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21 Apr 2008 : Column 1694W—continued
Civil Servants
Mr. Maude: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will place in the Library a copy of the job specification and functions of Downing Street’s (a) Director of Communications, (b) Chief of Strategy, (c) Director of Political Strategy and (d) Head of the Strategic Communications Unit. [198179]
Mr. Watson: Civil servants are appointed under the terms and conditions set out in the Civil Service Management Code. Special advisers are appointed under the terms and conditions set out in the Model Contract and Code of Conduct for Special Advisers, copies of which are in the Library of the House.
Mr. Ancram: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many civil servants working in his Department are related to other civil servants working in the his Department. [198723]
Mr. Watson: This information is not held centrally.
Databases
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what databases are (a) owned and (b) maintained by (i) the Cabinet Office and (ii) its agencies. [185429]
Mr. Watson: The information for the Cabinet Office is as follows:
| Cabinet Office databases | Owned | Maintained |
|
Cabinet Committee Papers—Management and Distribution of Cabinet Committee Papers | ||
|
Central Applications Repository—Civil Service Pensions Administration |
This list does not include all locally-based data collections that sit across departmental networks, the collation of which would incur disproportionate costs.
Departmental Publications
Mr. Maude: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will place in the Library an electronic copy of the Cabinet Office staff handbook. [198177]
Mr. Watson: My Department no longer publishes a staff handbook. The terms and conditions of service that apply to all Cabinet Office employees are readily available to them electronically on the Cabinet Office intranet. The text on the intranet is updated periodically but could only be reproduced at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Sick Leave
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many working days were lost by his Department due to stress-related illness in each of the last 24 months. [198943]
Phil Hope: The most recent published absence data for the Cabinet Office is available for the 12 months ending 31 March 2007, in the Analysis of Cabinet Office Statistics. This is available on the Civil Service Statistics website at:
The number of stress-related working days lost for each of the last 24 months could only be reproduced at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many days sick leave were taken on average by staff in his Department in each of the last five years. [198954]
Phil Hope: The average number of working days lost per person is only available from 2004 and is published on the civil service website at:
Departmental Visits Abroad
Mr. Maude: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what the (a) destination and (b) purpose was of each overseas visit undertaken by staff in the Cabinet Office in the last 12 months. [198278]
Phil Hope: The destination and purpose of each overseas visit undertaken by staff in the Cabinet Office over the last 12 months is not held centrally and is therefore available only at disproportionate cost.
All overseas trips undertaken by Cabinet Office staff are for official business reasons only and made in accordance in the Department’s official travel policy.
Departmental Working Hours
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many hours (a) in total and (b) on average per employee were worked by civil servants in his Department in the last year for which records are available. [195815]
Mr. Watson: Most full-time Cabinet Office employees work 41 conditioned hours per week, including five hours paid meal breaks. The Department also offers employees alternative working patterns under part-time, shift, flexible working or work-life balance policies.
Information on the total and average hours worked by Cabinet Office employees is not held centrally and can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Disclosure of Information
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what guidance he has sent to Government Departments on disclosing the dates and locations of meetings held by Ministers. [185179]
Edward Miliband: It is for individual Departments to decide on the disclosure of details of official meetings taking account of the requirements of the ministerial code, the civil service code, Cabinet Office guidance on drafting answers to parliamentary questions and relevant legislation.
It is long established practice under successive governments that information relating to internal discussions and activities is not normally disclosed.
Employment: Inverness
Danny Alexander: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many (a) employed and (b) unemployed people there were in Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey constituency in each year since 1997. [200089]
Edward Miliband: The information requested falls with the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 21 April 2008:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your parliamentary question asking how many (a) employed and (b) unemployed people there were in Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey constituency in each year since 1997. (200089)
The Office for national Statistics compiles employment statistics for local areas from the Annual Population Survey (APS) following International Labour Organisation definitions. However, data prior to the 12 month period ending December 2004 are not available for this geography due to the redrawing of Scottish parliamentary constituencies in 2005.
Table 1, attached, shows the number of people in employment and the number of unemployed, aged 16 and over resident in the Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey constituency for each of the last three years. Estimates for the 12 months ending September 2007 have also been provided as being the latest data available.
As these estimates are for a subset of the population in a small geographical area, they are based on small sample sizes, and are therefore subject to large margins of uncertainty.
In order to produce estimates for small geographical areas, APS estimates are provided based on survey microdata. These are consistent with the UK population estimates published in February and March 2003, whereas the regional and national estimates published in the Labour Market Statistics First Release are based on more up-to-date population figures, so the two are not directly comparable.
| Table 1: Employment and unemployed in Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey constituency | ||
| Thousand | ||
| 12 months ending | In employment( 1) | Unemployed( 1) |
Internet
Mr. Maude: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many staff are employed by 10 Downing Street in relation to electronic, website and internet communications; and how many were employed on 26 June 2007. [198158]
Mr. Watson: I refer the right hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister to the hon. Member for Fareham (Mr. Hoban) on 28 February 2008, Official Report, column 1797W.
Karian and Box
Mr. Hands: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what the value was of each contract awarded by the (a) Cabinet Office and (b) Prime Minister’s office to Karian and Box since 1997. [199651]
Phil Hope: The Prime Minister’s Office forms an integral part of the Cabinet Office.
The information requested is not held centrally and is therefore available only at disproportionate cost.
Life Expectancy
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what estimate has been made of average life expectancy in (a) Scotland and (b) England. [199970]
Edward Miliband: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated April 2008:
As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your question asking what estimate has been made of average life expectancy in (a) Scotland and (b) England. (199970)
The table below shows life expectancies at birth for males and females for the countries requested. These are ‘period’ expectation of life figures, which are based on the mortality rates experienced in the years 2004 to 2006 by age and gender in the respective country and give the average number of years people would live from birth if they experienced those mortality rates throughout their lifetimes.
| Period expectation of life, 2004 to 2006 | ||
| Males | Females | |
| Source: Interim Life Tables 2004-06, http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk:=14459 | ||
‘Cohort’ life expectancy figures, which allow for projected changes in mortality in later years, are available from the National Statistics website at:
Migration: Statistics
Simon Hughes: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what discussions the Office for National Statistics had with Government departments before the Office’s revised methodology for allocating international migrants to regions and local authority areas was published. [199300]
Edward Miliband: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated April 2008:
As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent question concerning what discussions the Office for National Statistics had with Government departments before the Office’s revised methodology for allocating international migrants to regions and local authority areas was published. (199300).
Over a significant period of time prior to implementation, ONS officials had regular discussions with the key Departmental users of population and migration statistics, specifically:
The Department for Communities and Local Government, given their role with local grant funding;
The Department of Health, including representation on the Technical Advisory Group (TAG) of the Advisory Committee for Resource Allocation (ACRA); and
The devolved administrations.
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