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3 Jun 2008 : Column 836W—continued
Duchy of Lancaster
Civil Servants: Pay
Jim Cousins: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what the range of pay offers for 2008-09, 2009-10 and 2010-11 is for equivalent grades across Government Departments; and what assessment he has made of the likely effects on flexible working across Government Departments. [195385]
Mr. Watson:
Departments have delegated authority to determine their own pay and grading arrangements below the senior civil service that are tailored to meet their own particular business, operational and workforce needs. Under the delegated pay arrangements, Departments are responsible for managing their own pay negotiations within financial parameters agreed by HM Treasury. Information on pay offers is not held by the Cabinet Office. Cabinet Office officials continue to work with Departments, HM Treasury and the civil service unions to improve the operation of the delegated arrangements,
including action to narrow unjustified pay gaps between Departments for staff doing similar work.
For the senior civil service, for whom pay arrangements are managed by the Cabinet Office, the Senior Salaries Review Body is currently considering pay recommendations for the next three years.
Departmental Catering
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster whether the Cabinet Office staff canteen at 22 Whitehall has been registered with Westminster City Council as a food business premises. [202933]
Mr. Watson: The staff restaurant at 22 Whitehall is operated on behalf of the Cabinet Office by its facilities management provider Ecovert, who registered it as a food business premises.
Government Departments: Data Protection
James Brokenshire: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster whether the Cabinet Secretary's review of data security will specify which Departments have notified the Information Commissioner of data breaches in the last 12 months in light of the Commissioner's recent statement on departmental breaches. [207354]
Mr. Watson: I refer the hon. Member to the written ministerial statement made by my right hon. friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster on 17 December 2007, providing an interim report on progress made to ensure that all Departments and agencies check their procedures for handling data and outlining any steps already taken. Within that report was the recommendation that Departments should cover information assurance within their annual reports. A further statement on Departments' procedures will be made on completion of the review.
Morning Star
Mr. Maude: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many copies of the Morning Star (a) the Cabinet Office and (b) 10 Downing Street purchase each day. [191143]
Planning Permission
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what planning applications the Cabinet Office has made to Westminster City Council in relation to properties in Whitehall since 1997; and what the (a) planning reference number and (b) purpose of each application was. [194405]
Edward Miliband: Since June 2006 all planning applications have been available via the Westminster city council Website:
Prior to June 2006 the information requested can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Treasury
Pre-School Education: Finance
Susan Kramer: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the cost to the public purse of extending the early years education entitlement to (a) two-year-olds in households below 60 per cent. of median income and (b) all two-year-olds. [206904]
Yvette Cooper: The Children's Plan: building brighter futures published by the Department for Schools and Families in December 2007 announced an additional £100 million to extend the offer of up to 15 hours of free early education and childcare to 20,000 two-year-olds in the most disadvantaged communities.
As with the response I gave her on 2 June, Official Report, columns 719-20W relating to extension to the 3 and 4-year-old offer, to estimate the costs of a further extension of the two-year-old offer would require an analysis of childcare costs and other factors at the time of implementation, and of the impact on both supply and demand for provision in the childcare market. Costing a targeted extension would require an assessment any extra cost from targeting and any differences in the cost of making provision available to particular groups.
Justice
Bail Accommodation and Support Service: Weston-Super-Mare
John Penrose: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many and what percentage of the people housed so far in the ClearSprings bail hostel recently established in Weston-Super-Mare are convicted offenders. [207454]
Mr. Hanson: ClearSprings provide private rented accommodation only to those people who are otherwise suitable for release on bail or Home Detention Curfew but who do not have an address. The accommodation are not bail hostels. To date five people have benefited from the service provided by ClearSprings in Weston-super-Mare, which has three bed spaces. One was an offender.
Coroners
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the criteria are for determining coroners’ courts (a) location, (b) relocation and (c) closure of coroners’ courts; what (i) primary and (ii) secondary legislation governs such considerations; what changes have been made to each since enactment; what recent representations he has received on the location of coroners’ courts; and if he will make a statement. [207127]
Bridget Prentice:
Section 5(2) of the Coroners Act 1988 provides that a coroner must hold inquests within his or her district. The Act is silent on relocation and closure of coroners’ courts and there is no other primary or secondary legislation which deals specifically with the location, relocation, or closure of coroners’ courts. The location of the inquest hearing within his or her district is a matter for the coroner and will be subject to the availability of suitable accommodation. I have not received any recent representations on the location of
coroners’ courts. However, from time to time my Department receives representations on problems with the availability of accommodation for inquests. On these occasions, my officials liaise with the coroner, the local authority and, when appropriate, the local court administration to help find a suitable solution.
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many coroners’ courts his Department plans to relocate in the next 12 months; what the reason is in each case; and if he will make a statement; [207128]
(2) how many coroners’ courts have been closed in each of the last five years; and what the reason for closure is in each case; [207129]
(3) how many coroners’ courts have been relocated in each of the last five years; and what the reason for relocation was in each case. [207130]
Bridget Prentice: My Department has no direct responsibilities for the location or relocation of coroners’ courts. Under Section 5(2) of the Coroners Act 1988 a coroner must hold inquests within his or her district. Approximately 30 per cent. of coroners have dedicated court facilities provided to them by their local authority. The remainder use other accommodation including court rooms in magistrates courts on a sharing basis, or accommodation provided by the local authority such as council chambers. Coroners will often use more than one building for holding their inquests, subject to availability and the specific requirements of the inquest. All arrangements for coroners’ court accommodation are made locally and information about the closure and relocation of coroners’ courts is not held centrally.
Departmental Official Hospitality
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the Answer of 19 May 2008, Official Report, column 63W, on departmental official hospitality, how many people attended each reception he hosted. [208113]
Mr. Straw: Pursuant to the answer of 19 May 2008, Official Report, column 63W on departmental official hospitality, in my capacity as Secretary of State for Justice, in the last 12 months I have hosted six receptions for a range of organisations and groups. The number of attendees at each reception is listed as follows:
Reception for Senior Leaders (SCS) from the Ministry of Justice at Selborne House. (100 attendees)
Reception for front line staff and Ministry of Justice stakeholders at Lancaster House. (170 attendees)
Reception for media stakeholders at Selborne House. (70 attendees)
Lord Chancellor’s breakfast. This is an annual event hosted by the Lord Chancellor to mark the beginning of the Legal Year. Senior Judiciary from the UK and overseas are invited. (500 attendees)
Reception for Senior Judiciary following the State Opening of Parliament. (50 attendees)
Reception for media stakeholders at Selborne House. (70 attendees)
Departmental Public Participation
Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what consultants have been contracted by his Department to conduct public participation activities in the last three years; and how much expenditure his Department has incurred on each such contract to date. [206219]
Bridget Prentice: The information requested is in the following table.
| Name of public participation activity | Name of consultancy | Cost of activity (£) | What they were commissioned to do |
|
The Digital Dialogues project investigates the use of online technologies (weblogs, webchats and forums) to promote dialogue between central Government and the public. Examples include online discussion forums on the openness of the family courts at the then DCA. Each stage of the project is followed by an evaluation report | |||
|
Draft Coroners Bill: Users’ experience of the coroners’ courts |
Survey to gather information on recent users’ experience of, and satisfaction with, coroners’ services | ||
|
Draft Coroners Bill: Public Pre-Legislative Scrutiny by Bereaved People’s Panel |
Workshop to enable members of the public with recent experience of the coroners’ service to give feedback to the Government on the measures in the draft Coroners Bill | ||
|
Draft Coroners Bill: Service families’ experiences of the inquest process |
Event to gather information about the experiences of Iraq service families who had gone through the inquest process | ||
|
Facilitated event for Ministerial Youth Outreach Programme hosted by Bridget Prentice as Minister for Youth Engagement. This interactive event called ‘Youth Shout: Your Voice Counts’ was attended by 143 young people (most from primary schools), 19 MPs and 41 councillors | |||
|
Radiowaves Voice It! pilot. Project to encourage and equip 11 to 18-year-olds to become citizen journalists and hold interviews with decision-makers which are published on the Radiowaves website and shared with a global audience | |||
|
‘Participation Partners’: Bespoke coaching support from expert participation practitioners (Involve) to assist with all aspects of public engagement exercises; project evaluation and case studies to be disseminated across government | |||
|
NOMS consultation: NOMS Strategic Plan for Reducing Reoffending |
Organisation and running of national stakeholder consultation event | ||
|
Joint consultation events for Believing we can/NOMS Third Sector Strategy |
Ran consultation events and developed third sector and faith alliances in the East Midlands | ||
|
Joint consultation events for Believing we can/NOMS Third Sector Strategy |
Ran consultation events and developed third sector and faith alliances in the East Midlands | ||
|
35 days’ consultancy work. Contracted to draft MOJ consultation paper, help analyse responses and help produce final strategy paper. Also contracted to help analyse responses to NOMS Third Sector Action Plan and help develop final NOMS Action Plan called ‘Working with the Third Sector to reduce reoffending 2008-2011’ | |||
|
Draft Coroners Bill: Reporting restrictions in coroners; courts |
Workshop to reach consensus among key stakeholders (including media and voluntary group representatives and coroners) on the Bill’s reporting restrictions proposals | ||
|
OCJR consultation: Improving the criminal justice process for young witnesses | |||
|
OCJR consultation: Improving the criminal justice process for young witnesses |
National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children NSPCC (third sector organisation) | ||
|
Radiowaves Voice It! roll-out. The objective of Radiowaves is to help young people develop the knowledge they need to confidently get involved in democratic processes | |||
|
Democratic Engagement: www.peopleandparticipation.net |
Website jointly funded with Communities and Local Government to provide practical help and advice for Government officials on public participation methods etc. | ||
|
Initiative to assess awareness of and attitudes towards Human Rights among both the general public and staff in public services in the Health and Social Care sectors | |||
|
Four Communications were engaged to assist the Campaign Team to strengthen awareness of the Human Rights Act 1998. This involved identifying opportunities for speeches, articles and interviews by MOJ Ministers on the Human Rights Act as well as designing promotional material such as a leaflet promoting the Human Rights Act | |||
|
Facilitate two events for third sector, private sector and public sector providers of criminal justice services and provide feedback | |||
| (1 )Grant funding. (2) First payments of this sum made in 2006. Notes: 1. The following sums are not considered by the Department as relevant for inclusion: Sums paid to the Central Office of Information (COI), as it is a Crown body and Government Department. Sums paid to consultants who advised on the procurement of public participation activities rather than conducting the public participation activities themselves. 2. The figures given are generally rounded to the nearest 100 and inclusive of VAT. | |||
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