Page:Hansard (UK) - Vol 566 No. 40 August 29th 2013.pdf/100

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Elizabeth Truss: Education policy has been mostly devolved to the Welsh Government.

There are three non-devolved policy areas: teachers’ pay and conditions of service, teachers’ pensions and teacher discipline. We provide Government services in the Welsh language where there is demand. For example, we have translated two documents: Proposed Teachers’ Pension Scheme Reforms; and School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document 2012 which are available on the Department’s website,.

Elizabeth Truss: The Department has a current Welsh Language scheme that was adopted in 2006. We are currently working with the Welsh Language Commissioner to update it.

Mrs Grant: The Ministry of Justice has spent the following on the provision of services with (a) Deloitte, (b) PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC), (c) KPMG and (d) Ernst and Young in each full calendar year since 2008. Spend is exclusive of VAT.

Consultants can provide a fast, flexible and efficient way to obtain necessary skills that are not available in house. Consultancy spend is governed by strict Cabinet Office controls and any spend over £20,000 requires approval by the departmental board on behalf of the Secretary of State.

Consultancy contracts in excess of nine months require further approval by the Cabinet Office.

Mrs Grant: The number of staff employed on zero-hour contracts in the Ministry of Justice (Ministry of Justice HQ, HM Courts and Tribunals Service, National Offender Management Service and the Office of the Public Guardian) in each of the last three financial years is set out in the following table:

The use of zero-hour contracts enables greater flexibility where work is irregular, thereby making more efficient use of resources to meet demand. The staff are only paid for the hours that they work.

Mrs Grant: The Office for Judicial Complaints (OJC) considers complaints about the personal conduct or behaviour of coroners but not deputy or assistant coroners. The OJC does not hold the information requested for the years 2010 and 2011. Complaints against coroners were received in the following categories during 2012: