Written Answers to Questions
Thursday 3 July 2008
Electoral Commission Committee
Departmental Aviation
Mr. Maude: To ask the hon. Member for Gosport, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission how many individual domestic air flights were undertaken within Great Britain by representatives of the Electoral Commission in the most recent year for which figures are available; and at what cost. [215566]
Sir Peter Viggers: The Electoral Commission informs me that for 2007-08, there were 411 domestic air flights undertaken within Great Britain at a total cost of £52,776.37.
Departmental Buildings
Mr. Maude: To ask the hon. Member for Gosport, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission what the estimated (a) set-up costs and (b) yearly running costs of the Electoral Commission’s new offices in (i) Exeter, (ii) York and (iii) Coventry are. [215491]
Sir Peter Viggers: The Electoral Commission informs me that the set-up costs for the English regional offices totalled £113,800.
These costs break down as: (i) Exeter: £11,400, (ii) York: £11,500 and (iii) Coventry: £47,300. In addition, £43,600 was incurred on costs that are not directly attributable to the individual offices, including the combined joint recruitment process for staff and costs of head office staff in facilitating the set-up of the offices.
The estimated yearly running costs requested are (i) Exeter: £200,000, (ii) York: £281,000 and (iii) Coventry: £219,000. These costs include staffing, accommodation and associated running costs.
Departmental Responsibilities
Mr. Maude: To ask the hon. Member for Gosport, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission how many reviews of electoral regulation the Electoral Commission has conducted or commenced since July 2007; and in which areas. [215628]
Sir Peter Viggers: The Electoral Commission informs me that it has commenced the following reviews of electoral regulation since July 2007.
(i) A review of the legislative framework for Returning Officers’ election accounts and the accounting arrangements operated by Returning Officers at the National Assembly for Wales elections in 2007.
(ii) An examination of key issues relating to the regulation of elections in the United Kingdom, including the legal framework for running elections, the system of funding elections and measures for ensuring accountability of electoral administrators.
(iii) A consultation on regional ballot papers and regional agents as they relate to the conduct of National Assembly for Wales elections.
(iv) A consultation on the registration of political party descriptions.
I am informed that the report of the aforementioned first of the reviews listed was published in March 2008 and that the reports of the others will be published later this year. In addition, the Commission will be publishing reports on the administration of the following elections by the end of July 2008:
May 2008 local elections in England;
May 2008 local elections in Wales; and
May 2008 elections for the Mayor of London and the London Assembly.
Scotland
Departmental Written Questions
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how long on average his Department took to answer (a) ordinary written and (b) named day questions in each of the last three years. [215459]
David Cairns: The information is as follows.
In the 2004-05 Session the Scotland Office:
(a) answered 29 per cent. of 113 ordinary written questions within five sitting days.
(b) answered 57 per cent. of seven named day questions on the day specified.
In 2005-06 Session the Scotland Office:
(a) answered 48 per cent. of 166 ordinary written questions within five sitting days.
(b) answered 89 per cent. of 18 named day questions on the day specified.
In 2006-07 Session the Scotland Office
(a) answered 57 per cent. of 223 ordinary written questions within five sitting days.
(b) answered 71 per cent. of 35 named day questions on the day specified.
Taxation
Miss Begg: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what recent discussions he has had with the Scottish Executive on arrangements for collection of local taxation in Scotland. [216496]
David Cairns: I have had no discussions with the Scottish Executive on arrangements for collection of local taxation in Scotland.
Treasury
Child Tax Credit: EC Nationals
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what has been the average child tax credit payment to EEA nationals resident in the UK in each of the last four years. [215383]
Jane Kennedy: The information requested is not available.
Children: Day Care
Susan Kramer: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much he expects to spend on his Department's child care voucher scheme in each of the next five years; and if he will make a statement. [215798]
Angela Eagle: HM Treasury pays up to £40 per week to staff depending on eligibility. The annual budgeted cost for the voucher scheme is £180,000 and annual spend based on historic usage is likely to be unchanged for the next five years.
Departmental ICT
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what IT contracts his Department and its agencies have entered into in the last two years. [215120]
Angela Eagle: The IT contracts entered into in the last two years by the Treasury Group, which includes HMT, OGC, OGCbuying.solutions and DMO, are as follows:
IS Agency Staff
IS Consultancy
Comprehensive Spending Review website
Participation Agreement with SPRINT (SCC & Dataserv)
Technical support and minor enhancements to Learning Management System (Docent)
Microsoft Enterprise agreements
Data Link between Trevelyan House and 1HGR
Technical Refresh of television service
PC Refresh
Data circuit from London-Norwich
Crystal software maintenance
Firewall design and support
Intranet information architecture survey
Data circuit from London-Leeds
Server Hardware
Business continuity, Cryptos
Apple Mac support service
Storage Area Network
COINS Infrastructure and Servers
Content Management System
AEP Net Remote
Hard Disk Encryption
Laptop Refresh
Data Centre Servers (DCW)
SalesLogix Support, Maintenance and Development
Bond Auction Capture System
Straight through processing (STP) tool support and maintenance
IT Service management tool and licences
Service Desk software system upgrade
Corporate software licensing agreement
Modernised features for the core trading system
Data centre & recovery work space services
Spreadsheet Management Tool support & maintenance
Hardware goods and warranties
Installation and managed provision of IPVPN network connections
Supply and installation of video conferencing equipment and associated network connections including support and maintenance services.
Departmental Pay
Bob Spink: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the average pay per hour worked by (a) permanent and (b) temporary staff in his Department in the last period for which figures are available, broken down by pay band. [212507]
Angela Eagle: Average pay per hour has been obtained from the payroll, which does not differentiate between permanent and temporary staff.
The hourly rate information is based on annual FTE salary as at 1 August 2007.
| Range | Average hourly rate (£) |
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will review salary negotiations for public sector employees in organisations within his Department's responsibility to reflect the rise in the consumer price index to a point above three per cent. [214557]
Angela Eagle: The Government's pay policy is guided by the following principles. Public sector pay settlements should be consistent with maintaining the necessary levels of recruitment, retention and staff engagement needed to support service delivery; ensuring that total pay bills represent value for money and are affordable within departments' overall expenditure plans; and consistent with the achievement of the inflation target. Timing of pay decisions for a particular workforce depends on pay-setting arrangements for that workforce.
Departmental Written Questions
David Simpson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how long on average his Department took to answer (a) ordinary written and (b) named day questions in each of the last three years. [215456]
Angela Eagle: The information requested is not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Treasury Ministers are committed to answering parliamentary questions promptly wherever possible. In the 2004-05, 2005-06 and 2006-07 parliamentary sessions, 79 per cent., 75 per cent. and 71 per cent. respectively of
the named day questions we received were answered on the day nominated by the questioner. In the same three sessions, 84 per cent., 80 per cent. and 83 per cent. of ordinary written questions were answered within a working week of tabling (as provided for in Erskine May, Twenty-third edition, page 342). The corresponding figures for named day questions and ordinary written questions in 2007-08 to date are 60 per cent. and 73 per cent.
Government Communications
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many staff in (a) his Department and (b) its agencies (i) are classified as Government communicators and (ii) have access to the Government communication network. [215098]
Angela Eagle: The number of press officer posts in the Treasury and its agencies, OGD, OGCbs and DMO—remains constant at 13 full-time equivalents. All have access to the Government communication network.
Income Tax: Tax Rates and Bands
Mr. Betts: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the additional yield of an income tax rate of (a) 50 per cent. on taxable incomes exceeding £250,000 per annum and (b) 45 per cent. on taxable incomes exceeding £250,000 per annum. [216411]
Jane Kennedy: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Midlothian (Mr. Hamilton) on 9 June 2008, Official Report, columns 113-14W.
Office of Government Commerce: Postal Services
Justine Greening: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 2 June 2008, Official Report, columns 713-15W, on departmental standards, what the scope was of the Gateway review undertaken in 2005 on the OGC project Postal Services. [215517]
Angela Eagle: There were two OGC Gateway reviews undertaken on the Postal Services project in 2005:
Gateway Review 1—Business justification
The scope of the OGC Gateway 1 Review was to confirm that the business case was robust—that in principle it met business need, was affordable, achievable; that appropriate options were explored and that it was likely to achieve value for money.
Gateway Review 2 — Delivery strategy
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