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12 Jan 2009 : Column 448W—continued
Construction: Public Appointments
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform when he expects to make an announcement on the new role of the Chief Construction Officer. [243822]
Ian Pearson [holding answer 15 December 2008]: A discussion paper will be issued shortly. As announced in BERR's press notice of 2 October 2008, full details of the potential terms and scope of the role will be confirmed as part of the operational efficiency programme. The results of this work will be announced in the Budget.
Constructionline
Mr. Boswell: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what the functions are of Constructionline in reducing the administrative, financial and compliance burden on small and medium-sized enterprises of multiple health and safety pre-qualification schemes in the public sector; and what account it takes of work already completed by the construction industry on health and safety. [246097]
Ian Pearson: The purpose of Constructionline is specifically to reduce duplication of effort by allowing tenderers to answer the key prequalification questions once. After that, tendering organisations only need to ask the project-specific questions of tenderers. This significantly lowers the financial and administrative burdens on SMEs, which make up the vast majority of the construction industry. Constructionline's questions are drawn from HSE's requirements for contractors in respect of health and safety. Constructionline works closely with other industry organisations and Government on health and safety matters, and will be a member of the ‘Safety Schemes in Procurement Competence Forum (SSIP)’ when it is formally launched in April 2009.
Departmental Contracts
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what contracts his Department awarded to (a) KPMG, (b) PricewaterhouseCoopers, (c) Ernst and Young, (d) McKinsey, (e) Deloitte and (f) other consultancy firms in each of the last 12 months; and what the (i) purpose and (ii) monetary value of each of those contracts was. [242225]
Mr. McFadden: Central records indicate that in each of the last 12 months the providers listed received the following payments for services. Where a supplier is not listed there has been no expenditure for that month. The Department has not made any payments to McKinsey during this period.
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The total payment to other consultancy firms in the last 12 months is £15,155,819.
The answer to Part (i) and (ii) can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Data Protection
Paul Holmes:
To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many civil servants in his Department have been (a) investigated, (b) suspended and (c) dismissed for (i)
losing and (ii) deliberately disclosing (A) data stored on departmental equipment and (B) confidential information in each year since its inception. [242914]
Mr. Thomas: We are unable to answer the question as to do so would breach the confidentiality of individual/s concerned.
Mr. Vara: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform when his Department appointed a senior information risk owner in accordance with the report, Data Handling Procedures in Government and the accompanying document Cross-departmental Actions: Mandatory Minimum Action; and what grade the person holds within the Department. [245354]
Mr. McFadden: This Department had a Senior Information Risk Owner in place before publication of the report Data Handling Procedures in Government and the accompanying document Cross-departmental Actions: Mandatory Minimum Action. The current BERR Senior Information Risk Owner is a Grade 2.
Departmental Energy
Gordon Banks: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what steps his Department is taking to reduce the amount of energy it wastes. [244604]
Mr. McFadden: The Government's delivery plan for ‘Sustainable Procurement and Operations on the Government Estate’, published in August 2008, provides a full account of the initiatives Departments are taking to reduce their energy waste. The Government have committed to updating the delivery plan on a six monthly basis, and the first of these updates was published on 18 December 2008.
Departmental Furniture
Mrs. Moon: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how much was spent by his Department on furniture made by (a) British firms, (b) Remploy and (c) overseas firms in each year since 2000. [244363]
Mr. McFadden: This Department's published ‘Annual Report and Accounts’ contains information on its tangible fixed assets, which includes an additions category entitled ‘furniture, fixtures and fittings’.
These accounts can be found on the BERR website at the following address:
The following years accounts are on the website:
BERR Annual Report and Accounts 2007-2008 (HC 757)—Chapter 5—Note 14
DTI Annual Report and Accounts 2006-2007 (HC 584)— Chapter 5—Note 14
DTI Annual Report and Accounts 2005-2006 (HC 1461— Note 14
DTI Annual Report and Accounts 2004-2005 (HC 612)— Note 13
DTI Annual Report and Accounts 2003-2004 (HC 26)— Note 14
Published accounts for 2001-02 and 2002-03 are available from the Stationery Office. All furniture purchased during this period was from British firms, apart from one German company which we no longer use. No furniture was purchased from Remploy.
Departmental Ministerial Policy Advisers
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how much his Department spent on employing staff to assist special advisers in each of the last three years. [240384]
Mr. McFadden: Salary costs were £63,370 in 2006; £70,820 in 2007 and £84,300 in 2008.
Departmental Public Consultation
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform on which occasions his Department and its predecessor has convened a citizens' jury or randomly-drawn panel of people to aid the Department's policy-making since 2000; whether the participants were paid in each case; and if he will make a statement. [243041]
Ian Pearson: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given on 22 October, Official Report, column reference 347W, to the right hon. member for Maidenhead (Mrs. May). There have been no citizens' juries since July 2007 and to check the position back to 2000 could only be done at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Public Expenditure
Mr. Roger Williams: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what recent consideration he has given to bringing forward publicly-funded capital works commissioned by his Department; and what discussions he has had with Treasury ministers on the financing of these projects. [244278]
Mr. McFadden: HMG assessed a number of options for bringing forward capital spending as part of a fiscal stimulus. The £3 billion package announced in the 2008 pre-Budget report was based on the principles that it should be timely (focused on those projects that could be brought forward in the time available), targeted (focused on capital spending that would support the UK economy) and temporary (bringing forward spending—protecting the fiscal position in the medium term).
Capital spending was brought forward in a range of areas, including investing in energy efficiency measures and increasing capacity in the motorway network. The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) has no substantial capital spending programmes following the transfer of the Nuclear Decommissioning Agency (NDA) to the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC). BERR is therefore not forming part of the Capital Expenditure Acceleration Programme.
BERR is already taking steps to assist business through the economic downturn through new schemes on small business finance, including a capital fund of £50 million announced in the pre-Budget report and funded from the existing Mezzanine Fund, Enterprise Capital Funds and a £10 million regional development agencies (RDA) contribution. This fund will provide capital support to overleveraged small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This is in addition to the capital expenditure schemes that the Department currently funds.
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