Written Answers to Questions
Monday 29 June 2009
Women and Equality
Departmental Mobile Phones
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality how much has been spent on (a) the purchase of and (b) bills for (i) BlackBerrys and (ii) other mobile telephones for (A) Ministers, (B) special advisers and (C) civil servants in the Government Equalities Office in each year since its establishment. [268240]
Michael Jabez Foster: The Government Equalities Office was established on 12 October 2007. Since then there have been no purchases of BlackBerrys or mobile phones for Ministers or special advisers. Details of purchases of BlackBerrys and mobile phones for civil servants and the associated bills are provided in the following tables:
| £ | ||
| Purchases | Bills | |
| (1) Purchases of mobile handsets were made towards the end of the financial year therefore payment of bills did not commence until April/May 2008. Some bill payments were made to owners of existing mobile handsets. (2) All bills are grouped together on to one monthly invoice which makes it difficult to separate individual charges for BlackBerrys and mobiles. | ||
Cabinet Office
10 Downing Street
Mr. Maude: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office pursuant to the answer of 13 January 2009, Official Report, columns 581-82W, on 10 Downing Street, how many Downing Street-branded wallets have been sold by the gift shop in the last 18 months or nearest equivalent period for which figures are available. [258623]
Angela E. Smith: I have nothing further to add to the earlier answer.
Breast Cancer: Males
James Duddridge: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many men have died from breast cancer in each year since 2005. [282926]
Angela E. Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated June 2009:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many men have died from breast cancer in each year since 2005. (282926)
The table attached provides the number of deaths where breast cancer was the underlying cause of death, for males in England and Wales from 2005 to 2008.
| Table 1: Number of deaths where breast cancer was the underlying cause of death,( 1) males, England and Wales,( 2) 2005-08( 3, 4) | |
| Male deaths | |
| (1) Cause of death was defined using the international Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) code C50. (2) Figures for England and Wales include deaths of non-residents. (3) Figures are for deaths registered in each calendar year. (4) Figures for deaths registered in 2008 are provisional. | |
Capacitybuilders: Tamworth
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what funding Capacitybuilders has provided to charitable organisations active in Tamworth constituency in the last 12 months. [281691]
Angela E. Smith: There have been no direct awards from Capacitybuilders to charitable organisations active in Tamworth in the last 12 months. However, Capacitybuilders have made two awards to the Staffordshire Consortium, one of whose members is the Tamworth Council for Voluntary Service, which will benefit from this funding. The first award was a Consortium Development grant of £52,000 in 2008-09. The second was a modernisation programme grant of £41,596 in 2008-09 to ensure common standards and access across the nine volunteer centres in the district, which is work being led by Tamworth CVS.
Departmental Billing
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office pursuant to the answer of 13 May 2009, Official Report, column 835W, on departmental billing, how much her Department's non-departmental public bodies paid in interest to suppliers under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 in the last three years. [282335]
Angela E. Smith: The Office of the Third Sector in Cabinet Office sponsors two executive non-departmental public bodies—Capacitybuilders and the Commission for the Compact.
Capacitybuilders was formally established in April 2006 and the Commission for the Compact in November 2007.
No payments under the Late Payments of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 have been made by the Commission for the Compact since its establishment. Capacitybuilders have made interest payments to one supplier totalling £64.94 over the last three financial years.
Futurebuilders: Tamworth
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many loans of each type have been provided by the Futurebuilders programme in Tamworth constituency since the scheme began. [281690]
Angela E. Smith: To date, Futurebuilders England has not invested in Tamworth. However, more widely, Futurebuilders has invested over £4 million in 16 organisations in the west midlands.
Jobseeker’s Allowance: Merseyside
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office for what average length of time jobseeker's allowance (JSA) claimants resident in (a) Merseyside and (b) Crosby received JSA in each of the last five years. [282532]
Angela E. Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated June 2009:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking for what average length of time jobseeker's allowance (JSA) claimants resident in (a) Merseyside and (b) Crosby Point received JSA in each of the last five years. (282532)
The number of people claiming Job Seekers Allowance (JSA) is taken from the Jobcentre Plus administrative system. The length of a claim has been defined as the time between the start of an individual's claim and that claim ending. Table 1 shows the median length of completed claims during the May count period of the last 5 years.
Unemployment: South Yorkshire
Jeff Ennis: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the unemployment rate among the working age population in (a) Barnsley, (b) Doncaster and (c) South Yorkshire was in each of the last five years. [282792]
Angela E. Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated June 2009:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking what the unemployment rate among the working age population in (a) Barnsley, (b) Doncaster and (c) South Yorkshire was in each of the last five years. (282792)
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles labour market statistics for local areas from the Annual Population Survey (APS) and unemployment statistics for unitary and local authorities from a statistical model, following International Labour Organisation (ILO) definitions.
Table I shows the unemployment rate for people resident in Barnsley, Doncaster and South Yorkshire in each of the last five years. The latest period for which data are available is October 2007 to September 2008. Unemployment rates are normally provided for people aged 16 and over, rather than people of working age, thus estimates provided are consistent with this definition.
National and local area estimates for many labour market statistics, including employment and unemployment are available from the NOMIS website at:
| Table 1. Unemployment rates( 1) for people resident in Barnsley, Doncaster and South Yorkshire | |||
| Unemployment rate (percentage) | |||
| 12-month period | Barnsley( 2) | Doncaster( 2) | South Yorkshire |
| (1 )Number of unemployed people aged 16 and over as a percentage of the economically active population. (2) Model based estimates. Source: Annual Population Survey and Model Based Estimates. | |||
Olympics
Olympic Games 2012: Construction
Charlotte Atkins: To ask the Minister for the Olympics what plans she has to encourage construction companies on the Olympic site to use waterborne freight. [281746]
Tessa Jowell: The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) encourages all contractors to use the waterways, where possible, to transport materials. The ODA’s work to open up navigable waterways will actively encourage contractors to employ sustainable transport methods at every opportunity.
Contractors are also embracing this challenge, for example, Team Stadium (the consortium constructing the Olympic Stadium) is building offloading facilities near the stadium to enable movement of materials by water. Two of the ODA’s other tier 1 contractors, Veolia Environmental Services and Aggregate Industries, have also committed to using the waterways to transport
materials in and waste out. Veolia Environmental Services, the site waste management contractor, is expected to have the first barge carrying waste out of the park in late June following the opening of Three Mills Lock (formerly known as Prescott Lock).
The target set out in the Sustainable Development Strategy published in 2007 stated that 50 per cent. of materials (by weight) would be transported by rail or water. Figures published in April show that the ODA is already achieving 57 per cent. of deliveries by rail alone.
The ODA also continues to work closely with British Waterways, Transport for London, the Department for Transport and the Port of London authority to create and promote opportunities to transport materials by water.
Charlotte Atkins: To ask the Minister for the Olympics whether construction companies working on the Olympic site have clauses within their contracts to encourage waterborne freight. [281747]
Tessa Jowell: While there is no specific requirement or clause in relation to the use of sustainable transportation methods, the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) emphasises its commitment to sustainability throughout the procurement process, for example, by inviting prospective contractors to provide proposals to meet the ODA target of transporting 50 per cent. of construction materials (by weight) by sustainable means (rail and water).
Charlotte Atkins: To ask the Minister for the Olympics what estimate she has made of the proportion of (a) goods and (b) other materials which will be transported to the main Olympic site by water. [281748]
Tessa Jowell: The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) delivery management system keeps a record by weight of all deliveries and removals to and from the Olympic Park. With the completion of dredging works, the regular use of the waterways is scheduled to commence around the end of this month. The proportion of sustainable deliveries by water will then be able to be calculated from Q3 2009 on a monthly basis.
The target set out in the Sustainable Development Strategy published in 2007 stated that 50 per cent. of materials (by weight) would be transported by rail or water. Figures published in April show that the ODA is already achieving 57 per cent. of deliveries by rail alone.
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