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20 Feb 2008 : Column 716W—continued
Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform
Departmental e-mail
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform if he will take steps to reduce the number of hard copies of e-mails printed by officials in his Department. [179425]
Mr. Thomas:
The Department already makes use of the advantages offered by its ICT technology to minimise the amount of printed material. For example we have an effective Department wide document management system called MATRIX whereby users
are able to store and retrieve e-mails for viewing online rather than printing them out. This service is available to staff whether they are in the office or working remotely. We are also planning an educational initiative for staff to remind them of e-mail best practice, one aspect of which is to minimise the hard copy printing of e-mails and attachments.
Departmental Manpower
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform when his Department’s whistleblowing procedures were reviewed to reflect the provisions in the revised Civil Service Code. [162452]
Mr. Thomas: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Minister for East Midlands (Phil Hope), on 19 November 2007, Official Report, column 596W.
Departmental Pay
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how much his Department and its agencies spent on end-of-year bonus payments in each of the last five years. [171543]
Mr. Thomas: The former Department of Trade and Industry awarded end-year performance awards to Highly Successful performers as part of the annual pay award.
Based on the information available, in the last five years the total amount of Annual Performance Awards is in the table as follows.
| Annual Performance Awards ( 2) | |
| Financial year ( 1) | Total value ( 3) (£) |
| (1) Financial year running from 1 April to 31 March. (2) The Annual Performance Awards for non-SCS staff are paid on a non-consolidated, non-pensionable basis and do not increase the Department’s pay-bill costs each year. For the SCS the Senior Salaries Review Body determines the level of expenditure to cover bonuses. (3) Performance awards make up 1.5 per cent. or less of the Department’s pay bill. | |
The agencies of BERR are Companies House and the Insolvency Service. Information on their bonus payments is an operational matter for the chief executives of BERR agencies and I have asked them to reply to the hon. Member direct. A copy of their replies will be placed in the Libraries of the House.
Departmental Public Relations
Mr. Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many external contracts his Department held with public relations companies since its inception; and what the total cost of those contracts has been to date. [183195]
Mr. Thomas: Central records indicate that for the period June 2007 to February 2008, since the Department’s inception, the total cost of contracts with public relations companies is £387,501.
Departmental Special Advisers
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform who the special advisers in his Department are; what expertise each has; and what the cost of employing them was in the last year for which figures are available. [163421]
Mr. Thomas: My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister issued a written ministerial statement on 22 November 2007, Official Report, column 147-50WS. It gives the names of special advisers in post at 22 November 2007, the special advisers’ pay ranges for 2007-08, the number of special advisers in each pay band by Department and the total pay bill cost of special advisers for 2006-07.
Mr. Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform if he will list the special advisers employed in his Department and its predecessor since 6 May 1997; and what the (a) start and (b) end date of employment was in each case. [184360]
Mr. Thomas: Since 2003, the Government have published on an annual basis the names and numbers of special advisers in each pay band. For the most recent information I refer the hon. Member to the statement made by my right hon Friend the Prime Minister on 22 November 2007, Official Report, columns 147-50WS.
Information on the employment of special advisers prior to 2003 was provided at regular intervals and is available in the Library of the House.
Members: Correspondence
Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform when he will reply to the letter of 2 December 2007 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mrs. Quiligottee, transferred by HM Treasury. [181078]
Mr. Thomas: HM Treasury transferred my right hon. Friend’s letter on 4 December. On 10 December they requested that the letter be transferred back to them and my Department did this on 12 December.
Mobile Phones: Fraud
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what steps he has taken to protect consumers from phishing texts; and if he will make a statement. [180379]
Mr. Thomas: Under the provisions of the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003, any unsolicited text messages are illegal. Text messages should only be sent with the prior consent of the individual subscriber, but there is an exemption where the subscriber has given his or her mobile telephone number direct to a company in the context of the purchase of a product or service. Enforcement is undertaken by the Information Commissioner.
Post Offices: Carbon Emissions
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (1) what recent steps the Post Office has taken to reduce carbon emissions; [186801]
(2) which Post Office branches have been nominated for closure under Post Office Ltd’s closure programme. [186803]
Mr. McFadden: This is an operational matter for Post Office Ltd (POL). I have therefore asked Alan Cook, managing director of POL, to reply direct to the hon. Member.
Copies of the letter will be placed in the Libraries of the House.
Post Offices: Closures
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (1) what steps he is taking to encourage the public to participate in promoting the post office closure consultation, [187229]
(2) how many households in each London borough will be sent the Post Office’s consultation paper when the list of recommended closures is published on 19 February. [187230]
Mr. McFadden: This is an operational matter for Post Office Ltd. (POL). I have therefore asked Alan Cook, Managing Director of POL, to reply direct to the hon. Member.
Copies of the letter will be placed in the Libraries of the House.
Mr. Moss:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform which post offices are proposed for closure under the consultation process
due to begin in July 2008 in (a) Cambridgeshire and (b) North East Cambridgeshire constituency. [187321]
Mr. McFadden: This is an operational matter for Post Office Ltd. (POL). I have therefore asked Alan Cook, Managing Director of POL, to reply direct to the hon. Member.
Copies of the letter will be placed in the Libraries of the House.
Post Offices: Pendle
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform if he will instruct the Post Office to publish the subsidy received by each post office branch in Pendle that is scheduled for closure. [186486]
Mr. McFadden: This is an operational matter for Post Office Ltd. (POL). I have therefore asked Alan Cook, Managing Director of POL, to reply direct to my hon. Friend.
Copies of the letter will be placed in the Libraries of the House.
Post Offices: Scotland
Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many post offices there were in Scotland at the end of January 2007. [187042]
Mr. McFadden: This is an operational matter for Post Office Ltd. (POL). I have therefore asked Alan Cook, Managing Director of POL, to reply direct to the hon. Member.
Copies of the letter will be placed in the Libraries of the House.
Regional Development Agencies: Expenditure
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how much each regional development agency spent on (a) consultants, (b) IT systems, (c) advertising and (d) branding in each of the last five years. [182795]
Mr. McFadden: The following table shows how much each regional development agency spent on consultants, IT systems, advertising and branding in each of the last five years.
| £000 | ||||||||||
| Consultancy( 1) | IT systems( 2) | |||||||||
| RDAs | 2002-03 | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2002-03 | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 |
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