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4 Feb 2009 : Column 1230W—continued
House of Commons Commission
Parliament: Buildings
Mr. Amess: To ask the honourable Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission what the (a) date of opening was and (b) current estimated value is of each building on the Parliamentary Estate. [248142]
Nick Harvey: The information requested is in the following table. Date of opening has been taken to mean date of occupation by the House.
| Building | Brought into service | Total value (£ million) |
| (1) Includes the areas occupied by the House of Lords, Westminster Hall and the rooms off, the underground car park, New Palace Yard, and the Cromwell Green Building. (2) Includes areas occupied by the House of Lords. (3) Excludes the retail units on Bridge Street. (4) Includes the retail units and St. Stephen's Tavern. (5) Leased properties. Source: ‘Parliamentary Estate Asset Valuation 31 March 2008’ by the Valuation Office Agency. | ||
Northern Ireland
Saville Inquiry
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland with reference to the answer of 24 November 2008, Official Report, column 886W, on the Saville Inquiry, whether expenditure on legal fees is expected to increase. [243244]
Mr. Woodward: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave on 3 February 2009, Official Report, column 992W.
Women and Equality
Departmental Buildings
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality how much has been spent by the Government Equalities Office on renovation and refurbishment of its properties in each year since its establishment. [251653]
Maria Eagle: The Government Equalities Office does not own any properties. It leases space from Communities and Local Government in their headquarters building, Eland House. That space has not been renovated or refurbished in GEO's tenure so no costs have been incurred. I refer the hon. Member to my answer on 20 January 2009, Official Report, columns 1312-13W.
Departmental Correspondence
Grant Shapps: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality what the Government Equalities Office's average response time to a letter received from (a) an hon. Member and (b) a member of the public has been since it was established. [251430]
Maria Eagle: The Cabinet Office, on an annual basis, publishes a report to Parliament on the performance of Departments in replying to Members correspondence. The report for 2007 was published on 20 March 2008, Official Report, columns 71-74WS. Information for 2008 is currently being collated and will be published as soon as it ready. Reports for earlier years are available in the Library of the House.
With respect to correspondence from members of the public, this information can be obtained only through the detailed examination of individual letters at disproportionate cost; however the Government Equalities Office aims to respond to all written correspondence within 15 working days.
Departmental Disciplinary Proceedings
Grant Shapps: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality how many staff in the Government Equalities Office have been disciplined for (a) bullying and (b) harassment of colleagues since its inception. [254081]
Maria Eagle: Since the Government Equalities Office was established on 12 October 2007 no members of staff have been disciplined for bullying or harassment.
Departmental Internet
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality how much the Government Equalities Office has spent on broadband internet in each year since it was established. [251668]
Maria Eagle: The Government Equalities Office receives a service charge from the Department for Communities and Local Government and from Cabinet Office for IT services. Broadband internet is not separately identified in these charges.
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality how much the Government Equalities Office has spent on maintaining its departmental website in each year since the Office was established. [251900]
Maria Eagle: The Government Equalities Office website www.equalities.gov.uk was launched on 10 January 2008. The charge for maintaining the site since 10 January 2008 was £891.83. In 2008-09 the charge for maintaining the site is £2,700.
Departmental Sick Leave
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality what estimate she has made of the number of hours of work lost through sickness absence on the part of staff working in the Government Equalities Office in the last 12 months. [251651]
Maria Eagle: The Government Equalities Office has lost 806 hours of work through staff sickness absence in the last 12 months.
Departmental Television
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality how many flat screen televisions have been purchased by the Government Equalities Office since it was established. [251667]
Maria Eagle: Since its establishment, the Government Equalities Office has purchased two flat screen televisions.
Departmental Working Hours
Mr. Laws: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality how many days off in lieu were granted to staff in the Government Equalities Office for working (a) in lunch breaks and (b) at other times outside contracted working hours, in the last year for which figures are available. [252028]
Maria Eagle: The calculation could be made only at disproportionate cost. The Government Equalities Office does not keep a central record of how many days off in lieu were granted to staff for working in lunch breaks and at other times. Records are held by individual members of staff and their line managers. Time off in lieu has to be authorised by managers, and be within parameters set out in GEO's terms and conditions.
Equal Pay: Private Sector
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality what estimate she has made of the cost to business of mandatory pay audits in the private sector; and if she will make a statement. [252773]
Maria Eagle
[holding answer 2 February 2009]: Research commissioned by the Equal Opportunities Commission in 2005 found that the administrative cost of carrying
out an equal pay review was typically the equivalent of three to six months of the time of a single member of staff.
Mass Media
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality how many press and communications officers are employed by the Government Equalities Office. [251908]
Maria Eagle: The communication team at the Government Equalities Office consists of six posts of which two are press officers.
Home Department
Alcoholic Drinks: Young People
Mr. Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidance she has issued to (a) police forces and (b) licensing authorities on using under 18 year olds for test purchases of alcohol in pubs. [247771]
Mr. Coaker: The Home Office has not issued any recent guidance to the police or licensing authorities on the issue of test purchasing. The use of test purchase operations is a local operational matter, and as such is a decision for the chief constable. However, we are aware that both ACPO and LACORS have produced guidance on this matter.
Animal Experiments: Primates
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what her Department's policy is on the provisions in the draft EU Directive 86/609 relating to the use of great apes in scientific procedures. [253688]
Meg Hillier: Great apes have never been used as laboratory animals under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 and in 1997 we gave a commitment that we will not allow their use in the future. This remains our position.
The provisions of the draft directive seek to prohibit the use of great apes, except in research aimed at the preservation of those species and where action is warranted in relation to an unexpected life-threatening or debilitating condition endangering human beings and no other species or alternative method would suffice.
Although these provisions appear weaker than our position, we support the proposal in principle. The exemptions allowed could only be invoked in genuinely exceptional circumstances and in practice the provision would be an effective ban on the use of great apes consistent with our policy.
Borders: Passenger Ships
Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will hold discussions with the Secretary of State for Transport on strengthening domestic security in relation to cruise ships under the (a) e-borders programme and (b) Government’s counter-terrorism strategy. [253703]
Mr. Coaker: The Home Secretary is in regular contact with the Secretary of State for Transport on a range of matters including maritime security and e-Borders.
The e-Borders programme is designed to collect passenger and crew data for all those entering or leaving the UK regardless of the mode of transport and is currently in the process of being rolled out. Cruise ships are included in the implementation programme and preliminary discussions and trials with major cruise operators and with shipping agents who act on behalf of cruise operators have been held. No major issues have been identified that would prevent cruise ship operators from achieving full compliance in line with the e-Borders implementation plan.
There is an established maritime security regime in place in the UK for all passenger ships, including cruise ships, engaged in international voyages. This regime is regulated by the Department for Transport and is in accordance with the requirements of the International Ship and Port Facility (ISPS) Code and EU Regulation 725/2004.
British Nationality: Republic of Ireland
Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people applied for UK passports from a primary residence in the Irish Republic in the last two years. [253276]
Meg Hillier: The British embassy in Dublin issued the following number of passports to British nationals applying within the Republic of Ireland.
| Number of passports | |
Statistics are not broken down by place of primary residence. However, the majority of these are issued to British nationals resident in the Republic of Ireland, the few exceptions being British nationals visiting Ireland and who lost their previous passports while there.
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