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7 Feb 2008 : Column 1376W—continued
Written Questions
Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills when he will answer question 175643 tabled by the hon. Member for Angus on 17 December 2007 on student loans. [184649]
Bill Rammell: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given on 4 February 2008, Official Report, column 935W.
International Development
Colombia: Drugs
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent support his Department has offered to the government of Colombia in combating the smuggling of illegal drugs across the Colombia-Venezuela border. [185493]
Mr. Malik: Preventing the cross-border flow of illicit drugs from Colombia to neighbouring countries is a top priority for the UK’s international counter-narcotics efforts. The UK is investing in projects in Colombia and Venezuela to tackle the cross-border flow of illicit drugs. These projects have helped to build capacity amongst Colombian and Venezuelan law enforcement agencies and the judiciary. In addition, funding of a United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime project on cross border co-operation has recently been approved.
We take a broad regional approach to tackling the trade in illicit drugs, through a mixture of political engagement, capacity building and law enforcement support in producer, transit and consumer countries. This includes working with Governments of other producer and transit countries in Latin America and countries along the main trafficking routes for drugs via the Caribbean and West Africa.
Departmental ICT
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many (a) mobile telephones, (b) personal digital assistants and (c) laptop computers issued to departmental staff were reported (i) lost, (ii) missing and (iii) stolen in each year since 2001. [184320]
Mr. Malik: Our central records show the number of DFID mobile phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs) and laptops lost, missing and stolen since 2001 are as follows:
| Lost | Missing | Stolen | Total | |
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many of his Department’s personal digital assistants were (a) lost and (b) stolen in each of the last five years; and what the value of those items was. [185271]
Mr. Malik: Our central records show that during the last five years:
(a) No personal digital assistants were lost
(b) Two personal digital assistants were stolen, with a combined value of £183.45.
Departmental Travel
Mr. Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much his Department spent on travel (a) within and (b) outside the UK for officials in each of the last 10 years; and what percentage of his Department's overall expenditure was spent on such travel in each such year. [181531]
Mr. Malik: DFID's total travel expenditure for officials and Ministers for the years 2003-04 onwards is given in the following table with the percentage this represents of the Department's overall expenditure. These figures include the costs of travel, subsistence and accommodation.
These figures include the cost of ministerial travel as well as travel by officials. The figures also include the costs of all visits and travel including for example travel within the UK, from overseas to the UK, as well as from the UK to overseas. It is not possible to separate out the costs of travel within the UK and travel outside the UK without incurring disproportionate cost.
In 2003-04 DFID introduced new procedures to draw together all administration costs including those travel costs which had previously been recorded on the programme budget. Information from 2001-02 to 2002-03 is given but is therefore not directly comparable with later years. Information from earlier years is not readily available.
| Travel Spend (£000) | Percentage of overall expenditure | |
All official travel is undertaken in accordance with the rules contained in DFID's Staff Handbook and complies with the Civil Service Management Code.
Departmental Visits Abroad
Mr. Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many overseas visits by officials in his Department took place in each of the last 10 years; which countries were visited; and how much was spent on such visits in each such year. [181615]
Mr. Malik: DFID's total travel expenditure for officials and Ministers for the years 2003-04 onwards is given in the following table. These figures include the costs of travel, subsistence and accommodation.
These figures include the cost of ministerial visits as well as those by officials. The figures also include the costs of all visits and travel, including for example visits taking place within the UK, from overseas to the
UK, as well as overseas visits. It is not possible to separate out the costs of overseas visits specifically without incurring disproportionate cost.
In 2003-04 DFID introduced new procedures to draw together all administration costs including those travel costs which had previously been recorded on the programme budget. Information from 2001-02 to 2002-03 is given but is therefore not directly comparable with later years. Information from earlier years is not readily available.
| Travel Spend (£000) | |
All official travel is undertaken in accordance with the rules contained in DFID's Staff Handbook and complies with the Civil Service Management Code.
Developing Countries: Disaster Relief
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much aid was provided to assist developing countries in the wake of natural emergencies and disasters in each of the last three years. [183105]
Mr. Thomas: DFID provided the following amounts towards assisting developing countries cope with the effects of natural emergencies and disasters (excluding conflict-related spending):
| Financial year | £ |
It is not possible to disaggregate figures for natural disasters only (from conflict-related figures) for Africa before the financial year 2006-07.
Intimidation
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many cases of bullying have been reported in (a) his Department and (b) its agencies in each of the last 12 months. [182846]
Gillian Merron: DFID has had less than five complaints of bullying reported in the last 12 months. DFID’s only agency, the Commonwealth Scholarships Commission, does not employ any staff.
Members: Correspondence
Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development when he expects to answer the letter to him dated 21 December 2007, from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mrs. S. Smith. [185052]
Mr. Douglas Alexander: The reply to my right hon. Friend’s letter of 21 December 2007 has been issued.
Pacific Islands: EU Aid
Mr. Marshall: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development which countries in the Pacific have received UK aid via the EU in each of the last five years; and how much each country received. [184703]
Mr. Malik: EU support for Pacific countries is financed from the European development fund. The UK share of the EDF from 2001 to 2005 was 12.69 per cent. Details of the UK’s imputed official development assistance provided via the EU to countries and territories in the Pacific over the last five years are laid out in the following table.
| Table 1: Imputed UK share of EC official development assistance (ODA), 2001 to 2005 | |||||
| £000 | |||||
| 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | |
| Note: Negatives figures represent accounting adjustments, not a net flow to the UK. | |||||
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