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9 July 2008 : Column 1644W—continued
Procedures for reimbursing staff expenses are set out in their staff handbooks and are in line with the provisions set out in the Civil Service Management Code. The code can be viewed at:
Departmental Planning Permission
Mr. Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what (a) planning applications and (b) licensing applications his Department has submitted in the last 24 months. [215541]
Mr. Woodward: My Department has not submitted any planning or licensing applications in the last 24 months.
Departmental Press
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much was spent by his Department on subscriptions for magazines, newspapers and other publications in each of the last 24 months. [215204]
Mr. Woodward: The Northern Ireland Office’s total expenditure on newspapers and other publications for the last 24 months are shown in the following table; it is not possible to identify the costs which relate to subscriptions.
| £ | ||
| Month | Newspapers expenditure | Other publications expenditure |
| Note: Expenditure for magazines is included within the other publications expenditure and could be provided separately only at disproportionate cost. | ||
Departmental Public Expenditure
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much his Department spent on (a) new furnishings, (b) art and (c) new vehicles in (i) 2006-07 and (ii) 2007-08. [213767]
Mr. Woodward: The Northern Ireland Office records expenditure for new furnishings under the description of furniture and no specific budget is set aside for the purchase of art works. The Department also has fit-out costs for its buildings, this may include expenditure on furniture but it is not possible to isolate these costs.
The Northern Ireland Office has not purchased any new vehicles during these periods.
| Furniture (£) | |
Departmental Vetting
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what procedures his Department follows for checking the criminal records of employees; and if he will make a statement. [213135]
Mr. Woodward: All appointees to the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) are subject to the requirements of HMG Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS). This includes a criminal record check by AccessNI of unspent convictions.
For posts included within the scope of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 and the Rehabilitation of Offenders (Northern Ireland) Order 1978 (Exceptions) Order 1979 spent convictions and cautions are also checked.
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland 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. [213155]
Mr. Woodward: All successful applicants for jobs in the NIO are subjected to a criminal records check; these checks are not on a random or targeted basis but are compulsory pre-employment checks.
Recruitment to the Northern Ireland Office and the 11 NI Departments is administered centrally. The detailed information requested on successful applicants and criminal records checks is not available for individual Departments.
Departmental Visits Abroad
Mr. MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the cost of overseas visits by each Minister in his Department has been since 1997. [214657]
Mr. Woodward: Since 1999 the Government have published the total cost of all overseas travel by Ministers and a list of all overseas travel by Cabinet Ministers costing over £500. Information for the last financial year was published on 25 July 2007, Official Report, column 1112W. Details for the financial year 2007-08 will be published before the summer recess and will include details of overseas visits undertaken by all Ministers. All ministerial travel is undertaken in accordance with the “Ministerial Code”.
Information in respect of overseas visits by all Ministers for the period 1997-99 could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Written Questions
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how long on average his Department took to answer (a) ordinary written and (b) named day questions in each of the last three years. [215461]
Mr. Woodward: The information requested is not available in the format requested and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
The following table provides figures for the percentage of questions answered within the deadlines.
| Ordinary written | Named day | |||
| Total number of questions | Percentage on time | Total number of questions | Percentage on time | |
Economic and Monetary Union
Mr. Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on what date the euro changeover plan of (a) his Department and (b) each of its agencies was last updated; and if he will place in the Library a copy of the most recent version of each. [215530]
Mr. Woodward: The Northern Ireland Office’s Euro-Changeover Plan was last updated in May 2007 and covers the core Department its agencies and NDPB’s. The plan has not been published and there are no plans to do so due to the restricted material included in the plan.
Food
Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much was spent by his Department on (a) food and (b) food of British origin in each of the last five years. [214903]
Mr. Woodward: My Department does not keep records on the amount spent on food or its origin. However where possible when procuring food we look to source from local suppliers and to use local produce.
It is my understanding that the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) propose to publish data by the end of 2008 on the proportion of domestically produced food used by Government Departments.
Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from which five countries of origin the greatest amount of food was procured by his Department in the last year for which figures are available; and what the (a) cost and (b) quantity procured was in each case. [214904]
Mr. Woodward: My Department does not keep records on the country of origin, cost or quantity of the food we procure. However where possible when procuring food we look to source from local suppliers and to use local produce.
It is my understanding that the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) propose to publish data by the end of 2008 on the proportion of domestically produced food used by Government Departments.
Treasury
Departmental Official Hospitality
David Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 19 November 2007, Official Report, column 581W, on departmental official hospitality, when he expects the list of hospitality received in 2007 by members of his Department’s board to be published. [215298]
Angela Eagle: I refer the hon. Member to the answer the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster gave him on 7 May 2008, Official Report, column 885W.
Departmental Postal Services
Sarah Teather: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much his Department spent on sending mail overseas in each year since 2001, broken down by delivery company. [208525]
Angela Eagle: Statistics on the destination of mail are not held by the Treasury’s postal services provider.
Departmental Press
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much was spent by his Department on subscriptions for magazines, newspapers and other publications in each of the last 24 months. [215201]
Angela Eagle: Treasury spending on newspapers and periodicals in 2006-07 and 2007-08 was £109,000 and £112,000 respectively. Payments for newspapers and periodicals are not generally made on a monthly basis therefore provision of the data for each of the last 24 months could be misleading.
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