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11 Sept 2003 : Column 436W—continued
FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS
Al-Qaeda
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of co-ordinated al-Qaeda activity against British interests abroad. [129078]
Mr. MacShane: Al-Qaeda and related groups continue to pose a significant global threat, including to British interests abroad. The mounting of more than one attack simultaneously is a technique that has been employed by such terrorist groups. It remains vital for the international community to maintain a co-operative and comprehensive approach to tackling international terrorism. The capture of a significant number of senior al-Qaeda figures and the disruption of terrorist operations, planning, financing and support as a result of the international effort, has had, and continues to have, a substantial negative impact on the organisation.
Departmental Computer Security
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much has been (a) budgeted and (b) spent by his Department since April 2002 on (i) combating computer fraud, (ii) preventing theft of computers and (iii) safeguarding the security of information held on computer; and if he will make a statement. [128794]
Mr. Rammell: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) manages the security of its information, including information held on its computer systems, in accordance with the guidance given in the Manual of Protective Security, a comprehensive body of policy and interdepartmentally agreed security standards that is issued by the Cabinet Office.
It is not possible to identify the resources devoted to these activities, since they form a part of the FCO's overall effort to combat illegal and unauthorised actions against its computer and other systems, and the theft of official assets from its buildings.
11 Sept 2003 : Column 437W
The FCO's internal auditing services are designed to deter and detect all types of fraud, including ensuring that anti-fraud controls are integrated into all systems at the development stage.
Internal security and access controls are in part designed to act as a deterrent against theft of official assets.
IT security controls, including auditing, are deployed to safeguard the information held on official IT systems.
The FCO is also a full participant in the current programme of compliance with BS7799, the British Standard for Information Security, and expects to achieve this by the end of 2003.
11 Sept 2003 : Column 438W
Departmental Staff
Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many jobs under the remit of his Department in (a) the core Department, (b) non-departmental public bodies, (c) executive agencies, (d) independent statutory bodies, organisations and bodies financially sponsored by his Department and (e) embassy and consular are in (i) Scotland, (ii) each region in England, (iii) Wales, (iv) Northern Ireland and (v) overseas, broken down by (A) whole-time equivalent jobs and (B) the percentage per individual Department, body or organisation. [127312]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The information requested is detailed in the following table.
| London | East | East Midlands | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Staff | Percentage | Staff | Percentage | Staff | Percentage | |
| FCO(2) | ||||||
| (i) UK based | 2,430.00 | 41.53 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 970.00 | 16.58 |
| (ii) Locally employed (LE) | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| NDPBs(3) | ||||||
| Britain-Russia Centre | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| British Assoc. for Central and Eastern Europe | 4.20 | 100.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| British Council | 621.00 | 8.51 | 4.00 | 0.05 | 1.00 | 0.01 |
| Great Britain-China Centre | 5.40 | 100.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Marshall Aid Commemoration Commission | 2.50 | 100.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Westminster Foundation for Democracy | 10.00 | 100.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Wilton Park(4) | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| BBC | ||||||
| World Service | 1,290.00 | 82.27 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Monitoring | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| West Midlands | South East | South West | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Staff | Percentage | Staff | Percentage | Staff | Percentage | |
| FCO(2) | ||||||
| (i) UK based | 0.00 | 0.00 | 120.00 | 2.05 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| (ii) Locally employed (LE) | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| NDPBs(3) | ||||||
| Britain-Russia Centre | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| British Assoc. for Central and Eastern Europe | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| British Council | 2.00 | 0.03 | 20.00 | 0.27 | 3.00 | 0.04 |
| Great Britain-China Centre | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Marshall Aid Commemoration Commission | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Westminster Foundation for Democracy | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Wilton Park(4) | 0.00 | 0.00 | 69.00 | 100.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| BBC | ||||||
| World Service | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Monitoring | 0.00 | 0.00 | 391.00 | 75.48 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
11 Sept 2003 : Column 439W
| Wales | Northern Ireland | Scotland | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Staff | Percentage | Staff | Percentage | Staff | Percentage | |
| FCO(2) | ||||||
| (i) UK based | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| (ii) Locally employed (LE) | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| NDPBs(3) | ||||||
| Britain-Russia Centre | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| British Assoc. for Central and Eastern Europe | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| British Council | 7.00 | 0.10 | 26.00 | 0.36 | 37.00 | 0.51 |
| Great Britain-China Centre | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Marshall Aid Commemoration Commission | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Westminster Foundation for Democracy | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Wilton Park(4) | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| BBC | ||||||
| World Service | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Monitoring | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Overseas | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Staff | Percentage | Total | |
| FCO(2) | |||
| (i) UK based | 2,331.00 | 39.84 | (2)5,851.00 |
| (ii) Locally employed (LE) | 9,792.00 | 100.00 | (2)9,792.00 |
| NDPBs(3) | |||
| Britain-Russia Centre | 0.00 | 0.00 | (3)0.00 |
| British Assoc. for Central and Eastern Europe | 0.00 | 0.00 | 4.20 |
| British Council | 6,213.00 | 85.11 | (4)7,300.00 |
| Great Britain-China Centre | 0.00 | 0.00 | 5.40 |
| Marshall Aid Commemoration Commission | 0.00 | 0.00 | 2.50 |
| Westminster Foundation for Democracy | 0.00 | 0.00 | 10.00 |
| Wilton Park(4) | 0.00 | 0.00 | 69.00 |
| BBC | |||
| World Service | 278.00 | 17.73 | 1,568.00 |
| Monitoring | 127.00 | 24.52 | 518.00 |
(2) The staff numbers for FCO include staff working at posts overseas, and include consular staff.
(3) As of 1 April 2003 the FCO no longer sponsors the Britain-Russia Centre.
(4) The staff figures for British Council include staff on local contracts and teachers on contract.
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