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3 Nov 2008 : Column 9W—continued
Departmental Older Workers
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many people aged over (a) 55 and (b) 60 years were recruited by his Department in 2007-08; and what percentage in each case this was of the number of new recruits. [228745]
Ann McKechin: The Scotland Office does not directly recruit staff; all staff are seconded from the Scottish Executive or the Ministry of Justice, as necessary. The Office does not hold personnel records that would allow age to be determined.
Departmental Pay
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much Ministers in his Department claimed in expenses in each of the last three years. [222820]
Ann McKechin: The Scotland Office makes direct payments to Ministers only where they have personally incurred costs in relation to their Office. Payments have been made as follows:
| Payments made to Ministers (£) | |
Departmental Security
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many security passes have been reported (a) lost and (b) stolen by staff in his Department in each year since 2001. [228957]
Ann McKechin: Details of passes lost or stolen are available only from January 2003; the following passes were lost or stolen:
| Lost | Stolen | |
| (1 )These figures include passes lost by, or stolen from, staff in the Office of the Advocate General. (2) Part year only. | ||
Departmental Training
David T.C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much his Department spent on external training courses for departmental staff in (a) 2005, (b) 2006, (c) 2007 and (d) 2008; and which external organisations were paid by the Department to provide such courses in each year. [230495]
Ann McKechin: The Scotland Office does not organise in-house courses provided by outside organisations; where staff need additional training, pre-existing courses are sourced and staff attend these. Also, all staff are on secondment from the Scottish Executive or the Ministry of Justice and have full access to the in-house courses organised by these Departments. The Office spent the following on external training:
| Spend on external training (£) | |
Payments, which include hiring of rooms, were made to
British Red Cross
British Retail Consortium
British Wind Energy
CBI Scotland
CMPS
David Hume Institute
Holyrood Communications
Marketforce Communications Ltd
Mekon Ltd.
Penna Plc
QMW Public Policy Seminars
SCDI
Shelter
University of Edinburgh
University of Oxford
University of Wales
Waterfront
British Red Cross
Citizens Advice Scotland
CMPS
DRCC Ltd.
Emap Communications
ESSA Finance
Holyrood Communications
MacKay Hannah
Marketforce Communications Ltd.
National School of Government
Neil Stewart Associates
Penna Plc
SCDI
Scottish Renewables
The British Wind Energy Association
The Institute for Fiscal Studies
Metropolitan Police
The Royal Terrace Hotel
University of Edinburgh
Waterfront
Citizens Advice Scotland
Essex Ambulance Service NHS Trust
Historic Scotland
Holyrood Communications
Management Development Partnership
Marketforce Communications Ltd
Metropolitan Police
National School of Government
Novotel
Penna Plc
PSCA International
Scottish Renewables
The Association of Electoral Administrators
David Hume Institute
Unicom Seminars Ltd.
University College London
University of Edinburgh
British Red Cross
City and Islington College
David Hume Institute
GovNet Communications
Hemsley Fraser
Holyrood Communications
Industrial and Power Association
Jogscotland
Metropolitan Police
Napier University
National School of Government
Needham
Penna Plc
Scottish Pre-Retirement Council, The
Scottish Refugee Council
University College London
University of Edinburgh
House of Commons Commission
Cromwell Green Entrance
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission pursuant to the answer of 22 July 2008, Official Report, columns 983-84W, on Cromwell Green, what action has been taken to recover budget overruns from the appointed consultants; what sums have or are likely to be recovered; who the members of the Project Advisory Board were; who authorised the extension of the project to cover the Grand Committee Room roof, Westminster Hall south steps and floor repairs; on what basis that extension was authorised; and who was in overall charge of the project. [230245]
Nick Harvey: The House Administration is undertaking a liability review and assessment that will determine the full extent of any monies to be recovered from consultants. Once assessed, if required, negotiations for repayment will occur. Sums have been retained against some consultants, but the full extent of any recovery will not be known until the liability assessment and negotiations are finalised.
The Project Advisory Board included various members of staff from both Houses of Parliament led (a) from inception in September 2004, through design and tender of the works by the then Director of Parliamentary Estates and (b) from contractor appointment through construction until summer 2007 by the then Serjeant at Arms. At that stage, in the light of delays and construction problems, a project recovery manager was appointed who initially reported to the Clerk of the House and Chief Executive and then, from autumn 2007, to a new Project Board led by the Principal Clerk of Select Committees. This has seen the project through to completion and post-completion trialling and operation.
The extension to the project to include the Grand Committee Room roof and Westminster Hall steps was authorised by the Project Advisory Board early in the project in 2004 on the basis that to do so might create a more beneficial price for the works and a more timely construction period and to do otherwise would create potential conflict of working area arrangements.
Official Report
Mr. Amess: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission if the Commission will take steps to ensure that the Official Report is published on the Parliamentary intranet in PDF format; what discussions the Commission has had with the House of Lords authorities about the availability on the Parliamentary intranet of House of Lords Hansard in PDF format; and if he will make a statement. [229499]
Nick Harvey: Officials are aware of this development in the Lords but, apart from questions from the hon. Member for Southend, West, there has been no demand for a similar arrangement in the Commons. Such a change would have implications for the current contractual arrangements for distributing the Official Report, although these are kept under continual review.
Parliamentary Ombudsman
Stephen Williams: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission what the Commission's role is in responding to Questions from hon. Members on the funding and administration of the parliamentary ombudsman. [232326]
Nick Harvey: The Commission has no role in the funding or administration of the parliamentary ombudsman. These are matters for the Cabinet Office.
Women and Equality
Departmental Marketing
David Simpson: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality what assessment she has made of the cost effectiveness of Government-commissioned advertising in the last 12 months relating to matters falling within the remit of the Government Equalities Office. [226507]
Maria Eagle: In the last 12 months the Government Equalities Office has run a small recruitment campaign to fill some key vacancies. This advertising was successful in filling these vacancies. The GEO has not commissioned any other advertising.
Departmental Reports
James Duddridge: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality when the Government Equalities Office expects to publish its annual accounts. [224777]
Maria Eagle: The Government Equalities Office Annual Report and Resource Accounts 2007-08 were laid before Parliament on 21 July 2008 and published at:
Plain English
Philip Davies: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality how much the Government Equalities Office has spent on Plain English Campaign training courses since its establishment. [231235]
Maria Eagle: Since its establishment on 12 October 2007, the Government Equalities Office has not spent any money on Plain English Campaign training courses.
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