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14 Jan 2009 : Column 756W—continued
| Total capital | ||||
| £000 | ||||
| 2008-09 | 2007-08 | 2006-07 | 2005-06 | |
The inquiry is expected to report by March 2010.
Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform
Advertising: Complaints
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many complaints were made to the Advertising Standards Authority regarding adverts sponsored or funded by his Department and its predecessor in each year since 1997; and how many were upheld. [242077]
Mr. McFadden: Central records indicate that no complaints have been made to the Advertising Standards Authority regarding advertisements sponsored or funded by the Department or its predecessor, the DTI, in any year since 1997.
Companies: Mentally Ill
Paul Rowen: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many people have been removed from company boards on mental health grounds in each of the last five years. [241990]
Mr. McFadden [holding answer 9 December 2008]: There is no statistical breakdown available for the reasons why directors ceased to hold their appointments as there is no requirement for a company to give a reason for a director ceasing to hold appointment when, as required, it notifies the registrar of any change in its directors.
Departmental Correspondence
Grant Shapps: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many (a) letters and (b) e-mails received by his Department had not been responded to as at 15 December 2008. [244723]
Mr. McFadden: The Cabinet Office, on an annual basis, publishes a report to Parliament on the performance of Departments in replying to Members/peers correspondence. Information relating to 2008 will be published as soon as it has been collated. The report for 2007 was published on 20 March 2008, Official Report, columns 71-74WS. Reports for earlier years are available in the Libraries of the House.
In respect of e-mails, this Department will not be able to provide the information without incurring disproportionate cost. To do so would require gathering information from every official in the Department.
Departmental Official Hospitality
Grant Shapps: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how much has been spent on (a) departmental Christmas parties and (b) staff entertainment in the last three years. [243739]
Mr. McFadden: No official funds have been used for Christmas parties in the last three years. The Department does not separately record amounts spent on staff entertainment and figures could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Pay
Bob Spink: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform if he will make it his policy to ensure that temporary and permanent employees at the same grade and at an hourly rate by his Department are paid at the same rate. [244399]
Mr. McFadden: Staff employed by the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) on short-term contracts are paid under the same pay systems that apply to permanent staff in BERR. They are salaried workers and are not paid at an hourly rate.
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how much has been allocated for bonuses for staff within his Department in 2008-09. [246589]
Mr. McFadden: The Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform awards non-consolidated bonuses in two formats:
1. Special bonuses to recognise performance in particularly demanding tasks or situations. Staff in receipt of a special bonus may also receive an annual performance award.
2. Annual performance awards paid to highly successful performers as part of the annual pay award.
Based on the information available the total amount spent on annual performance awards in 2008-09 is £2,240,592. Information on special bonuses paid in 2008-09 is not yet available, however the maximum expenditure is 0.4 per cent. of pay bill, in 2007-08 this was approximately £693,386.
This figure includes staff who were transferred from BERR to DECC as part of the October 2008 Machinery of Government changes as these staff received a BERR pay award in 2008.
Departmental Sick Pay
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how much sick pay to staff in his Department cost in the last five years for which figures are available. [242224]
Mr. McFadden: The estimated total cost of sickness absence in the Department in each year from 2003 to 2007 is as follows:
| Average cost( 1) (£) | |
| (1) Cost calculated for all years using the full-time equivalent figure for the Department in each of the last five years and the figure of £764 average cost per person sick (all staff), used in the “Analysis of Sickness absence in the civil service 2007” report published on the public civil service website at: http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/about/statistics/sickness.asp along with data for other Departments and agencies. | |
Japan: Trade
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what steps the Government are taking to promote trade between Japan and the United Kingdom. [245291]
Mr. Thomas: Through UK Trade and Investment, the Government support initiatives and provide services across a range of sectors for UK companies seeking to do business in Japan, with a clear focus on activity that delivers maximum added value for business and the UK economy.
Royal Mail
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform when he plans to meet the Select Committee on Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform to discuss the Hooper report. [245821]
Mr. McFadden: I am happy to meet the Select Committee to discuss the Hooper Report when invited to do so.
My right hon. and noble Friend the Secretary of State appeared before the Select Committee for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) today.
Scandinavia: Trade
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what the monetary value of trade between the UK and (a) Sweden and (b) Denmark was in each of the last five years. [245265]
Mr. Thomas: The data requested are shown in the following tables:
| £ million | ||||
| UK exports of goods to Sweden | UK exports of services to Sweden | UK imports of goods from Sweden | UK imports of services from Sweden | |
| £ million | ||||
| UK exports of goods to Denmark | UK exports of services to Denmark | UK imports of goods from Denmark | UK imports of services from Denmark | |
| Source: UK Balance of Payments Pink Book, 2008 edition | ||||
Woolworths
Mr. Jamie Reed: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what options his Department has to assist Woolworths in the current economic climate; and if he will make a statement. [244340]
Ian Pearson: The company is in administration and the administrators are in charge. We have been closely following the administrators’ efforts to find purchasers for Woolworths’ stores and its wholesale business though neither Woolworths’ management nor its administrators have requested any Government assistance.
The Insolvency Service is doing all it can to get payments to those employees made redundant as soon as possible.
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