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24 July 2006 : Column 972W—continued
Cabinet Office Spending
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how much the Cabinet Office spent on supporting the Prime Minister in each year since 1996-97, including the estimated figures for 2005-06. [86853]
Hilary Armstrong: Supporting the Prime Minster is one of the Cabinet Office’s objectives. The costs associated with this function are identified and reported separately in the Annual Report and Resource Accounts.
Details of these costs for 2002-03, 2003-04 and 2004-05 can be found in the Cabinet Office Annual Report and Resource Accounts, Schedule 5, Objective 1—Supporting the Prime Minister (HC185—Page 26, HC1190—Page 32, and HC372—Page 28 respectively).
Copies of these reports and resource accounts for 2003-04 and 2004-05 are available on the Cabinet Office website at http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/reports/annualreport/index.asp and are available in the Library for the reference of Members.
The Cabinet Office Annual Report and Resource Accounts for 2005-06 were laid before Parliament on 20 July 2006 and will be published shortly on the Cabinet Office website.
Expenditure incurred on supporting the Prime Minister, prior to 2002-03, is not held centrally.
Computing Equipment
Mr. MacNeil: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (1) how many (a) laptop and (b) desk top computers were purchased for use in 10 Downing Street in each month since March 2005; [86886]
(2) how many (a) USB (i) flash drives and (ii) memory sticks, (b) compact discs, (c) DVD-ROM discs and (d) external computer hard drives were purchased for use in 10 Downing Street in each month since March 2005; [86855]
(3) how many (a) USB (i) flash drives and (ii) memory sticks, (b) compact discs, (c) DVD-ROM discs, (d) laptop computers, (e) external computer hard drives and (f) desktop computers were purchased for use in the Cabinet Office in each month since March 2005. [86856]
Mr. McFadden: The Prime Minister’s office forms an integral part of the Cabinet Office
The numbers of items of the specified computer equipment purchased for use in the Cabinet Office in each month since March 2005 are shown in the table. It has been compiled from records held by those business units who have, according to our resource accounting system, purchased relevant equipment during the period.
| USB flash drive | USB memory stick | Compact disc drive | DVD-ROM disc drive | Laptop computer | External computer hard drive | Desktop computer | |
A significant proportion of the information technology equipment used by the Department, for example on the corporate IT network, is not purchased but provided as part of a managed service through our prime IT contractor.
Ministerial Financial Benefit Declarations
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what guidance the Cabinet Office issues to Government Ministers on declaring to HM Revenue and Customs financial benefits (a) Ministers and (b) their spouses have received from foreign persons or foreign corporations directly or indirectly as a result of their Ministerial position. [87594]
Hilary Armstrong: Guidance for Ministers on the acceptance of gifts and hospitality is set out in Section 5 of the “Ministerial Code”.
Ministerial Offices
Sarah Teather: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many times her ministerial office has been decorated in each of the last five years. [87656]
Hilary Armstrong: According to available records, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster’s Ministerial Office, Private Offices and waiting area has been decorated once in the last five years.
Non-departmental Public Bodies
Mr. Amess: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many non-departmental public bodies have been abolished since December 2005; and what estimate she has made of the consequent effect on public funds. [87110]
Mr. McFadden: Information on public bodies sponsored by central Government is provided annually in the Cabinet Office publication “Public Bodies” which records information as at 31 March each year. This includes details of closed bodies and also government funding and expenditure.
Information for the position at 31 March 2006 is currently being collated and will be published shortly. Information for the position at 31 March 2005 was published on 21 November 2005.
Copies of previous publications are available in the Library for the reference of Members.
Regulatory Impact Assessments
Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (1) what guidance she has issued to departments on the publication of work preliminary to the conduct of regulatory impact assessments; [87950]
(2) pursuant to the answer of 11 July 2006, Official Report, column 1826W, on regulatory impact assessments, whether any work preparatory to the conduct of such an assessment may be (a) placed in the Library and (b) published by Departments. [87958]
Mr. McFadden: The Cabinet Office’s guidance makes clear that final regulatory impact assessments (RIAs) should be made available to the House and published by Departments on their websites. Partial RIAs should also be published by departments as part of formal consultation exercises. The publication of initial RIAs and other work preparatory to the production of partial and final RIAs is for individual Departments to consider on a case by case basis.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Afghanistan
Mr. Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans there are to undertake a review of Afghanistan (a) development needs and (b) the progress of international reconstruction projects. [86537]
Hilary Benn: I have been asked to reply.
The Government of Afghanistan have been leading the process to develop a national development strategy to tackle the country’s reconstruction and development needs. In January at the London Conference, an interim strategy was launched and endorsed by the international community. Building on this effort, donors are now supporting the Government to prepare a final Afghan National Development Strategy (ANDS), which will review needs in eight priority sectors: infrastructure, security, governance, education, health, agriculture and rural livelihoods, economic governance and private sector development, and social protection; as well as on important cross-cutting issues such as counter-narcotics and gender.
Progress of the international reconstruction effort is reviewed though a number of mechanisms. Donors will monitor progress of their own projects, and occasionally there may be joint reviews (such as the recently undertaken joint donor review for the National Solidarity Programme). Government Ministries work with donors to identify duplication and gaps in their sectors, and will draw up plans to feed into the ANDS. The Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund (ARTF) Performance Assessment Matrix will also allow for joint monitoring of development impact, once it is formally launched later this year.
Mr. Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the remit is of her Department's team of officials involved with the Poppy Elimination programme in Helmand Province; what their responsibilities are; and what their budget is. [86689]
Dr. Howells: The UK is spending £270 million over three years in support of the Afghan national drug control strategy. As part of this we have provided £276,000 in support of the Ministry of Counter Narcotics’ Poppy Elimination programme. The Poppy Elimination programme is a year-round programme operating in seven priority provinces including Helmand. It has been designed to assist provincial authorities deter poppy crop planting through public awareness and community outreach. The Poppy Elimination programme teams are also responsible for monitoring poppy cultivation, farmers’ planting intentions and the existence and effectiveness of licit rural development assistance. There are normally seven Afghan members of staff (who are employed by the Ministry of Counter Narcotics) and two international advisers in each Poppy Elimination programme team. Members of our embassy drugs team in Kabul have regular and frequent contact with members of the Poppy Elimination programme teams.
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