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12 Sept 2005 : Column 2428W—continued
China
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what initiatives the Government will be taking during the course of their presidency of the European Union to address concerns about the one child policy in China; and if he will make a statement. [14298]
Ian Pearson: We have never questioned China's right or need to implement family planning policies but we have raised concerns about reports of enforced sterilisation and abortion. We will continue to do so where this is an issue, including during our EU presidency and through our bilateral contacts.
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the occasions during the last 12 months when the Government have publicly condemned the one child policy in China; and if he will make a statement. [14299]
Ian Pearson:
We have never questioned China's right or need to implement family planning policies but have made it clear that we believe these should be implemented based on the principles of the
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International Conference on Population and Development: consent not coercion. We have in the past raised concerns about reports of enforced sterilisation and abortion.
Collinson Grant Report
Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on what date he was given sight of the Collinson Grant report on the management of his Department; and if he will make a statement. [14401]
Mr. Straw: I saw a summary of the report, including key findings, on 3 February, followed by the report itself shortly afterwards.
Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will place a copy of the Collinson Grant report on the management of his Department in the Library. [14403]
Mr. Straw: A copy of the Collision Grant report has been placed in the Library of the House.
Consultants
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list management consultants employed by his Department in each of the last three years. [14357]
Mr. Straw: I refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave him today (UIN 12583).
Correspondence
Mr. MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what his Department's policy is for dealing with and responding to correspondence received in (a) Welsh, (b) Scots Gaelic and (c) Irish Gaelic. [14736]
Mr. Straw: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has no formal policies or statutory obligations relating to the translation of documents into minority languages.
On past practice, we have translated certain major publications into Welsh, but we do not routinely translate smaller documents into Welsh, and do not translate into Scottish Gaelic and Irish Gaelic, on the grounds that no clear cost-benefits case exist.
The FCO has the capability to translate into Welsh and other languages, if required, through approved third-party translators via the FCO Translation Service.
Departmental Expenditure
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the spending by his Department on (a) staff, (b) accommodation and (c) procurement in (i) Moray constituency and (ii) the Highland Region was for the most recent year for which figures are available. [14854]
Mr. Straw:
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office does not categorise its expenditure by region and this information could therefore be provided only at disproportionate cost.
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Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the total spending by his Department on (a) staff, (b) accommodation and (c) procurement in (i) Dundee East constituency, (ii) Tayside and (iii) the City of Dundee was for the most recent year for which figures are available. [14870]
Mr. Straw: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office does not categorise its expenditure by region and this information could therefore be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Salmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the total spending by his Department on (a) staff, (b) accommodation and (c) procurement in (i) Banff and Buchan and (ii) the North East of Scotland was for the most recent year for which figures are available. [14888]
Mr. Straw: The Foreign Commonwealth Office does not categorise its expenditure by region and this information could therefore be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the total spending by his Department on (a) staff, (b) accommodation and (c) procurement in Perth and North Perthshire was for the most recent year for which figures are available. [14922]
Mr. Straw: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office does not categorise its expenditure by region and this information could therefore be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Staff
David T.C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many full-time equivalents have worked for the Department for each of the last five financial years for which figures are available. [11483]
Mr. Straw: Figures for Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) staff numbers are notified to the Cabinet Office according to a central counting convention. The figure for full-time equivalents is not yet available for 2005. The numbers of UK based employees, i.e. excluding staff employed locally at posts, for each of the previous five years, at the first of April, and including the FCO's Agency, Wilton Park, were as follows:
| Number | |
|---|---|
| 2004 | 5,970 |
| 2003 | 5,950 |
| 2002 | 5,680 |
| 2001 | 5,500 |
| 2000 | 5,460 |
The increase in staff numbers is largely due to the sustained growth in demand for visas and consular services over the last five years.
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Deputy Legal Adviser
Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what civil service grade the Deputy Legal Adviser in his Department is. [13555]
Mr. Straw: Deputy Legal Advisers in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, of which there are three, are graded as Senior Management Structure (SMS) staff; their seniority equates approximately to the former Grade 3 in the home civil service.
Equality and Diversity
David T.C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much the Department has spent promoting equality and diversity in each of the last five years for which figures are available. [14665]
Mr. Straw: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has spent the following amounts promoting equality and diversity in each of the last five years:
| £ | |
|---|---|
| 2000–01 | 24,874 |
| 2001–02 | 354,292 |
| 2002–03 | 359,014 |
| 2003–04 | 512,725 |
| 2004–05 | 592,306 |
These figures include spending on activities promoting equality and diversity within and outside the FCO through training courses, sponsoring internal and external events, membership of diversity organisations, diversity recruitment advertising and providing reasonable adjustments for disabled staff. For Financial Year 2004–05, the figures include expenditure by UK visas, a joint Home Office and FCO unit which runs the UK's visa service through British Diplomatic Posts overseas. Prior to that, we have no record of UK visas funding separate activities promoting equality and diversity. The figures for Financial Year 2003–04 and 2004–05 include spending by the UK Outreach Team, which was formed in early 2003. Full figures for years before Financial Year 2001–02 are not available.
The Department for Trade and Industry has met the costs of United Kingdom Trade and Investment's activities promoting diversity and equality.
The cost of running the FCO's nurseries and subsidising nursery places with external providers is not included in the above figures. Calculating this could be provided only at disproportionate cost as the contributions from parents go into a central budget.
Spending on improving access to our UK sites is not included in the above figures. Establishing these costs would involve looking at all UK Estate invoices from the past five years. This information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
The FCO's overseas posts and its non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) may also incur costs promoting equality and diversity. Collating this information would involve contacting individual overseas posts and individual sponsoring departments of NDPBs.
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Sponsoring departments would then have to contact each NDPB for details. This information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
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