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1 Dec 2009 : Column 591W—continued
Young Offenders: Remand in Custody
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many young people in each year group to 18 charged with each category of offences have been placed on remand for (a) less than one month, (b) between one and three months, (c) between three and six months, (d) between six and 12 months and (e) over 12 months in each year since 1997. [303348]
Maria Eagle: The information requested is currently being collated and I hope to be in a position to write to the hon. Member within the next two weeks to provide the data requested for each year since 2000, when the Youth Justice Board was established.
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many young people in each age group to 18 have been placed on remand and (a) subsequently not convicted or (b) convicted but given a non-custodial sentence in each year since 1997, broken down by the period of time spent on remand. [303351]
Maria Eagle: It is not possible to provide the data broken down by period of time spent on remand as requested. However, the information otherwise requested is currently being collated and I hope to be in a position to write to the hon. Member within the next two weeks.
Scotland
Departmental Information Officers
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many full-time equivalent press officers (a) are employed by and (b) work for his Department. [303605]
Ann McKechin: The Scotland Office currently employs three press officers. All work directly for the office.
Departmental Internet
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what the cost was of maintaining his Department's website in the 2008-09 financial year; and what the forecast cost is of maintaining websites within his responsibility in the 2009-10 financial year. [302422]
Ann McKechin: The cost of maintaining the Scotland Office website in the financial year 2008-09 was £15,052.50 plus VAT.
The cost included the redevelopment of the site including a comprehensive in-house content management system which represents considerable value for money and cost savings for the office when implemented as well as now and in the future.
The projected maintenance costs for the Scotland Office website for the financial year 2009-10 are £3,500 plus VAT.
Departmental Travel
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland on what date he last travelled by (a) bus and (b) taxi in the course of his official duties. [302736]
Mr. Jim Murphy: I last travelled by (a) bus on 5 November 2009 and (b) taxi on 27 October 2009 in the course of my official duties.
Immobilisation of Vehicles
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much his Department has paid in vehicle clamping charges incurred on (a) privately-owned and (b) publicly-owned land in each of the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement. [302755]
Ann McKechin: The Scotland Office does not separately record information on vehicle clamping charges.
Culture, Media and Sport
Capita
Mr. Touhig: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether any contracts between Capita Group plc and his Department have been cancelled before completion since 1997; and whether Capita Group plc has been liable for any penalties arising from failings in the administration of contracts since 1997. [303083]
Mr. Simon: No contracts between Capita Group plc and the Department were cancelled prior to completion. No penalties for contractual defaults have been imposed.
Departmental Contracts
Mr. Touhig: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what criteria his Department uses in determining the award of contracts; and how much his Department has spent on the advertisement of tenders for Government contracts since 1997. [303129]
Mr. Simon: Each contract has its own unique set of criteria on which the award will be made. This will be dependent on the specific nature of work that is required. All criteria used are in accordance with best practice, in terms of seeking the most economically advantageous tender.
The Department only holds information on the cost of advertising tenders from 2006-07, when electronic tendering was introduced.
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Departmental Domestic Visits
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on how many occasions he visited (a) Scotland, (b) Wales and (c) Northern Ireland in an official capacity in the last 12 months. [303485]
Mr. Bradshaw: Since 5 June 2009, I have visited Scotland once and Wales once, in an official capacity. I have not visited Northern Ireland.
Departmental Public Expenditure
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the cost to his Department was of provision of office facilities to (a) special advisers and (b) press officers in the 2008-09 financial year. [302976]
Mr. Simon: The cost of provision of office facilities to special advisers and press officers in 2008-09 was as follows:
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Costs include an appropriate share of rent, business rates, service charges, utilities maintenance and accommodation management charges.
Digital Broadcasting: Complaints
Mr. Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many complaints he has received about digital switchover from residents of (a) East Devon, (b) Devon and (c) England. [303449]
Mr. Simon: The information requested is not held centrally in the manner requested; to provide it would incur disproportionate costs.
Digital Broadcasting: Radio
Stephen Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether his Department has made an assessment of the implications for the use of car radios with the digital switchover. [303310]
Mr. Simon: We have worked closely with vehicle manufacturers during the Digital Radio Working Group in 2008 and in the lead up to the Digital Britain White Paper to consider the impact of the digital radio switchover on motorists. In addition, we have agreed with the Consumer Expert Group to extend its remit to advise Government on a wide range of consumer issues relating to radio switchover. We will continue to work with these stakeholders as the digital radio switchover programme develops.
We have also committed to a full cost benefit analysis of the digital radio switchover, including the impact on in-car listening, before any switchover date is set.
Digital Switchover Help Scheme
Mr. Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much the Switchover Help Scheme for digital switchover has cost. [303450]
Mr. Bradshaw: The Digital Switchover Help Scheme is funded through £603 million ringfenced within the TV licence fee income over the period of switchover.
Switchover Help Scheme expenditure is published in the BBC's Annual Report and Accounts, published on the BBC website. As of 31 March 2009, the cumulative total spent by the Help Scheme was £29.5 million. This figure includes expenditure in 2007-08 and is net of
£0.8 million received from those eligible people who are not in receipt of income related benefits and who therefore pay a £40 fee.
Driving
Dr. Ladyman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what mechanisms are in place to ensure that staff who drive (a) a vehicle for which (i) his Department and (ii) its executive agency is responsible have valid driving licences and (b) their own vehicles in the course of their official duties for (A) his Department and (B) its executive agency have valid driving licences and insurance; what guidance is issued to those staff in respect of road safety while carrying out official duties; what steps are taken to monitor compliance with that guidance; what requirements there are on such staff to report to their line managers accidents in which they are involved while driving in the course of their official duties; and whether such reports are investigated. [302170]
Mr. Simon: The information requested is as follows:
Department for Culture, Media and Sport
The Department currently does not have any vehicles for which it is directly responsible, and as such employees who choose to use motor travel for travel on official business must use their privately owned motor vehicle. If an employee chooses to use their vehicle, they must satisfy certain insurance conditions details of which are made on the Department's internal website. It is the employee's responsibility to ensure they understand and fulfil these conditions. Employees are required to declare when making claim for travel and subsistence that they know and understand the insurance requirements, and that they are covered accordingly. There is no requirement for employees to demonstrate that they are licensed to drive. No specific guidance is issued to employees on road safety, nor does the Department monitor compliance, however under the Civil Service Code, the Department does expect its employees to accord with the law at all times when on official business and should incidents arise behave appropriately. No accidents while driving on official business have been recorded, and there is no expectation that an employee will report an accident as the Department has been indemnified by the employee's insurance. Should the employee be injured in an accident, the employee will become subject to the Department's sickness absence policy.
Staff in The Royal Parks (TRP) who are required to drive TRP vehicles must first undertake induction training. As part of the induction, staff must show a current valid driving licence. Thereafter Line Managers are required to monitor their staff for compliance with the training and inspect the driving licence once a year. Confirmation of the check is recorded. Accidents must be reported to the Line Manager and the Fleet Manager and each vehicle has a log book to record such occurrences. All accidents are investigated. Staff are not encouraged to use their own vehicles for work but exceptionally where they do they are required to confirm they have appropriate insurance as part of our reimbursement procedures.
UK School Games
Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of 23 November 2009, Official Report, columns 37-38W, on the UK School Games, if he will provide a detailed breakdown of the estimated final cost of the £3.3 million spent on the UK School Games in 2009. [303370]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Youth Sport Trust has confirmed that the final cost of the 2009 UK School Games was approximately £3.1 million. A breakdown of the expenditure is set out in the table:
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