Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
30 Nov 2009 : Column 494Wcontinued
The rise in the examinations between 2004 and 2008 reflects and is consummate with a period where the threat to the UK was assessed as severe.
The powers contained in Schedule 7 are kept under scrutiny by the noble Lord Carlile of Berriew, the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation.
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what expenditure his Department has incurred on the provision of security for the right hon. Tony Blair in each year since 1997. [302044]
Mr. Hanson: It is the long established policy of my Department not to comment on protective security arrangements and their related costs for any individuals or groups.
The hon. Member will appreciate that disclosure of such information could compromise the integrity of those arrangements and affect the security of the individuals concerned.
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department from which 50 parliamentary constituencies, ranked from highest to lowest, the UK Border Agency received the highest number of enquiries regarding migration cases that are (a) legacy cases, (b) non-legacy cases and (c) out-of-country visa applications in each of the last four years. [300326]
Mr. Woolas: The information requested is not available and could be obtained only by the detailed examination of individual records at disproportionate cost.
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much the UK Border Agency has spent on promotional merchandise branded with its name and logo since its inception. [301305]
Mr. Woolas: The requested information is not held centrally in the Home Office and cannot be provided without incurring disproportionate cost.
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many raids were conducted by UK Border Agency officials in each region in 2008. [301311]
Mr. Woolas: In 2008, the UK Border Agency carried out the following numbers of enforcement operations in each region:
Number of enforcement operations | |
These figures do not constitute part of National Statistics as they are based on internal management information. The information has not been quality assured under National Statistics protocols and should be treated as provisional and subject to change.
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many staff left the UK Border Agency and its predecessors on the grounds of (a) resignation, (b) retirement, (c) termination of contract and (d) redundancy in each of the last four years. [301313]
Mr. Woolas: The available information for UKBA and its predecessors over the last four full fiscal years is set out in the following table.
Permanent employee leaving reasons( 1) | ||||
Year( 2) | (a) Resignation | (b) Retirement( 3) | (c) Termination of contract( 4) | (d) Redundancy( 5) |
(1) Excludes agency workers. (2) Fiscal year 1 April to 31 March. (3) Includes early, flexible and medical retirements. (4) Includes dismissals. Additionally as more civil servants are now employed on fixed term contracts, the number of leavers ending as contracts conclude, has increased (this accounts for 190 leavers in 2008-09). (5) A small number of employees (five or less in each case) were made redundant in 2005-06 and 2007-08. |
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much his Department spent on the UK Border Force television programme in 2008-09; and how much it has spent on that programme since 1 April 2009. [301398]
Mr. Woolas: UK Border Force is a commercial programme and production costs are therefore met by the broadcaster and the television production company.
The only direct costs incurred by UK Border Agency were travel costs for staff facilitating filming. The costs for 2008-09 were £936 and the costs since 1 April 2009 have been £5,215.
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much the UK Border Agency spent on internal communications in 2008-09. [301449]
Mr. Woolas: We are not able to quantify the costs of staff communications incurred across the UK Border Agency without disproportionate cost. The expenditure on corporate internal communications which covers a quarterly internal magazine and monthly e-bulletin and associated costs for 2008-09 was £136,357.
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Banbury (Mr. Baldry) of 10 November 2009, Official Report, column 332W, on asylum, how many files are in the UK Border Agency's overall file holding. [301935]
Mr. Woolas: The UK Border Agency currently holds around 9.9 million paper files in storage-the number of files in action within the business varies considerably on a daily basis.
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many UK Border Agency staff moved to a different post in that agency in 2008. [301310]
Mr. Woolas: The number of staff that moved to a different post within the UK Border Agency in 2008 is not available except at disproportionate cost.
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many staff were working on the administration of the Worker Registration Scheme on 1 November 2009. [301233]
Mr. Woolas: On 1 November 2009 there were 81 staff working on the administration of the Worker Registration Scheme.
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) how much is planned to be spent through the National Affordable Housing Programme in each (a) region and (b) local authority area in (i) 2009-10 and (ii) 2010-11; [301554]
(2) how much was spent under the National Affordable Housing Programme in each (a) region and (b) local authority area in each of the last three years. [301555]
John Healey: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Truro and St. Austell's (Matthew Taylor) on 12 October 2009, Official Report column 329W which placed information on the Homes and Communities Agency's Affordable Housing Programme expenditure in 2008-09 in the Library of the House. I will place expenditure information for 2006-07 and 2007-08 in the House Library shortly.
Indicative allocations for each region in 2009-10 and 2010-11 are shown in the Homes and Communities Agency's Corporate Plan which can be found on their website at:
Allocations made to RSLs and other bodies by local authority area are published on the HCA website on a quarterly basis.
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with what companies (a) his Department, (b) the Tenant Services Authority, (c) the Homes and Communities Agency and (d) the Homes and Communities Agency Academy have had contracts in the last 12 months. [300435]
John Healey: The information is as follows:
(a) Communities and Local Government maintains a central record of its contracts. There are some 2,000 bodies on this record. These cover various types of organisations, including public bodies, charities, community organisations as well as companies. It is not possible to disaggregate the records to isolate only companies other than at disproportionate cost.
(b) The Tenant Services Authority has a central log of its contracts. These cover various types of organisations, including public bodies, community organisations, charities as well as companies. It is not possible to disaggregate the records to isolate only companies other than at disproportionate cost.
(c) The Homes and Communities Agency maintains a central record of its contracts. Since December 2008, when the HCA was created, there are some 3,400 bodies on this record. However, these cover a variety of organisations, including public bodies, charities, community organisations and others as well as companies. It is not possible to disaggregate the record to isolate only companies other than at disproportionate cost.
(d) The Homes and Communities Agency Academy has a central log of its contracts. It is not possible to disaggregate the records to isolate only companies other than at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Touhig: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what criteria his Department uses in determining the award of contracts; and how much his Department and its predecessors spent on the advertisement of tenders for Government contracts since 1997. [303101]
Barbara Follett: The criteria used in determining the award of contracts is the "most economically advantageous tender". All tenders are advertised in Official Journal of European Union, the Department's e-tendering portal, or via Buying Solutions or other framework portal at no cost. A small number of tenders may have been advertised in specialist publications but this information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which (a) individuals other than Ministerial colleagues and officials of his Department and (b) organisations he met in an official capacity in the week commencing 9 November 2009. [301154]
Barbara Follett: In their response to a report by the Public Administration Select Committee "Lobbying: Access and Influence in Whitehall", the Government agreed to publish on-line, on a quarterly basis, information about ministerial meetings with outside interest groups. Information for the period 1 October to 31 December 2009 will be published by Departments as soon as the information is ready.
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to the answer of 5 November 2009, Official Report, columns 1121-22, on departmental recruitment, who was engaged by his Department to advise on and oversee the recruitment process for the Homes and Communities Agency and the Tenants Services Agency; what the terms of the contract with his Department was; and what procurement process was followed in respect of the contract. [300510]
John Healey: Veredus Consultancy was engaged to advise and oversee the recruitment process for board members of the Homes and Communities Agency and Tenant Services Authority following a competitive tendering process, carried out using the Department's guidance on procurement.
The terms of the contract issued to Veredus were consistent with the Cabinet Office's framework agreement to provide executive search services covering senior civil service and specialist posts, and with the tender criteria as issued by the Department. The basis of the contract was to support the Department in recruiting board members for the Homes and Communities Agency and the Tenant Services Authority. All appointments were conducted using the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments (OCPA) guidance and all appointees were considered using the same criteria.
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many miles (a) Ministers and (b) officials in his Department and its predecessors have travelled by taxi in the course of their official duties in each year since 1997; and at what cost to the public purse in each such year. [302715]
Barbara Follett: The breakdown of information in the format requested could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
All departmental expenditure is incurred in accordance with the principles set out in the Civil Service Management Code.
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what training sessions were attended by (a) Ministers and (b) special advisers in his Department at public expense in each of the last three years. [302948]
Barbara Follett: Training is provided to Ministers and Special Advisers as part of their induction and continuing development in order to help them carry out their respective duties effectively under the "Ministerial Code" and the "Code of Conduct for Special Advisers". Details of training provided to Government Ministers by the National School of Government are publicly available and can be found at:
Next Section | Index | Home Page |