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Lord Lester of Herne Hill asked Her Majesty's Government:

Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Macdonald of Tradeston on 22 October (WA 113), what are the criteria for exceptions to the rule of two special advisers per Cabinet Minister and for the Prime Minister.[HL1377]

Lord Macdonald of Tradeston: I have nothing further to add to my previous answer.

3 Dec 2001 : Column WA94

Senior Civil Service: Diversity

Lord Ouseley asked Her Majesty's Government:

What are the most up-to-date numbers and percentages of full-time senior civil servants by gender, disability, age-bands, race and ethnicity; and what progress they have made towards achieving equality targets set across different departments of state.[HL1043]

Lord Macdonald of Tradeston: Civil Service diversity figures for April 2001 were published by press notice on 8 November 2001. These show that:

2.4 per cent of staff at Senior Civil Service level are from a minority ethnic background, up from 1.6 per cent in April 1998. The target for 2004-05 is 3.2 per cent.

2.0 per cent of staff at Senior Civil Service level are disabled, up from 1.5 per cent in April 1998. The target for 2004-05 is 3.0 per cent.

In addition, Cabinet Office figures show that the proportion of women in the Senior Civil Service is increasing:

24.2 per cent of the Senior Civil Service are women, up from 17.8 per cent in April 1998. The target for 2004-05 is 35 per cent.

20.2 per cent of those in the very top posts are women, up from 12.7 per cent in April 1998. The target for 2004-05 is 25 per cent.

A separate press notice on Civil Service staffing figures was published on the same day and includes data on specific departments. I shall arrange for a copy of both press notices to be sent to the noble Lord.

Sir Richard Wilson's annual report to the Prime Minister on progress on diversity in 2000-01 highlighted a range of action taking place to ensure that the Civil Service accelerates progress on tackling under-representation.

(i) the Cabinet Office has launched XPathways" a central development programme targeted at minority ethnic staff with potential to rise to senior levels;

(ii) the number of successful candidates for the Fast Stream scheme from minority ethnic backgrounds has doubled from 3.4 per cent in 1998 to 6.8 per cent in 2000; (iii) the Cabinet Office has launched a scheme pairing junior women with senior women from across the Civil Service to help each other with their development. The information requested specifically for full-time civil servants at senior levels is given in the table below. No targets have been set for age.
Table: Full-time Senior Civil Service level by gender, ethnicity, disability status and ageband

	Numbers	Per cent
Male	2,599	78.6
Female	708	21.4
Minority ethnic staff	76	2.3
Disabled	54	1.6
Age band
20–24	1	0.0
25–29	11	0.3
30–34	59	1.8
35–39	222	6.7
40–44	462	14.0
45–49	815	24.6
50–54	1,099	33.2
55–59	580	17.5
60–65	58	1.8
Total	3,307	100.0




Source: Mandate

Figures quoted are for Senior Civil Service level. This includes the Senior Civil Service itself, senior Diplomatic Service personnel and includes some senior specialist staff not in the Senior Civil Service.

3 Dec 2001 : Column WA95

Prime Minister's Office: Baroness Morgan of Huyton

The Earl of Liverpool asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether the Baroness Morgan of Huyton is being given a contract as a special adviser in connection with her duties in the Prime Minister's office; and [HL1369]

What post the Baroness Morgan of Huyton will occupy within the Prime Minister's office; and [HL1370]

Whether the Baroness Morgan of Huyton will be subject to the direction of Mr Alastair Campbell in connection with her duties in the Prime Minister's office; and[HL1373]

Whether the Baroness Morgan of Huyton will be subject to the direction of Mr Jonathan Powell in connection with her duties in the Prime Minister's office. [HL1374]

Lord Macdonald of Tradeston: The noble Baroness, Lady Morgan, is appointed as the Director of Political and Government relations. She is employed as a special adviser under terms and conditions set out in the Model Contract for Special Advisers. Baroness Morgan provides advice to the Prime Minister on a range of topics including equality issues and relations with the devolved administrations and overseas governments. She also has responsibility for the Prime Minister's schedule, external events and correspondence. In undertaking these duties, she

3 Dec 2001 : Column WA96

works alongside other special advisers in No. 10. She is not managed by either Jonathan Powell or Alastair Campbell.

The Earl of Liverpool asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether the Baroness Morgan of Huyton will have authority within the Prime Minister's office to give instructions to civil servants.[HL1372]

Lord Macdonald of Tradeston: No.

Millennium Dome: Payments

Lord Marlesford asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they will publish in the Official Report a table showing separately each payment made by the Millennium Commission to the New Millennium Experience Company for purposes connected with the Millennium Dome showing in respect of each payment the amount (together with a cumulative total of the sums paid), the date payment was requested by the company, the date payment was authorised by the commission, the date payment was made and the purpose for which the payment was made.[HL1357]

The Minister of State, Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions (Lord Falconer of Thoroton): A table showing details of payments made by the Millennium Commission to the New Millennium Experience Company has been placed in the Library of the House.

Lord Northbrook asked Her Majesty's Government:

What payments, if any, have been made by English Partnerships to Cardew & Co in relation to public relations work for the Millennium Dome.[HL1531]

Lord Falconer of Thoroton: None.

Structure Planning

Lord Bradshaw asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether, in their review of the arrangements for structure planning, they will ensure that major decisions on such matters as green belts, minerals extraction and transport are made at county level or at the level of regional government (where established) so that all the issues raised are taken into account.[HL1366]

Lord Falconer of Thoroton: My right honourable friend the Secretary of State will be publishing a Green Paper shortly setting out proposals for reforming the planning system. The Green Paper will review the current hierarchy for the preparation of plans at regional, county and local levels.

3 Dec 2001 : Column WA97

Heathrow Airport: Flights from Inverness

The Earl of Mar and Kellie asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether the planning permission, just granted for Heathrow Terminal Five, guarantees in any way that flights from Inverness Airport to London will land at Heathrow.[HL1522]

Lord Falconer of Thoroton: The granting of planning permission for Terminal Five did not deal with the question of slot allocation or regulation.

Rent Restructuring

Baroness Hanham asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether, in view of the complexity of the changes to be made under the rent restructuring proposals for local authorities together with the need for adequate consultation with tenants, they will delay implementation for 12 months.[HL1622]

Lord Falconer of Thoroton: No; rent restructuring is to start in April 2002. Local authorities have known since December 2000 what kind of changes would be required. We recognise that the computer systems used by some local authorties limit their ability to apply different rent changes to different properties next April. I am advising those authorities that for 2002-03 they should apply the average percentage rent change suggested in our restructuring proposals for their stock to all of their rents except where this might involve breaches of the RPI + 0.5 per cent + £2 limit, or the maximum rents announced in my Answer on 26 November, (Official Report, WA 10-12). The subsidy system will not penalise authorities for not implementing the reforms at an individual property level.

Pupils: Reintegration

Lord Northbourne asked Her Majesty's Government:

What they are doing to ensure that boys who have dropped out of school, or been excluded, receive the full-time education they need and the motivation to make the best of it.[HL1591]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Education and Skills (Baroness Ashton of Upholland): The Government have asked local education authorities to ensure that by September 2002 all pupils who have dropped out of school, or have been excluded, receive full-time education.

I expect that permanently excluded pupils should rejoin a mainstream or special school within days or weeks of exclusion. Rapid reintegration is particularly important for excluded primary pupils and I expect that most of these pupils would be reintegrated within one term. Conversely, for pupils approaching the end of compulsory schooling, a return to school may be unrealistic.

3 Dec 2001 : Column WA98

Reintegration panels are responsible for co-ordinating services for excluded pupils. They must draw up an individual reintegration plan for each excluded child. This plan should be in place within a month of the governors upholding the exclusion and it is reviewed on a monthly basis. It should include a target date for return to school, once the school to which the child will return has been identified.

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