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18 Nov 2008 : Column 430W—continued
China Task Force
Mr. Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many times the China Task Force has met since its establishment; who chaired each meeting; and if he will make a statement. [235708]
Bill Rammell: The China Task Force was established in November 2003 and was originally chaired by the then Deputy Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Kingston upon Hull, East (Mr. Prescott). China Task Force meetings took place in February, April and November 2004, July and October 2005, June and September 2006 and February 2007.
Since August 2007, it has been chaired by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer. He chaired his first meeting in September 2007, and then in February 2008. The most recent meeting took place in October 2008 and was chaired by my noble Friend Lord Myners, Financial Services Secretary, on behalf of my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Further information about the China Task Force and its remit can be found on the Cabinet Office website at:
China: Tibet
Mr. Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether benchmarks have been agreed to assess progress in the Sino-Tibetan dialogue; and if he will make a statement. [235408]
Bill Rammell: In his written ministerial statement of 29 October 2008, Official Report, column 30WS, my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary made clear our interest in various aspects of the Tibetan issue. These include the need for respect for Tibetan culture, language and religion. We believe that the talks on Tibet offer the opportunity to make progress in all of these areas, as well as on wider issues of human rights, including the right to freedom of peaceful expression. We are disappointed that to date the dialogue has failed to make progress on any of this, and we urge both parties to redouble efforts and engage on the substance of the issues.
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the positive outcomes for the Tibetans which have emerged from the UK-China Human Rights Dialogue since 2003. [235571]
Bill Rammell:
The UK has raised human rights issues in Tibet with the Chinese authorities at each round of dialogue. The last round of the dialogue, in January
2008, was accompanied by a field trip to Tibet, where the delegation visited Drapchi prison, a police station and a criminal trial, and raised concerns directly with local officials. We have also raised Tibet repeatedly in political discussions, including when my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister spoke by telephone to Premier Wen on 7 November. We have lobbied on a number of individual cases of concern as part of these various discussions, which we judge may have contributed to early releases and sentence reductions. We continue to support small-scale development projects in Tibet through our embassy in Beijing.
Democratic Republic of Congo: Armed Conflict
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received of recent activity by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in north-eastern Congo; what assessment he has made of such reports; and what representations he has received on the indictment by the International Criminal Court of four LRA members. [234122]
Gillian Merron: Local humanitarian agencies report numerous attacks against the civilian population by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in the territory of Dungu in north-eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in recent months. The most recent reports include details of an attack on Dungu over the weekend of 1-2 November. The LRA poses an increasingly serious threat to security across the region.
The UK strongly supports the International Criminal Court and believes that its investigation in Uganda helped bring the LRA to the Juba peace process. Justice is an essential part of sustainable peace and it is vital that those responsible for the terrible crimes committed during the conflict in northern Uganda are held to account.
Departmental Public Relations
Mr. Ancram:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the cost was of (a) entertainment, (b) advertising and promotion
and (c) public relations consultancy to his Department in 2007-08. [228162]
Gillian Merron: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) does not keep a central record of amounts spent on entertainment, and advertising and promotion. The information required to answer this question could be obtained only by requiring individual budget holders in the FCO to examine all invoices for the required years. This could be done only at disproportionate cost.
Annual expenditure on external consultants is published in the Department's annual reports, copies of which are in the Library of the House. The two most recent annual reports also contain details of expenditure on the top five consultancy suppliers. Expenditure on public relations contracts is not categorised separately, and could not be identified without incurring a disproportionate cost. However, it is not likely to be significant as the vast majority of work undertaken for the FCO by consultants is associated with its major information communication technology and estate construction programmes.
The FCO is committed to ensuring that all expenditure, including that on entertainment, is incurred in accordance with the principles of Managing Public Money and the Treasury handbook on Regularity and Propriety.
Departmental Recruitment
Mr. Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much (a) his Department and (b) its executive agencies spent on (i) recruitment consultants and (ii) external recruitment advertising to recruit staff in each of the last five financial years; which recruitment consultants were employed for those purposes in each of those years; and if he will make a statement. [226795]
Gillian Merron: The costs of recruitment consultants and external recruitment advertising in each of the last five years are detailed in the following tables. These costs relate to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and FCO Services, a Trading Fund of the FCO which delivers a combination of secure services to the FCO in the UK and at missions overseas.
| FCO Services R ecruitment | |||
| Financial year | External recruitment advertising costs (£) | Recruitment consultants costs (£) | Recruitment consultants used |
FCO Services spend on recruitment consultants is less than that of FCO Recruitment. This is because FCO Services recruitment campaigns are smaller and can be managed mostly in-house, with very little being outsourced.
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