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17 Dec 2008 : Column 770W—continued
Horserace Totalisator Board
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what meetings he and ministerial colleagues have had with Treasury Ministers and officials on the Tote since April 2008. [242890]
Mr. Sutcliffe: I have had a number of meetings on the Tote since April 2008 at which HM Treasury has been represented.
Music: Young People
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps the Government have taken to promote music for young people. [243083]
Barbara Follett [holding answer 16 December 2008]: The Government promote music for youth through the Department for Children, Schools and Families’ package of funding for music education, which was announced in November last year. This totals £332 million over three years and includes investment in singing, new instruments and free music lessons.
The Music Mentoring programme, which Youth Music leads on, also seeks to engage young people through a mentoring programme linked to music-making activity and has been allocated £333,000 per year by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport until 2011.
Ports: Overseas Visitors
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what research his Department has commissioned on the impressions made by UK ports of entry on foreign visitors. [242588]
Barbara Follett: Welcome is one of the key strands of ‘Winning’ the tourism strategy for 2012 and beyond. In addition, the Welcome to Britain initiative has identified that improvements to our welcome are needed at ports of entry. VisitBritain, in partnership with England's regional development agencies and other members of the Welcome to Britain Steering Group, are currently running a pilot programme at Bristol airport, Manchester airport and Portsmouth port which focuses on improving the welcome at ports of entry. The pilot will be completed in early 2009, with the intention to roll out the scheme further.
Also, VisitBritain is measuring customer satisfaction through additional questions, on the topic of welcome, in the Civil Aviation Authority's international passenger survey. The survey, aimed at international passengers departing from major airports, is in its third wave, with a year end set of results due at the end of April 2009.
European Capital of Culture: Liverpool
Stephen Hesford: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps his Department has taken to publicise in (a) London and (b) other places cultural events taking place in Liverpool to mark its year as European Capital of Culture; and if he will make a statement. [243021]
Barbara Follett: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has taken many steps to publicise in London and elsewhere cultural events taking place in Liverpool to mark its year as European Capital of Culture. These include: the Liverpool 08 logo on all departmental correspondence; a link to information about the Capital of Culture on the homepage of the Department's website; sending quarterly events guides to all Cabinet Ministers; hosting conferences in Liverpool; referring to Liverpool's status and success in ministerial speeches; and frequent visits by the Secretary of State to Liverpool on DCMS business.
Northern Ireland
Community Development
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland which social action projects he has visited in the last 12 months. [243202]
Mr. Woodward: My hon. Friend the Minister of State for Northern Ireland and I make various visits as appropriate to organisations involved in areas associated with social and community activity, mainly in the criminal justice sector. Since devolution the Department for Social Development has assumed responsibility for the majority of organisations involved in social action activities.
Crime Prevention: Northern Ireland
Mr. McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what projects have been undertaken by each of the community safety partnerships in Northern Ireland in the last 12 months. [242932]
Paul Goggins: Community Safety Partnerships (CSPs) have delivered in excess of 450 local projects in 2007-08 and so far in this financial year (2008-09). Information is not held in a way that can identify projects undertaken only in the last 12 months.
The Northern Ireland Office Community Safety Unit (CSU) provided £2 million for local projects in the 2007-08 financial year and has allocated £2.025 million for the 2008-09 financial year. Under the terms and conditions of funding set out by CSU all projects must attract a minimum of 20 per cent. match funding for the projects delivered.
I have arranged for a list to be placed in the Library detailing all projects delivered in each CSP area for the 2007-09 financial years, how much these cost and a brief description of each.
Departmental Consultants
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland with reference to the answer of 12 November 2008, Official Report, column 1209W, on departmental consultants, how many external consultants his Department has used in the last 12 months. [243394]
Mr. Woodward: My Department including agencies and Executive non-departmental public bodies has used 102 external consultants in the last 12 months.
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland with reference to the answer of 12 November 2008, Official Report, column 1209W, on departmental consultants, for how long each of the external consultants has worked for his Department. [243396]
Mr. Woodward: Information is not held centrally on how long each of the external consultants has worked for my Department and to provide this information would incur disproportionate costs.
Departmental Domestic Visits
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland with reference to the answer of 13 November 2008, Official Report, column 1319W, on official visits, on which dates he has been in Northern Ireland on official visits in the last 12 months. [243509]
Mr. Woodward: As Secretary of State for Northern Ireland I make frequent visits to Northern Ireland.
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland with reference to the answer of 13 November 2008, Official Report, column 1319W, on official visits, for how many nights he has stayed in (a) the Republic of Ireland and (b) Northern Ireland in the last 12 months. [243511]
Mr. Woodward: The number of days and overnight stays I have spent in Northern Ireland in the last 12 months is shown in the following table.
| Day | Overnight | |
The hon. Gentleman will be aware the offices of the Secretary of State are in Belfast and in London; Northern Ireland Office business is conducted in both places. The Secretary of State does not undertake ‘visits’ to his own office in Northern Ireland.
Details of visits made by Cabinet Ministers outside the United Kingdom are published annually by the Cabinet Office. Copies are available in the Library.
Departmental ICT
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland with reference to the answer of 30 October 2008, Official Report, column 1169W, on departmental ICT, what the (a) expected completion date and (b) expected cost was at the outset of each project. [242153]
Paul Goggins: The additional information requested is provided in the following table.
| Project name | Original planned completion date | Original estimated cost (£ million) |
|
Prisoner Record Information System (PRISM)—Technical Refresh |
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland with reference to the answer of 13 November 2008, Official Report, column 1317W, on departmental ICT, what the original cost estimates were for the projects listed. [243508]
Paul Goggins: The additional information requested is provided in the following table.
| Project name | Original estimated cost (£ million) |
|
Prisoner Record Information System (PRISM)—Technical Refresh |
Departmental Manpower
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland with reference to the answer of 24 November 2008, Official Report, column 882W, on departmental manpower, what the responsibilities are of the people employed by his Department who are not civil servants. [243527]
Paul Goggins: The Northern Ireland Office employs 16.5 people who are not civil servants (measured in full-time equivalents). Of these, 13.5 full-time equivalent staff are employed to undertake duties within the State Pathologist’s Office. The remaining staff are employed in the Crown Solicitor’s Office and the Public Prosecution Service.
Departmental Official Visits
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland with reference to the answer of 13 November 2008, Official Report, column 1319W, on official visits, on which dates he (a) has held meetings with the Irish Government and (b) has been in the Republic of Ireland on official business in the last 12 months. [243510]
Mr. Woodward: In the course of my duties, I am in regular contact with the Irish Government.
Departmental Procurement
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether there has been any nugatory cost to his Department and its agencies relating to tendered procurement where the tender process has been cancelled prior to the award of the contract in the last three years. [242463]
Mr. Woodward: Over the last three years the Northern Ireland Office’s Procurement Unit has identified six tenders that were cancelled prior to award of contract.
In respect of these tenders, there would have been abortive cost in advertising the tender and staff time involved in work on the tender process up to the point of cancellation. In one instance, where the cancellation was subsequently challenged, there were legal costs involved in defending the challenge (which may be recoverable).
We do not attribute staff costs to individual procurements and therefore cannot determine a cost for this element if the tender process is cancelled prior to contract award.
Specific costs that we can attribute over the last three years are as follows:
| £ | |
Departmental Rail Travel
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on what date he last used a train in the course of his official duties. [242604]
Mr. Woodward: 28 November 2008.
Departmental Television
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland with reference to the answer of 24 November 2008, Official Report, columns 885-6W, on television, how much his Department spent on licence fees in the last 12 months. [243452]
Mr. Woodward: The amount spent on television licence fees for the Department in the financial year 2007-08 excluding its Agencies and Executive NDPBs, was £3,248.
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland with reference to the answer of 24 November 2008, Official Report, columns 885-6W, on television, which companies provided the digital television services. [243454]
Mr. Woodward: The companies which provided the digital television services in the answer given of 24 November 2008, were NTL/Virgin Media and Sky.
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