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18 Feb 2008 : Column 5W—continued
House of Commons Commission
Departmental Advertising
Mr. Jeremy Browne: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission what percentage of the Commission's expenditure was on advertising in each of the last 10 years. [182997]
Nick Harvey: Disaggregated figures identifying the level of expenditure spent on advertising are not available prior to 2003. The figures for recent years are:
| Percentage | |
Department of Finance and Administration
Mr. Martyn Jones: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission what organisational changes have occurred in the Department of Finance and Administration in the last 20 years in (a) function, (b) work load and (c) use by hon. Members and required contact with hon. Members. [183013]
Nick Harvey: The information required is as follows:
The Department of Finance and Administration was created in 1991 following a review of the House of Commons Service by Sir Robin Ibbs. The Ibbs report recommended that the department should develop and offer to the Commission, committees and departments a range of financial services, including financial planning, monitoring and review and financial appraisal of new proposals. The department continued to provide personnel services to departments of the House, which had previously been provided by the Administration Department, and the payment of Members' pay and expenses which had been provided by the Fees Office.
Since 1991, demand for finance and administration services has grown, e.g. as a result of the need for better financial management, resource accounting and budgeting, and a range of regulatory compliance requirements. Additional services provided by this department include data protection, freedom of information, HR advice to Members, occupational health, safety and welfare, corporate learning and diversity and procurement. In 1997 the department was reorganised on functional lines. An organisational chart can be found on the Department of Resources intranet site. Following the Tebbit report, the department was renamed Department of Resources. On 1 January 2008 the internal audit and risk management function was transferred to the Office of the Chief Executive.
The Department's work load has grown considerably as the demand for services has grown. For example, the number of Members' allowance claims has risen from 27,044 in 1996-97 to 51,132 in 2006-07. The introduction of the communications allowance in April 2007 will increase this further. Other increases in work load are: for the period 1993-94, 11,429 payments (invoices) were processed; this has risen to 25,356 in 2006-07. Recruitment exercises have risen from 107 in 1993-94 to 270 in 2006-07. Data changes to staff payroll have increased from 30,882 in 1996-97 to 39,714 in 2006-07. Further information relating to the work loads of the department can be found in the Members Estimate Annual Reports and the Commission's Annual Reports.
As for use of services by hon. Members and contact with hon. Members, the department has developed several services to help Members in carrying out their duties. This includes the setting up the personnel advice service in October 2001 and the enquiry and advice team (EAT) in March 2005. EAT provides a ‘one stop shop’ for Members and their staff on all allowance and payment matters. In 2006-07 EAT received 25,439 calls and has received 24,048 so far in 2007-08. The department runs a Members' advice surgery, where MPs are able to drop in and discuss any issues related to their allowances and staff. This service is located in Portcullis House and is run on a monthly basis when the House is sitting. The department has improved financial information that MPs receive and this includes the provision of monthly budget statements detailing spend to date for the previous month.
The 2007 survey of Members' services reported that 80 per cent. of all respondents said they were either extremely or very satisfied with the Department's handling of Parliamentary allowances queries.
Diplomatic Protection Group
Mr. Jenkin: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission what health and safety assessment has been made of the accommodation available for the Diplomatic Protection Group of the police in those parts of the Palace of Westminster for which the Commission has responsibility. [184443]
Nick Harvey: A health and safety assessment of the accommodation available for the Diplomatic Protection Group has been carried out by the House of Commons Estate Safety Adviser. It highlighted a number of safety and environmental issues and the House authorities and the Metropolitan Police Service are working together to find solutions.
International Development
Ethiopia: Overseas Aid
Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much international aid and development funding was given to Ethiopia in 2006-07; and if he will make a statement. [186389]
Gillian Merron: The forum for international aid reporting is the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) which publishes Official Development Assistance (ODA) figures on a calendar year basis. The international aid figures for Ethiopia for 2006 are shown in the following table:
| Official development assistance for 2006, Ethiopia | |
| £ million | |
Food
Mr. Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether he met (a) representatives of the UN World Food Programme and (b) President of the World Bank, Robert Zoellick, at the World Economic Forum, Davos, to discuss global supplies of essential food commodities; and what the outcome of that meeting was. [183795]
Mr. Douglas Alexander: At the World Economic Forum in Davos, I met with Josette Sheeran, Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP). We discussed a range of issues.
I did not meet with Robert Zoellick, as he is due to be visiting London in the coming weeks and I will meet with him then.
Kosovo: Overseas Aid
Mr. Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much aid his Department allocated to Kosovo in each of the last three years; how much will be granted in the next three years; and if he will make a statement. [180830]
Mr. Douglas Alexander: Details of the UK's bilateral assistance to Kosovo and imputed multilateral assistance to Serbia and Montenegro (including Kosovo) in each of the last three years are laid out in the following tables. When figures are available the imputed multilateral assistance to Serbia and Montenegro will be reported separately for 2006; however, Kosovo will continue to be reported as part of Serbia until Kosovo's status is resolved.
| Table 1: Total DFID b ilateral e xpenditure on d evelopment a ssistance to Kosovo 2004-05 to 2006-07 | |
| £000 | |
| (1)Actual spend. (2) Projected spend. | |
| Table 2: Imputed UK share of multilateral official development assistance to Serbia and Montenegro (including Kosovo) (ODA) 2004-05 | |
| £000 | |
DFID is currently developing detailed plans for allocating its budget over the three-year period 2008-09 to 2010-11 following the outcome of the comprehensive spending review announced in October. Individual country and regional allocations will not be finalised until March 2008.
Middle East: Overseas Aid
Mr. Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps his Department takes to ensure that aid to the Palestinian territories is not used to fund propaganda against the West and Israel. [185027]
Mr. Douglas Alexander: UK aid to the Occupied Palestinian Territories is subject to the highest level of scrutiny. All projects are run by internationally respected organisations and are independently audited. Rigorous checks are performed for each payment and individual recipients are checked against up to five different international terrorist lists.
The UK does not fund Palestinian Authority (PA) education textbooks, nor do we provide funding to the Ministry of Education. The UK supports public services through the Temporary International Mechanism (TIM) but the TIM does not contribute to the production of educational materials.
World Economic Forum
Mr. Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what meetings he (a) attended and (b) chaired during the World Economic Forum, Davos, from 23 to 28 January 2008. [183796]
Mr. Douglas Alexander: At the World Economic Forum in Davos I participated in a number of bilaterals, as well as attending the following sessions:
Three Crucial Questions for Gordon Brown
Corporate Global Citizenship in the 21st Century
New Drivers of Development
The Future of Global Governance: Time for Government 2.0?
Threats to the Global Trading System.
Leader of the House
Departmental Databases
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Leader of the House what databases are (a) owned and (b) maintained by her Office. [185430]
Helen Goodman: The Office of the Leader of the House of Commons has one correspondence database which is managed via a service level agreement by the Cabinet Office IT provider and Domain Technologies.
Departmental Internet
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Leader of the House how many Wikipedia entries have been (a) created and (b) amended (i) by (A) special advisers, (B) Ministers and (C) communications officials and (ii) from IP addresses of (1) special advisers, (2) Ministers and (3) communications officials in her Office since August 2005. [185533]
Helen Goodman: None. Officials in this Office are not responsible for the creation of, or amendment to, Wikipedia entries and there are no plans for them to become so.
Women and Equality
Administration of Justice: Females
Mrs. May:
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities what discussions she has had since 1 December 2007 with the hon. Member for Liverpool, Garston in
her role as the Ministry of Justice's Ministerial Champion for Women and Criminal Justice. [182738]
Barbara Follett: I take a close interest in women and criminal justice matters and have had regular discussions with my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Ministry of Justice (Maria Eagle). I am also a member of the ministerial sub-group on women convened by her as the Ministry of Justice's Ministerial Champion for Women and Criminal Justice, and which held its first meeting on 23 January 2008.
Prostitution: Advertising
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality what steps the Government plan to take on the offering of sexual services through personal advertisements in regional and local newspapers. [185374]
Barbara Follett [holding answer 7 February 2008]: Last week we published Women Not for Sale, which is a snapshot of one day's worth of this type of advertisements, as part of work to halt the growing vice trade of women trafficked into the UK for the purposes of prostitution.
We have also had constructive meetings with representatives from the newspaper and advertising industries on this issue. The Newspaper Society has agreed to examine the guidance it issues to publishers to ensure it fully reflects concerns about human trafficking for sexual exploitation.
Communities and Local Government
Aggregates: Construction
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what discussions her officials have had with the construction industry on reducing the use of aggregates in the last three years. [185229]
Mr. Iain Wright: Officials held extensive discussions with stakeholders, including the construction and minerals industries, in developing the current planning policy for minerals, set out in Minerals Policy Statement 1, published in November 2006. This policy promotes a hierarchical approach to minerals supply, aiming first to reduce as far as practicable the quantity of material used.
Buildings: Energy
Mr. Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when she plans to publish (a) details of the training and qualifications required to accredit energy assessors and (b) the approved method for calculating energy consumption as part of implementing requirements for display energy certificates. [186367]
Caroline Flint:
Details of routes to accreditation for all types of energy assessors, including accreditation schemes approved to offer such accreditation, are available on the CLG website. Training courses and qualifications
are being developed and delivered by approved awarding bodies. In addition, a route to accredit prior experience and learning have being developed by the approved accreditation schemes and approved by CLG.
A version of the approved method for calculating energy consumption as part of implementing requirements for display energy certificates is available to approved accreditation schemes and other stakeholders on the CLG website.
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