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15 Oct 2009 : Column 1038W—continued
Departmental Manpower
John Mann: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many staff there were in (a) her Department and (b) the Prime Minister's office (i) in 1997 and (ii) on the latest date for which figures are available. [292069]
Angela E. Smith: Cabinet Office staff numbers are published quarterly and can be found on the Office for National Statistics website:
The most recent quarterly publication has been placed in the Library.
For the number of staff in the Prime Minister's Office I refer my hon. Friend to the replies given to the right hon. Member for Horsham (Mr. Maude) on 18 May 2009, Official Report, column 1254W, and my hon. Friend the Member for Nottingham, North (Mr. Allen) on 5 November 2001, Official Report, column 8W.
Lobbying: Publications
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office when she plans to respond to the First Report of the Public Administration Select Committee of Session 2008-09 on Lobbying: access and influence in Whitehall. [293268]
Angela E. Smith: The Government intend to respond to the Committee's report very shortly.
Members: Correspondence
Norman Lamb: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office with reference to the letter from the Cabinet Secretary to the right hon. Member for Horsham of 21 April 2009, if she will place in the Library a copy of the full email correspondence between Mr. Damian McBride, Mr. Charlie Whelan, Mr. Andrew Dogshon and Mr. Derek Draper referred to in this letter. [290326]
Tessa Jowell: The Cabinet Secretary's letter of 14 April to the right hon. Member for Horsham (Mr. Maude) made clear that Damian McBride's actions constituted a clear and serious breach of the "Code of Conduct for Special Advisers" which had not been tolerated. His actions were unacceptable and inappropriate. It would therefore not be appropriate to make the e-mails public.
Ministerial Policy Advisers
Mr. Tyrie: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what policy applies to the appointment of policy advisers who are not special advisers to assist Ministers on 12 month contracts; and what recent guidance the Cabinet Secretary has issued on the subject. [292596]
Angela E. Smith: Recruitment into the civil service is undertaken in accordance with the Civil Service Order-in-Council, and the Civil Service Commissioners' recruitment principles.
Non-Departmental Public Bodies: Official Gifts
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what guidance sets out the procedures to be followed by (a) civil servants and (b) senior officials of non-departmental public bodies in relation to their receipt of gifts. [287742]
Tessa Jowell: The principles governing the acceptance of gifts by civil servants are set out in the "Civil Service Code" and the "Civil Service Management Code". The principles governing the handling of gifts received by officials of non-departmental public bodies are set out in the Cabinet Office model code for staff of Executive non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs). Individual Departments and NDPBs will normally have additional guidance based on these principles.
House of Commons Commission
Speaker
Kate Hoey: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission what procedures were used to recruit Mr. Speaker's special adviser; who (a) carried out those procedures and (b) set the salary for that post; and what the (i) salary and (ii) job specification is for that post. [293163]
Nick Harvey: Mr. Speaker's special adviser was engaged via a contract for Services-not an employment contract-under the House's normal procurement arrangements. He is to be paid an agreed rate per day worked. The amount is commercial in confidence.
A copy of the special adviser's job description is being placed in the Library.
Energy and Climate Change
Climate Change
Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many officials will accompany the ministerial delegation to the UN framework convention on climate change conference in Copenhagen; and from which Departments those officials will be drawn. [293423]
Joan Ruddock: We have not yet determined who will attend from the Department of Energy and Climate Change, so we cannot say with certainty how many Ministers or officials will be on the delegation. This will depend largely on the state of international negotiations at the time of the conference.
Last year for COP14 in Poznan the UK delegation comprised 47 people from DECC, DfID, FCO, DfT and BERR. Given the importance of the Copenhagen meeting, the UK delegation may well be significantly larger on this occasion.
Coal: Industrial Health and Safety
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many Group 3 coal health compensation claims submitted by each solicitor's firm have been disputed. [292003]
Mr. Kidney: The number of claims submitted by claimants' representatives for vibration white finger (VWF) that fall under the Group 3 category is shown in the following table as at 4 October 2009.
We are unable to provide this information for claims submitted under the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease scheme as these are assessed by different criteria and are not categorised by groups.
| Claimants' representatives | Location | Total claims |
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