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21 Jun 2010 : Column 100W—continued


Communities First Fund

Mr Blunkett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how much funding will be available from the Communities First fund; when it will be made available; and if he will make a statement. [2691]

Mr Hurd: The Communities First fund is currently being developed by the Cabinet Office, and the total amount of funding available as well as other details will be developed as part of the Spending Review.

Electoral Register

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what estimate he has made of the size of the population (a) entitled and (b) registered to vote in each parliamentary constituency at the May 2010 general election. [2892]

Mr Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.

Letter from Stephen Penneck:

Government Departments: Internet

Mr Watson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what steps he is taking to reduce the cost to the public purse of maintaining Government websites; and if he will make a statement. [2288]


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Mr Hurd [holding answer 15 June 2010]: The Central Office of Information is collating information on the costs, quality and usage of Department-run websites and my right hon. Friend intends to publish these finding before the summer recess. Once this information has been published he will set out how he intends to reduce the overall cost to the taxpayer.

Ministerial Policy Advisers: Conduct

Mr Watson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what changes have been made to the Code of Conduct for special advisers since 7 May 2010; and if he will make a statement. [3534]

Mr Maude: The Prime Minister published the revised Model Contract and Code of Conduct for Special Advisers on 10 June, and placed copies in the Libraries of the House. The key changes to the revised Code are: a new requirement for Departments to publish quarterly information about gifts and hospitality received by special advisers; a requirement for applications from all special advisers wishing to take up jobs within two years of leaving the civil service to be considered by the independent Advisory Committee on Business Appointments regardless of seniority; no severance to be paid to special advisers who resign from the civil service on being announced as a candidate or prospective candidate for election to Parliament; and additional text about the restrictions on special advisers which reflects the provisions of section 8(5) of the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010.

Ministerial Policy Advisers: Pay

Mr Watson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the lowest salary is of a special adviser. [3190]

Mr Maude: I refer the hon. Member to the Prime Minister's written statement of 10 June 2010, Official Report, column 32WS.

Senior Civil Servants: Pay

Mr Watson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many officials in each (a) Department, (b)
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non-departmental public body and (c) agency with salaries greater than £150,000 declined to have details of their salaries published by his Department. [2387]

Mr Maude: On 1 June we published details of 172 public servants working in central Government Departments or agencies paid at a full-time annual rate of £150,000 or more. As has been set out on the Cabinet Office website, 10 individuals withheld their consent to disclosure, citing the Data Protection Act. Of these, nine work in central Government Departments and one in an agency. We have not provided a breakdown by Department at this stage, as to do so might risk the identification of the individuals involved. The details published on 1 June did not include individuals paid by non-departmental public bodies. We intend to extend coverage to those in due course.

Unemployment

Jessica Morden: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many and what proportion of the working age population in (a) Wales and (b) the United Kingdom were unemployed in each year since 1980. [3612]

Mr Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

Letter from Stephen Penneck, dated June 2010:


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21 Jun 2010 : Column 104W
Table 1: Number and proportion of people of working age who are unemployed and resident in the United Kingdom and Wales
Seasonally adjusted
United Kingdom Wales

Thousand %( 1) Thousand %( 1)

February to April 1980

1,579

4.8

-

-

February to April 1981

2,453

7.4

-

-

February to April 1982

2,789

8.3

-

-

February to April 1983

2,985

8.9

-

-

February to April 1984

3,208

9.5

-

-

February to April 1985

3,122

9.1

-

-

February to April 1986

3,107

9.1

-

-

February to April 1987

3,050

8.9

-

-

February to April 1988

2,531

7.3

-

-

February to April 1989

2,090

6.0

-

-

February to April 1990

1,968

5.7

-

-

February to April 1991

2,340

6.7

-

-

March to May 1992(2)

2,763

7.9

118

6.9

February to April 1993

2,955

8.5

131

7.7

February to April 1994

2,740

7.8

122

7.2

February to April 1995

2,469

7.0

115

6.8

February to April 1996

2,328

6.6

114

6.7

February to April 1997

2,027

5.7

109

6.4

February to April 1998

1,777

5.0

97

5.7

February to April 1999

1,755

4.9

93

5.4

February to April 2000

1,638

4.6

85

4.9

February to April 2001

1,442

4.0

77

4.5

February to April 2002

1,504

4.1

75

4.3

February to April 2003

1,498

4.1

65

3.7

February to April 2004

1,420

3.9

67

3.8

February to April 2005

1,398

3.8

61

3.4

February to April 2006

1,600

4.3

68

3.8

February to April 2007

1,661

4.4

80

4.5

February to April 2008

1,631

4.3

75

4.2

February to April 2009

2,248

5.9

108

6.0

February to April 2010(3)

*2,437

6.4

**123

6.9

- = Data not available. (1) Percentage of working age population. (2) March to May has been used for 1992 because these are the earliest data available for Wales. (3) Coefficients of Variation have been calculated for the latest period as an indication of the quality of the estimates. See Guide to Quality below.
Guide to Quality:
The Coefficient of Variation (CV) indicates the quality of an estimate, the smaller the CV value the higher the quality. The true value is likely to lie within +/- twice the CV-for example, for an estimate of 200 with a CV of 5 per cent. we would expect the population total to be within the range 180-220
Key Coefficient of Variation (CV) (%) Statistical Robustness
* 0 = CV<5 Estimates are considered precise
** 5 = CV <10 Estimates are considered reasonably precise
*** 10 = CV <20 Estimates are considered acceptable
**** CV <20 Estimates are considered too unreliable for practical purposes
Source: Labour Force Survey.

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