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15 Dec 2009 : Column 967W—continued
Iraq Committee of Inquiry
Mr. Davey: To ask the Prime Minister if he will publish a list of all the documents the Government have made available to the Iraq Inquiry. [306383]
The Prime Minister: I refer the hon. Member to my statement of 15 June 2009, Official Report, column 23.
Tony Blair
Mr. Hands: To ask the Prime Minister when he last spoke to Tony Blair about official business. [305830]
The Prime Minister: I have regular discussions with a wide range of individuals.
Women and Equality
Departmental Information Officers
Mr. Heald: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality how many full-time equivalent press officers (a) are employed by and (b) work for the Government Equalities Office. [303609]
Michael Jabez Foster: Six full-time press officers currently work for the Government Equalities Office, supporting the Department and its four Ministers.
Departmental Written Questions
Mr. Harper: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality how many and what percentage of Parliamentary Questions tabled for written answer by her on a named day in session 2008-09 received a substantive answer on that day. [307531]
Michael Jabez Foster: There were 41 named day parliamentary questions tabled for written answer by the Minister for Women and Equality during session 2008-09. Of these 59 per cent. received a substantive answer on the named day.
Equal Pay
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality what recent progress has been made on reducing the pay gap between men and women. [305001]
Maria Eagle: The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics show the gender gap based on median hourly earnings for all employees has fallen from 22.5 per cent. in 2008 to 22.0 per cent. in 2009.
Equalities and Human Rights Commission: Research
John Battle:
To ask the Minister for Women and Equality what research the Equality and Human Rights Commission has (a) conducted and (b)
evaluated on equal pay in respect of (i) ethnic groups, (ii) disabled and able-bodied people and (iii) part-time and full-time employees in (A) Leeds and (B) England; and what level of difference in pay has been identified for each group in each location. [307440]
Maria Eagle: The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has published two research reports on gender pay gaps by different equality strands since December 2008. They are:
Pay Gaps Across Equalities Areas by Simonetta Longhi and Lucinda Platt of the Institute for Social and Economic Research, University of Essex (ECHR Research Report no. 9, 2008); and
Pay Gaps Across the Equality Strands: a review by Hilary Metcalf of the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (ECHR Research Report no. 14, 2009).
The first study consists of a statistical analysis of the Labour Force Survey; the second study is a review of the existing research evidence from 2000 onwards. Both reports take a Great Britain wide approach and show data on pay gaps by ethnicity and disability and also include some information on full-time and part-time pay gaps. However, neither report presents data separately for England or for Leeds.
Northern Ireland
Christmas
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much his Department has spent on Christmas (a) cards, (b) parties and (c) decorations in the last 12 months. [303841]
Mr. Woodward: The total spent by the Northern Ireland Office (NIO), its agencies and arm's length bodies, including the Public Prosecution Service on Christmas cards to individuals working in and with the Northern Ireland community was £1,960.53. At Hillsborough castle, provision of two Christmas trees cost £195.00 with a further £909.14 spent on decorations across the rest of the Department. The Northern Ireland Office London office, to mark the work of staff during the year, held a special event; the total cost for this event was £990.28.
Departmental Buildings
Mr. Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much his Department spent on works and refurbishment to offices allocated to Ministers in his Department's buildings in the last 12 months. [305678]
Paul Goggins: The amount spent on work and refurbishment to offices allocated to Ministers is not separately costed or invoiced so this question could be answered only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Publicity
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much his Department has spent on (a) ministerial photoshoots and (b) production of videos in which Ministers appear in the last three years for which figures are available. [305522]
Paul Goggins: The Northern Ireland Office (NIO), including its arm's length bodies and the Public Prosecution Service Northern Ireland but excluding its agencies and non-departmental public bodies, has had no expenditure on (a) ministerial photoshoots or (b) production of videos in which Ministers appear in the last three years.
Police Service of Northern Ireland: Finance
Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the policing budget in Northern Ireland has been in each year since 1979. [305413]
Paul Goggins: The information requested is available only for the last 10 years and is as follows:
| £ million | ||||
| Resource Departmental Expenditure Limit | Capital DEL | Annual Managed Expenditure | Total | |
Terrorism
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what his most recent assessment is of the security situation in Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement. [307343]
Paul Goggins: The most recent report of the Independent Monitoring Commission confirms the threat from dissident republicans is more serious than at any time since they began to report in 2004. This small number of people are determined to take Northern Ireland back to the past but will not be allowed to succeed.
Transport
Buses: Injuries
Mr. Pelling: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many injuries resulting from passengers falling on buses were reported in (a) England and (b) Greater London in the last five years. [306289]
Paul Clark: From the information collected by the Department for Transport it is not possible to identify passenger falls on buses. However, it is possible to identify those passengers reported by police as injured on a bus/coach that was in motion and did not impact with any object, vehicle or pedestrian. This information is given in the following table:
Departmental Travel
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport (1) how many buses he used during his mystery traveller bus tour; [302688]
(2) how much his Department has spent on his mystery traveller bus tour. [302689]
Mr. Khan: To date, I have taken 20 buses.
I have paid for all my bus fares myself.
All ministerial travel is undertaken in accordance with the Ministerial Code.
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport whether his Department has offset the carbon emissions arising from his mystery traveller bus tour. [302927]
Mr. Khan: My bus tour has been planned to coincide, as far as possible, with existing ministerial commitments. All bus stages undertaken as part of the tour have been made using scheduled bus services available to the public. As such, carbon emissions arising specifically from the tour are negligible and no expenditure has been incurred to offset them.
EU Law
Gregory Barker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what (a) statutory instruments and (b) other regulations his Department has brought forward in this Parliament to meet obligations arising from EU law. [304179]
Mr. Khan: Central records of statutory instruments made under specific powers have only been maintained by the Statutory Instruments Registrar since 2001. There are no central records maintained of "other regulations".
Central records show that since the Department for Transport was created in May 2002, it has made 138 statutory instruments to meet obligations arising from EU Law, under powers contained in the European Communities Act 1972.
EU law obligations may also be met by statutory instruments made under Acts other than the 1972 Act. According to a database held by the Department for Transport, the Department has made a total of 171 statutory instruments since the beginning of 2004 to meet EU law obligations. This number includes those instruments made under the 1972 Act as well as other Acts.
The cut-off date used for measuring the number of statutory instruments made was 4 December 2009.
Motor Sports Association
Mr. Wallace: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what progress has been made in amending legislation to provide for the transfer of responsibility for authorising routes for UK rallies from the Royal Automobile Club to the Motor Sports Association; and when that process is likely to be completed. [306536]
Paul Clark: Government officials will be writing to stakeholders shortly with a copy of the draft regulations and to explain how we intend to proceed. We are aiming to complete the process in the spring.
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