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20 Apr 2009 : Column 502W—continued
Departmental Mobile Phones
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much has been spent on (a) the purchase of and (b) bills for (i) BlackBerrys and (ii) other mobile telephones for (A) Ministers, (B) special advisers and (C) civil servants in his Department in each year since 2005. [268248]
Caroline Flint: The structure of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office accounts does not readily allow financial data relating to mobile devices to be broken down as requested, so a comprehensive answer could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
However, the accounts show the following annual expenditure, categorised as relating to mobile phones, incurred worldwide:
| Annual expenditure (£) | |
| (1)2008-09 has not yet closed and the final figure may vary from this. | |
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many (a) BlackBerrys and (b) other mobile telephones have been provided to (i) Ministers, (ii) special advisers and (iii) civil servants in his Department in each year since 2005. [268292]
Gillian Merron: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has purchased, or upgraded, the following numbers of mobile devices centrally:
| Number of mobile devices | |
These figures do not include any devices that may have been purchased using devolved budgets. It is not possible to provide a breakdown of the users of these devices without incurring disproportionate cost.
Departmental Official Hospitality
Mr. Rob Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what his Department's entertainment budget was in each of the last five years. [261110]
Caroline Flint: The following figures cover entertainment costs for the last five financial years (1 April 2004 to 28 February 2009) and are actual spend figures rather than budget allocations.
| £ | |
These figures include all items, for example catering and set up costs that are directly attributable to functions, events and receptions held at posts throughout the world and in the UK.
Departmental Public Expenditure
Mr. Hague:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the Answer of 16 March 2009, Official Report, columns 843-44W, on
departmental public expenditure, from which budgets the additional funds required by overseas posts to maintain the purchasing power of their local budgets in 2008-09 and 2009-10 will be drawn; and if he will make a statement. [267732]
David Miliband: The additional funds required by overseas posts to maintain the purchasing power, are allocated from the overall Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s budget and supplemented by the benefits of forward purchase of foreign currencies.
Departmental Rail Travel
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the cost was of travel by train by staff in his Department in each year since 1997. [261173]
Gillian Merron: We cannot provide data prior to January 2008 as this information is not held centrally, and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
The cost of train travel by Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) staff from January 2008 to March 2008 was £43,955.95.
The cost of train travel, by FCO staff from April 2008 to February 2009 was £176,269.85.
Departmental Recycling
Mr. Rob Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much and what proportion of its waste his Department recycled in each of the last five years. [266613]
Gillian Merron: Government Departments report their waste data against a baseline of 2004-05 and we do not have reliable data prior to that.
The figures for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office UK estate are as follows:
| Tonnes/percentage | |
Figures for 2008-09 will not be available until later this month.
Departmental Training
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many training courses (a) civil servants and (b) Ministers in his Department undertook in each of the last three years; and what the cost of providing such training was in each year. [266267]
Gillian Merron: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) provides a range of learning and development opportunities in the UK and at its posts overseas. Information and attendance statistics are not held centrally and cannot be provided without incurring disproportionate costs.
I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 29 January 2009, Official Report, column 725W. For training in years prior to 2008, our management records provide the following details:
In 2006 the then Minister for Africa, Asia and the UN, attended a National School of Government (NSG) leadership event at a cost of £630.
In 2007 the Minister for Africa, Asia and the UN, attended a NSG workshop at a cost of £200.
Mr. Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what his Department's policy is on the practice of holding departmental away days outside the Department's buildings. [268532]
Gillian Merron: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) believes that away days are a useful tool in helping FCO teams develop and contribute effectively to delivering the FCO’s strategic objectives. Responsibility for arranging away days is devolved to directorates within the FCO and there is no central policy on where away days take place.
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much has been spent on media training for each Minister in his Department in each of the last three years; how many sessions have been provided; and which organisations provided such training. [268554]
Gillian Merron: I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 2 March 2009, Official Report, column 1420-21W. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has not incurred any other expenditure on media training for Ministers during the last three years.
Diplomatic Service: Recruitment
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs with reference to the answer of 6 November 2006, Official Report, column 843W, on the Diplomatic Service, what progress his Department has made towards its commitment in recruiting a talented and diverse workforce which reflects the society it serves at each pay band level. [244270]
Gillian Merron: The following table shows percentages of staff being paid via the FCO payroll split in terms of gender, ethnicity, disability and pay band.
| Percentage | |||
| FCO pay band | As of 1 April 2006 | As of 1 April 2007 | As of 1 April 2008 |
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