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Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what her Departments expenditure on hospitality and entertainment was in (a) 1996-97 and (b) 2005-06. [114074]
Mr. Hoon: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) does not keep centralised records of its overall expenditure on hospitality and entertainment worldwide.
The Government hospitality section of FCO services organises all official ministerial hospitality for the Government as a whole. In 1996-97 its costs amounted to approximately £430,000. In 2005-06 its costs amounted to £809,000, a figure which reflects increased activity due to the joint presidencies of the EU and the G8.
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the budget of the Government hospitality section of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office was in each year since 1997-98. [114076]
Mr. Hoon: The budget for Government hospitalitys service is drawn from the grant in aid payment to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) that funds both Government hospitality and VIP visits section, FCO services. This figure has not changed since 1997-98 and remains at £1.8 million.
Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs in which UK (a) embassies and (b) high commissions cases involving the fraudulent diversion of public funds were discovered in 2006; and on what dates the discoveries were made. [113711]
Mr. Hoon: In accordance with the Foreign and Commonwealth Offices (FCO) Fraud Policy, the following frauds committed at embassies, high commissions, consulate generals, and deputy high commissions were reported to the FCOs Financial Compliance Unit in 2006:
Location | Amount (£) | |
Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which (a) embassies and (b) high commissions were visited by her departmental internal audit teams in 2006; and on what dates such audits were carried out. [113712]
Mr. Hoon: The following Foreign and Commonwealth Office overseas posts were subject to internal audit in 2006:
Location | |
Brussels, Casablanca, Panama City, Ljubljana, San Jose, Santo Domingo | |
Derek Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether she has raised the case of the death of John Foulkes in Malta with the authorities in that country. [113939]
Mr. Hoon: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office cannot interfere in the judicial processes of other countries nor does it have any investigative function. However, consular officials have, at the request of Mr. Foulkes family, been in regular contact with the police authorities and the Attorney-Generals office in Malta. Most recently, consular officials spoke with the police officer who is leading the investigation into the circumstances of Mr. Foulkes death on 30 November 2006. On the same date our officials enquired about a letter that had been sent to the Attorney-Generals office by the Foulkes family.
Derek Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assistance has been provided to Emily Foulkes of Sittingbourne and Sheppey constituency in relation to the death of a family member in Malta. [113940]
Mr. Hoon: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer that I gave him today (UIN 113939). Consular officials have been in regular contact with Emily Foulkes and have provided her with all the information that they can. We have advised that it will be necessary to appoint legal representation in Malta to act on the familys behalf. We have also been able to obtain and return some of Mr. Foulkes personal effects to his family.
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations she has made to the South African Government since South Africas accession to the United Nations Security Council. [113852]
Mr. McCartney: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary congratulated the South African Government shortly after South Africas election to the UN Security Council for 2007-08. A South African delegation subsequently visited London in October 2006 for useful discussions with senior Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials on a range of Security Council issues. We will keep in close touch with South Africa throughout their membership of the Council.
Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on what date her Department received the Report of the National Audit Office of 4 December 2006, into Handling Staff Grievances at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office; and what the reason was for the delay in placing the report (a) on her Departments intranet site and (b) in the Library. [113706]
Mr. Hoon: A paper copy of the report by the National Audit Office (NAO) into the Foreign and Commonwealth Offices (FCO) Grievance Procedures was received on 5 December. The NAO was also asked to supply an electronic version for the FCOs intranet site. This was received on 18 December and added to the intranet on 19 December. The report was made available to staff through the weekly bulletin the next day.
Copies of the NAO report were placed in the Library of the House on 20 December, the date on which it was announced to FCO staff through the intranet.
Mr. Francois:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what public opinion research was
undertaken for the 2006 (a) Budget and (b) pre-Budget report; what the cost was of each poll; and which company conducted each one. [109990]
John Healey: HM Treasury has not undertaken any public opinion research to the Budget 2006 or the 2006 pre-Budget report.
Mr. Milburn: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what gross domestic product per capita was in each local authority area in (a) 1979, (b) 1992, (c) 1997 and (d) the latest year for which figures are available. [108167]
John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 9 January 2007:
As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent question about Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita in each local authority area in 1979, 1992, 1997 and the latest year for which figures are available. (108167)
Office for National Statistics currently publishes regional Gross Value Added (GVA) rather than regional GDP. These data are published in Nomenclature of Units for Territorial Statistics (NUTS) regions and the lowest breakdown of geography for which data are published is the NUTS3 level. These data run from 1995 to 2004 and can be accessed in the following link:
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/statbase/Product.asp?vlnk=14650
GDP per capita data prior to 1995 were published biennially at the county level. These data were last published in 1998. The attached table shows GDP per capita for counties for the biennial period 1977-1995.
Both data-sets are at current prices, therefore the effects of inflation are not taken into account.
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