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22 Apr 2008 : Column 2029W—continued
Children: Protection
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what recommendations from the Laming report into the death of Victoria Climbie have yet to be implemented. [186767]
Kevin Brennan:
This Government launched a radical programme of reform in response to Lord Laming’s Inquiry into the death of Victoria Climbié. Through the Children Act 2004 we have put in place a much stronger framework for children's services and particularly for safeguarding children. The Government’s detailed response to the recommendations of the Victoria Climbié Inquiry Report was set out in “Keeping Children Safe” which was published in 2003, alongside the Green Paper “Every Child Matters”. The actions the Government committed to undertaking in response to Lord Laming’s recommendations have been carried out or are ongoing, an exception is the revision of guidance on the Children Act 1989. Volume 1, on Court Orders, has been revised and published, and many of the key messages which “Keeping Children Safe” said were to be incorporated in the revised Children Act 1989 guidance have been incorporated into other guidance documents and standards. We plan to revise further volumes of the 1989 guidance
next year, taking into account commitments announced in Care Matters: Time for Change, proposed legislative changes through the Children and Young Person’s Bill currently going through Parliament, and proposed revisions to the National Minimum Standards for children’s social care.
Departmental Advertising
Mr. Pope: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much his Department spent on publicity and advertising in 2007-08. [198982]
Kevin Brennan: Promotional campaigns, including those using advertising, are funded from the Department’s central advertising and publicity budget and from individual programme budgets held by policy directorates. The Department employs advertising agencies and public relations agencies for specific communications tasks, most commonly working alongside our press office to provide local and regional campaign support.
Once all payments have been finalised, the predicted spend from the advertising and publicity budget for 2007-08 is £11.8 million. In addition to funding promotional campaigns, this budget also covers a wide range of other publicity activity (including magazine production and infrastructure costs such as mailing and storage of departmental publications).
The spend on promotional campaigns from individual policy directorate programmes cannot be separately identified, except at disproportionate cost.
However, it is possible to separate all the Department’s spend on advertising and publicity, as this is centrally placed through the Central Office of Information. For 2007-08, the Department spent £1,567,144 on PR and £5,160,218 on advertising.
Departmental Alcoholic Drinks
Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families at how many events held by his Department (a) wine and (b) Fairtrade wine were served in the last three years; and what assessment his Department has made of the merits of serving Fairtrade wine at future events. [196939]
Kevin Brennan: Data on the number of events held by this Department where (a) wine was served and (b) Fairtrade wine was served are not held centrally. Gathering this information would be at a disproportionate cost.
Departmental Carbon Emissions
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families whether his Department has adopted the Carbon Trust’s Carbon Management Programme or plans to do so in the next 12 months. [198042]
Kevin Brennan:
The Carbon Trust completed a review of our Headquarters estate in 2006. Their findings have been adopted within our Sustainable Operations Environmental Management System carbon management action plans. The Department did not take up the
Carbon Trust carbon management programme on the basis that these reviews had been undertaken.
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families whether his Department met the target in the Sustainable Operations on the Government Estate initiative to reverse the upward trend in carbon dioxide emissions by April 2007. [198043]
Kevin Brennan: I am pleased to report that the Department has met the Sustainable Operations on the Government Estate target to reverse the upward trend in carbon emissions by April 2007.
Departmental Cost-effectiveness
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what progress his Department has made in its zero-based budget review under the Comprehensive Spending Review. [191494]
Kevin Brennan: I refer the hon. Member to the annex pertaining to my Department in “Meeting the aspirations of the British people: the 2007 Pre-Budget Report and Comprehensive Spending Review” (Cm 7227).
In addition to this, my Department published its delivery agreement at the end of 2007. This delivery agreement explains how my Department will achieve its value for money efficiency gains during the comprehensive spending review 2007 (CSR07) which covers the period 2008-09 to 2010-11. The document
details the major reforms, changes and initiatives the Department intends to undertake in order to achieve its savings ambition. This document is available on our website at:
The Department will report further progress under the CSR07 through existing departmental reporting processes.
Departmental Internet
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much was spent on the most recent redesign and implementation of his Departmental website. [200162]
Kevin Brennan: The most recent redesign and implementation of the Department’s website cost £6,345.
Departmental Manpower
Dan Rogerson: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many (a) permanent Civil Service posts, (b) permanent non-Civil Service posts and (c) temporary or agency workers in employment there were in his Department in each month since May 2005. [199628]
Kevin Brennan: The Department was formed as part of the Machinery of Government changes announced on 28 June 2007, so figures are only available from July 2007 as set out in the following table:
| Permanent civil servants | Permanent non-civil servants | Temp civil servants | Agency workers | |
Departmental Pay
Dan Rogerson: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what the cost of (a) salaries for permanent Civil Service posts, (b) salaries for permanent non-Civil Service posts and (c) payments to temporary or agency workers in his Department was in each month since May 2005. [199629]
Kevin Brennan: The Department was set up in 28 June 2008. The information is not available centrally in the form requested and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. However, the annual spend to 31 March 2008 for permanent civil service posts was £120 million including overtime, and temporary and agency workers was £1.9 million and £0.8 million respectively.
The Department has no permanent non-civil service posts.
Departmental Property
Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many residential properties his Department owns; how many of these are vacant; and how many of these have been vacant for longer than (a) three, (b) six and (c) 12 months. [192982]
Kevin Brennan: The Secretary of State for Children Schools and Families does not own any residential properties.
Departmental Sick Leave
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many days sick leave were taken on average by staff in his Department and its predecessor in each of the last five years. [198961]
Kevin Brennan: The average number of sick days for staff in my Department is set out in the following table:
| Calendar Year( 1) | Average number days lost through sick leave per staff year |
| (1) Figures for calendar years 2003-06 relate to the former DFES. The figure for calendar year 2007 relates to the DCSF over a six month period only (July-December). | |
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many of his Department’s staff took more than (a) five, (b) 10, (c) 15, (d) 20, (e) 25, (f) 30, (g) 35 and (h) 40 days leave due to stress in each of the last five years, broken down by pay grade. [198979]
Kevin Brennan: The breakdown of days sickness absence due to stress in the Department could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. The Department normally collects the information quarterly. For the last recorded six months period (July to December 2007), 15 per cent. of all working days lost due to sickness absence could be attributed to stress-related conditions.
The Department has put in place a range of measures to support managers and employees on health and well-being issues, including the provision of professional counselling and support from the Department’s Employee Assistance Provider, Right Corecare. The Department has also piloted a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) Stress Questionnaire in one part of the organisation and conducted Individual Stress Risk Assessments for employees who require them. It will shortly be launching a comprehensive Stress Prevention Policy, based on HSE Management Standards.
Departmental Sustainable Development
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families when his Department plans to publish its sustainable operations policy statement. [195894]
Kevin Brennan: The Department’s updated Sustainable Development Action Plan (SDAP) for 2008-10 is due for publication at the end of April 2008. This will include our sustainable operations policy statement and an associated delivery plan will track our progress towards meeting the Government’s targets for sustainable operation of the estate.
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families whether his Department is on course to meet Sustainable Operations on the Government Estate targets (a) to source at least 10 per cent. of its electricity from renewables by 31 March 2008 and (b) to increase recycling figures to 40 per cent. of waste by 2010. [198041]
Kevin Brennan: The latest published information on Sustainable Operations on the Government Estate report for 2007 noted that my previous Department the Department for Education and Skills achieved the following results:
(a) good progress made on the target to source at least 10 per cent. of electricity from renewables by 31 March 2008 and noted as being on track.
(b) excellent progress made on the target to recycle 40 per cent. of waste by 2010 with the target already met.
Departmental Training
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many staff in his Department have attended the (a) Influencing with Integrity, (b) Emotional Intelligence, (c) Counselling Skills for the Workplace, (d) Managing your Confidence, (e) Balancing Work/Life Realities and (f) Working Assertively training course run by the National School of Government in the last 12 months for which information is available; and at what cost. [197057]
Kevin Brennan: In the last 12 months, my Department has funded the following places on the National School for Government events tabled as follows:
| Event | Place | Total cost (£) |
The total spend on these events was £2,567.
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