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5 Mar 2008 : Column 2576W—continued
Teachers: Training
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many mathematics and physics teachers graduated in each of the last 10 years. [189396]
Jim Knight: I have been asked to reply.
The information is not collected centrally.
Teaching Methods
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what guidance his Department provides to (a) teacher-training institutions and (b) schools on the use of Brain Gym with pupils. [190817]
Jim Knight: I have been asked to reply.
We do not prescribe the design of Initial Teacher Training programmes or give guidance on any specific training aids that may be used to deliver those programmes. Programme design is at the provider’s discretion, as long as it complies with the requirements for Initial Teacher Training, set out in guidance from the Training and Development Agency for Schools.
We do not provide guidance or advice to schools on the use of Brain Gym.
International Development
Departmental Homeworking
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many people in his Department have been able to work from home in the last 12 months. [189779]
Gillian Merron: ( )Central records of the number of home workers are not collated and are( )available only at a disproportionate cost. Arrangements are agreed( )between line managers and individuals.
Departmental Older Workers
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many people over the age of 55 years have been recruited by his Department in each of the last three years. [191512]
Gillian Merron: The Department for International Development (DFID) has recruited a total of 12 staff over the age of 55 during the last three years. The number of such staff recruited, for each year since 2005, is shown in the following table.
| Number of staff recruited over the age of 55 | |
Developing Countries: Sanitation
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what support the Government have provided to developing countries for water and sanitation improvements since 1997. [191472]
Mr. Thomas: ( )DFID statistics on water and sanitation disbursement cover the period from 2000( )onward and were £165 million in 2000-01; £152 million in 2001-02; £146 million in( )2002-03; £225 million in 2003-04; £240 million in 2004-05; and £242 million in 2005-06.( )A detailed breakdown of DFID support for the water sector over the last five years can( )be found in the two reports titled ‘Financial Support to the Water Sector 2002 to 2004’ and( )‘Financial Support to the Water Sector 2004 to 2006’, prepared for DFID by WS Atkins( )Plc. Both have been placed in the House of Commons Library.
Fairtrade Initiative
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps the Government have taken to encourage the supply of fair trade products to the UK market. [191471]
Mr. Thomas: ( )The UK Government are a strong supporter of the growing fair and ethical( )trade sector. The Department for International Development has provided( )almost £12 million to promote fair and ethical trade initiatives since 1997.( )We recently announced a new £1.2 million grant to the Fairtrade Labelling( )Organisation to scale up Fairtrade labelling, particularly in the poorest( )countries.
We are also keen to encourage the private sector to do more to proactively( )source goods from developing countries. To support this DFID has( )launched a £2 million Food Retail Industry Challenge Fund (FRICH). This( )will support innovative business models that will help bring millions of( )farmers into profitable fair trading relationships with UK shoppers.
Stabilisation Unit
Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many people have been deployed by the Stabilisation Unit in (a) Nepal, (b) Iraq, (c) Afghanistan, (d) Lebanon and (e) Sudan. [191437]
Mr. Douglas Alexander: The Stabilisation Unit has, since its establishment, deployed a mix of its own staff, individual experts from its database and individuals from consultancy firms. The total number of personnel who have been deployed to each country as at 29 February 2008 are:
| Country | Number |
Each person deployed to a country has been counted only once even if they were deployed to the same country on a number of occasions.
Stabilisation Unit: Finance
Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much of the £269 million stabilisation aid fund will be allocated for use by the Stabilisation Unit. [191438]
Mr. Douglas Alexander: The Stabilisation Unit is performing a number of roles in respect of the stabilisation aid fund (SAF):
Helping to design the criteria and allocation mechanisms for the SAF;
Advising on priorities for SAF funding in Afghanistan and Iraq;
Helping to design some specific SAF programmes, and;
Providing civilian experts to deliver some SAF programmes.
The exact allocation of responsibility for managing SAF funds has yet to be determined and will depend on the final design of the programmes. Stabilisation Unit core funding will not be a charge to the SAF.
Television
Mr. Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many plasma television screens have been purchased by his Department, and at what cost, in the last 24 months. [191078]
Mr. Malik: ( )DFID has purchased 78 plasma screens in the past 24 months, at a cost of( )£117,018. All are in use in DFID's worldwide video-conferencing network,( )and none have television tuners.
Treasury
Defence: Expenditure
Mr. Gerald Howarth:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the comprehensive spending review 2007, if he will place in the Library a copy of the methodology and calculations that provide the
basis for his statement that defence expenditure will rise by 1.5 per cent. in real terms between 2008-09 and 2010-11. [191686]
Yvette Cooper: Details of the Ministry of Defence settlement are given Table D14 in Annex D8 of the 2007 pre-budget report and comprehensive spending review document, which can be found at:
The relevant deflators can be found at:
Delivery Unit
Mr. Maude: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many staff work in the Prime Minister’s Delivery Unit; and what the budget for the unit was for 2007-08. [191088]
Yvette Cooper: The Prime Minister’s Delivery Unit has an agreed headcount for 2007-08 of 33, and a budget of £3.639 million.
Departmental ICT
Sarah Teather: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 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. [184344]
Angela Eagle: The records do not distinguish between lost and missing items. The remainder of the information is presented in the following table:
| Item | Lost and missing | Stolen | |
Departmental Internet
Mr. Swire: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if his Department will (a) follow the Internet Content Rating Association (ICRA) guidelines and (b) display ICRA’s label on the websites for which it is responsible. [191776]
Angela Eagle: The departmental website is compliant with Internet Content Rating Association (ICRA) guidelines and displays ICRA’s label on the home page.
Departmental Older Workers
David Simpson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people over the age of 55 have been recruited by his Department in each of the last three years. [191521]
Angela Eagle: In the last three calendar years HM Treasury recruited the following number of people over the age of 55:
| Number of employees | |
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