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26 Nov 2008 : Column 1731W—continued


Death: Children

Tim Loughton: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many children in local authority care died in the last year for which figures are available, broken down by (a) local authority and (b) cause of death. [239807]

Kevin Brennan: It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

Departmental Absenteeism

Mr. Jeremy Browne: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (1) what the rate of staff (a) absenteeism and (b) sickness absence was in (i) his Department, (ii) its agencies and (iii) each of its
26 Nov 2008 : Column 1732W
non-departmental public bodies in each year since 1997-98; what the target rates for his Department are in each case; and if he will make a statement; [238518]

(2) what the rate of staff (a) absence and (b) sickness absence was in the Prime Minister's Office in each year since 1997; what the target rates set for his Office are in each case; and if he will make a statement. [238933]

Mr. Watson: The Prime Minister's Office is an integral part of the Cabinet Office.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for South Holland and The Deepings (Mr. Hayes) on 22 July 2008, Official Report, column 1258W.

Departmental Consultants

Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how much his Department has spent on external consultants in each year since 1997. [239998]

Mr. Watson: It has not proved possible to respond to my hon. Friend in the time available before Prorogation.

Departmental Electronic Equipment

Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how much (a) his Department and its agencies and (b) the Prime Minister’s office have spent on (i) flat screen televisions, (ii) DVD players and (iii) stereo equipment in each of the last three years. [237439]

Mr. Watson: The Prime Minister’s Office forms an integral part of the Cabinet Office.

The information requested can be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Information

James Duddridge: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what types of data have been sold by (a) his Department and (b) its agencies under the Re-use of Public Sector Information Regulations in the last 12 months. [221993]

Mr. Watson: Core information produced by the Cabinet Office can be re-used free of charge under the terms of the PSI Click-Use Licence which is administered by the Office of Public Sector Information (OPSI) in accordance with the Re-Use of Public Sector Information Regulations.

The Cabinet Office has three types of value added information, where a fee has been levied or royalty payment received over the last year: the Civil Service Year Book, Official Histories and photographs. Licenses for the re-use of this material have been granted by way of the Click-Use licensing system operated by OPSI.

Departmental Internet

Mr. Heald: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many page hits from how many visitors the departmental website received in 2007-08. [231500]


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Mr. Watson: From the data we hold we have ascertained that during the 2007-08 financial year the departmental website

received a total of 8,976,021 page hits from a total of 2,794,009 site visits.

Mr. Heald: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what the cost of maintaining the departmental website was in 2007-08; and what the forecast is for maintaining websites within his responsibility for 2008-09 financial year. [231501]

Mr. Watson: The cost of maintaining the departmental website for the financial year 2007-08 was £279,377.70 and the forecast for the financial year 2008-09 is £183,201.00.

Departmental Land

Sarah Teather: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how much surplus land (a) his Department and (b) its agencies own; and what the (i) area and (ii) estimated monetary value of each site is. [236434]

Kevin Brennan: The Cabinet Office does not have any sites on the Register of Surplus Public Sector sites.

Departmental Manpower

Mr. Jeremy Browne: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (1) how many (a) special advisers and (b) press officers were employed by his Department in each year from 1997-98 to 2007-08; and at what cost in each of those years; [238449]

(2) how many (a) special advisers and (b) press officers have been employed by the Prime Minister's Office in each year since 1997-98; and at what cost in each year. [239084]

Mr. Hunt: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how much was spent on employing press and communications officers in (a) his Department, (b) its non-departmental public bodies and (c) its agencies in each of the last three years. [239677]

Mr. Watson: The Prime Minister’s Office forms part of the Cabinet Office.

The Prime Minister publishes on an annual basis, a list of the numbers and cost of special advisers. Information for 2007-08 was published on 22 July 2008, Official Report, columns 99-101WS.

Regarding the number and cost of press officers I refer the hon. Members to the answers that were given on 8 September 2004, Official Report, column 1245W; 10 March 2006, Official Report, column 1837W; 6 February 2006, Official Report, column 849W and 8 July 2008, Official Report, column 1570W. The cost to the Department of press officers for 2006-07 and 2007-08 were:

£

2006-07

669,780

2007-08

959,614


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Departmental Marketing

Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many staff in his Department are responsible for branding activity; and what the cost of employing such staff was in 2007-08. [237460]

Mr. Watson: The Cabinet Office does not employ any staff specifically on branding activity. Any time spent by members of staff on branding activity has been part of their overall role and it is not possible to identify the proportion of their time and therefore the cost to the Department.

Mr. Jeremy Browne: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (1) how much (a) his Department, (b) its agency and (c) each non-departmental public body sponsored by his Department spent on (i) publicity and (ii) advertising in each year since 1997-98; how much each plans to spend on each category in 2008-09; and if he will make a statement; [238516]

(2) how much the Prime Minister’s Office spent on (a) publicity and (b) advertising in each year since 1997-98; and if he will make a statement. [238950]

Mr. Watson: The information is not held in the format requested and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Pensions

Jenny Willott: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many and what proportion of civil servants in his Department and its agencies are members of the (a) Classic, (b) Classic Plus, (c) Nuvos and (d) Premium civil service pension schemes; and what information he holds on the numbers and proportion of all civil servants who are members of each scheme. [229520]

Paul Rowen: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many people belong to each type of civil service pension scheme. [236303]

Mr. Watson: The number and proportion of Cabinet Office staff in the scheme options are set out in the following table:

Scheme option Number of staff Percentage

Classic

756

44.9

Classic Plus

37

2.2

Nuvos

120

7.1

Premium

441

26.2

Partnership

7

0.4

Not in civil service scheme

326

19.2

Total

1,684


The above table includes ex HMSO staff with reserved rights. These members are not Cabinet Office staff but are listed within the pension administrator’s Cabinet Office database.


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At 31 March 2008 there were approximately 577,000 active members of the civil service pension scheme. This figure includes non-civil servants eligible to participate in the scheme by virtue of being in an employment listed in schedule I to the Superannuation Act 1972. The approximate split of the active membership was:

Scheme option Percentage

Classic

58.0

Classic Plus

3.0

Nuvos

3.0

Premium

36.0


The mean pension payment made to civil service pensioners in 2006-07 (the last year for which Cabinet Office: Civil Superannuation Resource Accounts have been published) was £5,293.09. This information corrects the earlier answer given to the hon. Member for Rochdale (Paul Rowen) on 5 November 2008, Official Report, column 495-97W. I apologise for the error.

Departmental Personnel

Mr. Maude: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many permanent staff in (a) the Cabinet Office and (b) its agencies are classified as (i) staff without posts and (ii) part of a people action team. [233368]

Mr. Watson: I refer the right hon. Member to the answer I gave to him on 4 November 2008, Official Report, column 335W.

Further to that answer an error has been identified: the correct date referenced for the number of employees without a permanent role should have been 30 September 2008.

Departmental Press Releases

Mr. Jeremy Browne: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many press releases were issued by his Department in each year from 1997-98; and if he will make a statement. [238230]

Mr. Watson: The Central Office of Information's News Distribution Service distributes press releases on behalf of the Department and maintains a record of Cabinet Office press releases since 1997 at

Departmental Procurement

Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster whether there has been any nugatory cost to his Department relating to tendered procurement where the tender process has been cancelled prior to the award of the contract in the last three years. [239649]

Kevin Brennan: The information requested for the Cabinet Office is not readily available and may not be obtained without incurring disproportionate costs.


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Disabled: Income

Mr. Gray: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what the average monthly income was for disabled adults between the ages of (a) 20 and 29, (b) 30 and 39, (c) 40 and 49 and (d) 50 and 60 years in the latest period for which figures are available. [238260]

Jonathan Shaw: I have been asked to reply.

The available data is provided in the following table.

Age Median monthly income for disabled adults (£)

20 to 29

727

30 to 39

892

40 to 49

890

50 to 60

754

Notes:
1. The table presents median monthly income, net of tax and national insurance contributions, for disabled adults in the UK. This is consistent with our standard approach used when presenting household incomes in the Households Below Average Incomes.
2. Disability is defined as having any long-standing illness, disability or infirmity that leads to a significant difficulty with one or more areas of the individual’s life. Everyone classified as disabled under this definition would also be classified as disabled under the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA). However, some individuals classified as disabled under the DDA would not be captured by this definition.
3. The Family Resources Survey (FRS) collects information on the incomes and circumstances of private households in the United Kingdom. The FRS is a nationally representative sample, covering approximately 26,000 households in 2006-07, the latest survey year.
4. The estimates are based on sample counts that have been adjusted for non-response using multi-purpose grossing factors which align the FRS to Government Office Region populations by age and sex. Estimates are subject to sampling error and remaining non-response error.
5. Evidence suggests that some items of income may be under reported in the survey, particularly self-employment and investment income.
6. Income data on the FRS have not been adjusted to account for variation in household size and composition, or economic status.
7. Most benefits are claimed on a benefit unit basis. Where the benefit unit consists of more than one adult, the benefit income is assigned to the lead claimant. Looking at the income of a subgroup of individuals may not therefore be an accurate reflection of income as it may exclude benefit income paid on behalf of the benefit unit where the individual is not the lead claimant.
Source:
Family Resources Survey, 2006-07

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