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Of the 1,198 funded posts suppressed, only one was filled by a casual member of staff. The number of new casual staff who began work in 2005-06 in the 11 Northern Ireland departments and their agencies was 753. The use of casuals to meet a temporary business need does not impact on the achieved reductions in funded posts.
Lord Laird asked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Rooker on 12 July (WA 121), what form the vacancy control of the Northern Ireland Civil Service currently takes; and how it tallies with both continuing recruitment and promotion and the intention to avoid redundancies when the public administration review changes occur in 2007-09.[HL7253]
Lord Rooker: Decisions on whether to fill vacancies in the 11 Northern Ireland departments and their agencies are taken by departments in line with business need and the requirement to deliver agreed workforce reductions and in the light of the review of public administration. To ensure a corporate approach, the Department of Finance and Personnel must approve all promotion and recruitment actions.
The scope for vacancies to be filled by the redeployment of existing staff is initially considered by departments before recruitment or internal promotion. Information on current and potential staff surpluses and vacancies that departments envisage may be difficult to clear is shared between departments on a monthly basis.
Civil Unrest: Northern Ireland
Lord Laird asked Her Majesty's Government:
What proposals they have to give additional support to victims of civil unrest in Northern Ireland.[HL7298]
Lord Rooker: Funding for victims’ and survivors’ groups and individual victims and survivors comes from a wide variety of sources. As part of her remit, Mrs Bertha McDougall, the Interim Commissioner for Victims and Survivors, is carrying out a review of how well current funding arrangements are addressing need.
In an initial report on her findings, published in June this year, the Interim Commissioner noted that, since 1998, government had provided £36.4 million in funding to victims and survivors and European funding had provided a further £7.6 million, 25 per cent or £1.9 million of which was also from government. The Interim Commissioner's final report is due around the end of this year, and her findings and recommendations will help in our consideration of any new funding arrangements that may emerge as part of the next phase of victims and survivors policy.
Commission for Social Care Inspection
Lord Rea asked Her Majesty's Government:
What was the cost of the Commission for Social Care Inspection in 2005—06; and what is its budgeted cost for the current financial year; and [HL7139]
How many staff were employed by the Commission for Social Care Inspection in 2005—06; how many staff are currently in post; and how many of these are paid more than £35,000 per annum including national insurance and pension contributions; and [HL7140]
How many posts were saved in local government as a result of the new arrangements which gave the Commission for Social Care Inspection responsibility for care home inspection; and [HL7142]
Whether any independent evaluation has been commissioned to assess whether care standards have improved since the introduction of the Commission for Social Care Inspection; and, if so, whether any preliminary results are available.[HL7143]
The Minister of State, Department of Health (Lord Warner): We understand from the chair of the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) that the revenue expenditure of the CSCI in 2005-06, excluding depreciation, was £141.153 million and the capital expenditure £7.1 million.
The budgeted revenue expenditure for the current financial year 2006-07, excluding depreciation, is £142.146 million. The capital expenditure is budgeted at £19.978 million; £12 million to fund CSCI’s information and communication technology strategy, which will help CSCI to deliver its modernisation programme to reduce its long-term costs and £8 million to reduce CSCI’s office portfolio.
There was an average number of 2,479 staff employed by CSCI in 2005-06. CSCI estimates that in the financial year 2006-07 there will be 1,600 staff who will each cost it in excess of £35,000 to employ, including national insurance and pension contributions and any pay awards up until 31 March 2007.
The number of staff transferred into CSCI in April 2004 was 2,763. CSCI was created through the Health and Social Care Act 2003, bringing together the work of the Social Service Inspectorate (SSI), the National Care Standards Commission (NCSC) and the joint review function of the Social Services Inspectorate and the Audit Commission. The establishment of CSCI created savings of £10 million compared to the cost of its predecessors. The numbers of staff transferring from each organisation are shown in the table.
CSCI inspects care services at statutory intervals, to assess their quality against national minimum standards. As CSCI reported in The State of Social Care in England 2004-05, the data suggest that the quality of these services has been improving, both in terms of average performance and in the number of services meeting almost all of the national minimum standards. The pattern of improvement has continued in 2005-06. Details will be set out in CSCI's next State of Social Care report, due to be published later in the year.
CSCI has not commissioned an independent evaluation to assess whether care standards have improved since its introduction in April 2004.
Lord Rea asked Her Majesty's Government:
What proportion of the Commission for Social Care Inspection costs were charged back to care providers in 2005—06; what is the budgeted proportion that will be charged back in 2006—07 and 2007—08; and what provision they have made for helping care providers to find the funds to meet these costs.[HL7141]
Lord Warner: The Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) is funded by a combination of Government funding via grant-in-aid and regulatory fees from providers at levels set by Government. Fees for CSCI's work are set in March of each year, following a process of consultation.
CSCI is the independent inspectorate for all social care services in England. It is accountable to the Secretary of State for Health and is also required by law to report to Parliament annually. It registers, inspects and regulates social care providers in the private, local authority and voluntary sectors, all of which are required to pay fees for the services it provides. The fees reflect the work involved in registering and inspecting care establishments and contribute to providing for a safe and realistic level of inspection activity.
It is the Government's policy to move to a position where the recurrent costs of providing regulation are fully recovered from service providers. The annual fee increases are part of this process. The Government believe it is right in principle for commissioners of services, providers and service users to meet the cost of regulation, because all benefit from regulation and the assurance that the regulatory system provides about the quality of services and the protection of vulnerable people. Providers of care can, of course, take CSCI's fees into account when negotiating with those who commission its services.
The information requested on the proportions of CSCI's income which were charged back to care providers is shown in the table. For 2006-07, fees cover about 50 per cent of the overall cost of CSCI's regulatory activity, which represents about 80 per cent of its work.
| Year | Grant-in-aid from thedepartment to CSCI | CSCI income from fees |
Information on CSCI's fees for 2007-08 is not available, as the consultation process is yet to be conducted.
Common Agricultural Policy: Single Farm Payment
Baroness Byford asked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Rooker on 6 June (WA 178), what is the current position on single farm payments.[HL7246]
The Minister of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Rooker): As at 27 September 2006, 112,914 claimants had received a total of £1.497 billion in full or partial payments under the 2005 single payment scheme. Of the estimated 3,560 claimants who have yet to receive a payment, approximately 99 claimants have a claim value of more than €1,000 or £682. Work continues to complete processing of the remaining claims as soon as possible.
A statement on the likely payment timetable for the 2006 scheme will be made shortly.
Community Sentences
Lord Hanningfield asked Her Majesty's Government:
What was the cost of the contract between the Home Office and Red Consultancy in regard to the marketing and re-branding of community sentences; when the contract started and ended; whether any analysis was subsequently undertaken as to the overall effectiveness of the exercise; and, if so, whether they will place in the Library of the House any such written appraisal.[HL7099]
The Minister of State, Home Office (Baroness Scotland of Asthal): The Red Consultancy was appointed through a competitive tender handled by the Central Office of Information (COI) through its purchasing framework agreements. There is, therefore, a contract between the Red Consultancy and the COI acting on behalf of the Home Office. The contract was awarded for the financial year 2004-05. It is reviewed each year and was renewed in 2005-06 and for 2006-07. The Red Consultancy received £225,000 for the first year of the campaign, including all fees and expenses for a number of projects. In the second year of the campaign, it received £265,000. This financial year, activity is planned up to the value of £275,000.
For those three years, Red Consultancy’s task has been to increase understanding of community sentences as an effective form of punishment. The work also aims to engage communities and encourage them to nominate what sort of work offenders should do. So far, the campaign is reaching on average around 30 million people each year. At the end of each financial year, a full evaluation of activity is undertaken by the Home Office’s Communication Directorate, as is the practice for all central marketing campaigns. Marketing evaluations are shared with senior officials andMinisters, but there is no legislative requirement to publish these or to place them in the House.
Constitution
Lord Patten asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the publication Inside Britain: A Guide to the UK Constitution, produced by the Department for Constitutional Affairs, was subject to independent academic peer review. [HL7163]
The Lord Chancellor (Lord Falconer of Thoroton):Inside Britain: A Guide to the UK Constitution was produced by the Citizenship Foundation, an independent charity which aims to empower individuals to engage in the wider community through education about the law, democracy and society. The guide was funded by the DCA and is aimed at engaging young people by showing that constitutional issues are relevant to them. It does not attempt to be an academic textbook about the constitution. The book was developed after trials that included focus groups of students in schools, an advisory group that included constitutional experts, and a discussion forum with constitutional lawyers.
Consultants: Executive Coaching
Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay asked Her Majesty's Government:
Which government Ministers and permanent secretaries have received executive coaching or other consultancy on a one-to-one basis from ER Consultants or Praesta at taxpayers' expense over the past year.[HL7272]
Lord Bassam of Brighton: The information requested is not held centrally. This is a matter for individual departments.
Consultants: Northern Ireland
Lord Laird asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the Northern Ireland Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure has employed consultants since 1 January; if so, for what purpose; and at what cost.[HL7300]
Lord Rooker: The following information relates to consultancy expenditure incurred by the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure since 1 January, 2006:
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