Written Answers to Questions
Thursday 15 January 2009
Duchy of Lancaster
Airwave Service
Tom Brake: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many Airwave handsets issued to his Department have been lost in each year since their introduction; and how many handsets issued to his Department have been disabled by the service provider through (a) loss, (b) breakage and (c) other reasons in each such year. [246184]
Mr. Watson: No Airwave handsets issued to the Cabinet Office have been recorded as disabled due to loss, breakage or any other reason.
Departmental Computers
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what procedures his Department has put in place to ensure that laptop computers on loan from his Department to civil servants in other Government Departments are accounted for; and who is responsible for their replacement if they are lost. [246307]
Mr. Watson: The Cabinet Office operates appropriate controls to ensure the security, integrity and availability of data and IT equipment assets, and provides comprehensive IT security advice and guidance, including in exceptional circumstances where computers and laptops are loaned from my Department to civil servants in other Government Departments.
Should an IT asset be misplaced or lost, the incident will be recorded in the departmental theft/losses register and where appropriate, a replacement will be obtained. The Cabinet Office may be responsible for purchasing replacement items; however, individual evaluations will be made in each case.
Departmental Correspondence
Grant Shapps: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many (a) letters and (b) emails received by his Department had not been responded to as at 15 December 2008. [244699]
Mr. Watson: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Data Protection
Paul Holmes: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster 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 1997. [242910]
Mr. Watson: Investigations into the loss or unauthorised disclosure of information have to consider everyone with access to the information in question.
By its nature, the Cabinet Office holds information across the full range of Government activity.
Information about civil servants in the Cabinet Office included in investigations concerning the loss or deliberate disclosure of data and confidential information is not held centrally. Fewer than five staff working in the Cabinet Office at the time of loss or unauthorised disclosure of data or confidential information have been suspended or dismissed following such investigations since 1998.
Mr. Vara: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (1) what percentage of contractors and suppliers to (a) his Department and (b) its agencies have reported that they are compliant with the Government’s security standards following publication of the report, Data Handling Procedures in Government, and the accompanying document, Cross-departmental Actions: Mandatory Minimum Action, on 25 June 2008; [245317]
(2) how many contracts (a) his Department and (b) its agencies have which allow contractors to store personal data of UK citizens overseas; for which contracts this applies; in which countries the data for each contract is held; and how many people have their data stored overseas in the case of each such contract. [245339]
Mr. Watson: The data handling report published on 25 June 2008, Official Report, columns 25-26WS, and the cross Government minimum mandatory measures, copies of which are available in the Libraries of the House, define the responsibilities for safeguarding data. These stand alongside Data Protection legislation.
All Departments and agencies, or contractors working on their behalf, must comply with Data Protection legislation and adhere to these new arrangements. The Cabinet Office wrote to all its contractors and suppliers in September to confirm their compliance with these new arrangements and was assured that they did.
Mr. Vara: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what percentage of the IT systems in (a) his Department and (b) its agencies is fully accredited to the Government’s security standards. [245381]
Mr. Watson: All ICT systems in the Cabinet Office are fully accredited to the Government’s security standards.
Departmental Equality
Philip Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what information his Department holds on the (a) sex, (b) ethnicity, (c) age, (d) disability, (e) sexual orientation and (f) religion or belief of its staff; and what assessment he has made of his Department's performance against its targets relating to diversity in its workforce. [246028]
Kevin Brennan: The Cabinet Office collects information on all the areas specified. Assessment of progress against diversity targets can be found in the Cabinet Office Annual Report and Accounts 2007-08 available from the House library, or Cabinet Office website
Departmental ICT
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what IT projects (a) his Department and (b) each of its agencies is undertaking; and what the most recent estimate of (i) the cost and (ii) the completion date of each is. [242266]
Mr. Watson: The following table lists the major IT projects my Department is currently undertaking along with associated cost and completion date estimates.
| Project | (i) Estimated cost (£ million) | (ii) Estimated completion date |
Responsibility for the Government Gateway was transferred to DWP with effect from 1 April 2008.
Departmental Languages
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many civil servants in the Prime Minister’s Office received coaching in a foreign language in the last 12 months; what expenditure his Office incurred in providing such coaching; in what languages such coaching was provided; and whether the Prime Minister has received such coaching. [248075]
Mr. Watson: The Prime Minister’s Office is an integral part of the Cabinet Office. Cabinet Office is committed to lifelong learning for all its employees and supports individuals throughout their learning and development.
All Cabinet Office units have delegated responsibility for spend against their training budgets and information is not collected centrally.
There has been no centrally organised coaching in a foreign language for Cabinet Office staff.
Departmental Marketing
Grant Shapps: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how much has been spent by his Department on advertising in the last 12 months. [243722]
Mr. Watson: The information requested is not yet available as the majority of the time period to which the expenditure relates falls within the current financial year (2008-09) for which the audited accounts have not yet been produced.
The Department's expenditure on goods and services in 2008-09 will be audited following the end of the financial year. The accounts are expected to be laid before Parliament prior to the summer recess 2009.
Departmental Ministerial Policy Advisers
Grant Shapps: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many special advisers were employed in his Department at each pay band on 30 November 2008; and what his Department's expenditure on special advisers was in 2007-08. [243580]
Mr. Watson: The Government are committed to publishing an annual list detailing the number and costs of special advisers. Information for 2007-08 was published by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 22 July 2008, Official Report, columns 99-102WS.
Departmental Telephone Services
Mike Penning: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many telephone numbers for which callers are charged at the rate applicable to 0845 numbers are used by (a) his Department and (b) its executive agencies for public access to services. [246974]
Mr. Watson: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave my hon. Friend the Member for Wolverhampton, South-West (Rob Marris) on 29 January 2008, Official Report, column 248W.
Elderly
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what estimate the Office of National Statistics has made of the number of people over (a) 60 and (b) 80 years old there will be in (i) North Yorkshire and (ii) England in each year to 2015. [247598]
Kevin Brennan: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your question about what the projected population aged over (a) 60 years, and over (b) 80 years is in (i) North Yorkshire; (ii) England in each year to 2015. (247598)
The attached table shows the projected population aged 60 and over and 80 and over for 2009 to 2015 for North Yorkshire and England. These data are taken from the 2006-based Subnational Population Projections published on 12 June 2008, and are the most recent projections available.
Government Departments: Disclosure of Information
Christopher Fraser: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what role (a) the Cabinet Secretary and (b) his Department has in investigations of unauthorised disclosures of information from Government departments. [246146]
Mr. Carswell: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what the role of the (a) Cabinet Secretary and (b) his Department is in the investigation of unauthorised disclosures of information from Government departments. [246360]
Mr. Watson: The role of the Cabinet Office in leak investigations was provided to the Public Administration Select Committee (PASC) by the Cabinet Secretary on 11 December 2008. A copy of the Memorandum was placed in the Libraries of the House.
Government Departments: Privacy
Mr. Maude: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster which Government projects to date have had Privacy Impact Assessments commissioned. [241761]
Mr. Watson: Information on the specific Government projects where Privacy Impact Assessments (PIAs) are being conducted is not collected centrally. The Information Commissioner's office produces guidance on PIAs and is monitoring their uptake.
PIAs are a self-assessment tool for organisations and are not a statutory obligation for Government Departments. However, the Data Handling Report published on 25 June 2008 recognised the value of PIAs and required that Departments apply them to new programmes or projects from July 2008 as part of their overall risk management approach to protecting personal data.
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