Written Answers to Questions
Monday 19 May 2008
Wales
Departmental Public Participation
Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how much his Department spent on (a) written consultations, (b) consultation roadshows and (c) stakeholder focus groups in each of the last three years. [205852]
Mr. Paul Murphy: In the last three years, my Department has held two written consultations. The first consultation in 2005, on the Better Governance of Wales White Paper, was completed at a cost of £11,880.38. For the second consultation run in 2007, relating to the Government's 2007 Draft Legislative Programme, the cost to my office was £69.
My office has not held any consultation road shows or stakeholder focus groups in the last three years.
Northern Ireland
Orders and Regulations
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many (a) statutory instruments and (b) statutory rules of Northern Ireland have been (i) made and (ii) revoked by his Department since 1997. [205514]
Mr. Woodward: Since 1997 the Northern Ireland Office has made:
199 Orders in Council;
155 UK statutory instruments which apply exclusively or primarily to Northern Ireland; and
5,702 statutory rules.
These figures include Orders in Council, statutory instruments and statutory rules made on behalf of the Northern Ireland Departments during periods of Direct Rule.
The information sought in respect of the statutory instruments and rules which have been revoked by the Department is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Prime Minister
Legislation
Mr. Harper: To ask the Prime Minister whether he discussed his Government's draft legislative programme with Tony Blair. [206617]
The Prime Minister: I refer the hon. Member to the answers I gave at my monthly press conference on 15 May 2008. A transcript is available on the No. 10 website:
and a copy has been placed in the Library of the House.
Women and Equality
Consultants
Greg Clark: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality what payments the Disability Rights Commission made to (a) Politics International Ltd, (b) Hanover Communications and (c) Positif Politics Ltd in each of the last five years; and on what date and for what purpose the payment was made in each case. [202268]
Barbara Follett: The Disability Rights Commission has made the following payments:
(a) Politics International—paid £1,410.00 on 24 July 2006 for a Politics International Course for a member of staff.
(b) Hanover Communications—no payments made.
(c) Positif Politics Ltd.—paid £587.50 on 24 May 2007 for information services in respect of the Welsh Assembly Election 2007.
Departmental Manpower
Mrs. May: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality how many staff working for the Government Equalities Office are based at 5th Floor, Eland House, Bressenden Place. [201420]
Barbara Follett: The Government Equalities Office has 82 staff. Of these 74 are based on the fifth floor in Eland House and eight Private Office and press staff work alongside the two GEO Ministers in Cabinet Office accommodation in Whitehall and in offices in Parliament.
Departmental Official Visits
David Simpson: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality what the cost was of overnight accommodation for (a) civil servants, (b) special advisers and (c) Ministers in the Government Equalities Office staying overnight in (i) mainland Great Britain, (ii) Northern Ireland, (iii) the Republic of Ireland and (iv) other countries in the last 12 months. [193542]
Barbara Follett: Since its establishment as a separate Department on 12 October 2007 the Government Equalities Office has spent £7,256 on overnight accommodation for civil servants, special advisers and Ministers, in Great Britain and overseas. Of this some £90 is attributable to overnight accommodation for the Minister's special adviser and some £100 to the Minister, both costs being incurred on GEO business in Edinburgh.
Equality
Mr. Harper: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality pursuant to the answer of 30 April 2008, Official Report, column 423W, on equality legislation, what assessment she has made of the consultation process's compliance with Cabinet Office guidelines on consultation, with particular regard to the publication of responses; and if she will make a statement. [206619]
Barbara Follett: The formal Government response to the consultation including a summary of the responses received is being drawn up for publication in compliance with the Cabinet Office guidelines.
Females: Marriage
Mr. Harper: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality pursuant to the answer of 29 April 2008, Official Report, column 262W, on females: marriage, if she will make an assessment of the financial effect on women of changing their surname on marriage, with particular reference to charges for amending official documents. [206618]
Barbara Follett: The Government Equalities Office currently does not have plans to assess the financial cost of women changing their surnames on marriage.
Karian and Box
Mr. Hands: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality what the value was of each contract awarded by the Government Equalities Office to Karian and Box since its establishment. [199637]
Barbara Follett: Since its establishment, the Government Equalities Office has not awarded any contracts to Karian and Box.
Olympics
London 2012: Manpower
Mrs. May: To ask the Minister for the Olympics how many (a) men and (b) women are employed by the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, broken down by pay band. [205386]
Tessa Jowell: Diversity and equality were key components of the bid for London 2012. Although it is a private company which funds itself from sales of sponsorship, merchandise, ticketing and broadcasting rights, the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) nevertheless recognises its high-profile position within the overall London 2012 project. It has implemented a strong diversity and inclusion policy on its recruitment and retention of staff and volunteers that covers gender, race, disability, sexual orientation, religion and age. Five of the 11 members of LOCOG's Management Committee, as published on its website, are women.
LOCOG will shortly publish its Diversity and Inclusion Strategy and will send a copy of this to the House of Commons Library. LOCOG will regularly monitor and report on its performance against the Diversity and Inclusion Strategy.
Olympic Delivery Authority: Manpower
Mrs. May: To ask the Minister for the Olympics how many (a) men and (b) women are employed by the Olympic Delivery Authority, broken down by pay band. [205387]
Tessa Jowell: As of 30 April 2008, the Olympic Delivery Authority is employing 195 members of staff. This consists of permanent staff, fixed term contract staff, and secondments. The breakdown against salary bands is as follows:
| Band | Role | Number | Female | Male |
Olympic Games 2012: Contracts
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Minister for the Olympics what steps have been taken to award 2012 London Olympic Games contracts to companies outside London. [206407]
Tessa Jowell: The London 2012 Business Network has been established to spread opportunities in the London 2012 supply chains to businesses across the country. CompeteFor is a key component of this matching buyers with suppliers, and throughout this process businesses are signposted to business support services. The ODA has visited every nation and region of the UK to engage businesses in the opportunities generated by the Games. The opportunities are there, the network is in place, so as MPs we should do everything we can to ensure businesses in our constituencies sign up and get the support they need to win contracts.
This is not the only way in which the nations and regions of the UK can benefit economically from the Games. There will be business generated outside of the London 2012 supply chains, such as in the tourism and transport industries. The Games also give us the opportunity to develop our inward investment and export potential.
Olympic Games 2012: Wales
Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Minister for the Olympics how many Welsh companies or organisations have bid unsuccessfully for contracts through the Olympic Delivery Authority. [203165]
Tessa Jowell [holding answer 1 May 2008]: Two Welsh businesses that responded to invitations to tender for contracts above the Official Journal of the European Union threshold (according to EU legislation, all contracts from the public sector which are valued above a certain threshold must be published in the Official Journal of the European Union) have not been awarded contracts.
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Minister for the Olympics pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Northampton North of 12 May 2008, Official Report, column 1345W, on contracts: companies outside London, how many and what proportion of the contracts awarded were awarded to companies in (a) Wales and (b) Gwent. [206639]
Tessa Jowell: To date, three contracts have been awarded to businesses and organisations registered in Wales; this represents less than 1 per cent. of the total. Of these, one contract has been awarded to the Office of National Statistics, registered in Gwent. The other two contracts were awarded to John Evans Photography and Strategy and Solution Limited, both registered in south Glamorgan, It is still very early days with the vast majority of supply chain contracts to be awarded, so there will be plenty of opportunities for Welsh businesses to get involved.
The London 2012 Business Network has been established to spread opportunities in the London 2012 supply chains to businesses across the country, opening up supply chains like no other Games before. The opportunities are there, we have the network in place, so as MPs we should do everything we can to ensure businesses in our constituencies sign up and get the support they need to win contracts.
Olympic Games: China
Hugh Robertson: To ask the Minister for the Olympics how many (a) Ministers, (b) Government officials, (c) Olympics Delivery Agency staff and (d) London Organising Committee of Olympic Games members and staff will attend all, or part, of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games; and at what cost. [205719]
Tessa Jowell [holding answer 15 May 2008]: I will attend all of the Olympic Games. Four Ministers will attend for a part of the Games: the Prime Minister; the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport; the Minister for Sport and the Minister for Trade and Investment.
The number of Government officials attending has not yet been finalised, but they will include a private secretary and press officer support to the Ministers. There will also be a small number of officials who will be working to represent UK interests in Beijing, for example through trade opportunities and other events and six officials taking part in the official Olympic Observer Programme to learn lessons for staging the
2012 London Olympic Games. This will be the only opportunity to learn lessons from another summer Olympics before London 2012.
About 17 Olympic Delivery Authority staff are expected to attend. They will aim to learn important operational and logistical lessons to feed into planning for London 2012.
Full costs are not yet known for these visits—details are still being determined. We are working to ensure the best possible price.
There will be no cost to the public purse for London Organising Committee staff attending the Games. Numbers have not yet been finalised, but a significant proportion of LOCOG staff will attend. They will be seconded to the Beijing Organising Committee for about three months; will take part in the official Observer Programme; will take part in the closing ceremony; or will work in the media and operations centre. Again, this will be their last opportunity to learn from a summer Olympics before London 2012.
Defence
Afghanistan: Peacekeeping Operations
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the Answer of 7th May 2008, Official Report, column 831W, on Afghanistan: peacekeeping operations, whether armed forces personnel and Departmental staff are inspected for unauthorised items before departing from theatre. [205122]
Des Browne: Armed forces personnel and civilian staff employed by the Ministry of Defence are inspected for unauthorised items by Royal Military Police before departing from operational theatres.
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