Stuart Bell: The information requested is as follows: (a) The leaflet on the Travel Office was produced in-house. There have been three print runs since November 2009 totalling 2,300 copies at a total cost of £422 (the latest being in May 2010 for 350 copies at a cost of £73). (b) The Keeping Yourself Healthy in Parliament leaflet was similarly produced in-house, at a cost of £353 for 3050 copies,...
Stuart Bell: The Parliamentary Estate's records show that since 1 September 2009 there have been eight instances, in each case related to gas lanterns. The gas lanterns are Victorian and the fragile mantles are sometimes broken as a result of adverse weather, which leads to a smell of escaping gas. The design is such however that there is no reasonably foreseeable risk of a gas explosion, due to the...
Stuart Bell: It is difficult to forecast accurately the impact on take-up of services following price increases. However, the Commission intends that the increases will yield additional income of around £500,000 this year, and believes that this figure is a cautious estimate. The Commission is not responsible for Members' expenses and has made no estimate of the likely effect of the price increases on...
Stuart Bell: I am grateful for the opportunity to follow the hon. Member for Shrewsbury and Atcham (Daniel Kawczynski). Having listened to what happened in that parliamentary Conservative party meeting-a meeting of the 1922 committee, which was formed on the breakdown of a coalition Government way back in 1922-and heard that the deal breaker was a referendum on the alternative vote, I wonder why the...
Stuart Bell: Times have changed since 1922, but it is a mystery to behold how we are in the current situation. As one hon. Member has said, 72 Members wish to speak this evening. Early on in the debate, the hon. Member for South West Devon (Mr Streeter) made a remarkable and impassioned speech, saying that we should at least be thankful for small mercies. The small mercy was that the Bill is not a Bill...
Stuart Bell: There are nods from those on the Liberal Front Bench. This Bill is even more of a pig in a poke. What we are voting on this evening has not been made clear to the British public or even to this House. The Bill is the first stage on the way to a different system of voting. That is quite remarkable. We have to be careful, not just about what is before us, but about what is not before us. The...
Stuart Bell: I have not read the Liberal party manifesto in detail, but I am aware that it advocated 500 seats in the present Parliament and a single transferable vote system. That is what was put to the people by the Liberal party-
Stuart Bell: It is no good the hon. Gentleman shaking his head. The Liberal party fought the general election on a series of commitments. We are talking about a minor commitment that the Liberal party has abolished. The Liberals also had a commitment to get rid of five Trident submarines. That disappeared. They had a policy to ensure no further nuclear industry. That disappeared too. What we are seeing is...
Stuart Bell: The hon. Gentleman shakes his head. He should read his own manifesto and see what it says. Let me ask the hon. Gentleman a simple question-does he believe in the doctrine of mandate? We have heard a lot about that doctrine tonight, so does he believe in it?
Stuart Bell: Yes, I do. That is why Labour Members support a referendum on the alternative vote. What we do not support is mixing this Bill with what should be in another Bill, as was said earlier, for the purpose of the redistribution of seats. That proposal gets rid of the requirement for public inquiries that enable all constituents of an area to put their views on the basis of history or geography....
Stuart Bell: As at 30 June 2010, the House of Commons Commission employed 1,639 full-time equivalent staff, of whom 80 were temporary.
Stuart Bell: The estimated cost of editing and producing the July 2010 edition of Commons Quarterly was £2,091 or £1.39 per copy (for a print run of 1,500). This figure includes the cost of printing and distribution and an estimated proportion of the staff time spent on design and editing. The July edition, the first of the new Parliament, was longer than usual: the usual cost is lower. The publication,...
Stuart Bell: This initial phase of the work to refurbish the cast iron roofs has progressed well and it is anticipated that the access scaffolding will be removed from Commons Court by the end of 2010.
Stuart Bell: No record is held of the country of origin of food procured by the House of Commons catering service and so it is not possible to state the proportion of meat, fresh vegetables, fresh fruit or frozen vegetables produced in the UK in the 12 months to March 2010. However, butchery suppliers are periodically required to confirm the country of origin of meat and poultry supplied to the House of...
Stuart Bell: The House of Commons catering service purchases most of its food supplies through wholesalers for reasons of economy and logistics. Of the 36 contracts in place for supply of foodstuffs to the House of Commons, one is held by a company based in Kent for the supply of fresh eggs. No record is held of the number of food producers and suppliers in Kent who might be indirectly supplying the House...
Stuart Bell: A total of 149 staff of hon. Members received P45 forms at the last payroll due to the transfer of staff pay functions to the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority. Some of the staff who had been issued P45s were incorrectly placed on a list of leavers, and three staff of hon. Members were temporarily removed from the Parliamentary ICT system as a result. On 7 July 2010 the...
Stuart Bell: None, sir.
Stuart Bell: I sympathise with the hon. Gentleman. If there are special circumstances in any case PICT will be prepared to consider an alternative approach. Under its current approach, each and every Member ought to have a permanent office, either in Westminster or their constituency, before they order equipment. That ensures that the equipment ordered is suitable for the space being occupied, and it...
Stuart Bell: We have already taken action. In anticipating new licensing arrangements due to come into effect in August 2011, we have decided to stop charging copyright licence fees to broadcasters for the material that we hold.
Stuart Bell: I am aware that the hon. Gentleman has had discussions with the parliamentary recording unit. He has been very diligent, and I congratulate him on that. As he knows, the principles and level of charges were originally set out in 1993 by what was then the Select Committee on Broadcasting and have thereafter been reviewed at official level. The technical duplication charges, to which the hon....