Citrix
Commvault
HP
Altris
Websense
Finjan
Sophos
Sandersons
Real Asset Management plc.
Fluent Technology Ltd.
Business Objects
Departmental Manpower
Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people aged (a) 30 to 39, (b) 40 to 49, (c) 50 to 59 and (d) 60 to 69 years have (i) applied for jobs, (ii) received interviews and (iii) gained (A) temporary and (B) permanent jobs in his Department in 2007. [165108]
Paul Goggins: In the main, staff are appointed to the Northern Ireland Office following successful application to Northern Ireland Civil Service competitions. Therefore figures relating to the number of staff who (i) applied for jobs or (ii) received interviews are not available. Table 1 shows the number of staff, in the age ranges specified, appointed to the Northern Ireland Office in 2007.
The Northern Ireland Office did run a recent competition to recruit information technology specialists. While to date no posts have been filled, details of applicants and the number of interviews can be seen in table 2.
| Table 1: Number of staff, in the age ranges specified, appointed to the Northern Ireland Office for the year 2007 | |||
| Age | Temporary staff | Permanent staff | Total |
| Table 2: Number of applicants, in the age ranges specified , for Information Technology posts in the Northern Ireland Office for the year 2007 | ||
| Age | Number of applicants | Number of applicants interviewed |
Departmental Official Hospitality
David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what entertainment or hospitality members of his Department’s management board have received in each of the last three financial years; and if he will make a statement. [164743]
Mr. Woodward: Paragraph 4.3.5 of the Civil Service Management Code sets out the rules on the registration of hospitality. The Government are committed to publishing an annual list of hospitality received by members of departmental boards. The list for 2007 is the first such list and will be published as soon as it is ready after the end of the current calendar year.
Departmental Pay
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people in his Department earned over £100,000 in each year since 1997. [167198]
Paul Goggins: The information requested is shown in the following table.
| Number of staff receiving £100,000 + | |
Departmental Publicity
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many full-time equivalent staff are responsible for brand management and marketing in his Department. [165214]
Mr. Woodward: The Northern Ireland Office does not have any full-time equivalent staff responsible for brand management and marketing. However, from time to time, staff in various parts of the office are engaged in related activities, including maintaining and ensuring the application of corporate branding. Therefore a percentage of their time will be periodically devoted to brand management and marketing activities.
Manpower: Government Departments
Mr. Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the full-time equivalent headcount in his Department is; what the forecast full-time equivalent headcount for his Department is for (a) 2008-09 and (b) 2009-10; and if he will make a statement. [163989]
Mr. Woodward: The National Statistics Public Sector employment figures for the second quarter of 2007 show that the NIO had 140 FTE Home Civil Servants in post. In addition to these staff the Department had 1,367 Northern Ireland Civil Servants in post for the same quarter (excluding its agencies and NDPBs).
The NIO’s CSR07 settlement reduced the Department’s administration cost budget by 5 per cent. year on year, from 2008-09 through to 2010-11. These administration cost reductions will be re-allocated to front line service delivery areas, and so may not have a direct effect on overall headcount numbers. The Department is currently finalising work to allocate its CSR07 settlement across all spending areas and it will then be in a position to establish headcount figures for the three CSR07 years. This information will be available in advance of the start of the 2008-09 financial year.
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