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23 Feb 2009 : Column 103W—continued
Departmental Internet
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will publish a copy of her Department’s website accessibility plan. [257236]
Mr. Khan: The Department publishes its commitments on the accessibility of its websites at:
This has been updated in line with recent Cabinet Office guidelines on accessible and inclusive websites.
Departmental Ministerial Policy Advisers
Mr. Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many expert advisers, excluding special advisers, have been commissioned by her Department since June 2007; and on which topics they have advised. [254742]
Mr. Khan: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 12 January 2009, Official Report, column 239W.
Departmental Overseas Visits
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to the Answer to the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar of 21 April 2008, Official Report, column 1392W, on departmental overseas visits, how many of the overseas visits were made in order to attend foreign conferences; and what conferences were attended. [252792]
Mr. Khan: Records on overseas visits held in Communities and Local Government (CLG) do not identify separately the number of overseas visits made to attend foreign conferences or information on what conferences were attended. This information can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
All ministerial travel and travel by CLG staff is undertaken in accordance with the “Civil Service Management Code” and the “Ministerial Code”.
Departmental Pay
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much her Department has allocated for staff bonuses in 2008-09. [252251]
Mr. Khan: There are three ways in which staff in this Department might be entitled to a non-consolidated award in the financial year 2008-09.
The Government have accepted a recommendation by the Senior Salaries Review Body that for senior civil servants over the period 2008-11 there should be an indicative envelope, of 7 per cent. of paybill per head, available for normal base pay increases and increasing the non-consolidated performance pot. Under these arrangements, the Department has made non-consolidated payments in 2008-09 to 111 staff at a total cost of £856,392.
The pay settlement for staff below the senior civil service for 2008-09 has yet to be determined and so we cannot provide information in relation to the cost of non-consolidated payments at this time.
All non-consolidated payments above are funded within existing pay bill controls, have to be re-earned each year against pre-determined targets and, as such, do not add to future pay bill costs.
In Communities and Local Government, non-consolidated payments are made to those members of staff who are found to have made a significant contribution towards the achievement of the teams, and/or Department’s objectives. Individuals are expected to show that they have exceeded the requirements set for the achievement of the objective and have demonstrated exemplary behaviour in doing so.
Our senior civil service staff members are also assessed against a range of factors, such as:
The achievement of their Prime Objective which focuses on the way in which they lead, manage and develop their staff;
Degree to which business objectives are met;
Delivery for Ministers;
Demonstration of skills such as judgment, leadership and the PSG skills;
Effective resource management.
The Department also operates a scheme for all staff below the senior civil service under which individuals or teams may receive a small non-consolidated award in recognition of an outstanding contribution over a limited period. A formal allocation of funding is not made for this scheme but a limit of 0.2 per cent. of the paybill is placed on expenditure under these arrangements. The maximum payment under these arrangements is £600 but records are not available to show the number of payments made under this scheme in 2008-09.
Departmental Standards
Mr. Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the cost to her Department of conducting comprehensive performance assessments has been each year since the assessments were introduced. [255592]
John Healey: The cost of the Audit Commission’s work on comprehensive performance assessment (CPA) was covered by income from fees paid by local authorities, along with grant to the Audit Commission from the Department. The cost to local authorities of Audit Commission fees was offset by the revenue support grant paid to them by the Department.
I have asked the chief executive of the Audit Commission to write to the hon. Member directly with an estimate of the costs of conducting CPA since its introduction in 2002.
Letter from Steve Bundred, dated 23 February 2009:
Parliamentary Question: what the cost to the Department for Communities and Local Government of conducting comprehensive performance assessments has been each year since the assessments were introduced
I have been asked to follow up your Parliamentary Question on what the cost to the Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) of conducting comprehensive performance assessments has been each year since the assessments were introduced, with some further information.
For local authorities, the Audit Commission's work on comprehensive performance assessment (CPA) has been funded by a mixture of direct grant from CLG and fees charged to the local authorities being assessed. For fire and rescue authorities, CPA work is wholly funded by CLG grant. I attach two schedules providing the details of this funding since the respective frameworks started.
I trust this information is helpful.
A copy of this letter will be placed in Hansard.
| Funding for CPA of local authorities | |||
| £ million | |||
| CLG grant | Inspection fees | Total | |
| Funding for CPA of fire and rescue authorities | |
| CLG grant (£ million) | |
Mr. Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many people have been employed to work on comprehensive performance assessments in each year since the assessments were introduced. [255593]
John Healey: This is an operational matter for the Audit Commission and I have asked the chief executive of the Audit Commission to write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Steve Bundred, dated 23 February 2009:
Your Parliamentary Question on how many people have been employed to work on comprehensive performance assessments in each year since the assessments were introduced has been passed to me to reply.
I attach two schedules (one for local authorities and one for fire and rescue authorities) setting out the number of inspections and associated inspector days in connection with Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA) undertaken by Audit Commission staff in each year since 2002/03. The schedules also show the number of full-time equivalent inspectors represented by the volume of inspection work in each year.
In addition, the CPA ratings for local authorities draw on the work of external auditors appointed by the Audit Commission. This use of resources assessment forms part of the external audit programme and the days spent on this element are not collected separately.
I trust this information is helpful.
A copy of this letter will be placed in Hansard.
| Comprehensive Performance Assessments—local authorities | |||||||
| Inspection year | Single tier and county councils | District Councils | Total | FTE staff | |||
| Inspections | Days | Inspections | Days | Inspections | Days | ||
| Comprehensive Performance Assessments—fire and rescue authorities | |||
| Inspection year | Fire and rescue authorities | FTE staff | |
| Inspections | Days | ||
Departmental Translation Services
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many language translators are employed in each of her Department's executive agencies; and what the cost of translating services provided by such people was in the latest period for which information is available. [257155]
Mr. Khan: The Fire Service College engaged three part-time translators to work with staff delivering courses to Saudi Arabian students (during various periods between 5 January 2009 and 27 March 2009). Full costs have been recovered from the sales revenue.
The Planning Inspectorate procures translation services, and spend was £59,215 in 2007-08.
As a trading fund, the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre would buy in and recharge if translation services were requested by its clients.
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