Written Answers to Questions
Wednesday 2 December 2009
Culture, Media and Sport
Capita
Mr. Touhig: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on how many occasions Capita Group plc tendered for contracts let by his Department in each of the last five years; how many such tenders were successful; how much his Department paid to Capita Group plc for the execution of contracts in each such year; how many contracts which terminate after 2010 Capita Group plc hold with his Department; and what the monetary value is of all outstanding contracts between his Department and Capita Group plc. [303153]
Mr. Simon: The Capita Group plc have tendered for contracts let by the Department in the last five years as follows:
| Number | |
Two of these tenders were successful, both in 2007-08. These were to carry out an executive search role to appoint the Chairman and Deputy Chairman of Sport England and to provide the Department with a flight travel booking service.
Capita were paid £29,250 for the executive search contract in 2007-08. For the flight travel booking service the following has been paid:
2007-08: £31,234
2008-09: £127,235
Neither of these contracts will terminate after 2010.
There is no outstanding amount with reference to the executive search contract, while the flight travel booking service does not have an outstanding monetary value associated as this will be dependent upon the number of flights booked within the remaining term of the contract.
Christmas
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much (a) his Department and (b) its agency has spent on Christmas (i) cards, (ii) parties and (iii) decorations in the last 12-months. [303843]
Mr. Simon: My Department (i) produced an e-card using internal services, (ii) used no official funds for departmental Christmas parties and (iii) spent £559.44 on undressed Christmas trees (decorations were reused from previous years) for Christmas 2008.
The Royal Parks (i) spent £200 on Christmas e-cards, (ii) had their staff Christmas party paid for by The Royal Parks directors and (iii) spent no money on decorations in the last 12 months.
Departmental Contracts
Sir Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether his Department has entered into any contracts with Siemens or its subsidiaries since February 2009. [303763]
Mr. Simon: The Department for Culture Media and Sport does not hold any contracts with Siemens or its subsidiaries.
Departmental Information Officers
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many full-time equivalent press officers (a) are employed by and (b) work for his Department. [303595]
Mr. Simon: There are nine full-time equivalent press officers employed by the Department and one full-time equivalent currently on secondment from another Government Department.
Departmental Pay
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many (a) year end and (b) in year bonuses were paid to officials in his Department in (i) 2006-07 and (ii) 2007-08; how many in year bonuses were paid in 2008-09; and how much was paid out in bonuses in each year. [301015]
Mr. Simon: The Department makes non-consolidated performance payments to its employees for two purposes: (a ) year end non-consolidated performance payments to reward highly successful performance over a whole year; and (b ) in year non-consolidated performance payments to reward outstanding contributions in particularly demanding tasks or situations. These figures cover all civil servants on standard terms. They are exclusive of two key senior staff in the Government Olympic Executive, who were appointed on non-standard terms with fixed term contracts ending in 2012 and whose remuneration reflects extensive relevant experience and the unique challenge of delivering the Olympics to a fixed deadline. Details of their remuneration were published in the departmental annual reports and accounts 2009. The data are set out in the table.
| Number of year end non-consolidated performance payments | Number of in year non-consolidated performance payments | Total amount paid out (£) | |
Departmental Taxis
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many miles (a) Ministers and (b) officials in his Department 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. [302701]
Mr. Simon: All official travel is undertaken in accordance with rules set out in the Department's staff guide under Travel and Subsistence and is consistent with the civil service management code. Travel by Ministers is in respect of their ministerial duties and complies with guidance set out in the Ministerial Code.
The Department's records relating to expenditure and mileage on taxis are not analysed by the categories requested and to provide this would incur disproportionate cost.
As part of monitoring the Department's carbon emissions, the Department's supplier has provided the overall mileage incurred for pre-booked taxis since 2006-07. These details are set out in the following table. Records for earlier years and for hailed taxis are not available.
The total expenditure incurred by the Department on taxis since 1998-99, the earliest year for which information is readily available, is also set out in the table.
| Financial year | Amount (£) | Mileage (pre-booked taxis only) |
These figures represent expenditure on taxis and black cabs but exclude expenditure in respect of ministerial car service provided by The Government Car and Despatch Agency. In addition, some expenditure on taxis and black cabs included under general travel and subsistence account cannot be separately identified except at disproportionate cost.
Digital Broadcasting: Video Equipment
Mr. Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many people have lost functionality of video recorders as a result of the digital switchover in (a) East Devon, (b) Devon and (c) England. [303448]
Mr. Simon: Digital television services can be recorded using any standard recording device including video recorders (VCR). Therefore, in terms of recording functions, no one should lose functionality of their VCR after switchover. However, in areas where digital switchover has taken place, any VCR with an analogue tuner will not be able to independently record one digital channel while the TV receiver is tuned to another digital channel.
For Devon, Digital UK has estimated that around 1 per cent. of homes experienced problems with independent recording following switchover in the region. It is too early in the switchover process to quote figures for England.
Gambling: Addiction
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what estimate he has made of the number of problem gamblers requiring specialist treatment; and what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the level of voluntary contributions from the gambling industry for the treatment of problem gambling. [303708]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The British Gambling Prevalence Survey (BGPS) 2007 estimated that 0.6 per cent. of the adult population are categorised as problem gamblers, however the Department does not hold data on the number of problem gamblers requiring specialist treatment.
The gambling industry has agreed to provide a minimum of £5 million each year over three years to fund the research, education and treatment of problem gambling. The Department continues to monitor progress against the agreed funding targets.
KBR
Sir Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether his Department has entered into any contracts with Kellogg, Brown and Root or its subsidiaries since January 2009. [303343]
Mr. Simon: The Department has not entered into any contracts with Kellogg, Brown and Root or its subsidiaries.
Pyramid Selling
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many representations his Department has received alleging breaches of the prohibition on chain-gifting under section 43 of the Gambling Act 2005 since the entry into force of that provision; and whether any prosecutions have been made for offences under that section. [302842]
Mr. Sutcliffe: My Department has not received any representations alleging breaches of the prohibition on chain gifting under section 43 of the Gambling Act 2005 since the provisions came into force. Information regarding any prosecutions for offences under that section would be held by the Ministry of Justice.
Sports: East of England
Mr. Moss: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many sports and leisure facilities there are in each (a) district and (b) unitary local authority area in the Eastern region. [303185]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The information requested is as follows:
| Local authority | Number of facilities |
| Note: The number of facilities is not the same as the number of sites: there may be more than one facility on any given site. | |
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