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28 Nov 2007 : Column 440W—continued
Departmental Ministerial Policy Advisers
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the office costs for his Department's special advisers for 2007-08 are expected to be, including costs of support staff; and how many full-time equivalent civil servants work in support of such special advisers. [164920]
Mr. Woodward: One civil servant supports the special adviser in my office. He provides administrative support of a non-political nature in accordance with the code of conduct for special advisers and also provides support to the private offices.
Individual civil servants' salary details are not disclosed in order to protect the privacy of the individual concerned. Office costs will be accounted for in the 2007-08 departmental annual report and accounts.
Departmental Opinion Polls
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what opinion polls the Department has conducted of (a) the public and (b) staff since 27 June 2007; and what the (i) name of the firm employed to conduct the poll, (ii) purpose and (iii) cost to the public purse was in each case. [164944]
Mr. Woodward: The Northern Ireland Office and its agencies have carried out three opinion polls since 27 June 2007. This information is shown in the following table.
Departmental Publicity
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland 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. [167299]
Mr. Woodward: The Northern Ireland Office (including its agencies) 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. These staff costs together with any associated non staff costs could be separately identified only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much his Department and its agencies spent on managing their corporate identities in the last 12 month period for which figures are available. [167344]
Mr. Woodward: The Northern Ireland Office (including its agencies) does not have any full-time equivalent staff responsible for managing corporate identities. 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. These staff costs together with any associated non staff costs could be separately identified only at disproportionate cost.
Health Insurance
Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many officials in his Department have private health insurance provided as part of their employment package. [167927]
Mr. Woodward: No staff employed within the Northern Ireland Office have private health insurance provided as part of their employment package.
House of Commons Commission
Lighting: Waste Disposal
David T.C. Davies: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission, what guidance has been issued on procedures for (a) cleaning up and (b) disposing of environmentally-friendly light bulbs which have been broken. [168313]
Nick Harvey: The instructions are that the cleaning operative, using protective gloves and wearing a mask, should collect the main fragments of the light bulb and carefully place these into a sturdy box. All splinters should then be collected using stiff card or paper. The area should then be cleaned using a damp cloth. The splinters and the cloth should also be placed into the box. Once the area is clear and clean, the box should be sealed and labelled with details of the item. The box should then be taken to the waste removal area in the loading bay and passed to the waste disposal contractor for disposal in an appropriate manner.
Public Accounts Commission
Child Benefit: Personal Records
Mr. Drew: To ask the Chairman of the Public Accounts Commission for what reasons the National Audit Office wanted information from HM Revenue and Customs on all child benefit recipients. [168911]
Mr. Alan Williams: This is not a matter for the Commission. The Comptroller and Auditor General has, by statute, complete discretion in the discharge of his functions, and the Commission therefore does not intervene in the day to day running of the National Audit Office. The hon. Member may wish to write to the Comptroller and Auditor General.
National Audit Office: Data Protection
Tom Brake: To ask the Chairman of the Public Accounts Commission what plans the National Audit Office (NAO) has to review the practices involved in transporting data; whether the NAO (a) uses and (b) plans to continue to use TNT to transport data; and what plans it has to put the transportation of confidential data out to tender. [169387]
Mr. Alan Williams: This is not a matter for the Commission. The Comptroller and Auditor General has, by statute, complete discretion in the discharge of his functions, and the Commission therefore does not intervene in the day to day running of the National Audit Office. The hon. Member may wish to write to the Comptroller and Auditor General.
Transport
Bristol International Airport
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what expansion plans her Department has for Bristol International Airport; and if she will make a statement. [169448]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The Government’s 2003 White Paper “The Future of Air Transport” recognises provision of additional airport capacity as a key driver to generating regional growth and investment, whilst taking account of the environmental impacts of air travel. Within this context airport operators were invited to publish master plans setting out future development proposals.
Bristol International Airport published a master plan in late 2006 setting out detailed medium-term development plans, including expansion of the existing terminal building. Ultimately, it will be for the airport’s operator to bring forward development proposals for consideration through the planning system in the normal way.
Departmental ICT
Gordon Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport which manufacturers’ software is used in her Department. [167221]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The following manufacturers’ software is used in the Department for Transport and its agencies.
Departmental Manpower
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) how many reports have been made to her Department’s nominated officers under paragraph 16 of the revised Civil Service Code since its publication on 6 June 2006; [162468]
(2) how many allegations of victimisation for whistleblowing have been reported to her Department by departmental staff since 6 June 2006; [162469]
(3) when her Department’s whistleblowing procedures were reviewed to reflect the provisions in the revised Civil Service Code. [162470]
Jim Fitzpatrick: I refer the hon. Member to the answers given by my hon. Friend, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for the Cabinet Office on 19 November 2007, Official Report, columns 596-97W.
Departmental Public Participation
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what surveys have been conducted by (a) her Department and (b) external consultants; and how much each survey cost in each of the last five years. [164640]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Publicity
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many full-time equivalent staff are responsible for brand management and marketing in her Department and its agencies. [165229]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The number of full-time equivalent staff currently responsible for brand management and marketing to external audiences in the Department and its agencies is set out as follows:
| Full-time equivalent staff | |
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much her 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. [167296]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The estimated annual cost of staff working on marketing and branding to external audiences in the Department and its agencies is set out as follows:
| Staff cost (£000) | |
It is not practicable to reliably distinguish staff effort on branding alone.
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