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6 Sep 2010 : Column 54W—continued
Training is delivered either locally by forces, or centrally by NPIA. The Home Office does not collect data from forces on the cost of training police officers and police community support officers.
The provision of equipment is determined by individual forces. The Home Office does not collect data from forces on the cost of equipping officers and staff.
Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what her most recent estimate is of the average cost to a police authority of employing a (a) police officer and (b) police community support officer; and what estimate she has made of that cost in each year from 2011-12 to 2014-15. [8124]
Nick Herbert: Police personnel costs are published by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA). Based on the latest CIPFA figures, in 2008-09 the average employment cost (including salary, national insurance, pension costs and superannuation) was £54,300 per full-time officer and £25,000 per police community support officer.
The Home Office does not currently collect data from police forces on the pay of individual police officers and staff, and does not hold information on what the average cost of employing a police officer or police community support officer will be from 2011-12 to 2014-15.
Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what mechanisms are in place to provide funding for operations involving more than one police force to locate and arrest individuals regarded as posing a risk to the public. [12546]
Nick Herbert: Mutual aid is the provision of policing assistance from one force to another and falls under section 24 of the Police Act 1996. It is a formal arrangement and is usually provided in response to or in anticipation of a major incident or event, providing overall resilience to the provision of effective policing of the incident and force area in question.
In circumstances where the lead force incurs exceptional costs (including payment of mutual aid to other forces) they may apply for Special Grant assistance from the Home Office.
Full Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) guidance on charging for police services mutual aid cost recovery can be found on the ACPO website at:
http://www.acpo.police.uk/asp/policies/data/Mutual% 20Aid%20update%20for%202010-11%20rates%20Website.pdf
Police: Manpower
Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers there were in each year since 1997; and how many police community support officers there were in each year since 2002. [12221]
Nick Herbert: The available data can be found in the tables.
The first police community support officers started work in September 2002, following legislation which was introduced as part of the Police Reform Act 2002. Therefore, data on police community support officers are not available prior to 31 March 2003.
These and other related data are published annually as part of the annual Police Service Strength Home Office Statistical Bulletin. The latest bulletin can be found at:
and bulletins for this and previous years are deposited in the Library of the House.
| PCSO strength in England and Wales( 1) , as at 31 March, 2002 to 2010( 2) | |
| Full-time equivalent( 3) | |
| PCSO | |
| (1) Figures are for the 43 police forces of England and Wales. (2) Figures include those officers on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave. (3) This table contains full-time equivalent figures that have been rounded to the nearest whole number. (4) Police community support officers were introduced in statute in 2002, therefore data is not available prior to 2002-03. | |
Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which police forces in England and Wales have a dedicated (a) hi-tech crime, (b) e-crime, (c) financial investigation or fraud, (d) counter-terrorism, (e) organised crime, (f) rape and sexual offences, (g) child abuse and paedophilia, (h) drugs and (i) murder unit; and how many police officers are employed in each such unit in each such force. [12746]
Nick Herbert: Figures on dedicated units are not collected centrally. Instead, the Home Office collects data on numbers of officers in post broken down by their predominant function (from a list of over 60 categories of function). Figures are provided in the following table on officers in post on 31 March 2009 (the latest available period) for the functions most closely related to the units listed.
Police: Motorways
Mr Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many incidents to which police traffic officers responded there were on the motorway network in England in the last 12 months. [12145]
Nick Herbert: The information is not collected centrally.
Police: Pay
Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average salary was for police officers in (a) England, (b) Leeds, (c) Manchester and (d) the Metropolitan Police District in the latest period for which figures are available. [12245]
Nick Herbert: The Home Office does not collect data from police forces on the pay of individual police officers, and does not hold information on average salary for police officers in England, Leeds, Manchester and the Metropolitan police.
Police: Training
Ms Angela Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what training police receive on responding to a report from a prison than an offender about to be released has made threats to a partner or ex-partner. [11960]
Nick Herbert [holding answer 27 July 2010]: Training courses from the Initial Learning Programme onwards make clear the responsibility of police officers to inform a person if it is suspected he or she is in danger or at immediate risk and to act accordingly.
This has led to the development of a policy for police forces in England and Wales that is referred to as the "Osman Warning". If the police receive intelligence that dictates that there is a real and immediate risk to the life, they will tell that person and the police are then expected to take reasonable measures to avoid that risk.
The National Intelligence Model (NIM) is an intelligence-led process which promotes a cooperative response to policing, it is embedded within the Initial Learning Programme for police officers. When information about a threat is received, it will be assessed in accordance with the NIM framework.
Safer Neighbourhood Teams: Finance
Mr Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will allocate funding to ensure that safer neighbourhood teams are maintained in London. [11595]
Nick Herbert:
The Government support neighbourhood policing and are committed to ensuring that all communities receive a high quality policing service that meets local priorities. Decisions about the number of safer neighbourhood teams in London and how they are
deployed to each of the London boroughs is a matter for the Metropolitan Police Commissioner and the Metropolitan Police Authority.
We have allocated £101.9 million in specific grant to the Metropolitan Police Service in 2010-11 for Neighbourhood Policing. The future funding settlement for the police will be determined by the spending review which will not be known until October this year.
Special Constables
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many special constables there were in (a) North Yorkshire and (b) England and Wales on the latest date for which figures are available. [12898]
Nick Herbert: The latest published figures show that the special constable head count strength as at 31 March 2010 was 184 in North Yorkshire and 15,505 in England and Wales.
These and other related data are published annually as part of the annual Police Service Strength Home Office Statistical Bulletin. The latest bulletin can be found at:
and bulletins for this and previous years are deposited in the Library of the House.
Trade Unions
Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how much her Department has paid to trade unions in each year since 1997; and what estimate she has made of the monetary value of facilities provided by her Department for use by trade unions in each year since 1997; [11661]
(2) how many paid manpower hours civil servants in her Department spent on trade union-related duties and activities in each year since 1997; [11662]
(3) how many civil servants in her Department spent the equivalent of (a) five days or fewer, (b) five to 10 days, (c) 10 to 15 days, (d) 15 to 20 days, (e) 20 to 25 days and (f) 25 days or more on trade union-related activities or duties while being paid salaries from the public purse in each year since 1997. [11663]
Nick Herbert: The Home Department does not provide any direct funding to trade unions.
As part of the fulfilment of our legal responsibilities towards our trade union representatives we provide reasonable facility time and access to office space and equipment. We are unable to provide an estimate of the total value of these for the current year as this information is not centrally recorded and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Home Office headquarters employs approximately 3,000 staff and has 7.6 full-time equivalent (FTE) staff working full-time on trade union duties, assisted by 1.5 FTE staff providing administrative support. Almost all of these representatives and administrators also provide representation and support to around 23,000 staff working in the UK Border Agency.
There are a further 11 staff who undertake trade union duties on an ad hoc basis. These staff must seek
prior authority from their line manager to undertake these duties. The Home Office provides clear guidance covering the circumstances in which staff who are acting as trade union representatives can claim facility time.
As facility time is not recorded centrally, it is not possible to provide a breakdown of the equivalent numbers of days spent on trade union activities and duties in the ranges requested.
UK Border Agency
Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department in which locations the UK Border Agency operates visa application centres and visa sections overseas; and what the operational cost of these centres was over the last five years. [12192]
Damian Green: The UK Border Agency has contracts with two suppliers, VFS Global and CSC, who operate visa application centres. In addition, the UK Border Agency operates visa sections, some of which are decision-making centres and some of which are enrolment centres. The locations of these visa application centres and visa sections are given in the following tables.
As regards operational costs, these are available for 2008-09 and 2009-10, since the visa operation has been part of the UK Border Agency. The operational costs of the visa application centres and the visa sections, including some London-based staff costs, were as follows:
FY 2008-09: £321.1 million
FY 2009-10: £314.3 million.
The commercial partner contracts, which are include in the above, cost £61.0 million in 2008-09 and £68.3 million in 2009-10.
The commercial partners operate 101 visa application centres in 48 countries. These are:
| Country | Visa application centre |
In total there are 144 UKBA visa sections as follows:
| Country | Visa section |
UK Border Agency: Manpower
Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many staff of the UK Border Agency are based at each office location (a) in Scotland, (b) in each of the English regions, (c) in Wales, (d) in Northern Ireland and (e) overseas; and what the functions are of each office. [12198]
Damian Green: The regional breakdown of United Kingdom Border Agency workforce as at 30 June 2010 is set out in the tables placed in the House Library.
UK Border Agency: Publicity
Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much the UK Border Agency spent on points of entry campaigns explaining UK immigration and asylum policy in each of the last five years; and what plans the Government has for future such campaigns. [12193]
Damian Green: Since 2005, UK Border Agency has spent £1,644 on communications at the border explaining asylum policy. These communications are in the form of posters at all ports informing people that they must claim asylum at the first port of entry. We have also spent £598.25 on posters explaining that passengers must have valid travel documents for themselves and any dependent children otherwise they face prosecution as set out in the Asylum and Immigration Act 2004. No other money has been spent on campaigns to explain UK immigration and asylum policy at UK points of entry over the last five years.
In the current financial climate much of the work of the UK Border Agency, including all communications work, is under review. However, we are likely to continue to need this information at ports as it provides important legal information for those wanting to claim asylum.
Work and Pensions
Atos Healthcare
Dr Whiteford: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the value is of his Department's contract with Atos Healthcare; and when the contract will next be reviewed. [12280]
Maria Miller: The Department for Work and Pensions re-awarded Atos Origin IT Services Ltd., trading as Atos Healthcare, a new contract to perform medical services on behalf of the Department from 1 September 2005. The total cost of these services amounts to approximately £100 million per annum. This figure not only covers the total number of examinations undertaken across all benefits, but also costs relating to written and verbal medical advice, fixed overheads, administrative costs, investment in new technology and other service improvements. The contract covered a seven year period with an option to extend for a further five years and is therefore currently under review.
Dr Whiteford: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether (a) any disciplinary action has been pursued and (b) any complaints have been received and investigated by his Department in respect of Atos Healthcare in the last two years. [12281]
Chris Grayling:
Following completion of investigations, if appropriate, a range of actions can be taken including remedial action which may involve re-training or removal from the list of approved health care professionals and employment terminated. Depending upon the findings
of the investigation the General Medical Council may also be informed. A statistical breakdown is not available.
The Department as a whole does not keep statistics on the number of complaints made about Atos Healthcare, however Atos Healthcare themselves have received 7,476 complaints over the last two years. For the last quarter ending May 2010 the total complaints, which includes complaints relating to accommodation, staff and operational processes compared with the number of medical assessments completed, was 0.57%.
Dr Whiteford: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what information his Department holds on any bonuses or incentives paid by Atos Healthcare to staff undertaking incapacity benefit and employment and support allowance medical assessments. [12282]
Chris Grayling: The role of the health care professional is to provide an independent, impartial assessment of the effects of a customer's illness or disability on their everyday lives. Neither Atos Healthcare nor their health care professionals receive any kind of bonuses or financial incentive in relation to the outcome of benefit claims.
Dr Whiteford: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether his Department plans to review the terms of the Medical Services Contract with Atos Healthcare in relation to the trial of reassessments for incapacity benefit and employment and support allowance medical entitlements. [12283]
Chris Grayling: The Department is currently negotiating the terms of the services to reassess incapacity benefit recipients.
Children: Grants
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the cost to the public purse was of the childcare grant in each of the last three years; and what the highest payment made to an individual in one year was in that period. [12370]
Mr Willetts: I have been asked to reply.
The Childcare Grant is available to full-time, higher education students with dependent children in registered or approved child care.
For academic year 2009-10, the grant covers 85% of actual child care costs-both in term times and vacations-up to a maximum of £148.75 per week for one child and up to £255 per week for two or more children.
The following table shows the total cost of approved applications for Childcare Grant in the last three years for which figures are available. The Department does not release data at an individual level.
| Childcare Grant, England | |
| Academic year | £ million( 1) |
| (1) Rounded to nearest £ million. | |
Children: Maintenance
Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in respect of how many and what proportion of referrals from Jobcentre Plus by the Child Maintenance Options Service the Service was able to make successful contact with the parents referred in each week of the most recent quarter for which figures are available. [12058]
Maria Miller: The Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission is responsible for the child maintenance system. I have asked the Child Maintenance Commissioner to write to the hon. Member with the information requested and I have seen the response.
In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Child Maintenance Commissioner.
You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, in respect of how many and what proportion of referrals from Jobcentre Plus by the Child Maintenance Options Service the Service was able to make successful contact with the parents referred in each week of the most recent quarter for which figures are available. [12058]
The table below shows the number of Jobcentre Plus referrals successfully contacted by Child Maintenance Options by telephone for the second quarter of 2010 (covering the period 5 April to 4 July) and the proportion of total referrals this number represents.
| Jobcentre Plus successful contact | ||
| Week ending | Number | Percent |
The telephone contacts that the Child Maintenance Options Service successfully makes are a result of multiple attempts to reach the parents that have been referred by Jobcentre Plus. Where it has not been possible to make contact with parents by telephone, they are sent a letter and encouraged to contact the service themselves. The above figures reflect overall successful contact, both outbound and inbound.
Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many referrals the Child Maintenance Options Service made to its face-to-face service in the most recent quarter for which figures are available. [12059]
Maria Miller: The Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission is responsible for the child maintenance system. I have asked the Child Maintenance Commissioner to write to the hon. Member with the information requested and I have seen the response.
In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Child Maintenance Commissioner.
You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many referrals the Child Maintenance Options Service made to its face-to-face service in the most recent quarter for which figures are available. [12059]
The table below shows the number of referrals to the face-to-face service made by Child Maintenance Options for the second quarter of 2010 (covering the period 5 April to 4 July).
| Week ending | Face-to-face referrals |
It should be noted that, during the period of time represented in the table above, the Child Maintenance Options service was running service development pilots which included exploring utilisation of the face-to-face service. These pilots continue and findings are due in the autumn to inform future face-to-face service delivery.
Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many referrals the Child Maintenance Options Service received each week from Jobcentre Plus in the last quarter for which figures are available; and what proportion of new benefit claimants entitled to seek child maintenance this figure represents. [12060]
Maria Miller: The Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission is responsible for the child maintenance system. I have asked the Child Maintenance Commissioner to write to the hon. Member with the information requested and I have seen the response.
In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Child Maintenance Commissioner.
You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many referrals the Child Maintenance Options Service received each week from Jobcentre Plus in the last quarter for which figures are available; and what proportion of new benefit claimants entitled to seek child maintenance this figure represents. [12060]
The table below shows the total number of Jobcentre Plus referrals to Child Maintenance Options for the second quarter of 2010 (covering the period 5 April to 4 July) and the proportion of new benefit claimants entitled to seek child maintenance that this number represents.
| Week ending | Jobcentre Plus referrals | Proportion of new benefit claimants entitled to seek child maintenance (percentage) |
| Notes: 1. Total may include those making a rapid reclaim and those where the client's partner accepted a referral. 2. Figures on clients with a child maintenance interest provided by Jobcentre Plus. | ||
I hope you find this answer helpful.
Children: Poverty
Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of children living in relative poverty in each year since 1997. [12767]
Chris Grayling: Estimates of the number and proportion of children living in poverty are published in the Households Below Average Income (HBAI) series. HBAI uses household income adjusted (or 'equivalised') for household size and composition, to provide a proxy for standard of living.
Figures for 1997-98 cover Great Britain only, as data for Northern Ireland did not become available until the following year. The latest available data cover 2008-09.
Children: St Albans
Mrs Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many children were living in workless households in St Albans constituency in (a) 2004, (b) 2008 and (c) 2010. [12116]
Maria Miller: The information requested is as follows:
(a) In 2004, there were estimated to be 1,100 children living in workless households in St Albans. This figure has been rounded to the nearest 100.
(b) In 2008, no estimate is possible due to sample size issues.
(c) The latest available wave for the Household Annual Population Survey is 2008 so no estimate is available for 2010.
The estimate is based on the Household Annual Population Survey (HAPS). It is important to note that, as with any sample survey, estimates from the HAPS are subject to a margin of uncertainty as different samples give different results. At the constituency level the group in question is very specific and the estimate is based on very small sample sizes. Therefore, the margin of uncertainty is very large for this estimate and the figure is deemed unreliable and would not be used by the Department for Work and Pensions for practical purposes.
Prior to 2010 the parliamentary constituency boundaries were different. The information given reflects the population in the current boundaries as closely as possible.
Departmental Billing
Jeremy Lefroy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what percentage of payments made by his Department to (a) small and medium-sized enterprise suppliers and (b) all suppliers were made (i) within 10 days of receipt of invoice and (ii) on the agreed payment terms in the last three months for which information is available. [11166]
Chris Grayling:
The Department for Work and Pensions became a signatory to the Prompt Payment Code in March 2009 and set a target to pay 90% of correct invoices within 10 days of receipt. This target applies to
all invoices paid by the Department and its agencies which are covered by a single finance system. The target has been met consistently since the signing of the Code. Separate figures for small and medium sized enterprises are not collected and to provide this information would incur disproportionate cost.
The percentage of all supplier payments made within 10 days of receipt of an invoice for the last three months are:
| Month | Percentage |
The percentage of payments made by the Department within our agreed payment terms of 30 days for the last three months are:
| Month | Percentage |
Departmental Buildings
Mr Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions which former (a) buildings and (b) land owned by (i) his Department and (ii) (A) non-departmental public bodies and (B) agencies for which his Department is responsible have been sold since May 2005; what the sale price of each was at the time of sale; and to which body the funds from the sale accrued in each case. [12342]
Chris Grayling: DWP has not sold any buildings or land since May 2005.
Prior to the formation of DWP in 2001, the former Department of Social Security outsourced its estate in 1998 via a private finance initiative (PFI) contract known as PRIME. The estate was sold (freehold, feuhold and long leasehold interests) or transferred (short leasehold interests) to Telereal Trillium.
The proceeds were released to HM Treasury in April 1998 for the original Department of Social Security estate and further in December 2003 when PRIME was expanded to include the former Employment Service estate following the creation of DWP.
(A) Non-departmental public bodies
(i) Health and Safety Executive-The chief executive of the Health and Safety Executive has replied separately;
(ii) The Child Maintenance Enforcement Commission estate is within the PRIME contract. The Commission has not sold any buildings or land.
None of the DWP agencies sold any buildings or land.
Matthew Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much office space per employee his Department and its predecessor occupied in each year since 1997. [13009]
Chris Grayling:
DWP was created in June 2001 with the merger of the former Department of Social Security (DSS) and the former Employment Service (ES). The
Department no longer has records of DSS or ES staffing from 1997 to 2001 nor does the Department have information on the size of the former Employment Service space prior to 2003 when their estate was included in DWP's Private Finance Initiative.
The space per employee occupied in each year since 2003-04 was:
| Office space per employee (m( 2) ) | |
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is a NDPB of the Department and manages its estate independently of DWP-their office space per employee occupied in each year since 2003-04 was:
| Office space per employee (m( 2) ) | |
The staffing and estate information sought for HSE is not available prior to 2003-04.
Departmental Communication
Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will take steps to ensure that official communications from his Department can be accessed by people who do not have access to the internet, with particular reference to elderly people who do not have such access. [11981]
Steve Webb: The Department for Work and Pensions presently communicates with customers by post, telephone, in person and increasingly via the internet. We provide official information in a range of formats, for example large print and Braille, so that elderly customers and those with specific accessibility needs are not disadvantaged. We also use specially trained telephony agents to communicate with deaf or hearing impaired customers who contact us using a text phone. Our literature is widely available in a range of public access areas (e.g. doctors' surgeries).
We are always seeking to improve accessibility of official communications. For example, our regular customer surveys ask how customers would prefer to be contacted and we are currently running a project that will help to improve the quality of our letters. In addition the design of the new state pension on-line service, which went live in March this year, was extensively tested with customers to ensure it meets the needs of older people. An enhanced version of the service is due to go live later this year.
We plan to signpost our customers to the benefits of internet use and to sources of help or support to get online. We recognise, however, that elderly people in particular make less use of the internet, so we will ensure that our plans do not introduce inequality and disadvantage.
Departmental Empty Buildings
Matthew Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much his Department and its predecessor spent on vacant properties in each year since 1997. [13028]
Chris Grayling: DWP has not carried any cost for vacant properties since 1998 when the estate was outsourced under a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) known as PRIME.
The Department no longer has any records for the former Department of Social Security space prior to 1998 and the start of the PRIME Contract nor for the former Employment Service prior to 2003 when PRIME was expanded to cover their estate.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is a Non Departmental Public Body of the Department and manages their property separately to the PRIME PFI. HSE spent the following on vacant properties in each year since 2004. The information sought is not available prior to 2003-04.
| Cost of vacant properties (£) | |
The expenditure on vacant buildings from 2006-07 arose as part of a programme to reduce the buildings HSE occupied from six to one and thereafter move its London HQ to Bootle.
Departmental Furniture
Matthew Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many chairs his Department and its predecessor purchased in each year since 1997; how much was spent in each such year; and what the five most expensive chairs purchased in each such year were. [12808]
Chris Grayling: Information prior to 2007 could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. The number of chairs purchased on behalf of the Department and the related cost are provided in the following table together with a breakdown of the five most expensive chairs purchased for each of those years.
| Number of chairs | £ | |
The Department entered into a 20-year PFI contract in 1998 for the provision of fully fitted and serviced accommodation for which the Department pays an all inclusive unitary charge. Furniture is one of the services provided but the cost of it cannot be disaggregated from the unitary charge. The information provided here relates solely to chairs which were procured separately (not within the contract price) for large projects. The majority of the five most expensive chairs are specialist items and have been provided for disabled staff.
Departmental ICT
Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions which IT contracts awarded by his Department in each of the last five years have been abandoned; and what the monetary value was of each such contract. [12731]
Chris Grayling: There has been only one IT contract abandoned by the Department in the last five years. This was the Contact Management services order with IBM, which was valued at £6,189,131.
Departmental Internet
Damian Hinds:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much (a) his Department and (b) its agencies spent on search engine biasing with (i)
Google and (ii) other search engines in each of the last five years. [10018]
Chris Grayling: Over the last five years the Department has spent the following on search engine biasing:
| £ | |
These figures represent the total cost of DWP search engine biasing work which includes spend on 'pay per click' and 'paid for' search terms. Search engine optimisation is carried out by the Department's own in-house communication teams.
Individual figures are not available for Google and other search engine providers. It would be at a disproportionate cost to extract these individual costs.
Search engine biasing costs are not available for DWP Agencies. We are working with Cabinet Office to
implement a standardised method for quantifying website costs across the Department's agencies and non-departmental public bodies. This is in response to a Public Accounts Committee recommendation. These costs will be available from April 2011 onwards.
The current cross-Government policy of freezing all paid for marketing and advertising has suspended spend on this type of paid for search term until further notice.
Departmental Rents
Mr Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much was paid by his Department in rent for properties in (a) total and (b) each (i) region and (ii) nation of the UK in each of the last five years. [12343]
Steve Webb: The following table shows the cost of rent for DWP, including its non-departmental public bodies and arm's length bodies, properties in (a) total, (b) each (i) region and (ii) nation of the UK, and (c) London in each of the last five years:
| £ | |||||
| Rent | |||||
| 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 | 2009-10 | |
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