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6 Nov 2008 : Column 730W—continued
National House Building Council: Complaints
Mr. Letwin: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many complaints she has received on the operation of the National House Building Council in the last 12 months. [233144]
Margaret Beckett: The Department has received 17 items of correspondence in the last year which have included some form of complaint about the National House Building Council (NHBC).
The Department has no power to intervene in disputes between customers and the NHBC. NHBC have an established process for dealing with complaints, which
should be used in the first instance. Any outstanding complaints about NHBC's role as an approved inspector are dealt with by the Construction Industry Council or in relation to their insurance cover by the financial services ombudsman.
Wind Power: Planning Permission
Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when she plans to bring forward an amendment to the General Permitted Development Order in relation to micro wind turbines. [231616]
Margaret Beckett: The Government are considering this issue and will make a statement in due course.
Leader of the House
Legislation
Mr. Baron: To ask the Leader of the House how many pages of (a) primary legislation and (b) delegated legislation were passed by the House in each (i) Session between 1983 and 1995 and (ii) calendar year between 1983 and the last year for which figures are available. [233697]
Chris Bryant: The information is set out in the following table, but is only readily available by calendar year.
The figures do not include Church of England Measures. The page size of bound volumes of primary legislation changed in 1988.
| Pages of primary legislation | Pages of delegated legislation | |
Mr. Baron: To ask the Leader of the House how many hours the House (a) sat, (b) considered primary legislation and (c) considered delegated legislation in each (i) Session between 1983-84 and 1995-96 and (ii) calendar year between 1983 and the last year for which figures are available. [233702]
Chris Bryant: The information requested is set out in the following table. The figures refer to time spent on the Floor of the House.
This information is collected by Session and could be provided for calendar years only at disproportionate cost.
| Number of hours the House sat | Number of hours considering primary legislation on the Floor of the House | Number of hours considering delegated legislation on the Floor of the House | ||||
| Session | Hours | Minutes | Hours | Minutes | Hours | Minutes |
International Development
Burma: Politics and Government
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment he has made of the humanitarian situation in Burma; and if he will make a statement. [232447]
Mr. Michael Foster: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 5 November 2008, Official Report, column 505W to the hon. Member for the Ribble Valley (Mr. Evans).
Burma: Storms
Mr. Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what mechanism exists for monitoring the international aid delivered to Burma following Cyclone Nargis to ensure that it is not misused or misappropriated; and if he will make a statement. [232116]
Mr. Michael Foster: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 29 October 2008, Official Report, column 1163W to the hon. Member for Buckingham (John Bercow).
Democratic Republic of Congo: Human Rights
Mr. Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment he has made of the humanitarian situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo; and if he will make a statement. [234181]
Mr. Douglas Alexander: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 5 November 2008 to the right hon. Member for Richmond, Yorks (Mr. Hague) (UIN number 233081).
Departmental Official Visits
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much was spent on overnight accommodation by his Department's civil servants in the last 12 months. [228774]
Mr. Douglas Alexander: It is not possible to disaggregate costs in respect of overnight accommodation without incurring disproportionate cost.
Ethiopia: Overseas Aid
Mr. Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will make a statement on his Department's aid programme in Ethiopia. [232348]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 5 November 2008 to the hon. Member for Croydon, South (Richard Ottaway) (UIN number 233032).
Stress
Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether the 2004 stress audit carried out by his Department will be repeated with results of audits published to monitor progress; whether the 2007 analysis of barriers in his Department's recruitment programme was published; what information his Department has gathered on the effects of its policies and practices on recruitment, development and retention of employees with mental illnesses within (a) his Department and (b) public sector bodies for which he has responsibility; and what use has been made of that information. [228562]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Department for International Development (DFID) undertook a stress audit in 2004 and the results were published to all staff via the Department's intranet site. A further stress audit was carried out in April 2008 to monitor the progress of DFID's stress management strategy. The results of the second audit were published to all staff via the Department's intranet in September 2008. Overall, the results were positive, showing an improvement on the 2004 position.
A full equality impact assessment of DFID's recruitment procedures was completed in the summer of 2007, prior to the introduction of our new recruitment system which was launched in March 2008. This work is outlined in section 5.5 of the 2007-08 Annual Diversity report which is published on DFID's external website:
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