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19 Feb 2007 : Column 6W—continued
Parliamentary Questions
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when she will answer parliamentary questions (a) 108185, on the recruitment of the chairman of the BBC Trust, tabled on 6 December 2006, and (b) 108992, on the Olympic budget, tabled on 8 December 2006, by the hon. Member for Bath; and what the reasons are for the time taken to reply. [117872]
Tessa Jowell: I apologise for the delay in answering these parliamentary questions. I can confirm that I answered 108185 on 29 January 2007, Official Report, column 105W and question 108992 was answered on 5 February 2007, Official Report, column 712W.
Duchy of Lancaster
Departmental Expenditure
Mr. Heald: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how much was spent on the (a) Delivery Unit, (b) Strategy Unit and (c) Office of Public Service Reform in each year since its creation; whether each unit forms part of 10 Downing street; and what the remit and function of each unit is. [119316]
Hilary Armstrong: For details of how much was spent on the (a) Delivery Unit, (b) Strategy Unit and (c) Office of Public Service Reform in each year since its creation to 2004-05, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by the then Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office (Jim Murphy) on 27 February 2006, Official Report, column 43W.
Costs for the Delivery Unit (DU), Strategy Unit (SU) and Office of Public Service Reform (OPSR) in 2005-06 can be found in the following table:
| Net expenditure figure | |
| Amount (£000) | |
The figures shown are for total resource spend less any income.
The Delivery Unit, the Strategy Unit and the Office of Public Service Reform do not form part of the Prime Minister’s Office.
For details of the remit and function of the Delivery Unit and Strategy Unit, I refer the hon. Member to the Cabinet Office Annual Report and Resource Accounts 2005-06 (Pages 12 and 13).
For details of the remit and function of the Office of Public Service Reform, I refer the hon. Member to the Cabinet Office Annual Report and Resource Accounts 2003-04 (Page 8). The Office of Public Service Reform was disbanded in January 2006.
Copies of these reports are available in the Library and are also available on the Cabinet Office website at:
http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/reports/annualreport/index.asp
Departments: Special Advisers
Mr. Heald: To ask the Minister without Portfolio if she will place in the Library copies of the letters of appointment of each of her special advisers. [119607]
The Minister without Portfolio: My special advisers are appointed under terms and conditions set out in the “Model Contract for Special Advisers”, a copy of which is in the Library of the House. Individual letters of appointment are confidential between the employer and employee and therefore not for publication.
Departments: Termination of Employment
Mr. Heald: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster whether the Cabinet Office undertakes employee exit surveys. [119967]
Hilary Armstrong: The Cabinet Office asks all staff who leave the Department to complete an exit questionnaire. Completion is voluntary.
Legal Advice
David T.C. Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how much has been spent by her Office on external legal advice in each of the last five years. [109099]
Hilary Armstrong: The Prime Minister’s Office has not incurred any expenditure on external legal advice in the past five years.
Transformational Government
Margaret Moran: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster which implementation plan targets on transformational government (a) have not been met and (b) have a revised timetable for achievement; and if she will make a statement. [112610]
Mr. McFadden: The progress against the Transformational Government Implementation Plan Action List is available online:
http://www.cio.gov.uk/transformational_government/annual_report2006/index.asp
A copy has been placed in the Library for the reference of Members.
Progress has already been made in many areas identified in the action plan (Cm6970). For example, from January 2006 to September 2006, 3.7 million motorists renewed their car tax online; customers can now apply for both state pension and pension credit in one 20-minute telephone call; and the new electronic border-control systems have generated 4,456 alerts to border agencies and have resulted in 315 arrests.
Deputy Prime Minister
Correspondence
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister (1) how many letters to his Department sent from hon. Members during Session 2005-06 remain unanswered, broken down by those which are (a) one, (b) two, (c) three, (d) four and (e) over six months old; [114610]
(2) how many letters were received by his Department from hon. Members in each of the last 12 months; how many such letters were responded to within (a) 10 and (b) 20 days of receipt; how many were answered after 20 days from the date of receipt; and if he will make a statement. [114660]
The Deputy Prime Minister: The Cabinet Office, on an annual basis, publishes a report to Parliament on the performance of Departments in replying to correspondence from Members and peers. The report for 2005 was published on 30 March 2006, Official Report, column 75WS. Information relating to 2006 will be published as soon as it is ready.
Departmental Budget
Mr. Heald: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what elements make up the additional budget for his Department above that previously allocated for the functions he carried out as head of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. [112582]
The Deputy Prime Minister: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 17 May 2006, Official Report, column 985W, and the answer I gave him on 9 October 2006, Official Report, column 72W.
Departmental Contracts
Mr. Grogan: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister which public affairs firms were given contracts by his Department in each of the last five years; and what the purpose was of each contract. [118427]
The Deputy Prime Minister: Public affairs firms advise clients on political lobbying. My Department would not award contracts for lobbying, and has not done so since it was formed on 5 May 2006. For information relating to the period prior to this time, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Angela E. Smith), on 8 February 2007, Official Report, column 1155W.
Departmental Travel
Mr. Heald: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what his Department’s policy is on his staff travelling first class by (a) rail and (b) air on official business. [112163]
The Deputy Prime Minister: All travel by departmental staff is undertaken in accordance with the “Civil Service Management Code”, a copy of which is available in the Library of the House.
Departmental Website
Mr. Heald: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to his answer of 14 December 2006, Official Report, column 1304W, on his ministerial website, how many of the visits to his website were from non-government domains. [114308]
The Deputy Prime Minister: Of the 2,771 separate visits recorded in the period concerned, 2,582 were made from non-government domains.
Departments: Furniture
Mr. Francois: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many items of furniture have been (a) lost and (b) stolen from his Department in each year since its formation; and what the value was of those items in each year. [120703]
The Deputy Prime Minister: None.
Freedom of Information
Mr. Heald: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many Freedom of Information requests his Department has received since its creation; and what the average length of time has been (a) to process and (b) to respond to a request. [112164]
The Deputy Prime Minister: The answer remains the same as the one I gave on 1 November 2006, Official Report, column 434W.
Departments: Special Advisers
Mr. Heald: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will place in the Library copies of the letters of appointment of each of his special advisers. [119473]
The Deputy Prime Minister: My special advisers are appointed under terms and conditions set out in the “Model Contract for Special Advisers”, a copy of which is in the Library. Individual letters of appointment are confidential between the employer and employee and therefore not for publication.
Temporary Staff
Grant Shapps: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much his Department paid to recruitment agencies for the hire of temporary staff since it was established; and if he will make a statement. [110475]
Mr. Heald: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many temporary staff have been employed by his Department since its creation. [112162]
The Deputy Prime Minister: I refer the hon. Members’ to the answer I gave on 11 January 2007, Official Report, column 686W.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Airports (VIP Operations)
Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what her Department’s future funding plans are for the VIP/Royal Suites at Heathrow and Gatwick airports; what funding was allocated by her Department to VIP operations at these airports in each of the past five years; and if she will make a statement. [115768]
Margaret Beckett: Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) funding from April 2008 is under discussion with HM Treasury; all future expenditure plans will depend on the outcome.
FCO funding for the VIP/Royal Suites at Heathrow and Gatwick for financial year (FY) 2007-08 has been budgeted at a net £2.4 million.
FCO funding in each of the past five years was FY 2001-02 £2.55 million; FY 2002-03 £2.49 million; FY 2003-04 £2.98 million; FY 2004-05 £2.57 million; FY 2005-06 £2.7 million.
Aung San Suu Kyi
Mr. Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent attempts have been made by (a) the British Ambassador to Burma and (b) other UK Government officials to visit Aung San Suu Kyi. [118375]
Margaret Beckett: Aung San Suu Kyi remains under house arrest. The conditions of her detention are very restrictive. Only her doctor is allowed occasional visits. On 24 November 2006, our ambassador in Rangoon formally requested authority from the Burmese Ministry of Foreign Affairs to pay a courtesy call on her. The request was refused. No other Government officials have requested meetings with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Mr. Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if she will make a statement on the future of the Office of the High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina. [112531]
Margaret Beckett: The Peace Implementation Council, on which the UK sits, will review the future of the Office of the High Representative at its meeting on 26-27 February, taking into account the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina and in the region as a whole.
Burma
Mr. Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what action against Burma the Government are advocating at the UN Security Council; what measures are under consideration at the UN Security Council; and if she will make a statement. [112538]
Margaret Beckett: Our policy is to support all action in the UN, including in the Security Council, which helps to promote reform and positive change in Burma. We therefore co-sponsored the UN Security Council Resolution on Burma with the United States which was put to the vote on 12 January. Nine members of the Security Council voted for the Resolution. However the Resolution was not adopted, as two permanent members of the Security Council—China and Russia—voted against, as did South Africa.
Disappointing though this result was, it is important to note that all Security Council members agreed that there were serious issues of concern in Burma. This, and the positive votes from a majority of Council partners, reflected the international community’s deep concern over the plight of Burma’s people. We will continue to work within the UN to ensure that Burma remains on the UN Security Council agenda.
On 24 January my right hon. Friend the Minister of State for Trade, Investment and Foreign Affairs, Ian McCartney, met representatives from the Chin and Kachin ethnic groups in Burma to discuss the many difficulties faced by their respective communities, including violation of their religious freedoms.
Mr. Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment she has made of UN envoy Gambari’s visits to Burma. [118376]
Margaret Beckett: I refer the hon. Member to the answer my right hon. Friend the Minister for Trade, Investment and Foreign Affairs (Mr. McCartney) gave the hon. Member for Cotswold (Mr. Clifton-Brown) on 4 December 2006, Official Report, columns 69-70W.
Mr. Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment she has made of the position of the Non-Aligned Movement on a United Nations Security Council resolution on Burma. [118379]
Margaret Beckett: Members of the Non-Aligned Movement did not adopt a common position on Burma at the time the UN Security Council Resolution on Burma was put to the vote on 12 January. The Non-Aligned members of the UN Security Council voted as follows: Ghana, Panama and Peru voted in favour of the resolution; Indonesia, Congo and Qatar abstained; and South Africa voted against. China has observer status in the Non-Aligned Movement and voted against the resolution.
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