Written Answers to Questions
Wednesday 5 March 2008
House of Commons Commission
Big Ben: Visits
Bob Spink: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission how many public tours were made of the Clock Tower in each of the last five years. [191296]
Nick Harvey: 1,674 groups comprising 7,460 individuals visited the Clock Tower in 2007. Records were not kept for previous years.
Freedom of Information
Mr. Winnick: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission by what means hon. Members are consulted before cases involving the House are brought before the Freedom of Information Tribunal; what the total cost to the House has been of such cases to date; and if he will make a statement. [190771]
Nick Harvey: The House has appealed to the Information Tribunal on three separate occasions: twice in respect of hon. Members’ travel expenses and once in respect of information about the Additional Costs Allowance. In each case before lodging an appeal, the Members Estimate Committee—the body responsible for giving advice on matters connected with the allowances—was consulted. In each case the Committee took the view that as hon. Members held divergent views on the extent to which such information should be made available to the public it was appropriate that the level of disclosure should be considered by the Tribunal. In addition, where the appeals related to the allowances of named individuals, the Members concerned have been kept informed at each stage of the process.
The total external legal costs of the two previous appeals and the cost to date for the most recent appeal is £51,947. Other legal and staff costs including those relating to advice from the House’s Legal Services Office and those associated with staff time are not separately available.
Parliamentary Archives: Visits
Bob Spink: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission how many members of the public visited the Parliamentary Archives in Victoria Tower in each of the last five years. [191280]
Nick Harvey: The number of visits by members of the public in organised groups to the Parliamentary Archives’ repository in the Victoria Tower was 225 (20 groups) in 2003-04, 360 (26 groups) in 2004-05, 495 (40 groups) in 2005-06, 442 (39 groups) in 2006-07, and 412 (41 groups) in 2007-08.
Press
Mr. Kilfoyle: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission how much was spent in each of the last two years on the refurbishment of the Press restaurant. [190304]
Nick Harvey: The final cost to the House of the recently completed refurbishment of the Press Gallery was £8.2 million. This is higher than the figure of £7.7 million given on 16 October 2007, Official Report, column 947, because there were additional costs for removing asbestos and contractors final claims. As well as modern office accommodation, the improved facilities include a new kitchen and a multi-purpose restaurant and café/bar.
Mr. Kilfoyle: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission, what the costs to the Commission were of the provision of facilities to the Parliamentary Press Gallery in each of the last five years. [190305]
Nick Harvey: The direct resource cost of the provision of facilities to the Parliamentary Press Gallery over the past four years—as long as records are retained—has been as follows:
| £ | |||
| Support staff | Catering | Total | |
Wales
Departmental Cost Effectiveness
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what progress his Department has made in its zero-based budget review under the comprehensive spending review. [191477]
Mr. Paul Murphy: The Wales Office comprehensive spending review settlement was agreed, with HM Treasury, as a three year settlement, fully taking account of efficiency savings.
Further information on the budget of the Wales Office will be contained in the Wales Office annual report, due to be published later this year.
Mineral Waters
Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many litres of bottled water were purchased by his Department in each of the last three years; and if he will make a statement. [191244]
Mr. Paul Murphy: My Department has used the following amounts of bottled water, in the last three years.
| Litres | |
My Office, in line with Government initiatives on sustainable development, is exploring possibilities of installing filter taps to provide a drinking water tap in the kitchen at my London office. The water is used for water coolers. No additional bottled water is purchased.
My Cardiff office is fitted with a filter tap for drinking water.
Northern Ireland
Assets Recovery Agency: Serious Organised Crime Agency
Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what discussions he has had with the Police Service of Northern Ireland Chief Constable on the transfer of the Assets Recovery Agency to the Serious Organised Crime Agency. [189381]
Paul Goggins:
I have discussed issues relating to asset recovery with the Chief Constable in the course of my
regular meetings, including the merger of the Assets Recovery Agency with the Serious Organised Crime Agency.
All law enforcement agencies in the Organised Crime Task Force—the Police Service of Northern Ireland, HM Revenue and Customs, Assets Recovery Agency and Serious Organised Crime Agency—are currently working together to draw up the Northern Ireland assets recovery action plan for 2008 to 2010, which I intend to publish by the spring.
Crime: Drugs
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much (a) cocaine, (b) heroine, (c) ecstasy, (d) amphetamine and (e) cannabis was seized in Northern Ireland in each of the last 12 months. [186984]
Paul Goggins: The latest figures available for the seizures requested cover the period from 1 April 2006 to 31 March 2007. These are shown in the following table.
| Cocaine, Heroin, Ecstasy, Amphetamine and Cannabis Seizures, 1 April 2006 to 31 March 2007 | |||||||||||||
| Drugs seized | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sept | Oct | Nov | Dec | Jan | Feb | Mar | NI Totals |
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