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1 Sep 2008 : Column 1546W—continued
The CRB has developed the capacity to process in excess of 300,000 checks every month. Approximately 20 per cent. of applications are from volunteers and disclosures for volunteers continue to be processed free of charge.
The number requested in respect of individuals wishing to work in the voluntary sector is shown in the following table.
| Financial year record | Disclosures received | Volunteers | Total non-volunteers | Volunteers |
The CRB does not capture data on whether applicants are unemployed or disabled.
Curfews: Children
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many children in contravention of their curfew notices have been removed to their place of residence by (a) community support officers and (b) police officers under paragraph 4B of Schedule 4 to the Police Reform Act 2002 in each of the last four years, broken down by police authority area. [219156]
Mr. Coaker: Information is not collected in the form requested. Section 30 of the Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003 provides the police with two powers to disperse groups of two or more people and to return young people under 16 who are unsupervised in public places after 9 pm to their homes. 1,065 areas were designated for the exercise of these powers between 1 January 2004 and 31 March 2006. Information on those removed to their place of residence for this period is not held. Information on numbers of designated areas and individuals removed to their place of residence for the period 1 April 2006 to 31 March 2007 will be published shortly.
Departmental Alcoholic Drinks
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what purchasing process is used by her Department for the procurement of alcohol for hospitality purposes. [219955]
Mr. Byrne: The Department’s Facilities Management partner, Ecovert FM, provides hospitality (including alcohol) for the Department’s headquarters at 2 Marsham street. Similar arrangements are provided by approved suppliers at the other Home Office locations.
In exceptional circumstances, senior management are able to pay for an event and reclaim the cost from the Department.
The official purchase and provision of alcohol is recognised as being an extraordinary undertaking and
is incurred in accordance with the principles of Managing Public Money and the Treasury handbook on regularity and propriety.
Departmental Appeals
Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions her Department has instructed the Treasury Solicitor to seek leave to appeal to the House of Lords from (a) the Court of Appeal and (b) the House of Lords itself in each of the last 10 years; and on how many occasions the application was rejected. [220824]
Mr. McNulty: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Aviation
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions she has used the Queen’s Flight in each of the last five years; and how much her Department spent on chartering aircraft in each of the last five years. [219185]
Mr. Byrne: Travel by Ministers makes clear that special flights may be authorised when a scheduled service is not available, or when it is essential to travel by air, but the requirements of official or parliamentary business or security considerations or urgency preclude the journey being made by a scheduled service. In respect of overseas travel by Ministers, since 1999 the Government have published an annual list of all visits overseas undertaken by Cabinet Ministers costing £500 or more during each financial year. The list published in 1999 covers the period 2 May 1997 to 31 March 1999. Where RAF/Private Charter aircraft are used this is shown in the list. The Government have also published on an annual basis the cost of all Ministers’ visits overseas. Copies of the lists are available in the Libraries of the House.
A chartered aircraft was used to travel to Blackpool in 2007. The cost of this was £4,770. The Queen’s Flight has not been used for any other internal flights in the last five years.
Departmental Buildings
John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when her Department’s centre in Waterside Court in Kirkstall, Leeds was first flooded; what (a) assessment she has made of the effects and (b) estimate she has made of the cost of repair; and if she will make a statement. [220766]
Mr. Byrne: Waterside Court was originally a water mill built over the River Aire in the 17th century and is a grade II listed building. The Home Office took up leased occupation of a refurbished Waterside Court on 19 May 2000 and flooding was first experienced on 30 October 2000. The estimated cost of damage to the Department was £300,000. In order to protect against subsequent flooding, a demountable flood protection barrier was installed in 2001 at an approximate cost of £120,000.
Departmental Complaints
Mr. Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many complaints have been received by her Department's complaints officer in each year since 1997. [220069]
Mr. Byrne [holding answer 21 July 2008]: The information is as follows:
The Home Office does not record complaints separately from day to day correspondence. All incoming correspondence, including any complaints, is scanned onto the Department's correspondence tracking system and is dealt with by the appropriate unit. Complaints are not identified as such on the system and no specific data are available.
The CRB does not record complaints separately from day to day correspondence.
Data can be provided from 2000 for service delivery complaints and 2001 for misconduct complaints.
The number of complaints received from members of the public through the United Kingdom Border Agency's central complaints unit (the Customer Focus Team), broken down by category and year is as follows:
| Misconduct complaints (relating to staff behaviour) | |
| Number | |
| Service delivery complaints (relating to level of service) | |
| Number | |
The data do not include complaints which may have been received within correspondence managed through separate processes, for example letter from Members of Parliament.
Identity and Passport Service (IPS)
The information is not available save at disproportionate cost. IPS does not record all complaints centrally and it would be a major exercise to collate information from the seven regional offices as well as the 68 ION offices together with those escalated complaints that do come up to HQ.
Departmental Computers
Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether she has issued guidance to staff in her Department to switch off personal computers when not in use; and if she will make a statement. [208168]
Mr. Byrne: The Core Home Office Security Operating Procedures, (which all users are automatically directed to read every six months) contain an instruction to “shut down and power off” at the end of each working day.
Bi-weekly notices on UKBA Horizon include the same instruction and that printers should be switched off too.
A Home Office Global notice, issued on 23 November 2007, reminds staff about saving energy by switching off equipment at the end of each day, including PCs, copiers, printers, lights, heaters and coolers.
A Home Office Today (HOT) news story on 27 September 2007 gave examples of CO2 savings that could be achieved by switching off various pieces of equipment.
On the Home Office Horizon site, there is a link dedicated to the Sustainable Development team, which advises on switching off, as well as promoting the Carbon Trust.
Departmental Pay
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the (a) average and (b) highest pay rise among civil servants in her Department was in each of the last five years. [189137]
Mr. Byrne: The information requested is as follows:
The following table details the average pay rise awarded to staff below the Senior Civil Service in Home Office Headquarters, the Border and Immigration Agency, and the Criminal Records Bureau. The figures include changes to the value of the pay scales (revalorisation) and for some years, additional progression through pay ranges beyond standard performance related progression.
| Part A | ||
| Average percentage increase: Home Office HQ and Border and Immigration Agency | Average percentage increase: Criminal Records Bureau | |
| Notes: 1. Figures for the Criminal Records Bureau are only available from 2005. 2 Information is not available for the Identity and Passport Service, as obtaining this information is possible only at disproportionate cost 3 Information is not available for the Prison Service, who were formally an agency of the Home Office prior to transferring to the Ministry of Justice on nine May 2007, as obtaining this information is possible only at disproportionate cost. | ||
The average pay rises awarded to the Senior Civil Service were made in line with the recommendations of the Senior Salary Review Body (SSRB) which can be found at:
The highest pay rises were awarded to the highest performing members of the Senior Civil Service (top 25 per cent.), in line with Senior Salaries Review Body recommendations and Cabinet Office guidance. The details of the highest pay rises are provided in the following table.
| Part B | |
| Highest percentage increase | |
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