§ Lord Roberts of Conwyasked Her Majesty's Government:
How many task force committees have been established since May 1997; and what is their total current membership and annual cost. [HL4121]
§ Lord Falconer of ThorotonI refer the noble Lord to the reply I gave earlier today to the noble Lord, Lord Bruce of Donington, setting out detailed information about the Task Forces established since May 1997, and their membership.
Details of costs incurred by individual Task Forces are not held centrally. However, the majority of Task Forces incur only minimal costs to cover, for example, members' out of pocket travel expenses. I am sorry for the delay in answering this Question.
Lord Bruce of Doningtonasked Her Majesty's Government:
How many Government Task Forces were in existence in May 1997, May 1998 and May 1999, together with the number of individuals comprised in them, distinguishing between Civil Service employees and non-Civil Service persons. [HL4084]
§ Lord Falconer of ThorotonI am sorry for the delay in answering the Question. The information requested is set out in the following table. Task Forces which are classified as non-departmental public bodies are excluded from the table, as information on them is published in the annualPublic Bodies publication. Copies of Public Bodies 1998 are available in the Libraries of the House.
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Task Forces established since May 1997 Members Name of Task Force Date Established Date Reported/Due to Report Report Details (if applies) Date Wound Up (if applies) Ministers Civil Servants Wider Public Servants Voluntary/Charity Sector Private Sector Total Name of Chairperson Ministry of Defence Service Families Task Force—see note (a) Jan 1999 The Families' Association Report is produced monthly 6 3 0 3 0 12 Minister of Stale for the Armed Forces (John Spellar MP) Notes: (a) The Service Families' Task Force comprises three elements—a Ministerial Group, a Families' Forum, which includes the Chairs of the three Service Family Associations, and a Working Group. Department for Education and Employment Careers Service Special Needs Task Force Dec 1997 Dec 1998 "Report of the Careers Service Special Needs Task Force". Dec 1998 Jun 1999 0 6 8 1 3 18 Graham Robb, Chief Inspector of Careers Numeracy Task Force May 1997 Jun 1998 "Final Implementation Report on the National Numeracy Strategy", June 1998 Jul 1998 0 0 8 1 1 10 Professor David Reynolds. University of Newcastle School Standards Task Force May 1997 3 2 18 0 2 25 Secretary of State for Education and Employment Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions Cleaner Vehicles Task Force Jan 1998 Jul 1999 "Driving the Agenda" and "Environmental Impacts of Road Vehicles in Use— Air Quality. Climate Change and Noise Pollution" 3 2 1 2 8 16 see note (a) Notes: (a) Chaired jointly by Minister for Transport (Rt Hon the Lord Macdonald of Tradeston CBE), and Ian McAllister. Ford Motor Company. Local Government Oct 1999 Construction Task Force 0 4 17 2 2 25 Ted Cantle, Chief Executive, Nottingham City Council Shipping Task Force Dec 1998 Work on-going to implement "Charting" commitments. Progress reports as appropriate 0 8 5 0 4 17 Brian Wadsworth. Department of the Environment. Transport and the Regions Task Force fo London Transport Aug 1999 1 7 4 0 0 12 see note(a) Notes: (a) Chaired by the Minister for Transport (Rt Hon the Lord Macdonald of Tradeston CBE). Task Group on Home Buying— see note (a) Jul 1997 3 12 1 0 9 25 Minister for Housing and Planning (Nick Raynsford MP) Notes: (a) Linked to the Review of the Home Buying and Selling Process. The Task Group on Home Buying comprises a Ministerial Group and an Advisory Group which replaced a Steering Group in March 1999. The Coalfield Task Force Oct 1997 Jun 1998 "Making the Difference—A New Start for England's Coalfield Communities" Jun 1998 0 3 3 7 0 13 Paula Hay-Plumb. English Partnerships The Construction Task Force Apr 1998 Jul 1998 "Rethinking Construction" Jul 1998 0 1 0 0 10 11 Sir John Egan. Chief Executive. BAA plc Urban Task Force Apr 1998 Jun 1999 "Towards an Urban Renaissance" Jun 1999 0 0 7 2 5 14 Lord Rogers of Riverside Department of Health Eight Regional Task Forces to support Wailing List Action Team Nov 1997 0 18 94 3 0 115 see note (a) Notes: (a) Eight Chairs arc: Ms S Jennings/Mr D Higton/Mr J Brunt/Mrs D Whittingham/Mr A Bedford Mr I Carruthers/Mr N Clifton/Mr S Day (all Department of Health Staff). Expert Patients' Task force—see note (a) Nov 1999 July 2000 0 8 9 13 0 30 Professor Liam Donaldson (Chief Medical Officer) Notes:(a) Designing programme for the needs of people with a chronic disease or disability. 246WA 247WA
Task Forces established since May 1997 Members Name of Task Force Date Established Date Reported/Due to Report Report Details (if applies) Date Wound Up (if applies) Ministers Civil Servants Wider Public Servants Voluntary/ Charity Sector Private Sector Total Name of Chairperson Ministerial Task Force on the Government's Response to the Children's Safeguard Review Mar 1998 12 4 5 2 0 23 Secretary of state for health National Task Force on Violence against Social care Staff Sep 1999 Nov 2000 0 1 6 6 3 16 Chris Davies. Director of Social Services. Somerset County Council NHS Efficiency Task Force Jun 1997 1 0 9 0 0 10 Minister of Slate for Health (John Denham MP) NHS Task Force on Staff Involvement May 1998 Jul 1999 Jul 1999 0 1 9 0 3 13 Hugh Taylor. Human Resources Director. NHS Executive Home Office Human Rights Task Force Jan 1999 3 4 2 6 0 15 Minister of Stale. Home Office (Mike O'Brien MP) Task Force on Youth Justice Jun 1997 Jul 1998 Task Force reported to the Home Secretary in July 1998. The report is available from the Home Office Jul 1998 0 3 12 2 1 18 Norman Warner (now Lord Warner) Lord Chancellor's Department Quality Task Force see note (a) Feb 1999 Dec 1999 Consultation paper on the Community; Legal Service was issued in August 1999. Consultation period ends on 15 October 1999. 0 3 7 8 3 21 Alan Cogbill. Director. Civil Justice and Legal And Reform. LCD Notes: (a) Quality Task Force set up to develop criteria for a Community Legal Service Quality Mark (quality standards). Northern Ireland Office Northern Ireland New Deal Task Force Aug 1997 0 2 4 4 2 12 Bill Maginnis, Chairman, Training & Employment Agency Board. NI Northern Ireland Skills Task Force Feb 1999 0 0 1 0 10 11 Bill Maginnis, Chairman, Training & Employment Agency Board. NI Scottish Executive Coronary Heart Disease Task Force Jul 1998 Jul 2000 0 3 5 1 0 9 Professor Ross Lorimer. Scottish Executive Joint COSLA/Scottish Office Best Value Task Force May 1997 "Best Value in Local Government" Jun 1997 '"Best Value in Local Government 2" Jul 1998 "Best Value in Local Government 3": Long Term Arrangements, Interim Conclusions" Mar 1999 0 3 6 0 0 9 Bill Howat, Scottish Executive Development Department Prestwick Task Force—see note (a) Jun 1997 Dee 1998 "Prcstwick—a Leading Edge Location: Final Report of the Prestwick Task Force" Dec 1998 1 5 5 0 13 24 Minister of State for Business and Industry, Scottish Office Notes: (a) Task Force established to assist in the economic development of Prestwick in the light of recent job losses.
Task Forces established since May 1997 Members Name of Task Force Date Established Date Reported/Due to Report Report Details (if applies) Date Wound Up (if applies) Ministers Civil Servants Wider Public Servants Voluntary/ Charily Sector Private Sector Total Name of Chairperson Scottish Advisory Task Force on the New Deal Jul 1997 Advises on ad hoc matters and does not report formally 0 0 5 3 10 18 Ian Robinson. Chief Executive, Scottish Power Notes: NB: From July 1999, responsibility for the above Task Forces passed from the Scottish Office to the Scottish Executive. Department of Social Security Pension Provision Task Group Sep 1997 Jun 1998 "We All Need Pensions—The Prospectus for Pension Provision" (Responses to the Pensions Green Paper published March 1999) 0 0 1 0 6 (see (a) 7 Tom Ross OBE, AON Consulting and Chairman, Scottish Life Notes: (a) includes one Pensions Officer from the TUC and one Academic. Department of Trade and Industry The Oil & Gas Industry Task Force Nov 1998 Sep 1999 "The Oil & Gas Industry Task Force Report— A Template for Change" summarises the work. recommendations and initiatives of the seven working groups established by the Task Force 2 8 0 1 11 22 see note (a) Notes: (a) Minister for Energy and Competitiveness in Europe (Rt Hon Helen Liddell MP). HM Treasury Credit Unions Task Force Jul 1998 Jul 1999 To be published shortly entitled "Credit Unions of the Future" Jul 1999 0 0 1 3 9 13 Fred Goodwin, Royal Bank of Scotland Private Finance Task Force Jul 1997 —see note (a) 0 6 see (a) 0 0 13 see (a) 19 Adrian Montague see note (a) Notes: (a) The remit of the Private Finance Task Force is to advance the Private Finance Initiative, and Public Private Partnerships across government. The Task Force incorporates Project and Policy arms. Adrian Montague is Chief Executive of the Projects arms, and Tim Wilson heads the Policy team. The Projects arm is constituted as a private company limited by guarantee, and wholly owned by HM Treasury. It has 13 full time employees (including Adrian Montague) and currently two short-term secondees from the private sector. The Policy arm currently comprises six civil servants (including Tim Wilson) and one private sector secondee. Task Force on Economic Instruments and Business Use of Energy Mar 1998 Nov 1998 Report on Role of Taxes and Emissions Trading Nov 1998 0 4 see(a) 0 0 1 5 Lord Marshall Notes: (a) Varying membership of senior officials from HM Treasury. Customs and Excise. Department of Trade and Industry, and Department of the Environment. Transport and the Regions. National Assembly for Wales European Structural Funds Task Force Oct 1998 Sep 1999 Advice to National Assembly nil contents of Obj 1 Single Programme document Sep 1999 0 0 18 2 7 27 Jon Shortridge. Permanent Secretary. National Assembly for Wales Wales New Deal Advisory Task Force Jul 1997 0 0 0 11 1 6 18 Paul Lovelock, Chief Executive. Countryside Council for Wales Notes: NB: From July 1999, responsibility for the above Task Forces passed from the Welsh Office to the National Assembly for Wales.