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26 Jan 2009 : Column 120W—continued
Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps she is taking to ensure that the enforcement concordat in respect of the principles of good enforcement is used by enforcement authorities in their application of guidance her Department has issued on the implementation of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005; and if she will make a statement. [250946]
Mr. Khan: It is a matter for individual enforcing authorities to determine their own enforcement policies and procedures, having regard to the established principles of good enforcement set out in the Enforcement Concordat and the Regulators' Compliance Code.
We have issued guidance on enforcing the provisions of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 to all enforcing authorities, under article 26 of the order. This makes clear that all enforcing authorities are expected to enforce the order in accordance with the principles of the ‘Enforcement Concordat’ issued by the Cabinet Office.
In addition, the National Framework 2008-11 makes it clear that we expect Fire and Rescue Authorities to be mindful of the need to take an open and proportionate approach to their audit and enforcement functions in accordance with the principles of good enforcement set out in the Compliance Code and Enforcement Concordat.
Street Cleaning: Wolverhampton
Rob Marris: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much money her Department granted to Wolverhampton City Council in (a) 2007-08 and (b) 2008-09 for street cleaning in Wolverhampton; what conditions were applied; and if she will make a statement. [249632]
John Healey: Street cleaning is one of the services supported through formula grant. Formula grant, which comprises revenue support grant, redistributed business rates and principal formula police grant, is an unhypothecated block grant which means that councils have the freedom to spend it on any service provided that they meet their statutory duties. For this reason, and due to the method of calculating formula grant, particularly floor damping, it is not possible to say how much grant has been allocated for any particular service.
Duchy of Lancaster
Children: Disadvantaged
Chris Grayling: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (a) how many and (b) what percentage of children lived in workless households in each year since 1997, broken down by parliamentary constituency. [249370]
Kevin Brennan: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated January 2009:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question how many and what percentage of children lived in workless households in each year since 1997, broken down by parliamentary constituency. (249370)
The available information is provided in the table. A copy of the table has been placed in the Library of the House.
The information requested has been answered using annual estimates derived from the Annual Population Survey (APS) household dataset, which are only available from 2004. Estimates before 2004 are derived from the Labour Force Survey and are of insufficient quality for answering this question due to the detail requested. It is vital to note that as with any sample survey, estimates from the APS are subject to a margin of uncertainty as different samples give different results.
Figures are based on children in working age households. A working-age household is a household that includes at least one person of working-age, that is a woman aged 16 to 59 or a man aged 16 to 64.
Estimates that are deemed unreliable for practical purposes are presented in italics. These estimates arc based on small sample sizes and are subject to large variability. Estimates that are reliable are shaded.
Departmental Catering
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what (a) directly-operated and (b) franchised catering outlets his Department and its agency provides for staff. [249068]
Departmental Data Protection
Mr. Vara: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster 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. [245355]
Mr. Watson: The Cabinet Office appointed a Senior Information Risk Owner (SIRO) on 3 November 2004. The Managing Director of the Cabinet Office at that time was the appointee. The Current CO SIRO is the Director General and Head of Cabinet Office Management.
Paul Holmes: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many members of staff in (a) his Department and (b) the Prime Minister’s Office have been (i) investigated, (ii) suspended and (iii) dismissed for losing (A) memory sticks, (B) laptop computers, (C) desktop computers and (D) mobile telephones in each year since 1997. [248259]
Mr. Watson: Cabinet Office, which includes the Prime Minister’s Office, requires its employees to report any loss of Cabinet Office assets (memory sticks, laptop computers, desktop computers and mobile phones). Information prior to 2006 is not available.
five investigations have been conducted for the loss of such items;
to protect the confidentiality of individuals, exact numbers of suspensions or dismissals cannot be given, but fewer than five staff have been suspended or dismissed for loss of official property following such investigations.
Departmental Freedom of Information
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many people who have made requests to his Department under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 have been waiting for longer than (a) four, (b) eight and (c) 12 months to receive the information they requested. [243522]
Mr. Watson: The Ministry of Justice publishes statistics on Government Departments’ handling of requests for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. This includes details of the timeliness of the responses to requests. The statistics are available on the MOJ website:
http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/freedomof informationquarterly.htm
and copies are available in the Library of the House. The specific information requested by the hon. Member can however be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Pay
Mrs. May: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many bonuses were awarded to senior civil servants working in the Cabinet Office and its agencies in (a) 2007 and (b) 2008; and how much was spent on such bonuses in each of those years. [249862]
Mr. Watson: The number of senior civil servants in the Cabinet Office awarded bonuses and the total cost of these bonuses, since 2007, are as follows:
| Number of bonuses | Total cost (£) | |
Departmental Surveys
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how much his Department’s central media and communication unit spent on public surveys in each of the last three years. [248045]
Mr. Watson: The central communications unit of the Cabinet Office has not incurred any expenditure on public surveys.
Immigration
Mr. Clappison: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what contribution to population change in the UK was made by (a) natural growth and (b) net migration in each of the last 20 years. [249508]
Kevin Brennan: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated January 2009:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your question asking what contribution to population change in the UK was made by (a) natural growth and (b) net migration in each of the last 20 years. (249508)
The attached table shows the contribution of net migration and natural change to population change for the UK for the last 20 years since 1988.
| Net migration and natural change for the UK for mid-year 1988 to mid-year 2007 | ||
| Thousand | ||
| Net migration and other changes( 1,)( )( 2) | Natural change | |
| Net migration | Other changes( 2) | Natural change | |
| (1) It is not possible to separately identify and split net-migration and other changes in the years up to 2001. From 2002-07 net migration and other changes are shown separately. (2) Other changes primarily include changes in the number of home and US armed forces and dependants resident in the UK. (3 )Less than 1,000 Sources: Office for National Statistics, General Register Office for Scotland, Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency. | |||
Immigration: Poland
Mr. Paul Goodman: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what estimate the Office for National Statistics has made of (a) the number of Polish persons living in the UK in 2007 and 2008, (b) the number of Polish persons who returned to Poland from the UK in 2008 and (c) how many Polish persons are currently living in the UK. [249587]
Kevin Brennan: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated January 2009:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to respond to your questions concerning what estimate the Office for National Statistics has made of (a) the number of Polish persons living in the UK in 2007 and 2008, (b) the number of Polish persons who returned to Poland from the UK in 2008 and (c) how many Polish persons are currently living in the UK (249587).
The Office for National Statistics collects data on country of birth on the Annual Population Survey (APS) which covers residents of the UK. Estimates from the APS show that in 2007, 405,000 people living in the UK were born in Poland. This estimate has a margin of error of +/-26,000. No data are not yet available for 2008 or 2009.
The number of Polish persons who returned to Poland from the UK in 2008 is not yet available. The latest data for 2007 show that 18,000 UK residents who were born in Poland, migrated back to Poland. This estimate is based on the International Passenger Survey and excludes people who have been living in the UK for less than a year or who intend to return to Poland for less than a year.
Ministers: Pay
Steve Webb: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster which Ministers from each Department have received severance payments on leaving their Ministerial role in each year since 1997. [249389]
Mr. Byrne: Information on Ministers leaving office is a matter of public record. Under the Ministerial and other Pensions and Salaries Act 1991, only those who leave office over the age of 65; and the Prime Minister, the Lord Chancellor and the Commons Speaker (because they have alternative pension arrangements which include an element to cover the issue of severance) do not receive severance payments. Severance is also not paid to a Minister who leaves an unpaid office in Government, nor to a Minister who leaves a paid office and moves to an unpaid one.
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