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26 Jan 2009 : Column 124W—continued
Non-departmental Public Bodies: Pay
Mr. Evans: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many staff employed by non-departmental public bodies earned over (a) £100,000, (b) £200,000, (c) £300,000, (d) £400,000, (e) £500,000, (f) £600,000, (g) £700,000 and (h) £800,000 in 2008; and if he will make a statement. [250485]
Mr. Watson: This information is not held centrally. Non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) publish details of salaries and allowances paid to senior staff in their annual reports and accounts.
Parliamentary Questions: Commercial Secrets
Mr. Harper: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what guidance his Department has issued about the rules on commercial confidentiality and disclosure of information in response to Parliamentary Questions. [245473]
Mr. Watson: Parliamentary questions are answered in accordance with Cabinet Office “Guidance on Answers to Parliamentary Questions” and the “Ministerial Code”, copies of which are available in the Library and from the departmental website.
Population
Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what his estimate is of (a) the population of the United Kingdom and (b) the percentage of the population who will be senior citizens in (i) 2014, (ii) 2019 and (iii) 2024. [250201]
Kevin Brennan [holding answer 22 January 2009]: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
Letter from Dennis Roberts, dated January 2009:
The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your question regarding what the estimate is of (a) the population of the United Kingdom and (b) the percentage of the population who will be senior citizens in (i) 2014, (ii) 2019 and (iii) 2024. I am replying in her absence. (250201)
Table 1 below shows the projected population of the United Kingdom for 2014, 2019 and 2024 together with the percentage of the population that will have reached state pension age in each of these years. These are based on the state pension age applicable in each year so they take into account the forthcoming increases in state pension age.
| Table 1: Projected population of the United Kingdom, 2014, 2019 and 2024 | ||
| Total population (million) | Percentage at state pensionable age( 1) | |
| (1 )These percentages allow for forthcoming increases to the state pension age for women, from 60 to 65, which is a graduated change between 2010 and 2020. They also allow for further changes between 2024 and 2026, when the state pension age will increase from 65 to 66 for both men and women. Source: 2006-based national population projections. | ||
Public Bodies: Telephone Services
Paul Rowen: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what steps are being taken by the Contact Council in relation to public sector bodies that do not charge fees for the use of their services and which use revenue sharing 084x and 087x telephone numbers. [240799]
Mr. Watson: The use of non-geographic phone numbers is currently a matter for individual Departments. It is their responsibility to balance the costs and the needs of their users and customers.
Some central Government Departments operating 084x and 087x telephone numbers apply additional charges on top of the costs of the call. However the extent of these practices has not been systematically assessed. Therefore the cross-government Contact Council has commissioned research requesting that central Government Departments provide details of how many 084x and 087x telephone numbers they operate, and whether these numbers partake in revenue sharing activities, as part of a comprehensive survey of number usage in the public sector. Once this research has been carried out the Contact Council will issue guidelines on numbering in general, including the use of 084x and 087x numbers. This guidance will be published later in the year.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Afghanistan: Peacekeeping Operations
Mr. Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many UK personnel are working for the UN assistance mission in Afghanistan. [246709]
Bill Rammell: The UK strongly supports the work of the UN assistance mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), and we work closely with them there, including through our embassy in Kabul. UNAMA employs 16 British citizens directly. While no Government personnel are currently employed with UNAMA, we are holding discussions with them on providing further UK staff to the mission.
Brazil: Overseas Students
Mr. Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many Chevening scholarships have been awarded to Brazilian nationals in the last 10 years. [250119]
Caroline Flint: There have been 569 Brazilian Chevening scholars in the last 10 years. This includes a provisional figure of 24 scholars for this academic year (2008-09), because the British Council does not yet have nationality information for all of those scholars in receipt of partnership awards.
Burma
Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he has held discussions with the government of Thailand regarding the treatment of Burmese boat people near the Andaman Islands. [250202]
Bill Rammell [holding answer 22 January 2009]: We are deeply concerned by allegations that refugees from Burma were abandoned at sea by the Thai navy. We have raised the issue with the Thai authorities and welcome Prime Minister Abhisit's assurances of an investigation into the matter. Working with EU partners, and in close consultation with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, we will continue to press the Thai authorities to establish the facts and take appropriate action.
Czech Republic: EU Presidency
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the Czech Republic's agenda for its presidency of the EU. [245466]
Caroline Flint: The Czech presidency of the EU began on 1 January and ends on 30 June 2009. The Czech Government have said that over the next six months the presidency will focus on energy, external and economic issues. The priorities of the Czech presidency are very much in line with Government objectives and we look forward to working with the Czech Government and our other EU partners on these issues. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office produces a Command Paper on each EU presidency every six months and this will be laid before the House before the end of January. It will also be placed in the Library of the House and on the FCO website at:
Czech Republic: Foreign Relations
Mr. Gregory Campbell:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will invite the President of the Czech Republic, Václav Klaus, to
make an address to hon. Members on achieving better co-operation in Europe during his term of office as President of the European Council; and if he will seek to arrange for that address to be delivered in the precincts of the House. [250923]
Caroline Flint: There are currently no plans to invite President Klaus to make an address to the House. President Klaus, as the Czech Head of State, has an important role to play in the presidency. But Prime Minister Topolanek, as Head of the Czech Executive, is the President of the Council. My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary met Prime Minister Topolanek in London on 18 December 2008. We have every confidence in the Czech presidency's ability to promote better European cooperation through their presidency objectives of a "Europe without Barriers".
Democratic Republic of Congo: Armed Conflict
Mr. Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent reports he has received on the implementation of the ruling of the International Court of Justice of 19 December 2005 on Uganda; and if he will make a statement. [243886]
Gillian Merron [holding answer 14 January 2009]: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has received no recent reports on the implementation of the ruling of the International Court of Justice of 19 December 2005 on Uganda.
Departmental ICT
Mr. Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs with reference to page 7 of his Department’s Autumn 2008 Performance Report, what the risks are which remain to deploying and realising the full benefits of his Department’s new IT system. [246267]
David Miliband: Since the publication of the report the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has successfully deployed the new IT system to our UK offices and two overseas pilot posts. This has mitigated the risk in some areas. However, as the programme progresses, the risks continually change, with new risks arising and others being mitigated. The main areas of risk on which we are focusing are:
the testing of the system/performance of the telecommunications network
the deployment schedule
getting the right resources where and when needed
co-ordination with wider IT/building changes
preparation of staff to take advantage of the benefits of the system.
The FCO deployment team continually monitor the risks to the programme and seek external assurance through the Office of Government Commerce gateway process.
Diplomatic Relations
Mr. Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs with reference to page 7 of his Department’s Autumn 2008 Performance Report, what the meaning is of (a) laptop diplomats and (b) virtual embassies; and if he will make a statement. [246266]
David Miliband: “Laptop diplomat” is a phrase we have coined to describe a member of staff equipped, with mobile communications and a laptop computer, to work away from the embassy. He or she could be based in London or at a Post overseas, working in a single country or on a regional basis, but will have the capability to travel outside the capital city to often remote locations (for example Goma in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, or Juba in southern Sudan) in response to a specific need.
We are already doing a lot of “laptop diplomacy”. We have laptop diplomats operating in a range of roles and environments across the network, including as conflict advisors and analysts in Africa, in Pakistan’s North West Frontier Province, or as roving envoys in the Pacific and Central Asia. Each scenario is different. But in each case, laptop diplomats give the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) a better understanding of events and a greater ability to influence those events by working more closely with the people who matter, whether they are UN agencies, non governmental organisations or local political figures. We are developing IT solutions that will enable us to do more of it and do it better.
Those solutions include the “Virtual Embassy”—an interactive website which will build on many of the features of our current embassy websites. They will consist of an external, public-facing web page that provides basic information for visitors (UK or local); some of the services a real embassy provides (for example a click through to real (call centre) or virtual (self help) consular and visa services); and allows some engagement on political issues, through the creative use of tailored, local content and interactive features (such as blogs; videoconferences; discussion forums, and personalisation). In addition, they will include a set of internet-based tools that enable a laptop diplomat to carry out all the functions they could do at their desk in the embassy, anywhere where they have an internet connection. So virtual embassies will provide us with a means to engage with stakeholders and advance policy campaigns in countries where we have no physical presence.
Laptop diplomats and virtual embassies are examples of the way the FCO is modernising, helping us to build a flexible, agile overseas network that adapts quickly to new challenges and delivers for the whole of Government.
Diplomatic Service: Education
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many of those who were made a Knight Commander of the Order of St. Michael and St. George in each of the last 10 years attended (a) independent and (b) state schools; and how many attended (i) Oxford and Cambridge and (ii) other universities. [244269]
Gillian Merron: Educational backgrounds are not factors which are considered in awarding honours. We do not have complete information on the schools and universities attended by the 74 recipients of a D/KCMG since 1998. We have the following information on the 45 recipients from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office:
1998: (a) 4; (i) 4; (ii) 1
1999: (a) 4; (b) l; (i) 3; (ii) 2
2000: (a) 4; (i) 4
2001: (a) 3; (b) l; (i) 4
2002: (a) l; (b) l; (i) 2
2003: (a) 6; (i) 3
2004: (a) 3; (i) 3
2005: (a) 3; (i) 3
2006: (a) 4; (i ) 4
2007: (a) 3; (i) 3; (ii) 1
2008: (a) 3; (b) l; (i) 2; (ii) l.
European Structural Funds
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make representations to the European Commission on the European Court of Auditors’ disclosure of a 12 per cent. error rate in the execution of the Structural Fund; and if he will make a statement. [249745]
Ian Pearson: I have been asked to reply
The UK is taking the lead in ECOFIN Council discussions on the European Court of Auditor’s (ECA) Report on the 2007 EC Budget. Examination of the report includes analysis of Structural Funds for which the ECA’s estimated error rate was 11 per cent. February’s ECOFIN meeting will agree measures which the Commission must implement to improve the financial management of EU funds.
European Union
Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which officer in the UK Permanent Representation to the EU (UKRep) determines which (a) reports and (b) e-grams (i) originating in and (ii) received by UKRep are circulated to the EU offices of the devolved Administrations; and if he will publish the protocols which apply to decisions on such matters. [242056]
Caroline Flint: The duties of the UK Permanent Representation to the EU (UKRep) (and Whitehall departments) to share information with the devolved Administrations are detailed in a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), (available on the Ministry of Justice website), specifically Annex B, the Concordat on coordination of European Union Policy Issues.
UKRep and the devolved Administration EU Offices are in regular and open communication on all EU business which touches upon matters which fall within the responsibility of the devolved Administrations. All members of staff within UKRep concerned with these matters share information with the EU Offices of the devolved Administrations under the terms of the MOU.
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