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Northern Ireland

Departmental Advertising

Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what his Department's expenditure for advertising (a) on UTV, (b) on commercial radio, (c) in the Belfast Telegraph, (d) in the News Letter, (e) in The Irish News and (f) in weekly papers was in each of the last five years. [287492]

Paul Goggins: The finance system of the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) does not break down advertising expenditure in the detail requested therefore these figures could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Billing

John Mason: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what percentage of invoices from suppliers his Department paid within 10 days of receipt in June 2009. [288932]

Paul Goggins: The Northern Ireland Office, including the Public Prosecution Service Northern Ireland but excluding its agencies and NDPBs, paid 92.4 per cent. of invoices from suppliers within 10 days of receipt in June 2009.

Departmental Dismissal

Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many members of staff in his Department were dismissed (a) for under-performance and (b) in total in each of the last five years. [287480]

Paul Goggins: In the Northern Ireland Office, no member of staff has been dismissed for under-performance and 20 members of staff in total have been dismissed from 2005 to date. The following table shows a breakdown of dismissals since 2005:

Number of staff dismissed

2005

1

2006

5

2007

8

2008

4

2009

2


Departmental Manpower

Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what percentage of employees in his Department are (a) women and (b) men; and what the average hourly pay is of the (i) male and (ii) female employees. [288602]

Paul Goggins: The percentage of employees in the Northern Ireland Office and its agencies are 40.2 per cent. male and 59.8 per cent. female. The average hourly rate in the latest period for which figures are available for male employees is £11.94 and for female employees is £10.36.


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Parades

Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much was spent on security and policing of the 12 July events in each of the last five years. [287493]

Paul Goggins: That is an operational matter for the Chief Constable. I have asked him to reply directly to the hon. Member, and a copy of his letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

Police Service of Northern Ireland: Disciplinary Proceedings

Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many Police Service of Northern Ireland officers had disciplinary action brought against them for each type of disciplinary offence in the last five years. [287666]

Paul Goggins: That is an operational matter for the Chief Constable. I have asked him to reply directly to the hon. Member, and a copy of his letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

Security Guards: Licensing

Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many security licences have been (a) refused and (b) revoked by his Department in each of the last five years. [287644]

Paul Goggins: The number of licenses refused and revoked are shown in the following table.

Number of licenses refused Number of licenses revoked

2004

0

0

2005

0

0

2006

0

0

2007

0

0

2008

5

0


Olympics

Departmental Contracts

Lorely Burt: To ask the Minister for the Olympics how many contracts let by her Department were awarded to businesses with fewer than 50 employees in each of the last five years; and what the monetary value of such contracts was in each such year. [287805]

Tessa Jowell: My ministerial portfolio requires my Office to operate within both the Cabinet Office and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and this information will therefore be included in the answers provided by the Minister of State, Cabinet Office and the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport.


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Departmental Databases

Jenny Willott: To ask the Minister for the Olympics what categories of personal information on members of the public will be held on each database expected to become operational in the next five years and which will be managed by her Office; what estimate she has made of the likely number of individuals' details each such database will hold when fully operational; and if she will make a statement. [286140]

Tessa Jowell: My ministerial portfolio requires my Office to operate across the estates of the Cabinet Office and Department for Culture, Media and Sport and this information will therefore be included in the answers provided by the Minister of State, Cabinet Office and the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport.

National Lottery: Olympic Games 2012

Pete Wishart: To ask the Minister for the Olympics which grants to the London 2012 Olympic Games project approved by the Big Lottery Fund have been (a) notified to and (b) authorised by the EU Commission for state aid clearance. [289134]

Tessa Jowell: The Big Lottery Fund has made no grants to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games project.

Olympic Games 2012

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Minister for the Olympics what assessment she has made of the work of establishing temporary facilities to house the International Broadcast Centre and the Main Press Centre during the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. [284553]

Tessa Jowell [holding answer 6 July 2009]: It was always the intention that the International Broadcast Centre/Main Press Centre (IBC/MPC) would be a combination of temporary and permanent elements. As it became clear that a private sector deal was not going to offer best value for money, a full assessment of the IBC/MPC site was undertaken to determine ways to make temporary those proposed permanent elements not required in legacy.

The MPC offices, the two-storey IBC studio and part of the car parking facilities will be permanent buildings for games and legacy as originally planned but slightly smaller (totalling just under 100,000 sq m rather than 125,000). Some of this reduction is due to catering facilities, originally intended to be housed temporarily in office space during the games, now being provided in separate wholly temporary facilities. Other temporary elements of the project include both the other part of the car parking facilities and temporary retail facilities for media and broadcast personnel.

Assessment of temporary versus permanent facilities is ongoing as the design and procurement teams continue to ascertain those components required solely for games-time. As such, careful attention is being given to identify those elements that can either be hired in for the duration of the games or that can be relocated following the games. For example, we are considering hiring much of
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the mechanical and electrical plant required to service the IBC in games-time and the generators for back-up power.

Games-time operations are the responsibility of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG), in conjunction with the Olympic Broadcast Service and Host Broadcaster, who will be providing much of their own broadcast equipment and operational functions.

It remains the intention to create facilities that leave a real long-term employment legacy for Hackney and the buildings have been designed to be as flexible as possible. The public sector will retain ownership of the asset and receipt of all revenues from its sale after 2012.

Bob Russell: To ask the Minister for the Olympics if she will make it her policy that the traditional folk culture of the nations of the United Kingdom feature in the opening and closing ceremonies of the London 2012 Olympics; and if she will make a statement. [288747]

Tessa Jowell: The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) will be developing its plans for the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games in due course. It is too early to say which organisations will take part in these events in three years' time. However, the Cultural Olympiad provides opportunities for folk culture to be represented in the London games in the run up to and including 2012. Information and opportunities for involvement will be highlighted on the London 2012 website at:

Olympic Games 2012: Carbon Emissions

Mr. Sanders: To ask the Minister for the Olympics what steps her Office is taking to (a) define and (b) measure the carbon footprint of the London 2012 Olympics. [285207]

Tessa Jowell: The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games has led a project to define and measure the carbon footprint of London 2012, working closely with the Olympic Delivery Authority and London Development Agency, and also stakeholders such as the Government Olympic Executive, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Greater London Authority.

The outcome of the analysis will be published in the autumn alongside a carbon management strategy setting out how we are ensuring that carbon emissions are minimised as part of our commitment to a genuinely sustainable 2012 Games, including by making sustainable choices during procurement, by reducing energy at source and by minimising waste at every stage.

Olympic Games 2012: Contracts

Lorely Burt: To ask the Minister for the Olympics what proportion of contracts relating to the London 2012 Olympics had been advertised on the CompeteFor website on the latest date for which figures are available. [283902]


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Tessa Jowell: The Olympic Delivery Authority has directly awarded contracts to over 950 suppliers to date. The ODA was formed in April 2006, and began procurement from its inception to ensure that it was on programme. It was already working with a number of suppliers, 550 in all, by the time CompeteFor was launched in January 2008. Due to the scale and complexity of its procurements, the ODA has procured some of its contracts using established OGC frameworks to simplify the process, and a number are closed, for example, for security reasons.

As of June 2009, 2,872 contract opportunities had been advertised on CompeteFor. These break down as follows:

It is anticipated that the ODA's and the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games' direct procurement will generate around 75,000 supply chain contracts. Contractors are encouraged to place as many as possible of their unallocated contract opportunities on CompeteFor.

It is estimated that for around 80 per cent. of these contracts, contractors will rely on their existing suppliers and sub-contractors leaving around 15,000, approximately 20 per cent., of opportunities to be placed on the system. The 20 per cent. figure is an estimate based on other large projects and the way in which contractors have decided to package and procure their sub-contracts. Given that the majority of these will be private procurements, we are unable to state precisely what proportion of these have been advertised on CompeteFor.

As expected, the vast majority of CompeteFor opportunities have been posted by the ODA's contractors and buyers in their supply chains, and the ODA continues to work with its contractors to ensure that as many as possible of their new opportunities are placed on the system. Some of the ODA's contractors are now also beginning to use CompeteFor for some of their 'non-Olympic' contract opportunities, opening up further opportunities.

LOCOG is in the early stages of its procurement activity, and will start buying the majority of the goods and services required for staging the games from early 2010.

CompeteFor was established to help open up games-related opportunities to businesses across the UK and to provide a means of offering them any business support they need to win contracts. Our ambition is not only a legacy of businesses winning contracts but also one of businesses inspired to be fitter, more innovative and more competitive as a result. To date over 31,000 businesses have received business support as a result of registering on CompeteFor, and over 2,500 have received an intensive level of assistance.

Olympic Games 2012: Facilities

Mr. Bone: To ask the Minister for the Olympics what plans she has for the use of the Olympic Village after the London 2012 Olympics. [287701]


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Tessa Jowell [holding answer 20 July 2009]: The Olympic Village will provide 2,818 homes after the London Games in 2012. Of these new homes, 1,379 will be available as affordable housing, including affordable rented, intermediate market rented and part-buy/part-rent (shared ownership), together with shared equity housing.

Olympic Games 2012: Finance

Pete Wishart: To ask the Minister for the Olympics which Government grants to the London 2012 Olympic Games project have not been notified to the European Commission for the purposes of compliance with the requirements of state aid rules; and for what reasons in each case. [289135]

Tessa Jowell: The Olympic Delivery Authority is the statutory body charged with preparing for the 2012 games, including procuring the necessary infrastructure. For this purpose it receives grants from central government, the Greater London Authority, the London Development Agency, the Olympic Lottery Distributor and Sport England. These grants do not constitute state aid under European Union rules and, accordingly, have not been notified to the European Commission. In procuring games-related infrastructure, the Olympic Delivery Authority complies with European Union public procurement rules.


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