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5 Jan 2010 : Column 100W—continued
Central Office of Information: Conferences
Mr. Graham Stuart: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many (a) away days and (b) conferences that took place outside the Central Office of Information's (COI) buildings attended by civil servants in the COI there have been since 2005; and what the cost was of each. [307464]
Angela E. Smith: I have asked the chief executive of the Central Office of Information to reply to the hon. Member.
Letter from Mark Lund, dated 11 December 2009:
As Chief Executive of the Central Office of Information (COI), I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question [307464] on conferences that took place outside COI and attended by COI civil servants.
The Central Office of Information (COI) does not hold a central record of away days held outside of COI buildings and attended by civil servants from COI.
COI does hold records of conferences centrally but does not differentiate between attendance by civil servants from COI or those in the wider civil service.
Central Office of Information: Public Relations
Robert Neill: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Peterborough of 3 November 2009, Official Report, columns 886-87W, on public relations (1) what the topic was of each contract awarded to the five firms; and at which diverse audience each was aimed; [308512]
(2) whether Travellers are classed as a culturally diverse audience for the purpose of the Framework Agreement; and at which culturally diverse audiences the marketing will be aimed. [308526]
Angela E. Smith: I have asked the chief executive on the Central Office of Information to reply to the hon. Member.
Letter from Mark Lund, dated 23 December 2009:
As Chief Executive of the Central Office of Information (COI), I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question (308512/26) on the Public Relations Framework detailed below.
Framework Agreement 2007/S 156-194886 relates to the Marketing Aimed at Culturally Diverse Audiences Framework outlined below which commenced in 2007.
The framework comprises eight specialist agencies. It is multi-disciplined with advertising, PR, outreach/grassroots activity, sponsorship and partnership marketing. It covers a wide range of ethnic minorities, faith groups, gypsies and travellers, refugees and asylum seekers, and new arrivals to the UK. The framework is split into 5 Lots:
1. Ethnic Minorities
2. Faith Groups
3. Gypsies & Travellers
4. Refugees & Asylum Seekers
5. Recent Arrivals
Gypsies and Travellers are considered a culturally diverse audience, a minority audience in the UK that have a shared culture.
A list of each contract awarded together with the topic and target audience is listed in the table below.
| Campaign | Target audience |
|
Eastern European communities: Polish/Slovak/Lithuanian/Romanian/Bulgarian/Latvian/Roma | |
Charities: Asylum
Dr. Cable: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what support her Department provides to charities working with destitute asylum seekers. [308755]
Angela E. Smith: The Cabinet Office does not hold information on support for charities working specifically with destitute asylum seekers. A number of programmes from the Office of the Third Sector are benefiting organisations working with asylum seekers which may include destitute asylum seekers. Examples of this are Grassroots Grants which provides small grants for organisations working with individuals and communities and the Community Assets Programme which funds the transfer and renovation of unused public sector property to the third sector.
Charity Commission: Political Activities
Mr. Tyrie: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office with reference to the answer of 19 October 2009, Official Report, column 1290W, on the Charity Commission, for what reason the declaration of membership of (a) the Labour Party and (b) the Christian Socialist Movement made by the Chair of the Charity Commission on the Commission's website is not reflected in the declaration of political activity required by the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments which she made in July 2009; and if she will make a statement. [308725]
Angela E. Smith: The re-appointment of the Chair of the Charity Commission was undertaken in compliance with the Commissioner for Public Appointments' "Code of Practice for Ministerial Appointments to Public Bodies (August 2005)". The political activity questionnaire, which should be completed as part of the re-appointment process, asks for information about political activities and does not ask for personal information about voting preferences or membership of political parties.
Death: Cancer
Mr. Hendrick: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the mortality rate from cancer was in (a) 1997 and (b) the latest period for which figures are available. [308661]
Angela E. Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
Letter from Jil Matheson, dated December 2009:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking what the mortality rate from cancer was in (a) 1997 and (b) the latest period for which figures are available. (308661)
The table attached provides the age-standardised mortality rate, where cancer was the underlying cause of death, for England and Wales, in (a) 1997 and (b) 2008 (the latest year available).
| Table 1. Age-standardised mortality rate per 100,000 population,( 1, 2) where cancer was the underlying cause of death,( 3) England and Wales,( 4) 1997 and 2008( 5) -rate per 100,000 population | ||
| Rate | 95 per cent. confidence interval | |
| (1) Age-standardised mortality rates per 100,000 population, standardised to the European Standard Population. Age-standardised rates are used to allow comparison between populations which may contain different proportions of people of different ages. (2 )Confidence intervals are a measure of the statistical precision of an estimate and show the range of uncertainty around the estimated figure. Calculations based on small numbers of events are often subject to random fluctuations. As a general rule, if the confidence interval around one figure overlaps with the interval around another, we cannot say with certainty that there is more than a chance difference between the two figures. (3 )Cause of death for cancer was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) codes 140-208 for 1997 and Tenth Revision (ICD-10) codes C00-C97 for 2008. (4) Figures for England and Wales include deaths of non-residents. (5) Figures are for deaths registered in each calendar year. | ||
Departmental Art Works
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how much her Department spent on art works in the last 12 months. [308578]
Angela E. Smith: No expenditure has been incurred on art works in the last 12 months.
Departmental Conferences
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how much was spent by her Department and its agency on conferences they organised which were subsequently cancelled in each of the last three years; and what the title was of each such conference. [308821]
Angela E. Smith: The information requested is not centrally held and is therefore available only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Marketing
Mr. Hurd: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the advertising, marketing and publicity budget is of the (a) Real Help Now and (b) Building Britain's Future campaign in 2009-10. [302491]
Angela E. Smith: Both Real Help Now and Building Britain's Future are cross-government campaigns.
There is no specific advertising, marketing and publicity budget held within Cabinet Office for either Real Help Now or Building Britain's Future (BBF).
Costs associated with Real Help Now and BBF for which Cabinet Office is liable have been met from the over arching departmental communications budget.
To date, £112,282.50 of this budget has been committed to BBF activity and Cabinet Office has spent £105,704 (excluding VAT) on publicity and marketing for the Real Help Now campaign.
Departmental Pay
Kate Hoey: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many officials in her Department have received allowances to buy a second home in London in each of the last five years. [302576]
Angela E. Smith: No officials in the Cabinet Office have received an allowance to buy a second home in the last five years.
Departmental Plants
Grant Shapps: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how much No. 10 Downing Street spent on (a) cut flowers and (b) pot plants in 2008-09. [306278]
Angela E. Smith: The information requested is not readily available and is therefore available only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Sick Leave
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many days sickness absence were taken by staff in her Department and its agency in each of the last 12 months for which figures are available; and what the cost to her Department was of such absence. [305547]
Angela E. Smith: The Cabinet Office publishes reports on levels of sickness absence on a quarterly basis. These reports can be accessed at this website:
Copies of the previous four quarterly reports have been placed in the Library of the House.
Data on the total cost of individual staff absences could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Written Questions
John Mason: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many questions tabled for answer on a named day her Department received in each of the last 12 months; and to how many such questions her Department provided a substantive answer on the day named. [305382]
Tessa Jowell: 274 named day questions were tabled to Cabinet Office for the period 1 December 2008 to 30 November 2009. Of these 175 received substantive answers on the day.
Mr. Harper: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many and what percentage of Parliamentary Questions tabled for written Answer by her Department on a named day in session 2008-09 received a substantive Answer on that day. [307548]
Tessa Jowell: 252 named day questions were tabled to Cabinet Office for the session 2008-09. Of these 157 received substantive answers on the day.
Flood Control
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office when she expects the Emergency Response and Recovery Guidance to be revised to reflect the new arrangements for recovery and Local Resilience Force, in accordance with recommendation 80 of the Pitt Report. [306332]
Angela E. Smith: The revised Emergency Response and Recovery Guidance was published in August 2009 on the Cabinet Office website at:
Floods
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office when she expects the National Hazards Team to conclude its review of critical infrastructure at risk from future floods; whether (a) public and (b) private (i) reservoir and (ii) dam safety will be included in that audit; and if she will make a statement. [302143]
Ms Butler: The Natural Hazards Team in the Cabinet Office is developing a programme to improve the resilience of critical infrastructure and essential services to severe disruption from natural hazards.
The Natural Hazards Team is co-ordinating the development of Sector Resilience Plans by the lead Government Department for each sector of national infrastructure. These plans are expected to set out the risks from flooding to the most critical sites (i.e. critical national infrastructure) in each infrastructure sector, and a programme of measures that is necessary to improve resilience. These initial sector resilience plans will include public and private reservoirs where the sites are deemed to be critical national infrastructure.
The Natural Hazards Team will conclude its review of critical infrastructure and risks from natural hazards with the publication of a National Resilience Plan in late 2010. This plan will set out the Government's policy and standards for the resilience of critical infrastructure. It will be based upon the evidence submitted in Sector Resilience Plans and the responses to the current consultation on the draft Strategic Framework and Policy Statement on Improving the Resilience of Critical Infrastructure to Disruption from Natural Hazards.
Following Sir Michael Pitt's recommendation 58, the draft Floods and Water Management Bill will include provisions relating to dam and reservoir safety.
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