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22 Feb 2010 : Column 248W—continued
Departmental Electronic Equipment
Mr. Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many plasma screen televisions his Department has purchased since 2001; and what the cost has been of purchasing and installing such screens in each such year. [306079]
Mr. Wills: Flat screen televisions may be plasma or LCD. It is not possible to determine which type of flat screen has been purchased in all cases, except at the disproportionate cost of physically examining all of the TVs or retrieving all invoices which are filed locally around the business.
Similarly it is not possible to identify the purpose of these purchases in all cases, except at disproportionate cost. However, no flat screen TVs have been purchased for prisoners' cells.
Expenditure betwee n October 2008 to November 2009
Since October 2008, the Ministry of Justice has had one main supplier for the provision of flat screen televisions. From the start of this contract up to November 2009, £139,676 was spent on flat screen televisions. This figure excludes the costs of installation which is undertaken by local estates teams across the Ministry. Installation costs cannot be separately quantified but represent a tiny element of the work of estates teams. Procurement records indicate that flat screen television expenditure included 10 plasma screen televisions at a cost of £6,180.
It is possible, though unlikely, that some further expenditure may have been incurred outside of the contract using the Government Procurement Card (GPC). To investigate whether any flat screen televisions, DVD players or stereo equipment had been purchased with the GPC card would incur disproportionate cost.
Expenditure prior to October 2008
Prior to October 2008, there was one main supplier for the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) part of the business. Expenditure under this contract was £26,454 in 2007-08, with no expenditure recorded prior to that date. It is not known whether these televisions were plasmas or LCDs.
The Tribunals Service also had a single contract for the supply of flat screen TVs. Expenditure under this contract was a fixed annual contractual sum of £10,000 per annum, starting from 2006-07. It is not known whether these televisions were plasmas or LCDs.
The wider Ministry operated numerous local contracts and it is not possible to determine total expenditure on flat screen televisions prior to October 2008 without incurring the disproportionate cost of examining individual transactions incurred under local contracts. However, between March 2006 and March 2008, 397 flat screen television screens were purchased at a total cost of £516,478 by HM Courts Service, mainly in connection with the Videolinks Project, which allows vulnerable witnesses to take part in trials without actually being present. Videolinks also connects to a number of prisons, which saves money by allowing certain meetings and proceedings to occur which would otherwise require prisoner transport and accommodation.
Departmental Energy
Andrew Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the estimated (a) amount and (b) cost was of energy used in his Department and its agencies in each year since 1997; what proportion of the energy used was generated from renewable sources in each of those years; and if he will make a statement. [317203]
Mr. Wills: Since the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) was created in May 2007, the estimated reported amount of energy used in MOJ and its agencies and the cost is:
| Energy consumption 2007-08 kWh | Cost 2007-08 (£) | Energy c onsumption 2008-09 kWh | Cost 2008-09 (£) | |
Central Government Departments and their executive agencies had a target to source at least 10 per cent. of electricity from renewables by 31 March 2008. The proportion of energy generated from renewable sources for MOJ and its agencies was 8 per cent. in 2007-08. MOJ sourced 20 per cent. of its energy from renewable sources during 2008-09.
Published data for 2007-08 can be found at:
Published data for 2008-09 can found at:
http://www.ogc.gov.uk/sustainable_development_in_ government_chp_consumption_and_ renewables.asp
Departmental Information Officers
Mr. Hurd:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many staff in his Department and its agencies (a) have the status of embedded communicators and
(b) are members of the Government Communications Network but are not listed in the Central Office of Information White Book. [315165]
Mr. Wills: The following table lists the number of staff in embedded communications roles in the Ministry of Justice. The embedded communications staff is employed primarily in communications roles based in policy and delivery units outside central communications functions.
| MOJ Group | Headcount (FTE) as of January 2010 | GCN members |
The Government Communications Network (GCN) membership is voluntary and not required to work in a communications role. Data on GCN membership are not collected and neither are they stored by the Ministry of Justice. The Cabinet Office unit who administer the GCN are unable to share membership data without the permission of individual members. Therefore it is not possible to readily provide accurate information for National Offender Management Service.
Departmental Manpower
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many layers of management reporting from the most senior to the most junior there are in his Department and each of its agencies; how many officials are employed in each such layer; and how much was spent on salaries and associated employment costs of staff at each such layer in the latest year for which information is available. [312822]
Mr. Wills: Staff employed by the Ministry of Justice (excluding the National Offender Management Service (NOMS)) below the senior civil service (SCS) and its agencies (Her Majesty's Court Service (HMCS) and the Tribunals Service) are employed on the same terms and conditions. They work in job roles aligned to one of seven pay bands/grades-four of which may include management responsibilities. Allocation of a job role to a particular pay band is determined by the level of the level of responsibility and job evaluation. This grading system is comparable with the standard civil service grading system. In levels of descending seniority management grades below the SCS are:
Band A is the highest (typical job roles include qualified solicitors or accountants and senior operational managers)
Band B and C, which are middle management job roles (these may include junior lawyers or accountants, and legal advisors in magistrates courts)
Band D job roles, which are the first level of supervision.
The pay and grading structure for the SCS is managed by the Cabinet Office and is common across all civil service departments.
Details of each level of management responsibility (including SCS), the number of staff in each layer, and the amount spent on staff salaries are contained in the following table.
| Management level | Equivalent civil service descriptor | Number of staff | Salary costs (£) |
| Notes: 1. The information provides details of basic salary but excludes payments of allowances, overtime and non-consolidated performance pay. Employers National Insurance and Pensions Contributions have been averaged at 19 per cent. for Bands A to F and 34 per cent. for SCS. 2. The information provided in the table relates to salary payments to staff working on the Ministry of Justice 'Deal' terms and conditions. 3. Details of the Permanent Secretary's remuneration is available in the MOJ Resource Accounts. 4. Latest salary cost information are for implementation of 2009-10 pay award effective 1 August 2009 with details of staff in post at that time. | |||
Since July 2000, NOMS has operated a common unified pay structure for senior and middle managerial grades within 'Phase One' of their pay and grading arrangements. Roles are placed in one of seven paybands ranging from Senior Manager A to Manager G, which is determined by the level of responsibility of the role. Other grades on separate pay scales outside of 'Phase One' also provide a managerial function. These include Principal and Senior Prison Officers.
Senior Manager A is the highest management level (typical roles include Governors of high security prisons). Typical middle management roles are placed at Manager E, F or G (roles at these levels include operational or administrative managers). Details of each level of management responsibility, the number of staff in each payband and the total amount spent on staff salaries and associated employment costs for the latest period for which figures are available (1 April 2009 to 31 December 2009) are set out in the following table.
| Management level | Equivalent civil service descriptor | Number of staff | Salary costs (£) |
| (1 )These grades include roles such as senior officer and principal officer. Note: Staff in post information is for December 2009. | |||
Departmental Travel
Mr. Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will publish the travel guidance issued to staff of each of his Department's agencies and non-departmental public bodies. [314924]
Mr. Wills: Travel guidance for staff working in the Ministry of Justice and its agencies and non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) encompasses a number of different publications and either relates to the terms on which individuals claim reimbursement for business related travel, or health and safety advice. Any expenditure authorised for staff travelling on behalf of the Ministry is made in accordance with regulations on managing public money.
Publications with travel guidance include:
The Safe Driving at Work Policy Statement
Travel and Subsistence Policy
Information for staff travelling to work in bad weather.
I will place the information referred to above relating to the Ministry of Justice (and where different, its agencies and NDPBs) in the House of Commons Library.
Driving Offences: Suffolk
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many (a) convictions, (b) cautions and (c) fixed penalty notices have been given to people arrested for speeding offences in Suffolk in each year since 1997. [314868]
Mr. Alan Campbell: I have been asked to reply.
Data from 1997 to 2007 (latest available) on fixed penalty notices issued for speeding offences in Suffolk police force area are provided in table A.
Data provided by the Ministry of Justice, showing the number of convictions for speeding offences and vehicle registration and excise licence offences in Suffolk from 1997 to 2008 (latest available) can be viewed in Table B.
Cautions are not issued by the police for speeding offences.
Court proceedings data for 2009 are expected to be published in the autumn 2010.
| Table A: Number of fixed penalty notices issued for speed limit offences, Suffolk police force area, 1997 to 2007( 1) | |
| Number of notices | |
| (1) From 2000 onwards the national safety camera programme was introduced which increased enforcement of speeding offences. | |
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