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16 Sep 2009 : Column 2204W—continued
Support for Business: Finance
Mr. Djanogly: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what the proposed budget is for each programme within the Support for Business portfolio in each year up to 2011. [291365]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Solutions for Business is the Government's portfolio of support to business. 2009/10 is the transitional year during which all Government funded business support schemes must migrate to the Solutions for Business portfolio or be under notice of closure by 31 March 2010.
The amount of money spent on Solutions for Business products varies according to local and regional need for particular forms of business support and the wider economic context. The total spend on business support within the Solutions for Business portfolio in 2008/09 is estimated to be £2.3 billion.
Train to Gain Programme
Mr. Hurd: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how much has been spent on the Train to Gain advertising campaign in 2009-10. [288844]
Kevin Brennan: Figures for Train to Gain advertising spend are shown in the following table. These comprise national and regional spend, and include VAT. Figures for the current financial year are not yet available.
| Media spend £ million | |
Cabinet Office
Central Office of Information: Expenditure
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how much the Central Office of Information spent on (a) office parties and (b) staff bonuses in the last 12 months. [291385]
Angela E. Smith: I have asked the chief executive of the Central Office of Information to reply to the hon. Member.
Letter from Mark Lund, dated 14 September 2009:
As Chief Executive of the Central Office of Information (COI), I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question on how much the COI has spent on (a) office parties and (b) staff bonuses in the last 12 months (291385).
(a) The Central Office of Information (COI) does not hold office parties funded by the organisation, other than those listed below.
An event in the summer is held to coincide with the publication of the Annual Report and Accounts to review the year's activity and to acknowledge any outstanding contributions from staff during the year.
An all staff event is also held at Christmas. This event is seen as an efficient way for the organisation to acknowledge the festive season.
The cost of these events is in line with guidance issued by the HMRC. This guidance states that no more than £150 per person, per year should be spent on such events. In the last 12 months COI spent £42.82 per person.
(b) The COI do not pay a corporate bonus to its employees.
COI paid eligible staff a non-consolidated performance pay award for the 2008/9. This amounted to 5.36% of the regular monthly salary.
This recognised that COI achieved its Ministerial targets for 2008/9 and COI also secured record savings for our government and public sector clients.
Its payment, together with the achievement against the targets, is audited by the National Audit Office.
Charities Act 2006
Jo Swinson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office whether the Charity Commission plans to undertake a review of the implementation of the provisions of the Charities Act 2006. [291332]
Angela E. Smith: Section 73 of the Charities Act 2006 requires the Minister for the Cabinet Office to appoint a person to review the operation of the Act within five years of Royal Assent, and for a report of the review to be laid before Parliament. The review will take place in 2011.
Charities: Fraud
Jo Swinson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what assessment the Charity Commission has made of the effectiveness of the distribution of the Give With Care leaflet in reducing donations to bogus charities. [291333]
Angela E. Smith: The "Give with Care" campaign was an initiative of the Office of the Third Sector which the Charity Commission supported, along with other key stakeholders. 500,000 leaflets were printed for distribution to households. Neither the Office of the Third Sector nor the Charity Commission plans to formally assess the effectiveness of the distribution of the leaflet.
Death: Hypothermia
Simon Hughes: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what estimate her Department has made of the number of people over 65 years who have died of hypothermia in their homes in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available. [291372]
Angela E. Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
Letter from Jil Matheson, dated September 2009:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking what estimate has been made of the number of people over 65 years who have died of hypothermia in their homes in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available. (291372)
Although hypothermia may be mentioned on a death certificate as contributing to the death, according to International Classification of Diseases rules it cannot be recorded as the underlying cause. An event that led to the death such as 'Exposure to excessive cold', or 'Accidental fall' may be recorded as the underlying cause, with hypothermia recorded as a contributory factor. If hypothermia were considered to be the main contributory factor, it would be reported as the 'secondary cause'.
The table attached provides the number of deaths where (a) hypothermia was the secondary cause of death, and (b) hypothermia was mentioned anywhere on the death certificate, for persons aged over 65 years dying at home, in England and Wales, from 1999 to 2008 (the latest year available).
Employment: West Sussex
Tim Loughton: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many and what proportion of (a) people and (b) young people were unemployed in (i) East Worthing and Shoreham and (ii) West Worthing constituency in (A) 2007 and (B) at the latest date for which information is available; and what estimate has been made of the number of employees in each of those constituencies who have moved from full-time to short-time working in the last 12 months. [291340]
Angela E. Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
Letter from Jil Matheson, dated September 2009:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking how many and what proportion of (a) people and (b) young people were unemployed in (i) East Worthing and Shoreham and (ii) West Worthing constituency in (A) 2007 and (B) at the latest date for which information is available; and what estimate has been made of the number of employees in each of those constituencies who have moved from full-time to short-time working in the last 12 months. (291340)
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles unemployment statistics for local areas from the Annual Population Survey and its predecessor the annual Labour Force Survey (LFS) following International Labour Organisation (ILO) definitions.
However, estimates of unemployment for the requested geographies are not available. As an alternative, in Table 1 we have provided the number and percentage of persons claiming Jobseeker's Allowance in July 2007 and July 2009. Table 2 contains the number and percentage of persons aged 18-24 claiming Jobseeker's Allowance in the requested geographies.
Estimates of the number of employees who have moved from full-time to short-time working are not available for parliamentary constituencies.
National and local area estimates for many labour market statistics, including employment, unemployment and claimant count are available on the NOMIS website at:
| Table 2 : Number of persons aged 18-24 resident in East Worthing and Shoreham and Worthing West claiming Jobseeker's Allowance | ||||
| East Worthing and Shoreham | Worthing West | |||
| Date | Number( 1) | Percentage( 2) | Number( 1) | Percentage( 2) |
| (1) Data rounded to nearest five. (2) Percentage of 18-24 year-olds claiming Jobseeker's Allowance. Source: Jobcentre Plus administrative system. | ||||
Government Departments: Consultants
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what guidance her Department provides to government departments on the appointment of non-party political policy advisers to Ministers who are not special advisers. [291334]
Angela E. Smith: Recruitment into the civil service is based on the principle of selection on merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the civil service recruitment principles (known previously as the civil service recruitment code).
Government Departments: Standards
Mr. Maude: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office pursuant to the answer of 27 January 2009, Official Report, column 475W, on Government departments: standards, if she will place in the Library a copy of the handouts and presentations produced for the participants in the avoidable contact workshops. [258670]
Mr. Byrne: I have been asked to reply.
The workshop meetings in question were part of a process of dialogue between Cabinet Office officials, representatives of central Government. It is judged that publication of these materials would be prejudicial to the effective conduct of public affairs. It is the intention of the Cabinet Office to publish baseline figures for the four Departments present at this meeting before the end of summer 2009 along with a statement relating to progress in meeting the Service Transformation Agreement commitment of a 50 per cent. reduction in avoidable contact.
Government Departments: Telephone Services
Tom Brake: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if she will meet representatives of mobile telephone companies to discuss reducing the cost of calling Government services from a mobile telephone. [283824]
Mr. Byrne: I have been asked to reply.
The Government recognise that the issue of fair and easy access to public services is a very important one, and the Cabinet Office has already worked with Ofcom
to establish the 0300 telephone number range which offers a fairer tariff regardless of the line from which citizens call (including mobiles).
The Cabinet Office, through the Contact Council, is currently conducting a comprehensive survey of the different number types, such as 0845, 0870 or 0800, used by central Government Departments and agencies, including consideration of their mobile telephone access. The Council intends to use the results of its survey to steer a future cross-Government approach to the use of phone numbers that ensures fair and easy access to public services for all, especially the most vulnerable and disadvantaged. Officials leading this work are already engaging with mobile telephone providers. A meeting with Ministers may be appropriate once the Council's research is complete.
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