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Treasury

Departmental Disciplinary Proceedings

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many (a) disciplinary and (b) capability procedures have been (i) initiated and (ii) completed in his Department in each of the last five years; how much time on average was taken to complete each type of procedure in each such year; how many and what proportion of his Department's staff were subject to each type of procedure in each such year; and how many and what proportion of each type of procedure resulted in the dismissal of the member of staff. [320624]

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: It is the Treasury's policy not to release full details relating to numbers of staff fewer than five where to do so might lead to the identification of individual cases.

On that basis the number of disciplinary and capability cases in the Treasury in each of the last five years were as follows:

 Disciplinary Capability

2005

Fewer than 5

Fewer than 5

2006

0

Fewer than 5

2007

Fewer than 5

Fewer than 5

2008

Fewer than 5

0

2009

0

0


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With regard to capacity issues, the Department only records those that have led to dismissals.

Information on average time taken to complete each type of procedure is not recorded centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental ICT

Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what information technology projects initiated by (a) his Department and (b) its agencies were cancelled prior to completion in the last 12 months; and what the cost of each such project was to the public purse. [320420]

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: No information technology projects have been cancelled in the last 12 months in the Chancellor's Department or agencies.

Departmental Illegal Immigrants

Mr. Syms: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many staff (a) his Department, (b) its agencies, (c) HM Revenue and Customs and (d) the Valuation Office Agency have appointed who were later discovered to be illegal immigrants since 2005. [320500]

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: None.

Departmental Training

Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many (a) Ministers and (b) civil servants in his Department received coaching in a foreign language in the last 12 months; what expenditure his Department incurred in providing such coaching; and in what languages such coaching was provided. [320539]

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: No Ministers and 13 civil servants received coaching in a foreign language in the period March 2009 to February 2010.

The languages covered were French and Arabic, with an expenditure of £20,380.

Excise Duties: Alcoholic Drinks

Mr. David Hamilton: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what progress has been made on the most recent EU review of minimum rates of excise duty to be applied to alcohol and alcoholic beverages. [319955]

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The European Commission proposed revisions to the EU directive setting minimum rates of excise duty on alcoholic beverages in September 2006. Following two discussions at ministerial level at ECOFIN in November 2006, when it was not possible to reach agreement, successive EU presidencies have chosen not to schedule further Council discussions of the dossier. We understand that the Spanish presidency currently has no plans to do so either.

Government Departments: Carbon Emissions

Charles Hendry: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 12 January 2010, Official Report, column 876W, on the Sustainable
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Development Commission: Treasury, for what reason the baseline carbon emissions of (a) the Home Office and (b) the Ministry of Justice have been changed. [320361]

Ian Pearson: Baseline changes are tightly managed at the centre of government and are permitted for two reasons:

The Home Office (HO) Carbon from Offices baseline was amended in 2008-09 to account for machinery of government changes. These involved the transfer of the Southport building from the Office for National Statistics, and the export of the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) non-custodial buildings to the Ministry of Justice (MOJ). The NOMS transfer was deferred from 2007-08 to enable the proper separation of baseline data. In reviewing the baseline to facilitate the separation, Home Office identified better quality data for its own core department. This improvement also formed part of the amendment in 2008-09.

The Ministry of Justice Carbon from Offices baseline was amended in 2008-09 to account for the transfer of the NOMS non-custodial buildings from Home Office, and in response to reviews of energy consumption data held by HM Courts Service and the National Archives, which resulted in the availability of better quality baseline data for both organisations. Subsequently, the MOJ baseline was corrected to exclude the NOMS non-custodial element, as during the 2008-09 reporting phase it became clear that NOMS could not report a full consumption data across the Sustainable Operations on the Government Estate target areas. MOJ aims to ensure NOMS reports fully in 2009-10.

Valuation Office Agency: Local Government

Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 11 January 2010, Official Report, column 782W, on Valuation Office: local government, which local authorities in England provide building control notices to the Valuation Office Agency (a) in hard copy, (b) by e-mail and (c) through the Valuebill/e-BARs interface. [319322]

Ian Pearson: The following local authorities currently send or have recently sent some building control notices to the Valuation Office Agency.


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