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8 Oct 2008 : Column 615W—continued
Defence: Expenditure
Mr. Ellwood: To ask the Prime Minister pursuant to the answer of 16 July 2008, Official Report, column 244, how many countries have a higher defence budget than the UK in cash terms in 2008-09. [220537]
The Prime Minister: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for North Essex (Mr. Jenkin) during my statement on 22 July 2008, Official Report, columns 672-3.
Departmental Domestic Visits
Philip Davies: To ask the Prime Minister when he last visited (a) Wales, (b) Scotland and (c) Northern Ireland in an official capacity. [222608]
Mr. Wallace: To ask the Prime Minister which parliamentary constituencies he has visited since 27 June 2007; on what dates each such visit took place; and what the purpose of each such visit was. [225404]
The Prime Minister: I refer the hon. Members to the written statement I made on 22 July 2008, Official Report, columns 103-04WS.
Philip Davies: To ask the Prime Minister whether his Office keeps a record of his (a) train journeys and (b) domestic flights made in the course of official business. [222610]
The Prime Minister: I travel making the most efficient and cost-effective arrangements. My travel arrangements are in accordance with the arrangements for official travel set out in chapter 10 of the “Ministerial Code”, and the accompanying guidance document, “Travel by Ministers”.
Departmental Internet
Philip Davies: To ask the Prime Minister how many new websites his Office has set up since 27 June 2007; and what the cost for new websites has been since that date. [222601]
James Duddridge: To ask the Prime Minister how much the recent redesign of the No. 10 website cost; and who carried out the redesign. [225052]
The Prime Minister: I refer the hon. Members to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Fareham (Mr. Hoban) on 15 September 2008, Official Report, column 2026W.
Departmental Occupational Health
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Prime Minister, further to page 52 of the Cabinet Office Annual Report and Accounts 2007-08, whether a reflection room has been provided for those working in Downing Street offices as part of the Cabinet Office well-being measures. [222506]
Departmental Official Engagements
Philip Davies: To ask the Prime Minister when he last met (a) a school teacher, (b) a nurse, (c) a doctor, (d) a social worker, (e) a police officer and (f) a prison officer in the course of his official business. [222607]
The Prime Minister: I frequently meet people from all these occupations in the course of my duties around the UK.
Departmental Overtime
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Prime Minister what the cost of overtime payments paid to staff in his Office was in each of the last 12 months, broken down by pay grade. [221305]
The Prime Minister: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office (Mr. Watson) on 1 September 2008, Official Report, columns 1434-36W.
Departmental Procurement
David Simpson: To ask the Prime Minister what his Office’s policy is on requesting discounts from its suppliers in return for swift payment of invoices. [220426]
The Prime Minister: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the then Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office (Phil Hope) on 22 July 2008, Official Report, column 1258W.
Departmental Training
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Prime Minister whether he has undertaken any personal development courses at public expense since June 2007. [221910]
Israel: Nuclear Weapons
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Prime Minister whether he discussed with his Israeli counterpart the status of Israel’s nuclear weapons during his visit to Israel on 21 July. [223897]
The Prime Minister: I discussed a wide range of issues on my recent trip to Israel. I refer the hon. Member to the speech I made to the Israeli Knesset, a transcript is available on the No. 10 website at:
A copy has also been placed in the Library of the House.
Ministerial Policy Advisers
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Prime Minister pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Lewes (Norman Baker) of 14 July 2008, Official Report, columns 20-1W, on Ministerial policy advisers, if he will place in the Library a copy of the guidelines on allowances and subsistence. [221259]
The Prime Minister: Guidelines on allowances and subsistence are a matter for the relevant Government Department.
Ministerial Policy Advisers: Conditions of Employment
Philip Davies: To ask the Prime Minister whether the terms of employment for any of his special advisers differ from the Model Contract for Special Advisers. [222609]
The Prime Minister: Special advisers, including those in my office, are appointed under terms and conditions set out in the Model Contract for Special Advisers.
Ministers: Official Residences
Grant Shapps: To ask the Prime Minister which Ministers (1) will have grace and favour accommodation allocated to them; what the locations of that accommodation will be in each case following the changes to the machinery of Government and the Cabinet reshuffle; which Ministers or former Ministers will leave their grace and favour accommodation; and which grace and favour properties will remain empty; [225213]
(2) whether the new Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform will have an official ministerial residence funded by the public purse. [225216]
The Prime Minister: There have been no changes to the answer I gave the hon. Members for Lewes (Norman Baker) and Brentwood and Ongar (Mr. Pickles) on 17 October 2007, Official Report, column 1135W.
Olympic Games 2012
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Prime Minister whether any full-time equivalent members of staff in his Office are working on policy relating to the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics games. [221874]
The Prime Minister: My Office is fully engaged with work towards the Olympics led by the DCMS.
Political Office: Furniture
Philip Davies: To ask the Prime Minister how many (a) desks, (b) computers and (c) telephones are provided for the use of the Political Office. [222636]
The Prime Minister: The staffing and associated costs for my Political Office are met by the Labour party. As has been the case under successive Administrations, marginal costs associated with the Political Office are met from within the overall budget for 10 Downing street.
Schools
Philip Davies: To ask the Prime Minister if he will place in the Library a copy of any materials his Office has distributed to schools in the last three years. [222553]
The Prime Minister: My Office receives many letters from schools and children, all of which receive a reply. In addition, and when appropriate, my Office sends out a booklet about the history of Downing street to schools and children who write in. Copies of this booklet are available in the Library of the House.
Written Questions: Government Responses
Mr. Amess: To ask the Prime Minister when he plans to answer question 192528, on visits to 10 Downing Street, tabled on 4 March 2008 by the hon. Member for Southend, West; what the reason is for the time taken to reply; what steps he has (a) taken and (b) plans to take to answer written parliamentary questions within a working week of them being tabled; and if he will make a statement. [222392]
The Prime Minister: I refer the hon. Member to the answer published on 12 March 2008, Official Report, column 449W.
Justice
Departmental Buildings
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice which organisations have received (a) free and (b) discounted room hire from (i) his Department and (ii) its agencies in each of the last five years; and what the commercial value of the discount was in each case. [221576]
Mr. Wills: The full information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
However, Her Majesty’s Court Service (HMCS) provide free of charge room hire to organisations that directly support the work of the courts. These include the Crown Prosecution Service, Probation Service, Victim and Witness Service, Police, Shorthand Writers, Press and WRVS. HMCS also hire out to organisations that support the Court Service for training purposes and a system has recently been put in place to record the information requested. Therefore, income for this financial year is currently £3,190.
NOMS/HMPS and the Tribunal Service have confirmed they do not hire out rooms.
Departmental Data Protection
Nick Herbert: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many officials in his Department have been disciplined in each of the last three years for misconduct involving misuse of personal data. [223635]
Mr. Straw: Records in the former DCA show that three members of staff have been disciplined for inappropriate use of personal or sensitive data in the last three years, all in 2006.
Prison Service records show that members of staff have been disciplined and dismissed for inappropriate use of personal or sensitive data in the last three years.
In some of these cases, the inappropriate use of data has been part of a wide range of charges against the members of staff:
April 2005-March 2006: Nil
April 2006-March 2007: Six members of staff were subject to formal disciplinary action and, of these, three were subsequently dismissed from service.
April 2007-March 2008: One member of staff was subject to formal disciplinary action and was subsequently dismissed from service.
Centrally held records in NOMS and OCJR there have been no recorded cases of discipline or dismissal for breaches of data protection and inappropriate use of personal or sensitive data.
Departmental Surveillance
James Duddridge: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many applications (a) his Department and (b) its agencies have made under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 to (i) undertake directed surveillance, (ii) use covert human intelligence sources, (iii) acquire communications data and (iv) undertake intrusive surveillance in the last 24 months. [221970]
Mr. Straw: I refer the hon. Member to my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister’s written ministerial statement on 22 July 2008, Official Report, columns 110-11WS. The Government’s approach is to neither confirm nor deny the extent to which use is made of these powers. The Chief Surveillance Commissioner and Interception of Communications Commissioner does however provide statistics of all covert activity authorised under Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) in their annual reports, which were laid before both Houses of Parliament on 22 July 2008.
National Probation Service for England and Wales: ICT
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice which probation areas within England and Wales use (a) Delius, (b) CRAMS and (c) other IT case management systems. [225144]
Mr. Hanson: As of 7 October 2008, the following probation areas within England and Wales use:
(a) Delius—Greater Manchester, London and West Mercia;
(b) CRAMS—Cheshire, Cumbria, Derbyshire, Dorset, Durham, Dyfed-Powys, Essex, Gloucestershire, Gwent, Hampshire, Hertfordshire, Humberside, Lancashire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, North Wales, North Yorkshire, Northamptonshire, Northumbria, Nottinghamshire, South Wales, South Yorkshire, Staffordshire, Surrey, Sussex, Teesside, Warwickshire, West Yorkshire and Wiltshire;
(c) Other IT case management systems—Avon and Somerset, Bedfordshire, Cambridge, Devon and Cornwall, Kent, Merseyside, Norfolk, Suffolk, Sussex (in addition to CRAMS), Thames Valley, and West Midlands.
Reparation by Offenders
Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will publish his response to the Shapland report on restorative justice. [222077]
Mr. Hanson:
The evaluation of the Crime Reduction Programme Restorative Justice Pilots, undertaken by Joanna Shapland of the University of Sheffield, was commissioned to develop the evidence base of what
works for adults in terms of restorative justice and to inform future policy developments. Although the most recently published research report showed that, overall, the evidence of the effectiveness of restorative justice in reducing adult re-offending is no stronger than for other interventions, earlier research showed that it delivers high levels of victim satisfaction. The Government are, therefore, considering what further encouragement they can provide to support the continued growth of adult and youth restorative justice, taking account of the complete findings from the evaluation of these pilots.
Young Offenders: Sentencing
Chris Huhne:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what proportion of custodial sentences imposed on
people aged 18 years or under was as proposed in the pre-sentence report prepared by the local youth offending team (YOT) in each YOT area in each month between March 2006 and March 2007. [223022]
Mr. Hanson: The Government have developed a range of sentences that are designed to offer courts a robust alternative to custody. The decision on the most appropriate type of disposal given to a young person is ultimately for the court to make.
The data requested, which are collected by the Youth Justice Board on a quarterly basis, are shown in the following tables.
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