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8 Nov 2005 : Column 359W—continued
Respect Unit
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to his answer of 27 October 2005, Official Report, column 489W, on respect, whether any payment is being made by his Department to the Home Office specifically for the Respect Unit functions. [24700]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has not made any payment directly to the Home Office for the Respect Unit's functions, although we have seconded a member of staff to work in the Unit.
I refer the hon. Member to the previous answer given on 27 October 2005, Official Report, column 489W.
Standards Board for England
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many cases have been referred to the Standards Board for England in the last 12 months for which information is available; and of these how many were (a) found to be cases where the code of conduct had not been breached, (b) found to be cases where it was inappropriate for further action to be taken and (c) referred for investigation by an ethical standards officer. [25752]
Mr. Woolas: In the 2004–05 the Standards Board for England received 3,861 allegations that members of local authorities had breached the code of conduct for members. During that year, 1,543 allegations were not referred for investigation as the alleged conduct would not have involved a failure to comply with the code, 1,195 allegations were not referred for investigation because the allegations were found to be inappropriate for further action to be taken, and 949 allegations were referred for investigation.
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister in how many cases referred by the Standards Board for England for investigation in the last 12 months for which figures are available it was found that (a) there was no evidence of failure to comply with the code, (b) no further action was required, (c) the matter should be referred to the monitoring officer of the local authority and (d) the matter should be referred to the adjudication panel. [25753]
Mr. Woolas:
The information requested in respect of the investigations completed by ethical standards officers of the Standards Board for England in 2004–05 is as follows.
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Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the average cost of a case referred to the Standards Board for England was where the finding was (a) no breach, (b) no further action appropriate and (c) referred for investigation in the last 12 months for which figures are available. [25754]
Mr. Woolas: The Standards Board for England estimates that the average cost for them to make a referral decision in 2004–05 was £225, regardless of the decision made. The Board does not separately record costs in respect of the specific referral decisions made.
The average cost of an investigation into an allegation of a breach of the code of conduct by members of local authorities is about £5,000 per case.
Sustainable Development
David Howarth: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make a statement on his Department's performance against its key sustainable development impacts over the last 12 months. [24391]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister played a full part in preparing the UK Sustainable Development Strategy, Securing the Future", which was launched in March 2005. The UK Sustainable Development Strategy makes clear that sustainable communities represent sustainable development at a local level.
The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's Annual Report describes progress in creating sustainable communities and gives details on our key performance indicators.
Copies of the UK Sustainable Development Strategy and the Department's Annual Report are in the Library of the House.
The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister will be producing a Sustainable Development Action Plan in December 2005, which will set out the steps the Office is taking to contribute to the delivery of the Strategy, including arrangements for monitoring progress.
Travellers
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to the answer of 11 October 2005, Official Report, column 445W, on Travellers, for what reasons copies of the written reports were not deposited in the Libraries at the time of the written answer; and whether copies have now been deposited in the Library. [22259]
Yvette Cooper:
The letters were not deposited at the time of the written answer due to an administrative oversight for which I apologise. The documents have been made available in the Libraries of the House.
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FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS
African Union
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress the Government have made in assisting the African Union in meeting its commitments, with particular reference to full troop deployment in Darfur. [24394]
Ian Pearson: The UK has committed £19 million funding this year to the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS). This brings our total contribution to AMIS, since its inception, to almost £32 million. We are using this money to provide equipment, including 950 vehicles of which we have already purchased 450, and to provide military and civilian policing advice, expertise and training. We have also used some of our contribution to fund airlift of troops into Darfur.
The UK and international partners have urged the African Union to carry out a further assessment mission to examine the effectiveness of the expanded AMIS and present recommendations for the future, including whether any further expansion is required. We expect this mission will take place in the coming weeks.
Departmental Skills Development Plan
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which individual is responsible for developing and implementing his Department's Skills Development Plan. [23844]
Mr. Straw: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office's (FCO) Skills Development Plan is the responsibility of Ms Gerry Reffo, Head of the FCO's Professional Development Policy Team.
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will place in the Library a copy of his Department's Skills Development Plan. [23868]
Mr. Straw: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is reviewing its departmental Skills Development Plan in line with the Professional Skills in Government (PSG) initiative, to reflect, in particular, the skills audit taking place at present and the changes in training that the PSG is helping to bring about. A revised version of the Skills Development Plan will be prepared by the end of January 2006 and placed in the Library of the House.
Departmental Sponsorship
Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list formal consultations being sponsored by his Department and its agencies; and what the (a) commencement date and (b) deadline for responses is in each case. [22568]
Mr. Straw:
The joint Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and Home Office Forced Marriage Unit launched a full public consultation on whether to introduce a new forced marriage criminal offence. This was launched on 5 September and will last until 5 December. On 20 October we started a consultation on our Consular Guide, which sets out what the FCO can and cannot do for British nationals in difficulty abroad. This will last until the end of November. The FCO has
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also contributed to consultations of other Government Departments, such as the 16 week consultation on managed migration routes to the UK which was launched on 19 July and on which the FCO and Home Office organised a joint seminar with foreign embassies. In addition to formal consultations, we frequently seek the views of a range of stakeholders in setting strategy, for example our sustainable development strategy, published in March this year, and in forming policy.
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