Written Answers to Questions
Tuesday 24 March 2009
Wales
Departmental Flowers
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how much was spent by his Department on flowers in the last 12 months. [266289]
Mr. Paul Murphy: In the last 12 months, my Department has spent £40 on flowers.
Departmental Public Expenditure
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what (a) capital and (b) resource funds his Department has brought forward from its (i) 2009-10 and (ii) 2010-11 budgets for use in (A) 2008-09 and (B) 2009-10; and what schemes this funding is being used to support. [265105]
Mr. Paul Murphy: The Wales Office is a small Department with no executive functions, and no responsibility for spending programmes, either capital or resource. Our resource allocation is purely to cover our own running costs, and our capital allocation only to provide cover for proper management of Gwydyr House. Accordingly, we are not in a position to participate in the bringing forward of spending plans.
Opinion Leader Research
Mr. Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how much his Department has paid Opinion Leader Research in each financial year since 2007-08. [265976]
Mr. Paul Murphy: My Department has not made any payments to Opinion Leader Research since 2007-08.
House of Commons Commission
Management and Services of the House of Commons Review
Mr. Amess: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission how much was spent by the Commission on the Tebbit Review of Management and Services of the House; how much has been spent to date on implementation of the review’s findings; and if he will make a statement. [264618]
Nick Harvey:
The cost of the Tebbit Review was £112,000. It is difficult to distinguish the costs of implementing the Tebbit Review from the costs of improved service delivery and organisational change, some of which was already under way before the Tebbit Review
but to which the Review gave additional impetus. A preliminary analysis suggests that the additional direct costs of implementing the Tebbit recommendations, to the end of the current financial year, have been £395,000, which have been met out of existing budgets from efficiency savings. This figure does not include the cost of service improvements since the Tebbit Review (for example, improvements to the parliamentary website and to internal communications).
It is planned to review the extent to which the intended business benefits of the Tebbit Review have been realised in 2010.
Leader of the House
Training
Grant Shapps: To ask the Leader of the House which training courses were (a) available to and (b) taken up by (i) civil servants and (ii) Ministers in her Office in the last 12 months. [265303]
Chris Bryant: Training courses are just one aspect of the development opportunities open to civil servants in the Office of the Leader of the House of Commons, and every member of staff discusses their personal development as part of their appraisal process.
Information on courses attended is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. However, during the last 12 months members of staff participated in training provided by external training organisations and internal training courses which are provided by the Cabinet Office free of charge.
During the past 12 months Ministers in the Office of the Leader of the House of Commons have taken up training courses provided by the National School of Government.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Afghanistan: Peacekeeping Operations
Mr. Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions the Government has had with the Taliban on securing peace in Afghanistan. [264763]
Bill Rammell: The Government have not engaged in talks with the Taliban in Afghanistan. However, our embassy in Kabul and the UK-led Civil-Military Mission Helmand in Lashkar Gah have made a wide range of contacts within the Afghanistan government and people in public life, some of whom will have held positions under the former Taliban regime.
The UK’s position on reconciliation remains unchanged. It is not for the UK to reconcile with those elements fighting in opposition to the Afghan government. We support President Karzai’s efforts to bring disaffected Afghans into society’s mainstream, providing they renounce violence and accept Afghanistan’s constitution.
Binyam Mohamed
Mr. Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs with reference to paragraph 9 (ix) of the High Court judgement in the case of R (Binyam Mohamed) v Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs of 21 August 2008 on what date officials of his Department were first informed that an officer of the Secret Intelligence Service had made observations about the treatment of persons detained by or on behalf of the United States in Afghanistan. [259032]
Bill Rammell [holding answer 26 February 2009]: It is the long-standing policy of the Government not to comment on intelligence matters. The Intelligence and Security Committee’s 2005 Report into the Handling of Detainees by UK Intelligence Personnel in Afghanistan, Guantanamo Bay and Iraq records that,
“Ministers were not informed of this incident until July 2004.”
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment of Binyam Mohamed's welfare was made by the UK officials who visited him in July 2008; and if he will make a statement. [262707]
Bill Rammell: We made clear repeatedly our concern about Mr Mohamed's welfare and medical condition during his detention at Guantanamo Bay. Following US agreement, Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials conducted a welfare visit to him on 23 July 2008. No immediate concerns were raised and it would be inappropriate to reveal personal details passed to our officials. Issues raised by Mr Mohamed were followed up with US at the time. The findings of the visit were communicated to Mr Mohamed's family and legal representatives.
Burma: China
John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the government of China on reports of illegal export of logs and timber from Burma. [265883]
Bill Rammell: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has not raised this issue in his contacts with the Chinese government. However, the ongoing UK-China Sustainable Development Dialogue includes a strand of work on natural resource management, under which the UK Forestry Commission and the Chinese State Forestry Administration co-operate on ‘Forest Law Enforcement and Governance’, including to combat illegal logging. Discussions between officials have covered sustainability and legality of timber exports, and are due to cover timber tracking systems. These discussions are relevant to all timber exporting countries, including Burma.
Burma: EC Common Foreign and Security Policy
John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress has been made on the implementation of the EU Common Position on Burma; and if he will make a statement. [265359]
Bill Rammell: The Government are determined that the common position should be implemented such that it targets those individuals and entities that benefit directly from the regime’s misrule, while allowing vital humanitarian work within Burma to continue.
Burma: Politics and Government
John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans he has to discuss the political situation in Burma with his colleagues in the United Nations Security Council. [265358]
Bill Rammell: We regularly discuss Burma with members of the UN Security Council, as well as those countries participating in the UN Secretary-General’s Group of Friends. We use this frequent dialogue to reinforce our deep concern at the political and human rights situation in Burma, and urge those with influence on the military government to help the UN Good Offices Mission deliver tangible progress on the ground. The UN Security Council will continue to seek a briefing from the Secretary-General and his representatives on the outcome of their interaction with Burma.
John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the efficacy of the Supplementary Understanding reached by the government of Myanmar with the International Labour Organisation in assisting people forced into labour. [265360]
Bill Rammell: Our embassy in Rangoon has discussed the effectiveness of the supplementary understanding on forced labour with the office of the executive director of the International Labour Organisation (ILO). Our assessment is that the mechanism is continuing to produce results. Of 80 complaints referred to the Burmese authorities over the last year, all but eight have been seen some action to resolve them.
The military government has shown signs of genuine co-operation with the ILO. However, the problem of forced labour remains widespread and we are particularly concerned by the failure of the authorities to publicly condemn the practice and address its use by the military.
We will continue to support the work of the ILO in Burma.
Departmental Art Works
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which works of art the Government Art Collection has loaned for display in the (a) private offices and (b) official residences of Ministers in his Department. [262897]
Gillian Merron: The information is as follows:
2527: Richard Cosway—James Seton, Vice Admiral; Governor of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, 1787 to 1798—oil painting
5153: Francis Grant—Sir Henry Pottinger (1789 to 1856) Governor of Hong Kong—oil painting
0/87: Joseph Nollekens—William Pitt (1759 to 1806) Prime Minister—marble bust
11994: L Alfred Brunet-Debaines—Houses of Parliament—engraving
2367: Edwin Whitney-Smith—Ernest Bevin (1881 to 1951) trade unionist and politician—bronze sculpture
3879: Anon British 18C—View of Horse Guards, showing New Horse Guards—oil painting
8533: William George Gillies—Peeblesshire Landscape—oil painting
11449: John Everett Millais—Hubert von Herkomer—Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield (1804-81) Prime Minister
13207: John Davies—Sand Dunes, Maghara, Co. Donegal—photograph
14332: Donald McIntyre—Crail, Fife—acrylic painting
11768: Victor Pasmore—Hear the Sound of a Magic Tune—3/25—screenprint
12002: William Scott—Cup and Pan Blues—99/100—screenprint
12122: Patrick Caulfield—Signature Pots—31/70—screenprint
12729: R B Kitaj—The Congo and other Poems-In Our Time: Covers for a Small Library After the Life for the Most Part—37/150—screenprint
12731: R B Kitaj—Benia Krik—In Our Time: Covers for a Small Library After the Life for the Most Part—37/150—screenprint
2439: Molly Guion—The Queen’s Beasts—Oil painting
11912: John Terence Holden—Homage—acrylic painting
14918: Graham Sutherland—L’Éléphant [The Elephant]—"Le Bestiaire, ou Cortège d'Orphée" by Apollinaire—3/75—etching | aquatint
6705: Thomas Picken—View of the Harbour, St. George’s, Grenada, West Indies—lithograph
6706: William Simpson—View of the Town and Harbour, St. George’s, Grenada, West Indies—lithograph
18180/1: John Latham—Tadpole-Taffrail—(five photo etchings)—20/30—etching
18180/2: John Latham—Boy-Girl—(five photo etchings)—20/30—etching
18180/3: John Latham—Ben—(five photo etchings)—20/30—etching
18180/4: John Latham—Presumed Level of Abstraction—(five photo etchings)—20/30—etching
18180/5: John Latham—Flat Time 1-10 (Neg)—(five photo etchings)—20/30—etching
12788: Geraldine Brock—Prayer in an Eastern Garden—textile
360: James Fitton—Market—watercolour painting
613: Fred Millett—Blandford Place—watercolour painting
1081: Anthony Gross—Albatross—watercolour painting
1556: Anon 16C—James Basire I—The Encampment of the English Forces near Portsmouth, together with a View of the English and French Fleets at the Commencement of the Action between them on the XIXth of July MDXLV
1763: William Callow—Off Dover—watercolour painting
1829: Anthony Gross—Cricket Match—watercolour painting
2451: B A Keogh—The Procession in Whitehall, Coronation—gouache painting
2464: Leonard Rosoman—The Coronation Procession in the Mall, from Admiralty Arch—watercolour painting
2721: Anthony Gross—Fairground at Hampstead Heath—watercolour painting
3112: N A L Miller—The Royal Yacht from Portsmouth Harbour—watercolour painting
3272: Anthony Gross—The Tower Promenade—watercolour painting
3896: Prunella Clough—Trawlnet—Oil painting
4622: Walter Richard Sickert—Laylock and Thunderplump—oil painting
4888: Jacques Emile Blanche—Julia Duckworth (1846-95) née Jackson, later Lady Stephen; mother of Virginia Woolf and Vanessa Bell (after a photograph c1864 to 1867 by Julia Margaret Cameron)—Oil painting
4911: Thomas C Hofland—Robert Havell Snr—View of Frogmore House, Windsor, Berkshire—aquatint
4958: John Arthur Dodgson—Lucca—oil painting
5794: Anthony Gross—London Scene, Junction of Old Street and Great Eastern Street—watercolour painting
5951: William Westall—Richard Gilson Reeve—Windsor Castle, from Eton—Picturesque tour of the River Thames—aquatint
6124: Thomas C Hofland—Robert Havell Snr—Bolton Priory, Twilight No.2—aquatint
7881: Samuel and Nathaniel Buck—The East Prospect of Derby
8023: Samuel and Nathaniel Buck—The South West Prospect of Manchester, in the County Palatine of Lancaster
10053: Eric Erskine Tufnell—Clipper Ship Britannia—watercolour painting
10137: William Woollett—A View of the Great Room etc. at Hall-Barn near Beaconsfield in Buckinghamshire, a Seat of Edmund Waller Esq./VeÃ1/4e de la Grand Sale &c. a Hall-Barn dans la Comté de Bucks, appertenant a Edmund Waller Ecuyer—engraving
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