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12 Nov 2009 : Column 757W—continued
Ministerial Policy Advisers: Pensions
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what estimate she has made of the aggregate cash equivalent transfer value of the pension rights of special advisers in each of the last five financial years. [289081]
Tessa Jowell: I have made no such estimates.
Pay
Mr. Maude: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the (a) mean and (b) median full-time wage for (i) private sector and (ii) public sector employees was in (A) 1997 and (B) the most recent period for which figures are available. [299397]
Angela E. Smith: It has not proved possible to respond to the right hon. Gentleman in the time available before Prorogation.
Privacy: Impact Assessments
Mr. Maude: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office whether her Department issues guidance to Government departments in respect of the circumstances in which privacy impact assessments are (a) required and (b) encouraged. [299449]
Angela E. Smith: It has not proved possible to respond to the right hon. Gentleman in the time available before Prorogation.
Private Detectives
Mr. Maude: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office pursuant to the answer of 15 January 2009, Official Report, column 873W, on private detectives, whether other Government departments have hired or commissioned individuals from the panel of independent investigators. [299257]
Tessa Jowell: It has not proved possible to respond to the right hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Mr. Maude: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office pursuant to the answer of 15 January 2009, Official Report, column 873W, on private detectives, how much her Department spent on hiring or commissioning individuals from the panel of independent investigators in each of the last five years. [299258]
Tessa Jowell: It has not proved possible to respond to the right hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Public Bodies: Databases
Mr. Maude: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what steps her Department is taking to facilitate data sharing among public sector bodies. [299480]
Angela E. Smith: The Ministry of Justice is the lead Department on data sharing. The Cabinet Office supports technical elements of secure data handling and ensures that considerations of Data Sharing informs our work to promote more joined up public services.
Sharing data securely is a requirement of the Data Handling Review, which all public bodies must adhere to.
Public Sector: ICT
Mr. Maude: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what assessment has been made of the levels of compliance with her Department's guidance on public sector open source software procurement; and what steps are being taken to ensure compliance. [299407]
Angela E. Smith: The Open Source, Open Standards and Re-use Action Plan was published in February 2009 and is Government policy.
The Office of Government Commerce (OGC) is currently developing guidance for the procurement of open source, working with departments and local authorities that
have successfully implemented open source applications, to share best practice and effective methods for procurement. The basis of the guidance has been prepared and material based on practical experience is now being sought from industry and government bodies to enhance the content.
The Cabinet Office does not gather centralised data regarding software procurement.
Public Sector: Redundancy
Mr. Maude: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office whether her Department has issued recent guidance to Government departments on the termination of public sector worker contracts because of inefficiency. [299454]
Angela E. Smith: It has not proved possible to respond to the right hon. Gentleman in the time available before Prorogation.
Public Services Forum
Mr. Maude: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office (1) on what dates the Public Services Forum has met in the last 12 months; and who the members are of the Forum; [299398]
(2) whether minutes of meetings of the Public Services Forum are taken. [299399]
Tessa Jowell: The Public Services Forum met on the following dates:
11 November 2009
27 July 2009
5 March 2009
3 November 2008
There is no fixed membership of the Public Services Forum; the ministerial chair invites employers and trade union representatives in roughly equal numbers to engage in dialogue with the Government on public service workforce issues. Representatives of the Confederation of British Industry, Business Services Association, Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations and the National Council of Voluntary Organisations are also invited to attend some meetings
Notes are kept of Public Services Forum meetings. Notes of the 5 March 2009 and 27 July 2009 meetings have been placed in the Library of the House and published on the CO website, and notes of each further Public Services Forum meeting will be published on the Cabinet Office Website.
Redundancy: Payments
Mr. Hurd:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what guidance the Cabinet Office issues on (a) public sector redundancy payments and (b) whether previous
public sector employment should be rolled over when calculating redundancy payments. [290040]
Tessa Jowell: The Cabinet Office is responsible for compensation terms payable on redundancy to civil servants. I refer the hon. member to the answer given in the other place to the noble Lord, Lord Laird, on 3 March, Official Report, column WA 134-35. The policy on compensation payable to other public sector employees is set by the appropriate Government departments.
Unemployment: Young People
Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the rate of long-term youth unemployment was in (a) Vale of Clwyd and (b) each region in each of the last 20 years. [299703]
Angela E. Smith: It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. member in the time available before Prorogation.
Voluntary Work: Milton Keynes
Mr. Lancaster: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what assessment her Department has made of levels of volunteering among those aged (a) under 18 years, (b) between 18 and 30 years, (c) between 30 and 50 years and (d) over 50 years in North East Milton Keynes constituency in each of the last five years. [299651]
Angela E. Smith: Data on the level of volunteering at constituency level are not available. The smallest level that data on volunteering are collected by central Government is at county council, metropolitan district council, London borough and unitary authority level. These data were collected for the first time in 2008 through the Place Survey, a survey which provides information on people's perceptions of their local area and the local services they receive. The data from the Place Survey indicate that in 2008 22.8 per cent. of the respondents to the Place Survey distributed by Milton Keynes council had volunteered at least once a month in the last 12 months. The Place Survey data are available on the Communities and Local Government website.
Work and Pensions
Council Tax Benefit
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much was spent on council tax benefit in each region in each year since 1997. [297378]
Helen Goodman: The available information is in the tables.
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