| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
14 May 2009 : Column 886W—continued
Departmental Manpower
Mr. Leech: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 23 April 2009, Official Report, column 799W, on departmental manpower, whether his Department's practice of not keeping records of time spent by individual civil servants on the flexible benefits project is compatible with (a) Government accounting rules and (b) Government project management guidance. [274907]
Mr. Hoon: There is no requirement under HM Treasury's financial reporting manual to record details of the time spent by individual civil servants on individual pieces of work. The project is being run in accordance with project management methodologies.
Mr. Leech: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 23 April 2009, Official Report, column 799W, on departmental manpower, what methodology his Department plans to use to calculate the cost of the flexible benefits project. [274908]
Mr. Hoon: The cost of the flexible benefits project is calculated by reference to the engagement of contractors, the purchase of licences, hardware and software and technology design configurations.
Departmental Mobile Phones
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many (a) BlackBerry devices and (b) mobile telephones have been lost by (i) Ministers, (ii) special advisers and (iii) civil servants in his Department in each year since 2005. [274470]
Mr. Hoon: The Department for Transport was formed in 2002 and includes seven agencies, a shared service centre and the central Department, with a total staff of over 18,000. The figures provided here are for lost and stolen mobile telephones and BlackBerrys for the entire Department including its Agencies and shared service centre. The figures provided do not include losses or thefts where records are not available, where equipment has not been procured centrally, or where such losses or thefts were not reported.
The number of mobile telephones and BlackBerrys used by Ministers, special advisers and civil servants lost and stolen from the Department in each year since 2005 are as follows:
| 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | |
Departmental Official Hospitality
Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much his Department has spent on hospitality and entertainment in each of the last five years. [273890]
Mr. Hoon: Expenditure by the Department for Transport on hospitality and entertainment in the most recent three years is as follows:
| £ | |
Due to a major restructuring of accounting records, expenditure in years prior to 2006-07 cannot be provided on a comparable basis without incurring disproportionate costs.
The Department adheres to the principles on the management of public money as set out in HM Treasury’s handbook on Regularity and Propriety and has strict rules and cost limits on such expenditure, which in the main consists of refreshments at meetings with external stakeholders.
Departmental Stationery
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much his Department has spent on branded stationery and gifts for (a) internal and (b) external promotional use in each of the last five years. [273772]
Mr. Hoon: Expenditure by the Department of Transport and its executive agencies on corporate branded stationery and gifts in each of the last five years is shown in the following table.
These costs include a range of materials bearing the Department's or agencies' corporate branding, including letterhead, envelopes, pens and items for exhibitions or conferences.
| £ | |||||
| Financial year | |||||
| Department for Transport | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 |
| (1 )No records available. (2 )Disproportionate cost. | |||||
The terms “stationery” and “gifts” are very broad. For the purpose of providing this answer they have been interpreted as any DfT or any agency corporate branded stationery such as letterhead, compliment slips or pens, or any piece of corporate merchandise that is corporate branded (e.g. slap wraps, pens, lanyards etc). Costs have also been limited to the production of materials and do not include storage or distribution costs.
The Department also produces a range of materials under non-corporate brands in support of its objectives, such as the THINK! road safety brand, Act on CO2 brand and Transport Direct. These have not been included as the costs for materials using these brands are not held centrally, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much his Department spent on the purchase of (a) recycled office supplies in the last 12 months and (b) printer ink cartridges in each of the last five years. [274571]
Mr. Hoon: The information for both (a) and (b) is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what proportion of office supplies purchased by his Department were recycled products in the latest period for which figures are available. [275338]
Mr. Hoon: The information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Training
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much his Department has spent on IT training for its staff in each of the last five years. [274221]
Mr. Hoon: The IT training expenditure for the Department for Transport (central) and some of the agencies (i.e. the Driving Standards Agency (DSA), the Highways Agency (HA), the Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA), the Government Car and Despatch Agency (GCDA) and part of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) can be provided only at disproportionate cost. The figures for the other agencies are as follows:
| £ | |||
| Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) | Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) | Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) | |
Driving Offences
Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what sanctions will apply to motorists who drive in lanes reserved for authorised persons on the Olympic Route Network without authorisation. [272843]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The sanctions for contravention of Traffic Regulation Orders to be made in relation to the Olympic Route Network under the provisions of the London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Act 2006 are set out in section 15 of that Act. The Olympic Delivery Authority will aim to secure maximum compliance with the various traffic management measures in those orders through widespread publicity and communication in advance of the games.
East London Line
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what funds were offered by his Department to Transport for London towards the costs of building the proposed Surrey Canal Road station on the East London Line extension; what progress has been made on that offer; and if he will make a statement. [274350]
Jim Fitzpatrick: A station at Surrey Canal Road is part of the Transport for London (TfL) sponsored East London Line extension project. The Department for Transport offered Transport for London and the Mayor of London an additional £7 million in the last financial year to take forward a new station at Surrey Canal Road. This offer was not accepted at the time, but I understand that Transport for London is carrying out further business case and regeneration studies associated with the scheme, working with the relevant local authorities in the areas.
Food
Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make an estimate of the (a) monetary value and (b) quantity of waste food disposed of from his Department’s premises in the last 12 months. [273438]
Mr. Hoon: Within the Department for Transport, on-site catering services are only available at the Department’s main headquarters building in London, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) sites in Swansea, the Driving Standards Agency (DSA) residential training facility in Bedfordshire and at the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) HQ in Bristol.
The requested information is not recorded at our London HQ nor is it recorded at the VOSA HQ in Bristol or at the DVLA sites in Swansea. The DSA estimates that in the last 12 months it has disposed of 1,200 kg of waste food.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |