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12 Oct 2009 : Column 206W—continued
Departmental Dismissal
Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many staff have (a) been dismissed and (b) had their contract terminated by his Department and its predecessors in each of the last five years; what the reason was in each case; and what the severance costs in relation to (i) dismissal and (ii) contract termination were in each such year. [290536]
Ms Diana R. Johnson: Staff may be dismissed for poor performance, poor attendance or misconduct, and the contract of employment terminated. Information for the Department and its predecessors in relation to dismissals for performance, attendance or misconduct is set out in the following table. Totals of less than five are suppressed on grounds of confidentiality.
| Number of staff dismissed | |
Staff may also be dismissed in law when a fixed term contract terminates at the end of the contract period and is not renewed is not included in the table. That information is not held in the format requested and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. Information about the costs of terminating contracts is not held in the format requested and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. Staff who are dismissed do not receive severance.
Departmental Electronic Equipment
Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many (a) mobile telephones and (b) Blackberrys were issued to staff of his Department in each of the last five years; and how many of these were issued to (i) new staff and (ii) existing staff following the (A) loss or (B) theft of a previous device. [290531]
Ms Diana R. Johnson: The information as requested is not held centrally within the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF). To respond fully would involve an information collection exercise which would exceed the recommended disproportionate cost threshold.
Departmental Female Staff
Mrs. Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many and what proportion of female senior civil servants in his Department have worked part-time in each year since his Department was established. [289801]
Ms Diana R. Johnson: Information for the Department since its creation on 28 June 2007 is set out in the following table.
| Number of SCS part-time women | Proportion (Percentage) | |
Departmental Flexible Working
Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what flexi-time arrangements were available to staff of his Department and its predecessors in each of the last five years; and how many staff participated in such arrangements in each such year. [290538]
Mr. Coaker: The information is available within the Department's annual reports on the DCSF website
The Department offer a range of flexible work arrangements to all employees including compressed hours, flexitime, home working, job sharing, partial retirement, part-time working and part-year working. Employees from Grade 6 to Executive Assistant can work flexitime and employees at Grades 6 and 7 were added to these arrangements from 8 September 2008, however, these arrangements are not available to members of the Senior Civil Service. All employees can agree with their line managers to work from home occasionally and 64 per cent. have broadband access to the Department's systems through authorised encryption.
Records of hours worked are held locally and can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Manpower
Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what estimate he has made of the average length of employment of staff of his Department at each Civil Service payband. [290534]
Ms Diana R. Johnson: The information is as follows:
| Pay band | Estimated average length of employment (years) |
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many staff there were in (a) his Department's predecessor in 1997 and (b) his Department on the latest date for which figures are available. [292057]
Ms Diana R. Johnson: Staffing information for the Department for Children Schools and Families and its predecessor in 1997, Department for Education and Employment, is published on the Civil Service website at:
Departmental Marketing
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families with reference to the answer of 25 November 2008, Official Report, column 1423W, on departmental marketing, how many staff in his Department are responsible for branding activity; and what the cost of employing such staff was in 2008-09. [290217]
Ms Diana R. Johnson: The Department has one full-time equivalent member of staff responsible for branding activity, employed at a cost of £45,256.75 in 2008-09.
Departmental Motor Vehicles
Andrew Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much his Department spent on hire vehicles in each of the last five financial years. [291601]
Mr. Coaker: The data requested was for the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF). DCSF was established under the machinery of Government changes on 28 June 2007, therefore the response covers its predecessor the Department for Education and Skills (DFES).
Total spend for hire vehicles during the last five financial years is £618,315.00.
Departmental Non-Domestic Rates
Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many properties owned by the Department and its predecessors were liable for payment of (a) business rates and (b) empty property rates in each of the last five years; and what the bill for each was in each such year. [290539]
Ms Diana R. Johnson: The Department for Children, Schools and Families and its predecessors has spent the following on business rates in each of the last five years. The Department did not own any properties that were subject to empty property rates during this period.
| Business rates | |||||
| £ | |||||
| Property | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007- 08 | 2008-09 |
Departmental Official Hospitality
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much his Department has spent on hospitality in the last 12 months. [286389]
Mr. Coaker [holding answer 13 July 2009]: Details of expenditure on entertainment incurred by the Department are set out as follows:
2008-09: £17,371
This figure shows the cost of personal entertainment incurred directly by Ministers and senior departmental officials in order to further departmental business.
The Department's policy on entertainment is in accordance with the principles of Treasury guidance in "Managing Public Money" and the handbook on "Regularity, Propriety and Value for Money".
Entertainment expenditure is limited to occasions when official business can best be transacted in that way. Personal entertainment, in the form of hospitality, is usually restricted to where senior managers (deputy director or above) are acting as host and expenditure must be approved in advance by a director or executive board member.
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families pursuant to the answer of 12 January 2009, Official Report, column 9W, on departmental official hospitality, how much his Department spent on entertainment and hospitality in 2008-09. [290169]
Ms Diana R. Johnson: Details of expenditure on entertainment incurred by the Department are set out as follows:
2008-09: £17,371
The figure includes expenditure incurred by Ministers and senior departmental officials. The figure excludes costs incurred as part of official events or formal meetings held to further departmental business which are not separately identifiable on the Department's accounting system.
The Department's policy on entertainment is in accordance with the principles of Treasury guidance in "Managing Public Money" and the handbook on "Regularity, Propriety and Value for Money".
Entertainment expenditure is limited to occasions when official business can best be transacted in that way. Personal entertainment, in the form of hospitality, is usually restricted to where senior managers (deputy director or above) are acting as host and expenditure must be approved in advance by a director or executive board member.
Departmental Part-Time Employment
Mrs. Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many and what proportion of staff in his Department have worked part-time in each year since the Department was established. [289797]
Ms Diana R. Johnson: Information for the Department since its creation on 28 June 2007 is as follows:
| Number of part-time staff | Proportion (percentage) | |
Departmental Paternity Leave
Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many staff took paternity leave from his Department and its predecessors in each of the last five years; and what the average length of such leave has been. [290537]
Ms Diana R. Johnson: The information is set out in the following table:
| Number of staff | |
Employees in the Department are currently allowed 15 days paternity leave, and before 1 April 2007, it was 10 days.
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