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5 Dec 2005 : Column 1037W—continued
PRIME MINISTER
Administrative Savings
Mr. Maude: To ask the Prime Minister what administrative savings have been made by his office in each of the last eight years. [34955]
The Prime Minister:
For these purposes my office forms part of the Cabinet Office. I have therefore asked my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office (Mr. Murphy) to reply. A copy of the reply will be placed in the Library of the House.
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Commonwealth Head of Government Meeting (Malta)
Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Prime Minister whether on the occasion of the Commonwealth Heads of Government in Malta (a) he, (b) accompanying Ministers and (c) officials had (i) formal discussions and (ii) discussions on the margins of the conference involving other prime ministers or members of delegations of those countries where Her Majesty the Queen is Head of State about the law and constitution pertaining to the common institution of the Monarchy; and if he will make a statement. [34509]
The Prime Minister: There were no such discussions.
Ministerial Travel
Mr. Hands: To ask the Prime Minister pursuant to the answer of 21 November 2005, Official Report, column 162W, on ministerial travel, when it was last appropriate for him to travel on the London underground on official business. [33703]
Bob Russell: To ask the Prime Minister on how many occasions since 7 July he has used the London underground in connection with his official duties. [35016]
The Prime Minister: I have nothing further to add to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Hammersmith and Fulham (Mr. Hands) on 21 November 2005, Official Report, column 1661W.
Ministerial Visit (Saudi Arabia)
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Prime Minister (1)whether meetings he held with Crown Prince Abdullah and officials in July 2005 during his visit to Saudi Arabia were attended by employees of BAE Systems; and if he will make a statement; [34831]
(2) whether the meetings he held with Crown Prince Abdullah and officials in July 2005 during his visit to Saudi Arabia included discussion of (a) Saad al-Faqih and (b) Mohammed al-Masari; and if he will make a statement; [34834]
(3) whether the meetings he held with Crown Prince Abdullah and officials in July during his visit to Saudi Arabia included discussion of the Eurofighter Typhoon; and if he will make a statement. [34835]
The Prime Minister: I have nothing further to add to the answer I gave the hon. Member on 14 November 2005, Official Report, column 924W.
Northern Ireland (Offences) Bill
David Simpson: To ask the Prime Minister (1) what consultation he undertook with Northern Ireland political parties before the Government introduced the Northern Ireland (Offences) Bill; [34221]
(2) what discussions he had with church representatives before the Government introduced the Northern Ireland (Offences) Bill; [34222]
(3) what discussions he had with the Police Service of Northern Ireland about paramilitary fugitives from justice before the Government introduced the Northern Ireland (Offences) Bill; and what advice he received. [34244]
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The Prime Minister: I have meetings with a wide range of organisations and individuals on a wide range of subjects. Information relating to internal meetings, discussion and advice is not disclosed as to do so could harm the frankness and candour of internal discussion.
Sugar Beet Farmers
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Prime Minister if he will meet a delegation of Shrewsbury sugar beet farmers at No.10 Downing Street to discuss their concerns about the proposed EU sugar regime changes. [33886]
The Prime Minister: I have no current plans to do so. However, my right hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Bach) has met representatives from the National Farmers Union and other interested parties on this issue, and would be happy to meet such a delegation from Shrewsbury.
Terrorism
Grant Shapps: To ask the Prime Minister pursuant to hisoral answer of 9 November 2005, Official Report, column 298 to the right hon. and learned Member for Folkstone and Hythe (Mr. Howard) on terrorism, what estimate he has made of the number of police officers required to analyse the data contained on one 20.4 gigabyte hard drive within 90 days. [33569]
The Prime Minister: A decision on the number of police officers deployed to focus on a particular area of an investigation, such as analysing data, is the responsibility of the chief constable of the force concerned.
Visits (Shrewsbury)
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Prime Minister (1) when he last visited Shrewsbury; [33885]
(2) if he will visit the areas in Shrewsbury prone to flooding. [33887]
The Prime Minister: I last visited Shrewsbury in November 2000 to inspect flooding in the area, where I met local councillors and members of the Environment Agency. As part of that trip I also visited the other flood hit areas of Bewdley and York.
While I have no current plans to visit again in the near future, I understand that the Environment Agency has recently invested £3.5 million in a flood risk management improvement project in Shrewsbury, and is considering carefully the case for further investment in other areas of the town.
INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Africa (Aid)
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what method he will use to measure progress in providing enhanced partnership at the country and regional level, especially through the G8, to increase the effectiveness of aid and ensure that international policies support African development as required by 2004 public service agreement target 1. [29933]
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Hilary Benn: The Technical Note to DFID's 2005–08 public service agreement provides full details of the indicators and methodologies which will be used to monitor performance against target 1. The Technical Note is available on DFID's website at www.dfid.gov.uk/pubs/files/PSA/technicalnotes.pdf
The latest progress against this target, and on all other targets within DFID's PSA, will be reported in the Autumn Performance Report 2005, which will be published later this month.
Darfur
Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the development assistance which will be required by Darfur in the next (a) five and (b) 10 years. [33848]
Hilary Benn [holding answer 2 December 2005]: The Department for International Development has not yet made an assessment of the development assistance required by Darfur in the next five and 10 years. The UK and the broader international community have focused efforts in Darfur on responding to the humanitarian needs there; until there is a political resolution to the conflict it is unlikely that significant development work will take place in Darfur. However, we welcome recent efforts by the UN to look at how peace would be consolidated in Darfur through a range of political, humanitarian, recovery and reconstruction work, after a peace agreement.
Following this, we have recommended to the UN that it and the World Bank undertake an assessment in Darfur as soon as the security situation allows, looking at needs over a three to four year period. We have asked the UN and the World Bank for a concept paper for such an assessment.
Departmental Estate
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what (a) land and (b) property his Department (i) owns and (ii) rents in each constituency; and if he will make a statement. [33248]
Mr. Thomas: DFID does not own or rent any land. DFID owns one property, namely Abercrombie House, Eaglesham Road, East Kilbride, Glasgow, G75 SEA in the constituency of East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow.
DFID rents the following properties:
both in the constituency of Cities of London and Westminster, and also (for storage purposes only) 43/45 Fairfield Place, East Kilbride, Glasgow, G74 5LP, also in the constituency of East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow.
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