Written Answers to Questions
Monday 6 July 2009
Prime Minister
Hutton Inquiry
Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Prime Minister if he will publish, redacted as necessary for reasons of national security, witness statements submitted to the Hutton Inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the death of Dr David Kelly. [283371]
The Prime Minister: Publication of material provided to the Inquiry was a matter for Lord Hutton.
Iraq Committee of Inquiry
Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Prime Minister (1) by what method and in what form witnesses giving evidence to the Committee of Inquiry on Iraq will do so when giving evidence on a basis equivalent to evidence given under oath; and if he will make a statement; [283368]
(2) what provision is being made to meet the (a) per diem and (b) other expenses incurred by (i) right hon. Sir John Chilcot and (ii) other members of the Committee of Inquiry on Iraq in relation to their work on the inquiry; [283369]
(3) if he will direct the Committee of Inquiry on Iraq to publish a list of those Privy Council members serving on the Committee who attend each closed session of the inquiry; [283370]
(4) if he will make it his policy that a verbatim record of public sessions of the Chilcot Inquiry is published daily; [283372]
(5) what plans there are to appoint legal counsel to support the Chilcot Inquiry into Iraq; [283458]
(6) whether those invited to serve on the Committee of Inquiry into Iraq were given guidance prior to accepting on the (a) likely time commitment involved and (b) duration of the inquiry; and if he will make a statement; [283459]
(7) whether witnesses to the Chilcot Inquiry into Iraq will be permitted legal representation; and if he will make a statement; [283460]
(8) who the secretary to the Chilcot Committee of Inquiry into Iraq will be. [283461]
The Prime Minister: I refer my hon. Friend to my letter of 17 June 2009 to the right hon. Sir John Chilcot GCB and to his reply of 21 June 2009. Copies of both have been placed in the Libraries of the House. As Chairman, Sir John, in consultation with the Inquiry Committee members, will take decisions on how the inquiry conducts its work. The costs of the inquiry will be met by the Government. The secretary to the inquiry will be Ms Margaret Aldred CB CBE, who is a senior Cabinet Office official.
Lord Paul of Marylebone
Mr. Graham Stuart: To ask the Prime Minister on how many occasions Lord Paul of Marylebone has visited 10 Downing Street on official business in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [281910]
The Prime Minister: My officials and I have meetings with a wide range of organisations and individuals on a range of subjects.
Cabinet Office
Aviation
John Smith: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what estimate she has made of the number of jobs in the UK dependent on the aviation industry. [282417]
Ian Lucas: I have been asked to reply.
This Department does not produce estimates of the number of jobs in the UK dependent on the aerospace or aviation industries.
The Society of British Aerospace Companies—the national trade association for the aerospace sector—estimates that 100,740 people were directly employed in the aerospace sector in 2008. This includes those employed in manufacturing of aircraft, systems, engines and equipment.
Figures for the air transport industry are included in the Office of National Statistics employment figures in their Annual Business Enquiry. Their latest figures for total employment averaged over the year of 2007 indicate that 93,000 people were employed directly in the air transport industry and a further 48,000 people were employed in other activities supporting air transport. These figures relate primarily to those involved in transport of passengers or freight by air but do not cover all those employed at airports for retail, catering, baggage handling etc.
Charities: West Midlands
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what recent steps have been taken to promote the Capacitybuilders and Futurebuilders schemes to charitable organisations in the West Midlands. [283850]
Angela E. Smith: All Capacitybuilders programmes are promoted in the West Midlands through a mixture of regional events, e-bulletins and through local ChangeUp consortia. Capacitybuilders is based in the West Midlands and they have a regional manager for the West Midlands.
Futurebuilders England has taken steps to promote the fund in the West Midlands. There have been a number of events to specifically promote the Futurebuilders Fund in Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Staffordshire.
Both Capacitybuilders and Futurebuilders are working together to deliver the new £16.5 million modernisation fund. Both organisations promoted the fund at the Office of the Third Sector’s road show in Birmingham on 27 April, where over 60 delegates representing third sector organisations in the West Midlands attended.
Departmental Information Officers
Paul Holmes: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office (1) what the cost of (a) press officers and (b) other press office staff in No. 10 Downing Street has been in each year since 1997; [283061]
(2) what the cost to her Department of employing press office staff other than press officers has been in each year since 1997. [283083]
Tessa Jowell: The Prime Minister’s Office forms part of the Cabinet Office.
For the cost of Press Officers I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Taunton (Mr. Browne) and the hon. Member for South-West Surrey (Mr. Hunt) on 26 November 2008, Official Report, column 1733W.
Information dating back to 1997 on the cost of press officer staff other than press officers is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Responsibilities
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how much time was spent on Ministerial duties between 4 May 2009 and 5 June 2009 by each Minister in her Department who is also a Member of the House of Commons. [282819]
Tessa Jowell: During this period, Cabinet Office Ministers continued to spend as much time on their ministerial duties as necessary for them to be fulfilled.
Futurebuilders Fund: Essex
Bob Spink: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many loans of each type have been provided from the Futurebuilders programme to organisations in each constituency in Essex since the inception of that scheme. [283894]
Angela E. Smith: To date, Futurebuilders England has invested over £3 million to five organisations in Essex. By constituency, Futurebuilders England has invested in one organisation in Brentwood and Ongar; one in Rochford and Southend, East; and three in West Chelmsford.
Pensioners: Low Incomes
Mr. Vara: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what estimate she has made of the number of pensioners in households with a net income of less than £130 a week in (a) North West Cambridgeshire constituency, (b) Cambridgeshire, (c) the East of England and (d) the UK in each of the last five years. [275242]
Angela Eagle: I have been asked to reply.
The information that is available is shown in the following table.
The data source does not allow us to provide robust numbers for estimates below the level of Government Office Region. The latest available information on pensioner incomes is for 2007-08 and figures have been rounded to the nearest 100,000.
Therefore information is provided for years up to and including 2007-08 based on an income of £130 per week, deflated to the price levels of the years in question.
| Pensioner units with a net income after housing costs of less than £130 per week (deflated to prices of years measured ) | |||||
| m illion | |||||
| 2001-02 to 2003-04 | 2002-03 to 2004-05 | 2003-04 to 2005-06 | 2004-05 to 2006-07 | 2005-06 to 2007-08 | |
| Notes: 1. Net income after housing costs is income from all sources received by the pensioner unit including income from social security benefits, earnings from employment, any private pension, and tax credits less direct taxes and housing costs which include rent, water rates and mortgage interest payments. 2. Figures are based on the average of three years' data as single year estimates do not provide a robust guide to year-on-year changes. 3. Figures have been rounded to the nearest 100,000. 4. “—” indicates a value less than 50,000 5. Based on survey data and as such subject to a degree of sampling and non sampling error. 6. Pensioner units are either a single pensioner over State Pension age (65 and over for men or 60 and over for women) or pensioner couples. Pensioner couples are couples where at least one member is over State Pension age. 7. Prior to 2002-03 the FRS survey only covered households in Great Britain. Therefore it is not possible to provide estimates for the UK for years before 2002-03. 8. The deflated values of £130 were £124.18 in 2007-08, £120.35 in 2006-07, £116.39 in 2005-06, £113.81 in 2004-05, £111.47 in 2003-04, £108.87 in 2002-03 and £106.32 in 2001-02. Source: Pensioners' Incomes Series (derived from the FRS survey) | |||||
Private Members’ Bills
Mr. Dismore:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many Private Members’ Bills commenced in the House have required Queen's Consent in (a) the last three Sessions and (b) in the current Session to date; what the (i) average and (ii) longest time between an hon. Member asking her Department to apply for consent and that consent actually being applied for was in (A) each of the last three Sessions and (B) in the current Session to date; what the (1) average and (2) longest time between her Department's applying for and receiving Queen's Consent was in each such period;
on how many occasions Queen's Consent has arrived in a period of 72 hours preceding a Bill's scheduled second reading in each such period; and if she will make a statement. [274629]
Angela E. Smith: Information about the number of private Members' Bills requiring Queen's Consent is set out in the following table. The rest of the information requested is not collated centrally and to do so would incur disproportionate cost.
| Private Members' Bills requiring Queen's Consent | ||
| Session | On second reading | On third reading |
Third Sector
Mr. Hurd: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what estimate she has made of the Government funding allocated to third sector organisations in (a) 2007-08 and (b) 2008-09. [284212]
Angela E. Smith: The latest information held by the Office of the Third Sector relates to estimates of central Government spending on the third sector in 2005-06 and estimates of local government spending on the third sector in 2003-04.
These figures show that central Government spending on the third sector in 2005-06 is estimated at £5.4 billion. Local government spending on the third sector in 2003-04 is estimated at £4.2 billion.
Both reports are published at:
For auditing reasons, there is a time lag for officially published data but the NCVO Civil Society Almanac provides an estimate of the total amount of public funding received by general charities and for 2006-07 they put this figure at £12 billion.
Mr. Hurd: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what information is held by (a) the Office for the Third Sector and (b) her Department on the level of Government funding for (i) charities, (ii) voluntary organisations and (iii) social enterprises. [284213]
Angela E. Smith: The Office of the Third Sector publishes information on central and local government spending on the third sector. Latest figures relate to central Government spending on the third sector in 2005-06, and local government spending on the third sector in 2003-04. However it is not possible to show funding for charities, voluntary organisations and social enterprises separately.
Both reports are published and available at:
http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/third_sector/Research_ and_statistics/third_sector_research/expenditure.aspx
Mr. Hurd: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office which of her Department’s programmes allocate funding to charities, social enterprises and voluntary organisations. [284278]
Angela E. Smith: The Office of the Third Sector, in Cabinet Office runs a variety of programmes allocating funding to charities, social enterprises and voluntary organisations. Expenditure on these programmes and programme descriptions are reported annually in the Cabinet Office Annual Report and Accounts.
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