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7 Jan 2004 : Column 405W—continued
INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
IT Contracts
Mr. Sayeed: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will list information technology contracts in his Department with a value of above £20 million in each of the last 10 years; what the inception date for each system was; when it became fully functional; when it became fully debugged; and what the cost of over-runs has been. [146199]
Hilary Benn: The Department for International Development has had no information technology contracts above £20 million in the last 10 years. Our new systems and IT infrastructure upgrades have generally been modest in scope and incremental in nature. This has helped to reduce the potential risks and allowed us to stay generally on schedule and within budget.
South Africa
Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment the Government have made of the impact of reducing aid to South Africa. [146162]
Hilary Benn: South Africa is not dependent on financial transfers from international donors—aid from all donors represents less than 1 per cent. of the
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country's annual budget. Donors' contribution to development in South Africa is in the form of technical assistance to build capacity to develop and implement pro-poor policies. DFID has contributed more than £200 million in technical assistance to South Africa in the 10 years since the democratic transition there. Figures for annual spending since 1998–99 and plans up to 2005–06 are shown as follows. As shown, and in line with our overall strategy on assistance to middle income countries, we are planning a reduction in planned expenditure for the year beginning April 2005. We are discussing with the South African government how to manage this. We will continue to maintain a substantial programme there in recognition of the poverty problems inherited from the apartheid period, the growing spread of HIV/AIDS, and the critical importance of successful transition in South Africa for the prospects of sub-Saharan Africa as a whole.
| South Africa | Botswana | Namibia | Swaziland | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998–99 | 28.9 | 3.3 | 3.9 | 3.1 | 39.1 |
| 1999–2000 | 29.6 | 3.0 | 3.6 | 3.1 | 39.3 |
| 2000–01 | 30.1 | 2.5 | 2.7 | 1.6 | 37.0 |
| 2001–02 | 25.5 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 1.1 | 30.6 |
| 2002–03 | 36.4 | 1.1 | 2.2 | 0.8 | 40.5 |
Source:
DFID (2003) Statistics on International Development 1998–99 to 2002–03. Table 7.1.
| £ million | |
|---|---|
| 2003–04 | 35 |
| 2004–05 | 35 |
| 2005–06 | 25 |
NORTHERN IRELAND
Hospital Trolley Waits
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many hospital trolley waits there were in Northern Ireland in (a) 2000, (b) 2001, (c) 2002 and (d) 2003; and how many there were in December of each year. [146305]
Angela Smith: Trolley wait information is returned to the Department in two different forms, on a quarterly basis and on a daily basis.
The total number of hospital trolley waits is reported to the Department by Trusts on a quarterly basis.
| Financial Year | Trolley Waits |
|---|---|
| 1999–2000 | 63,325 |
| 2000–01 | 75,879 |
| 2001–02 | 77,418 |
| 2002–03 | 96,382 |
Note:
In a small number of cases Trusts have returned data for a representative sample of trolley waits.
Source:
Departmental Information Return CH10
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The Department also receives daily returns (Monday to Friday) on the number of trolley waits based on a snapshot taken at 9.00 a.m. in each accident and emergency department across Northern Ireland.
| December | Trolley waits |
|---|---|
| 2000 | Not available |
| 2001 | 797 |
| 2002 | 915 |
| 2003 | 1,450 |
Note:
This information shows a snapshot of the number of trolley waits at 9.00 a.m. each week day morning.
Source:
Daily Service Pressures Report
Ports
Mr. Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many tourists (a) in vehicles and (b) as foot passengers passed through (i) Larne and (ii) Belfast ports in each of the last five years. [144267]
Mr. Pearson: The information requested on the number of tourists passing through the Ports of Larne and Belfast is not available in the form requested in the question.
However, the Northern Ireland Tourist Board's Passenger Survey provides some information on the number of tourists passing through the Ports of Larne and Belfast. The survey identifies visitors (non-Northern Ireland/Republic of Ireland residents) who stay at least one night in Northern Ireland and exit via the Ports of Larne or Belfast. The survey does not break down the figures by foot and vehicle passengers. The results of the survey are provided in the following table:
| Larne | Belfast | |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 124,000 | 288,000 |
| 2001 | 101,000 | 357,000 |
| 2000 | 100,000 | 375,000 |
| 1999 | 121,000 | 375,000 |
| 1998 | 118,000 | 296,000 |
CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS
Asylum
Mr. John Burnett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions he has had with the judiciary about the power of Parliament to oust the jurisdiction of the courts in exercising a supervisory or other jurisdiction in relation to the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal. [145640]
Mr. Lammy: As part of the policy development process we have spoken to representatives of the senior
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judiciary and they are aware of the changes we plan to make to the system. As with much policy development, this consultation was undertaken in confidence and so I am not in a position to make the discussions or the outcomes public.
Mr. Russell Brown: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the (a) overall cost per annum and (b) average cost per case was for legal aid for asylum cases in each of the last five years. [145795]
Mr. Lammy: The Legal Services Commission is not able to provide the information in the format requested, as it does not differentiate asylum from wider immigration cases.
The overall costs for immigration and asylum advice, assistance and representation over the last five years in England and Wales are as follows:
| Year | £ million |
|---|---|
| 1998–99 | 53.3 |
| 1999–2000 | 61.4 |
| 2000–01 | 81.1 |
| 2001–02 | 129.4 |
| 2002–03 | 176.2 |
The Commission's systems do not record expenditure in such a way as to enable a figure to be provided for the year-on-year, average costs per asylum case.
Civil Servants
Tim Loughton: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many senior civil servants in his Department are disabled, expressed in (a) numbers and (b) as a percentage of whole-time equivalents. [144975]
Mr. Lammy: Statistical information about senior civil servants with disabilities is available on the Civil Service Statistics web-site at http://www.civil-service.gov.uk/statistics/documents/pdf/disability-oct03.pdf
As there are fewer than 5 members of the senior civil service in my department with a disability, the actual number is not published in order to protect the privacy of the individual in line with exemption 12 of the 'Code of Practice on Access to Government Information'.
FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS
Departmental Advertising
Miss Kirkbride: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much has been spent on recruitment advertisements in the press, broken down by publication, by (a) his Department, (b) quangos under the Department and (c) non-departmental Government bodies under the Department (i) in the last year and (ii) since 1997. [145801]
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Mr. Rammell: The information is as follows:
Financial year to end March 2003
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| Paper | Cost (£) | |
|---|---|---|
| C4 Contract Managers—April 2002 | ||
| Personnel Publications | 4,465.00 | |
| Total | 4,465.00 | |
| C4 Electrical Technician Officer—April 2002 | ||
| McMillan Scott | 705.00 | |
| Premier Newspapers | 4,450.76 | |
| Institution of Electrical Engineers | 4,624.80 | |
| Total | 9,780.56 | |
| D7 Head of Technical Security—May 2002 | ||
| Premier Newspapers | 4,450.76 | |
| Express Newspapers | 9,987.50 | |
| Total | 14,438.26 | |
| C4 Investigating Officer—September 2002 | ||
| Daily Mail | 4,758.75 | |
| Jane's Information Group | 3,877.50 | |
| Total | 8,636.25 | |
| A1 Mail Room Assistants—November 2002 | ||
| Evening Standard | 1,057.50 | |
| Total | 1,057.50 | |
| B3 Assistant Government Butler—March 2003 | ||
| Restaurant Magazine | 1,938.75 | |
| Evening Standard | 2,350.00 | |
| Caterer and Hotel Keeper | 1,854.16 | |
| Total | 6,142.91 | |
| Total cost of advertising April 2002 to March 2003: £716,234.16 | ||
We advertise widely for jobs in the Diplomatic Service and specialist positions, as well as general careers advertisements placed in diversity publications and websites. The placement of adverts is reviewed regularly according to the nature of the position, cost and response from previous advertisements. The above breakdown for the years 1997–2002 could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
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