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29 Jan 2009 : Column 731W—continued
In 2009 a total of two prisoners absconded. Both prisoners are now in prison custody.
| Numbers of prisoners | (a) Number of days spent from UAL to date | (b) Number of days from UAL to apprehension |
Sexual Offences: Prisoners Release
Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people who had been convicted of a sexual offence in Northern Ireland since 2005 were subjected to MASRAM supervision after release and were subsequently found guilty of a further offence. [252960]
Paul Goggins: In 2005, the latest year for which re-conviction data can be made available, 71 persons were released from immediate custody or disposed of by a community sentence for a sexual offence. All cases would have been risk assessed and managed under the MASRAM arrangements. The latest figures show none of these persons were re-convicted of a further sexual offence within a two year period.
Leader of the House
Correspondence
Grant Shapps: To ask the Leader of the House what her Office’s average response time to a letter received from (a) an hon. Member and (b) a member of the public was in each of the last three years. [251445]
Chris Bryant: The information requested is not available in precisely the form requested.
However, we aim to respond to correspondence from hon. Members and peers within 15 working days. In 2008, the Leader’s Office answered 94 per cent. of correspondence from hon. Members and peers within deadline. In 2007 this was 94 per cent. and in 2006, 95 per cent.
The Office aims to respond to correspondence from members of the public within 20 working days. In 2008, the Leader’s Office answered 96 per cent. of correspondence from members of the public within deadline. In 2007 this was 90 per cent. and in 2006, 95 per cent.
Mass Media
Grant Shapps: To ask the Leader of the House what the cost of her Office’s contracts with press monitoring services was in each of the last five years. [251196]
Chris Bryant: The press monitoring services for the Leader’s Office are provided by the Cabinet Office and costs are therefore not identifiable separately.
International Development
Belize: Overseas Aid
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much aid his Department provided to Belize in each of the last 20 years, expressed in today's prices. [250739]
Mr. Michael Foster: Details on Official Development Assistance (ODA) can be found on the OECD Development Assistance Committee's (DAC) website at
The relevant figures are reproduced in the following table.
| Total foreign Aid to Belize , 1988 to 2007 | |
| $USD millions, constant prices (2007) | |
Burma: Overseas Aid
John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what percentage of British aid to Burma is delivered via cross-border mechanisms. [250796]
Mr. Michael Foster: Approximately £569,000, 4.6 per cent. of DFID’s £12.5 million regular programme for Burma in 2008-09 (excluding £45 million emergency relief following Cyclone Nargis) is being delivered via cross-border mechanisms. This figure breaks down as follows:
£193,000 of DFID’s £1 million funding to the Thailand Burma Border Consortium (TBBC) in 2008-09 has been allocated to cross-border humanitarian activities. Since DFID’s contribution to TBBC was not earmarked to specific activities, this proportion reflects TBBC’s own priorities.
DFID is contributing about £300,000 in 2008-09 to cross-border health assistance to Kachin and Shan States from China.
Around £76,000 of £220,000 provided to three Burmese non-governmental organisations based in Thailand is being used for humanitarian work inside Burma. The remainder of this funding is used to assist Burmese refugees and migrants in Thailand.
Community Relations
Mr. Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what funds his Department contributed to local authority Preventing Violent Extremism projects in 2008, broken down by local authority; and if he will make a statement. [251764]
Mr. Michael Foster: The Department for International Development did not contribute any funds in 2008 to any local authorities for programmes on preventing violent extremism.
Corporate Communications
Mr. Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Selby of 6 February 2007, Official Report, column 767W, on public relations, if he will place in the Library a copy of the corporate communications strategy provided by the firm Corporate Communications. [250279]
Mr. Michael Foster: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Sutton Coldfield (Mr. Mitchell) on 14 January 2009, Official Report, column 832W.
Departmental Correspondence
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what his Department's average response time to a letter received from (a) an hon. Member and (b) a member of the public was in each of the last three years. [251443]
Mr. Michael Foster: The Cabinet Office, on an annual basis, publishes a report to Parliament on the performance of Departments in replying to Members' correspondence. The report for 2007 was published on 20 March 2008, Official Report, columns 71-74WS. Information for 2008 is currently being collated and will be published as soon as it is ready. Reports for earlier years are available in the Library of the House.
DFID does not routinely collate data on average time taken to respond to letters from members of the public, and this information cannot be provided within the disproportionate cost limit.
DFID aims to respond to all written correspondence from members of the public within 15 working days. Information on DFID's performance against this target in 2008 is currently being collated and will be published in our 2009 Annual Report. Data for 2007 can be found in our Annual Report, section 10.12, at
Data for 2006 were not published. However in that year DFID's Public Enquiry Point handled 1,754 letters, of which 88 per cent. were answered within the 15 day target.
Departmental ICT
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the initial estimated (a) cost and (b) delivery date was of each ICT project initiated by his Department in each year since 1997; what the (i) outturn cost and (ii) completion date was of each such project subsequently completed; which contractors were hired for each project; and how much has been paid to each contractor in respect of each project to date. [251384]
Mr. Michael Foster: The ASSIST 2000 programme began in 1999 and completed in June 2004. The total cost of the programme was £4.32 million. The primary contractor was Methods Application Ltd and the contracted cost was £1.33 million.
The Human Resources Database project began in 2001-02. The initial estimated cost and delivery date was £1.18 million and March 2004 respectively. The project was completed in March 2004 at a cost of £1.22 million. The primary contractor was RebusSoftware Limited (now Northgate-Arinso) and the contracted cost was £1.22 million.
The Quest Electronic Document and Records Management (EDRMS) project began in 2001-02. The initial estimated cost and delivery date was £8.98 million and December 2005 respectively. The project was completed
in March 2006 at a cost of £11.68 million, which included additional options available under the original contract. The primary contractor was LogicaCMG (now Logica) and the contracted cost was £11.68 million.
The PRISM (Performance Reporting Information System for Management) programme began in 2001-02. The cost at completion was £1.14 million and the programme was completed by March 2005. The programme was carried out largely using in-house resources.
The ARIES Finance, Procurement and Reporting System began in 2004. The initial estimated supplier base cost was £11 million, the initial estimated delivery date was October 2008. The current expected completion date is September 2009 with an estimated supplier cost of £17.6 million. This estimate reflects agreed changes to the scope of the project, a software upgrade, additional consultancy support for change management, development of end-user training materials, and assistance with training and rollout. The primary contractor is Agresso Ltd.
The HR transformation project started in March 2005 and was completed on time in March 2008. The original budget was £6.5 million and the cost on completion was £6.0 million This was primarily a business change project but included a number of smaller IT components.
The Desktop Refresh project started in 2005 and was completed on time in March 2006. The cost at completion was £1.87 million. The project was carried out using in-house resources and equipment was purchased from Hewlett Packard Ltd.
The Laptop Refresh project started in October 2007 and was completed on time in December 2008. The original budget was £1.8 million and the final outturn was £1.7 million. The project was carried out by DFID staff and equipment was purchased from Dell Ltd.
The Web Transformation project began in December 2007 and is on track to complete in July 2009. The original projected budget was £2.0 million and the current forecast is £2.5 million. The project is managed in-house but uses a range of smaller contractors.
The Knowledge and Information Management Programme began in 2008. The project is at an early stage but is on track to complete in March 2011. The original cost estimate of £6.8 million is still accurate. This programme is managed in-house but uses a range of smaller contractors.
The Information Technology Infrastructure Programme (ITIP) began in 2007 and is on track to complete in March 2011. The original estimate of £5.0 million is still accurate. This programme is managed in-house but uses a range of smaller contractors.
DFID has also let a number of small IT related contracts. However, our central records do not distinguish IT contracts, so provision of details for these projects would incur disproportionate costs.
Departmental Surveys
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much his Department's central media and communication unit spent on public surveys in each of the last three years. [247921]
Mr. Michael Foster: The Department for International Development's (DFID) expenditure on public surveys in the last three financial years is as follows:
| Financial year | Expenditure (£) |
The major items of spending in 2007-08 relate to the development of an audience segmentation model for international development—as per good practice advocated by the Government Communications Network. This is being used to inform future communications strategy. Further details of this were given in the answer to the right hon. Member for Maidenhead (Mrs. May) of 2 June 2008, Official Report, column 658W.
Malaria
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what funding his Department is providing for (a) research into and (b) prevention of malaria; and if he will make a statement. [249689]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Department for International Development (DFID) is providing £10 million to the Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV), which is a product development partnership developing new drugs for malaria. A further £6.5 million is being provided to the Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative (DNDi). The DNDi is also a product development partnership developing new drugs for a number of neglected tropical diseases, including malaria. DNDi launched two new fixed dose artemisinin combination drugs in 2007 and 2008 and to date over one million courses of these drugs have been distributed in developing countries.
Two research programme consortia on communicable diseases, including malaria, are also supported by DFID. They are led by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the Nuffield Institute for International Health at Leeds University. Each of these consortia will receive a total of £5 million over five years.
DFID supports work on malaria prevention through its support to international organisations such as the World Health Organisation, UNICEF and the World Bank all of whom have programmes on malaria. In addition support is being provided to global health partnerships such as the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria (GFATM), UNITAID, and the Roll Back Malaria Partnership. DFID has made a commitment to provide £1 billion to the GFATM from 2008 to 2015. DFID is also providing support for prevention through our country programmes, which includes a commitment to provide 20 million insecticide treated bed nets over three years made by the Prime Minister in 2008.
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