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25 Jun 2008 : Column 311W—continued
Departmental Transport
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice when each of his Department’s and its agencies’ green transport plans were introduced; and if he will place in the Library a copy of each such plan. [209247]
Mr. Wills: Following the creation of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), a high-level transport plan is currently being developed to help reduce the environmental impact of travel.
Parts of the MoJ have created transport plans and are implementing these within their individual areas.
The MoJ transport plan is expected to be complete by summer 2008 and a copy will be placed within the Library when complete.
Departmental Vetting
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what procedures his Department follows for checking the criminal records of employees; and if he will make a statement. [213136]
Mr. Wills: The Ministry of Justice applies the Cabinet Office Baseline Personnel Security Standard for recruitment to the civil service. This includes a check on each individual’s identity, employment history, nationality or immigration status and criminal record. More rigorous procedures may additionally be applied depending on the security status of the role or its location.
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what percentage of successful applicants for jobs in his Department are subjected to a criminal records check; how many (a) successful applicants and (b) criminal records checks there were in each of the last 10 years; how many successful applicants were found to have a criminal record after a criminal records check took place in each of the last 10 years; whether the selection of successful candidates to be subjected to a criminal records check is random or targeted; and if he will make a statement. [213156]
Mr. Wills: My Department does not hold this information centrally and it is, therefore, not possible to collate it without incurring disproportionate costs.
Criminal Records Bureau checks are completed for certain posts dependant on location and role.
Electoral Register
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what guidance he has issued to electoral registration officers on following up non-responses to the electoral canvas (a) by post and (b) via a home visit; what monitoring his Department has undertaken of implementation of this guidance; and if he will make a statement. [212923]
Bridget Prentice: Section 9 of the Electoral Administration Act 2006 placed a new duty on electoral registration officers to take all necessary steps to maintain the electoral register, including sending the annual canvass form more than once and making house visits.
Responsibility for issuing guidance to electoral registration officers on electoral registration lies with the Electoral Commission and thus my Department has not made any assessment about the level of compliance with guidelines for following up non-responses to the electoral canvass.
The Act includes a provision for the Electoral Commission to introduce new performance measures for electoral registration officers. The Electoral Commission is currently developing these standards and the final standards will be published in July 2008, a copy of which will be laid before the House. This will give us a better understanding of the actions being taken to increase registration.
Electorate
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many and what proportion of registered voters there were in each constituency (a) in the first year after the most recent Boundary Review and (b) in the most recent period for which figures are available, ranked in descending order of number of electors. [211442]
Mr. Watson: I have been asked to reply.
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 25 June 2008:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your questions asking how many and what proportion of registered voters there were in each constituency (a) in the first year after the most recent Boundary Review and (b) in the most recent period for which figures are available, ranking in descending order of number of electors. (211442).
Figures for the Parliamentary electorate for each parliamentary constituency for 1997 and 2007 are provided in Tables 1 and 2. Copies of the tables have been placed in the House of Commons Library.
The Office for National Statistics does not hold data for the population eligible to vote in parliamentary elections, which includes British Citizens resident overseas and excludes foreign citizens (from outside the British Commonwealth and Republic of Ireland) resident within the England and Wales. It is not therefore possible to provide the proportions requested.
Islam
Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will make it his policy to record the number of cases brought before the courts in England and Wales for crimes committed against persons arising from their having left the Islamic faith. [209517]
Maria Eagle: We do not have any plans to introduce a data collection to provide the information requested since the cost would be disproportionate. The courts always take mitigating and aggravating circumstances into account when sentencing an offender. This can include circumstances relating to faith or change of faith, if they are relevant to the offence. However, aggravating or mitigating factors are not collated as part of our data collection. As these factors cover an enormous range and variety of circumstances, to do so would be complex and extremely resource intensive.
Prime Minister
Departmental Public Expenditure
David Simpson: To ask the Prime Minister how much was spent on (a) new furnishings, (b) art and (c) new vehicles by his Office in each of the last three years. [213524]
The Prime Minister: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office (Mr. Watson) today.
Departmental Television
Mr. Maude: To ask the Prime Minister to what premium Sky, digital terrestrial or cable television channels Downing street subscribes; and at what annual cost in the most recent period for which figures are available. [210894]
The Prime Minister: I refer the right hon. Member to the answer given to him by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office (Phil Hope) on 24 June 2008, Official Report, column 238W.
Post Offices: Closures
Bob Spink: To ask the Prime Minister if he will visit post offices in Castle Point to discuss the Government's policy on closures; and if he will make a statement. [213040]
The Prime Minister: I have no current plans to do so.
Wood
Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Prime Minister (1) how much timber and timber products were procured by his Office in each of the last five years; and at what cost; [213770]
(2) how much timber and timber products were procured by his Office originating from independently verified legal and sustainable sources or from a licensed FLEGT partner in each of the last five years; and at what cost. [213771]
The Prime Minister: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office (Phil Hope) today.
Wales
Departmental Pay
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many and what proportion of staff in his Department received bonus payments in each of the last five years; what the total amount of bonuses paid has been; what the largest single payment was in each year; and if he will make a statement. [213292]
Mr. Paul Murphy: The Wales Office has only made bonus payments in the last two financial years.
In 2006-07, three members of staff received bonuses, representing five per cent. of the workforce. All of the bonuses together came to £862.30 before tax, and the largest single payment was £362.30.
In 2007-08, four members of staff received bonuses, representing seven per cent. of the workforce. All of the bonuses together came to £1,250.00 before tax, and the largest single payment was £350.00
Departmental Sick Leave
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what the average number of days taken as sick leave in his Department was in each of the last five years for which information is available; and if he will make a statement. [213202]
Mr. Paul Murphy: Figures for the level of sickness absence at the Wales Office are available for each financial year since April 2004.
The average number of days of sickness absence is as follows:
| Days | |
| (1 )Average is skewed by isolated incidents of long term sickness absence. | |
Departmental Vetting
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what percentage of successful applicants for jobs in his Department are subjected to a criminal records check; how many (a) successful applicants and (b) criminal records checks there were in each of the last 10 years; how many successful applicants were found to have a criminal record after a criminal records check took place in each of the last 10 years; whether the selection of successful candidates to be subjected to a criminal records check is random or targeted; and if he will make a statement. [213159]
Mr. Paul Murphy: The Wales Office was created in 1999. It only recruits existing civil servants and does not conduct criminal records checks itself.
All staff are required to have Counter Terrorism Clearance (and in some cases Developed Vetting). This includes disclosure of all criminal convictions (spent and unspent).
Some staff have active clearance when they join us. Others are cleared on appointment. This is undertaken by the Ministry of Justice, and details of criminal records checked are not disclosed to us.
Providing numbers appointed and number of clearances requested over the past nine years could be achieved only at disproportionate cost.
Culture, Media and Sport
Advertising: Broadcasting
Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (1) how many minutes of advertising were broadcast per hour of commercial television programming in each year since 1979; [212591]
(2) how many minutes of advertising were broadcast per hour of children's television programming in (a) the last period for which figures are available and (b) each year since 1979. [212592]
Andy Burnham: The information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
EU Directives currently impose a maximum limit of 12 minutes of advertising per hour on television. This is also subject to an EU maximum average of nine minutes per hour. Within this European framework, the rules set by Ofcom impose further limits on public service channels which are subject to an overall maximum average of seven minutes per hour, and a specific average of eight minutes per hour between 6pm and 11pm. These restrictions are set out in Ofcom's rules on the amount and distribution of advertising. The limits do not include the amount of time that channels may use for promoting their programmes. Nor do they include ‘teleshopping windows’, which involve direct offers to viewers to purchase goods and services, for example by placing an order by telephone or e-mail. Ofcom requires broadcasters to comply with these rules, and receives independently-sourced data on many channels, including the public service channels.
Under the new Audio Visual Media Services Directive, the European framework for advertising regulation has been revised and Ofcom recently consulted on whether to make changes to the UK rules. Ofcom aims to announce its decision later this year.
Departmental Buildings
Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how frequently his Department restates the asset values of its building estate. [213394]
Mr. Sutcliffe: For DCMS as an entity, freehold land is restated to current value every five years using professional valuations in accordance with FRS 15. The freehold land was last valued professionally as at 31 March 2006. Assets have not been restated using appropriate indices because the modified historic costs are not materially different to the historic costs, therefore the historic costs have been shown in the balance sheet.
The Royal Parks properties are revalued as part of a five year rolling programme, using a methodology in line with the Government financial reporting manual (FreM). From 1 April 2007 The Royal Parks changed its policy on Government index revaluations. The Royal Parks considers that these revaluations do not have a material effect and as allowed under FRS15 has discontinued Government index revaluations for assets that are not physically revalued. These assets are shown at their 31 March 2007 current cost less depreciation.
Departmental Manpower
Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many jobs his Department expects to relocate under the policy of civil service job dispersal. [213393]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Although the DCMS has no plans to relocate posts, over 950 posts from our sponsored bodies are planned to relocate by 2010. This exceeds by over 50 per cent. the Department's agreed target of 600 relocated posts. To date, 661 posts from DCMS sponsored bodies have relocated already.
Digital Broadcasting
Sir Peter Soulsby: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what progress has been made on digital switchover; and if he will make a statement. [212601]
Andy Burnham: Overall, switchover in Copeland was successful, although we do realise that there are lessons to be learned.
This experience will help with work being done in the area surrounding the Selkirk transmitter which is the next place scheduled for switchover. Progress here is good: 99 per cent.(1) of households are aware of switchover (compared with 90 per cent.(1) nationally) and 82 per cent.(1) have digital television services already. Digital UK are continuing to work in the area, building on their communications work and the Digital Switchover Help Scheme (DSHS) has started to operate in the region.
(1) Ofcom/DUK DSO Tracker—Q1 2008
Sir Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent assessment he has made of progress in digital switchover. [212758]
Andy Burnham [holding answer 23 June 2008]: Overall, switchover in Copeland was successful, although we do realise that there are lessons to be learned.
This experience will help with work being done in the area surrounding the Selkirk transmitter which is the next place scheduled for switchover. Progress here is good.
99 per cent.(1) of households are aware of switchover (compared with 90 per cent(1) nationally) and 82 per cent.(1) have digital television services already. Digital UK are continuing to work in the area, building on their communications work and the Digital Switchover Help scheme (DSHS) has started to operate in the region.
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