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28 Nov 2007 : Column 477Wcontinued
Mr. Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many persons were (a) convicted of an offence of carrying a bladed article and (b) received a custodial sentence for such a crime in England and Wales in each of the last six months. [166078]
Maria Eagle: Information on the number of persons found guilty and sentenced to immediate custody at all courts for carrying a bladed article in England and Wales for 2005 are shown in the following table.
Data for 2006 will be available shortly.
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will take steps to ensure that English wine is served exclusively or at the request of guests at meals, parties and receptions hosted by his Department; and if he will make a statement. [164290]
Maria Eagle: Catering services to meet my Department's requirements are contracted out and provided by commercial suppliers.
Where opportunities arise, my Department is committed to increasing the scope for small and medium-sized enterprises by encouraging our larger suppliers to increase their use of local suppliers within their supply chain.
Mr. Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what percentage of (a) beef, (b) lamb, (c) pork and (d) dairy products used in his departmental headquarters were imported products in the most recent period for which figures are available. [166649]
Maria Eagle: I refer the hon. Member to the report published by the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) on 8 November 2007 that gives the proportion of UK produce supplied to Government Departments, NHS and HM Prison Service.
Copies of the report are available on the DEFRA website at:
and have been deposited in the House of Commons library.
James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many officials are employed by the Information Commissioner in investigating potential breaches of the Data Protection Act. [167982]
Mr. Wills: 54 staff work in the ICOs case reception and casework and advice departments. These staff make assessments of compliance under section 42 of the Act.
A further 22 staff are employed in the regulatory action division. This Department uses powers including criminal prosecution, non-criminal enforcement and audit to investigate non-compliance under the Act.
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many (a) EU foreign nationals and (b) non-EU foreign nationals are employed by his Department. [168103]
Maria Eagle:
The Ministry has an obligation under the Civil Service Commissioners Recruitment Code to ensure its recruitment processes are operating under open and fair principles. The MOJ only employs applicants who have the right to work in the UK, and
an individual's nationality is verified before an offer of employment is made. Civil Service rules enable EEA nationals and certain non-EEA family members to be employed as Civil Servants. The Ministry of Justice does not hold central data in respect of the number of EU foreign nationals employed and they could be collected only at disproportionate costs.
There is also a provision that, in exceptional circumstances, foreign nationals, other than EEA nationals and certain non-EEA family members, may be employed by means of an aliens' certificate under the Aliens' Employment Act 1955. This Act empowers the employing Department's Minister, with the approval of the Minister for the Civil Service, to issue a certificate of employment in certain circumstances. Information on the number of staff employed under the Alien's Employment Act 1955 is collected. The Prison Service currently employs one person under the Act and approved by the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Ministry of Justice, with the consent of the Minister for the Civil Service.
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether any of his Department's special advisers have declared a conflict of interest; and if he will make a statement. [164159]
Maria Eagle: Special advisers are appointed under terms and conditions set out in the model contract for special advisers. Copies of the model contract are available in the Libraries of the House. Neither of the Ministry of Justice's special advisers have declared any conflicts of interest to the Ministry since their appointment but they are aware of the need to declare any future conflicts that may arise in the course of their work.
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 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. [164931]
Maria Eagle: The Ministry of Justice employs two special advisers. Details of their remuneration were published on 22 November 2007, Official Report, columns 148-50WS. They are supported by two full-time equivalent support staff. Given this small number of staff, providing cost information could identify an individual's salary, which is confidential between the individual and the employer. Office costs will be accounted for in the 2007-08 departmental annual report and accounts.
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people in his Department and its predecessors earned over £100,000 in each year since 1997. [167196]
Maria Eagle:
All those employees earning base salaries of more than £100,000 per year are members of the senior civil service. The senior civil service reward framework is designed by Cabinet Office and common
to all departments. The pay of all members of the MOJ SCS is within the SCS pay ranges set by Cabinet Office.
Information relating to employees of the magistrates' courts committees prior to the creation of Her Majesty's Court Service in 2005 is not available, therefore the information provided relates to 2004-05 onwards.
Number earning £100,000 or more | |
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many secondments of staff were made (a) to and (b) from his Department in each year since 1997; which organisations staff were seconded (i) to and (ii) from; how many staff were seconded in each year; for how long each secondment lasted; and what the cost was of each secondment in each year. [167242]
Maria Eagle: There is currently no requirement for Departments to hold details of secondment information centrally; information on secondments out of the Department or the destination and cost of the secondments is not held on the Ministry of Justice's internal HR system and can be provided only at a disproportionate cost. However information on secondees into the Department and those who entered the Department on loan from other Government Departments is recorded on the Ministry of Justice's internal HR Oracle system and is detailed in the following table.
Inwards secondments (headcount) MOJ (former DCA including only DCA HQ, HMCS, tribunals, OPG, Scotland and Wales Office) | ||
Secondment headcount | Loan headcount | |
Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many officials in (a) his Department and (b) each of its agencies have private health insurance provided as part of their employment package. [167928]
Maria Eagle: My Department and its agencies do not have private health insurance provided as part of their employment package. 74 officials employed in Her Majesty's Courts Service, one of the Ministry's Executive Agencies, do however retain an entitlement to private health insurance following the unification of the former DCA with the Magistrates' Courts Service on 1 April 2005, and the transfer of former Magistrates' Courts Committee (MCC) employees to the Department on TUPE terms. Of these, 53 officials currently retain an entitlement to private health insurance provided by AXA-PPP Healthcare, six retain an entitlement to annual health screening provided by Nuffield Proactive Health and 15 retain an entitlement to paid membership of a healthcare cash plan provided by Westfield Health. All these schemes were closed to new members on 1 April 2005.
The Ministry has recently offered new terms and conditions to former DCA staff, including former MCC employees. Some legacy allowances that were not part of the new deal, including private health insurance entitlements, will be reviewed with the trade unions through the collective bargaining framework by the end of the current financial year. Any changes will be applied to all affected staff.
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