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17 Mar 2008 : Column 866W—continued
Sudan: Peace Negotiations
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the likelihood of the government of South Sudan withdrawing from peace talks on Abyei. [194238]
Meg Munn [holding answer 17 March 2008]: The Government of Southern Sudan has repeatedly re-affirmed its commitment to finding a lasting resolution to Abyei. We understand the National Congress Party and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement are in negotiations on Abyei; that a sub-committee in the presidency has been established to broker a deal; and they may be close to a final agreement. We stand ready to assist as necessary once an agreement is reached.
Duchy of Lancaster
70 Whitehall
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what the cost to the public purse was of the works at 70 Whitehall associated with planning application 06/09368/FULL; and on what date the works were completed. [193189]
Mr. Watson: The final cost of the works at 70 Whitehall associated with planning application 06/09368/FULL is not yet available as these works are still in progress.
Charities
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster whether he plans to review the criteria for charitable status; and if he will make a statement. [194217]
Phil Hope: The Charities Act 2006 provides a statutory definition of a charity in England and Wales. To be a charity, an organisation must be established for charitable purposes only and those purposes must be for the public benefit. The Government are committed to review the impact of the public benefit requirement within three years of its coming into force. There is also a statutory requirement for a review of the operation of the Act to be underway within five years of enactment, and for the report of that review to be presented to Parliament.
Charities: Private Education
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will make it his policy to withdraw charitable status from (a) private schools and (b) financial institutions. [194216]
Phil Hope: The Government have no policy to withdraw charitable status from any class of charity. The Charities Act 2006 provides a statutory definition of charity in England and Wales. To be a charity, an organisation must be established for charitable purposes only and those purposes must be for the public benefit. It is for the Charity Commission, as the independent registrar and regulator of charities in England and Wales, to determine whether a particular institution is, or is not, a charity.
Community Champions Scheme: Finance
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (1) what factors he took into account in making the decision to discontinue the funding of the Community Champions scheme from April 2008; and if he will make a statement; [192035]
(2) what consultations he undertook with (a) hon. Members, (b) local authorities, (c) the charity sector and (d) other stakeholders before making the decision to discontinue the funding of the Community Champions Scheme from 1 April 2008; and if he will make a statement. [192037]
Jim Knight: I have been asked to reply.
Contracts for this programme were issued by Government offices with a clear end date of March 2008. There was no expectation that they would be extended beyond that date. The decision to confirm that this programme would not continue beyond March was taken as part of the much larger prioritisation process in the 2007 comprehensive spending review. It was not the subject of specific consultation. The decision was informed by DfES priorities expressed through the published five-year strategy, as well as by the approach to working with local areas and funding local activity signalled in the Local Government White Paper ‘Strong and Prosperous Communities’ in October 2006. There has been substantial consultation with the community and voluntary sector over the White Paper reforms.
Departmental Pay
Mr. Drew: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will make a statement on the current dispute between his Department and the Professional and Commercial Services trade union over pay; and what plans he has to renew negotiations. [193240]
Mr. Watson: The Cabinet Office and PCS are engaging constructively through regular meetings to discuss pay, job reductions and relocations, and other issues which form the current PCS civil service-wide dispute.
Homeworking: Data Protection
Mr. Maude: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many home computer users are signed up to receive information from IT Safe. [191045]
Mr. McNulty: I have been asked to reply.
The total number of users including home users signed up to receive information from IT Safe, as at 3 March 2008, is 65,963 email subscriptions.
LinkAge Plus
Greg Mulholland: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what assessment he has made of the LinkAge Plus pilot schemes; and whether he plans to implement the LinkAge Plus scheme nationwide. [184896]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: I have been asked to reply.
Warwick Business School have been commissioned to undertake an over-arching national evaluation of the LinkAge Plus pilots. The project brief is:
To build a robust evidence base to support the case for joined up services in terms of delivering better outcomes for older people;
To build an evidence base that supports the economic, as well as social, case for fully joined up/holistic services for older people;
To test the limits of holistic working; and
To build a body of good practice and lessons learned for other partnerships and communities so as to encourage wider application of the approach, beyond pilot sites.
In addition local evaluators have been appointed by each pilot to test the success of the projects in local terms. Their evidence will contribute to the national evaluation. A series of thematic reports will be produced during the life of the projects with a final summary report scheduled for publication by March 2009. The first thematic report—Towards a Business Case for LinkAge Plus—was published in November 2007 on the DWP website.
The current LinkAge Plus pilots will end their funded activity by October 2008. There are no plans to fund any further pilot activity beyond this date. We are already sharing lessons learned from the pilot activity in order to encourage continuing sustainable joined-up services for older people (for example through the new Social Care Reform Grant).
Planning Permission
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what planning applications his Department has made under the Circular 1884 Procedure to Westminster City Council since May 1997. [193190]
Mr. Watson: The information requested can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Plastic Bags
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many branded plastic bags were purchased by the (a) Cabinet Office, (b) Government Communications Network and (c) Central Office of Information Network in the last 36 months; for what purpose; and at what cost in each case. [194992]
Phil Hope: The information requested is not held centrally and is therefore available only at disproportionate cost.
Plastic Bags: Office of the Deputy Prime Minister
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many branded plastic bags the former Deputy Prime Minister's Office procured; and at what cost. [194993]
Phil Hope: The information requested is not held centrally and is therefore available only at disproportionate cost.
Social Exclusion: Elderly
Greg Mulholland: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what progress has been made in implementing the recommendations accepted by the Government in the Social Exclusion Unit's report, A Sure Start to Later Life, on social exclusion among older people. [184897]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: I have been asked to reply.
The Government have made good progress on the recommendations in ‘A Sure Start to Later Life’. This has included the successful roll out of LinkAge Plus pilots, the introduction of age discrimination legislation, the new PSA focused on older people (to tackle poverty and promote greater independence and well-being in later life), and the development of a National Housing Strategy for Older People, due to be published shortly.
The Sure Start recommendations are now being taken forward by the various strands of PSA 17 which is aimed at ensuring that the specific needs of older people are given due priority.
Voluntary Organisations: Contracts
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (1) what progress has been made on ensuring third sector organisations providing services in Eddisbury are awarded three-year contracts; [195267]
(2) what proportion of contracts awarded to third sector organisations that provide services in Eddisbury are three-year contracts. [195268]
Phil Hope: This Government are committed to ensuring that three year funding for third sector organisations becomes the norm rather than the exception. I will be reporting on Government progress in meeting this funding commitment to HM Treasury on an annual basis. The first report will be made in the autumn 2008 and will be laid before Parliament. It is expected that local authorities will be making reports on three year funding from 2009 onwards.
The information requested is currently not recorded centrally.
Warwick Task Force Group Compact
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster pursuant to the answer of 3 March 2008, Official Report, column 2208W, on the Warwick Task Force Group Compact, which (a) organisations and (b) individuals attended each of the group's six meetings. [193358]
Mr. Watson: The Public Services Forum Task Group is attended by representatives from relevant Government Departments, trade unions, business and the third sector.
Justice
Action for Employment
Nick Herbert: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much his Department and its agencies paid to A4E in each of the last three years. [192498]
Maria Eagle: The spend for services acquired from A4e was as follows:
Former DCA
2006-07: £41.13
Her Majesty's Prison Service
2005-06: £12,654
2006-07: £36,628
2007-08 to date: £10,311
Grand Total: £59,593
The following agencies have a nil spend in the above stated period:
Her Majesty's Court Service
Tribunals Service
National Offenders Management Service
Office of Criminal Justice reform
Office of the Public Guardian
Information on payments made by the non departmental public bodies sponsored by the Department are held by the bodies themselves under separate accounting systems. This information is not held centrally.
Cannabis
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people were (a) proceeded against, (b) found guilty, (c) fined and (d) imprisoned for dealing in cannabis in 2006. [193579]
Mr. Straw: Data showing the number of people proceeded against, found guilty, fined and imprisoned for supply and possession with intent to supply, of cannabis are found in the following table.
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