[holding answers 21 and 26 June 2012]: The Secretary of State for Education, my right hon. Friend the Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove), and his special advisers use equipment and systems provided by the Department and their own IT equipment as appropriate, depending on their location and circumstances. Where information is generated in the course of conducting Government business, it is stored on departmental systems.

[holding answers 21 and 26 June 2012]: The Secretary of State for Education, my right hon. Friend the Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove), and his special advisers use equipment and systems provided by the Department and their own IT equipment as appropriate, depending on their location and circumstances. Where information is generated in the course of conducting Government business, it is stored on departmental systems.

[holding answers 21 and 26 June 2012]: The Secretary of State for Education, my right hon. Friend the Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove), and his special advisers use equipment and systems provided by the Department and their own IT equipment as appropriate, depending on their location and circumstances. Where information is generated in the course of conducting Government business, it is stored on departmental systems.

I think my hon. Friend makes an important point. This is a growing area of crime and criminality that takes advantage of people using the internet and often those who are vulnerable. That is why, as part of the National Crime Agency, we are setting up a new unit dedicated to tackling this problem that will work across agencies to catch criminals and take the steps she rightly speaks about.

Q7

.

[130305]

Caroline Nokes (Romsey and Southampton North) (Con):

More than 3 million people a year fall victim to postal scams, telephone calls and e-mails making false promises of lottery wins, windfalls and inheritances. Is my right hon. aware that £3.5 billion a year is lost by UK consumers? Will he commit to working with the Home Office to amend existing legislation to protect the predominantly elderly and vulnerable victims?

Please see the information requested presented in the table below. All ministerial correspondence is recorded as having been received by letter. Information on the split between correspondence

received from Members of the House of Commons and House of Lords is not available for 2007-09.

As the hon. Gentleman knows, the Prime Minister has made it quite clear that he has provided all the e-mails and information required of him by the Leveson inquiry. On the inquiry generally, the hon. Gentleman also knows that my view has been for some time, given that we established the inquiry, which the previous Government did not do, that if the recommendations are workable and proportionate, we should proceed and seek to implement them.

The Deputy Prime Minister has taken an admirable position in relation to the Leveson inquiry. Would it not be in the interests of transparency for all the e-mails between Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson, while he was working at No. 10 Downing street and corresponding about the future of the licence fee and many other issues, to be in the public domain before the inquiry publishes its findings?

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) does not record centrally the number of letters and e-mails received. To ask every FCO department and overseas post how many letters and e-mails had been received would incur disproportionate cost.

The FCO reports annually to Cabinet Office on the performance of the department in replying to Members’ and Peers’ correspondence. The following table shows returns for the last five years. Separate figures for MPs’ and Peers’ correspondence are not recorded.

The Cabinet Office publishes an annual report to Parliament on the performance of departments in replying to Members’ and Peers’ correspondence. The report for 2011 was published on 15 March 2012 (Official Report, col. WS 42).

The information is not available in the format requested.

The available information about correspondence from members of the House of Commons and Members of the House of Lords to the Department for Work and Pensions and its agencies is published annually by way of a Written Ministerial Statement from Government Spokesperson for the Cabinet Office.

Correspondence statistics for 2007 can be found on 28 March 2008 (Official Report, cols. WS 42–46). Correspondence statistics for 2008 can be found on 2 April 2009 (Official Report, cols. WS 106–110). Correspondence statistics for 2009 can be found on 16 March 2010 (Official Report, cols. WS 58–64). Correspondence statistics for 2010 can be found on 28 March 2011 (Official Report, col. WS 79-83). Correspondence statistics for 2011 can be found on 15 March 2011 (Official Report, cols. WS 38-42).

Q5

.

[125630]

Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab):

The Foreign Secretary said yesterday that the rules of the House require that Ministers answer questions. So, there is a stash of embarrassing e-mails, isn’t there? Adam Smith had to publish every single one of his e-mails and ended up resigning. Why will the Prime Minister not publish all his e-mails? Can he really be a fit and proper person to judge on the future of press regulation if he will not come clean with the British public?

There is another rule of the House, which is that if you insult someone in the House, you make an apology. I am still waiting. It is this Government who set up the Leveson inquiry and I gave all the information that Leveson requested to that inquiry.

[holding answer 11 June 2012]: The Department has spent a total of £12,539.50 on legal advice and litigation services. This includes advice relating to the application of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to non-departmental email accounts and the handling of appeal EA/2012/0072.

[holding answer 22 October 2012]: The Secretary of State for Education, my right hon. Friend the Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove), uses equipment supplied by the Department and his own IT equipment as appropriate, depending on his location and circumstances. Where information is generated in the course of conducting Government business, it is stored on departmental systems.

Guidance will be published shortly.

Ministers, SPADs and DECC officials are all informed on appointment that non-DECC e-mail accounts should not be used for official departmental business. Ministers also have a personal DECC account which is separate from their shared office mailbox and allows them to communicate by. Blackberry. Guidance has been issued for their use.

Miriam Maes was contracted by DECC for the period September 2010 to May 2011, following a competitive tender process. The competition was run by inviting four candidates considered to be energy efficiency experts to submit tenders. Miriam Maes and one other candidate were interviewed by civil servants. The names of the unsuccessful candidates are confidential. Civil servants made a recommendation to the Minister for Climate Change that the Department appoint Miriam Maes, which the Minister agreed. This contract was extended once on the recommendation of civil servants, with the approval of the permanent secretary.

It is not normal procedure to ask Ministers to approve an extension of this size. Miriam Maes was provided with business cards. Business cards are used to help identify DECC members of staff and, where appropriate, contractors to the Department, and record contact details.

Ms Maes was subsequently contracted, following a competitively tendered process for the period July 2011 to March 2012. This competition was advertised on Contracts Finder in June 2011

www.contractsfinder.co.uk

Civil servants conducted the interview process, no Minister was asked to sign off the appointment. Miriam Maes has been paid £49,000 (+VAT) and has claimed £338.40 in expenses under the above contracts. Miriam attended some meetings at DECC outside of her contracted periods.

Consultants are expected to comply with their contractual terms. A copy of Ms Maes' contract has been placed in the Library, redacted as necessary. Ms Maes notified the Department of her clients at Foresee and it is not departmental policy to publish such declarations for reasons of confidentiality.

Miriam Maes had a departmental pass that was valid between 23 September 2010 and 31 May 2011, but was not provided with a departmental e-mail account. The Department does not hold a central record of the occasions on which Miriam Maes was contacted by

e-mail. The Department did not contribute to the cost of Miriam Maes' mobile telephone, nor her attendance at the Conservative party conference in 2010.

Ministers from time to time will meet external stakeholders for informal discussions. Officials did not attend the meeting on 15 February. Ministers' meetings with external organisations are published on the DECC website at:

http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/accesstoinform/registers/ministermtgs/ministermtgs.aspx

A record of all departmental spend above £500 is available on the DECC website at:

http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/accesstoinform/expenditure/expenditure.aspx

The Department has released a number of e-mails between Miriam Maes and the Department, and these are available on the Department's website. The Minister of State for Energy and Climate Change was informed of progress in responding to the freedom of information request and shown the material for release pre-publication. He did not make the decision in relation to this request. Some further information in this area has been requested under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, and my Department is considering the request in accordance with the requirements of that Act. Information relating to internal discussions and advice, including that from the permanent secretary to Ministers on matters such as this, is not normally disclosed.

Miriam Maes was contracted by DECC for the period September 2010 to May 2011, following a competitive tender process. The competition was run by inviting four candidates considered to be energy efficiency experts to submit tenders. Miriam Maes and one other candidate were interviewed by civil servants. The names of the unsuccessful candidates are confidential. Civil servants made a recommendation to the Minister for Climate Change that the Department appoint Miriam Maes, which the Minister agreed. This contract was extended once on the recommendation of civil servants, with the approval of the permanent secretary.

It is not normal procedure to ask Ministers to approve an extension of this size. Miriam Maes was provided with business cards. Business cards are used to help identify DECC members of staff and, where appropriate, contractors to the Department, and record contact details.

Ms Maes was subsequently contracted, following a competitively tendered process for the period July 2011 to March 2012. This competition was advertised on Contracts Finder in June 2011

www.contractsfinder.co.uk

Civil servants conducted the interview process, no Minister was asked to sign off the appointment. Miriam Maes has been paid £49,000 (+VAT) and has claimed £338.40 in expenses under the above contracts. Miriam attended some meetings at DECC outside of her contracted periods.

Consultants are expected to comply with their contractual terms. A copy of Ms Maes' contract has been placed in the Library, redacted as necessary. Ms Maes notified the Department of her clients at Foresee and it is not departmental policy to publish such declarations for reasons of confidentiality.

Miriam Maes had a departmental pass that was valid between 23 September 2010 and 31 May 2011, but was not provided with a departmental e-mail account. The Department does not hold a central record of the occasions on which Miriam Maes was contacted by

e-mail. The Department did not contribute to the cost of Miriam Maes' mobile telephone, nor her attendance at the Conservative party conference in 2010.

Ministers from time to time will meet external stakeholders for informal discussions. Officials did not attend the meeting on 15 February. Ministers' meetings with external organisations are published on the DECC website at:

http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/accesstoinform/registers/ministermtgs/ministermtgs.aspx

A record of all departmental spend above £500 is available on the DECC website at:

http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/accesstoinform/expenditure/expenditure.aspx

The Department has released a number of e-mails between Miriam Maes and the Department, and these are available on the Department's website. The Minister of State for Energy and Climate Change was informed of progress in responding to the freedom of information request and shown the material for release pre-publication. He did not make the decision in relation to this request. Some further information in this area has been requested under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, and my Department is considering the request in accordance with the requirements of that Act. Information relating to internal discussions and advice, including that from the permanent secretary to Ministers on matters such as this, is not normally disclosed.

Users of the service can sign-up to receive emails and/or SMS text messages related to the service and their baby. The information service for parents monthly sign-up rate and totals for emails and SMS text is as set out in the following table: