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20 July 2009 : Column 806W—continued
Departmental Operating Costs
Sammy Wilson: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality what the running costs of the Government Equalities Office have been in each year since its establishment. [286942]
Michael Jabez Foster: Since its establishment on 12 October 2007, the running costs for the Government Equalities Office have been:
| Expenditure | |||
| £000 | |||
| 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 | |
Equality Bill
Mr. Evennett: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality what recent representations she has received from religious organisations on the provisions of the Equality Bill. [288122]
Michael Jabez Foster: My officials and I have received a number of representations from religion and belief organisations and individuals since the introduction of the Equality Bill in April this year.
Since April there have been meetings with the Catholic Bishops Conference of England and Wales, the General Synod of the Church of England and the National Secular Society.
In that same period we have also received 45 letters from religious or belief organisations and members of the public on the provisions within the Bill. The main issues raised were:
The public sector equality duty;
The occupational requirements employment exception;
Catholic adoption agencies;
The harassment provisions;
The curbing of religious freedom and expression; and
A perceived hierarchy of rights where some protected characteristics take precedence over others.
In addition to the representations mentioned above, a number of religious and belief organisations made submissions to the House of Commons' Public Bill Committee on the Equality Bill. The Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales and the British Humanist Association presented written evidence. Oral evidence
was presented by the British Humanist Association, the Board of Deputies of British Jews, the Catholic Bishops Conference of England and Wales, the General Synod of the Church of England, the National Secular Society and the Muslim Women's Network.
Members: Correspondence
Sir John Stanley: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality when she plans to reply to the letter of 23 February 2009 and 23 May 2009 from the right hon. Member for Tonbridge and Malling on behalf of Mr Colin Packman. [287298]
Michael Jabez Foster: I am sorry that the right hon. Member has not received a response.
The office for the Minister for Women and Equality had no record of receiving the correspondence referred to. Following contact with the right hon. Member's office, the Government Equalities Office has now received a copy the relevant correspondence, and I will reply by the end of July.
Terrorism Bill
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality what expenditure the Commission for Equality and Human Rights incurred on commissioning legal advice on the compliance of the Terrorism Bill with the European Convention on Human Rights. [286780]
Michael Jabez Foster: The Equality and Human Rights Commission spent £9,603 (including VAT) on expert legal advice from counsel.
Women and Work Commission
Meg Munn: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality when she expects the Women and Work Commission to report on the impact of the recommendations adopted by the Government in response to the report of the Commission in 2006. [287736]
Michael Jabez Foster: The Women and Work Commission are due to publish their report on 29 July 2009.
International Development
Departmental Buildings
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what properties his (a) Department and (b) Department's non-departmental public bodies have sold in each of the last five years; and how many of these have been sold for housing development. [266495]
Mr. Michael Foster: In the last five years, the Department for International Development and the non-departmental bodies it oversees have sold no property in the United Kingdom.
Departmental Data Protection
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what databases which will be managed by his Department and which will contain personal information are (a) under construction and (b) expected to go live in each of the next five years; and if he will make a statement. [286505]
Mr. Michael Foster: The Department for International Development has no current plans to build new databases containing personal information.
We do expect to replace existing databases used for internal administration of human resources and correspondence within the next five years.
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many (a) attempts and (b) successful attempts were made to gain unauthorised access to each (i) database and (ii) ICT system run by his Department in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [286544]
Mr. Michael Foster: It is not in the interests of the UK's national security for departments to confirm information on the number of attempts, successful or otherwise, to gain unauthorised access to departmental systems or databases. Such disclosure could undermine the integrity and security of departmental systems and thereby expose them to potential threats.
The Department for International Development complies with the mandatory requirements of the security policy framework in relation to information security including managing the risk of unauthorised access to ICT systems.
Departmental Work Experience
Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many interns work in his Department; what terms of reference apply to their appointment; what remuneration they receive; and how long on average an intern appointment lasts. [286821]
Mr. Michael Foster: The Department for International Development does not have an intern scheme.
Food Security Initiative
Mr. Andrew Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much funding the UK has pledged to the new G8; what the timescale for that funding is; and whether this funding is additional to existing funding provision. [287267]
Mr. Michael Foster: The UK announced £1.1 billion for agriculture, rural development and food security over the period 2009-10 to 2011-12.
£370 million of this had previously been announced in 2008-09 as part of the UK's £900 million response to the food crisis.
Communities and Local Government
Aerials: Planning Permission
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Beckenham (Jacqui Lait) of 7 January 2008, Official Report, column 252W, on planning permission: aerials, what progress has been made on the review of planning regulations affecting mobile telephone masts; and if he will bring forward legislative proposals to require full planning permission for the construction of such masts. [284004]
Mr. Ian Austin: We will be announcing the conclusions of our review of permitted development rights for telecommunications shortly.
Business: Government Assistance
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) how much of the £3 million fund for high streets adversely affected by the economic downturn has been (a) allocated to and (b) spent in each region; [288525]
(2) how many unused commercial premises have been taken over for community creative use since his announcement on such usage in April 2009. [288526]
Mr. Malik: There has been widespread interest in the "Looking after our town centres" guide, with nearly 9,000 downloads of the document since it was published in April. However, information on how commercial premises are being used is not collected centrally, as this is a matter for local authorities and their partners. An announcement will be made shortly on how the £3 million funding will be allocated.
Central Manchester Development Corporation: Archives
Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to the answer of 21 February 2008, Official Report, column 900W, on the Central Manchester Development Corporation: archives, which archives of the Central Manchester Development Corporation are within the Government Office for the North-West registry. [287405]
Ms Rosie Winterton: There are no Central Manchester Development Corporation archives held in GONW. All such files were sent to an external storage facility in March 1998 with instructions to be securely destroyed on 1 April 2006.
Council Tax: Pensioners
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will assess the merits of introducing a council tax deferment scheme for home-owning pensioners. [286564]
Ms Rosie Winterton:
The Government have no plans to assess the merits of introducing a council tax deferment scheme for home-owning pensioners. Regulation 21 of Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992 (SI 1992/613) already enables local authorities to
defer payment of council tax for individual taxpayers, including pensioners. The details of such arrangements are a matter for individual local authorities.
Councillors: Allowances
Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what statistical information his Department holds on average councillor allowances. [288294]
Ms Rosie Winterton: We do not collect or report on allowances paid to local authority members, which are matters for each council to decide, having regard to the recommendations of their independent remuneration panel, and on which the council is accountable to their local electorate.
Departmental Data Protection
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many (a) attempts and (b) successful attempts were made to gain unauthorised access to each (i) database and (ii) ICT system run by his Department in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [286549]
Mr. Malik: It is not in the interests of the UK's national security for Departments to confirm information on the number of attempts, successful or otherwise, to gain unauthorised access to departmental systems or databases. Such disclosure could undermine the integrity and security of departmental systems and thereby expose them to potential threats.
Communities and Local Government complies with the mandatory requirements of the Security Policy Framework in relation to information security including managing the risk of unauthorised access to ICT systems.
Departmental Databases
Mr. Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what information databases his Department (a) maintains and (b) uses which do not contain personal information. [284394]
Mr. Malik: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what categories of personal information on members of the public will be held on each of his Department's and its agency's databases expected to become operational in the next five years; what estimate he has made of the likely number of individuals' details each such database will hold when fully operational; and if he will make a statement. [286494]
Mr. Malik:
New databases containing personal data are set up by Communities and Local Government as and when policy development and implementation of policy dictate the operational need for them. It is not possible to plan or predict how many individuals' details nor what categories of their personal information are likely to need to be held on new databases that are
required for the business of the Department up to five years ahead. None the less, Communities and Local Government always takes steps to ensure that new databases are fully compliant with the provisions of the Data Protection Act.
Departmental Electronic Equipment
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many (a) photocopiers, (b) scanning devices and (c) fax machines, excluding multi-function devices, there are in his Department; how many there were in each of the last three years; and if he will make a statement. [286178]
Mr. Malik: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. Communities and Local Government are reviewing its use of such devices with the aim of reducing the numbers and moving to a more carbon efficient approach in line with the requirements of the "Greening Government ICT programme".
Fire Services
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the latest estimated total gross cost is of the FIREControl project. [283697]
Mr. Malik: We will be updating the cost figures contained in the FiReControl Business Case in due course to reflect the rescheduling I announced to the House on 15 July 2009.
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