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21 Apr 2009 : Column 614W—continued
Departmental Mobile Phones
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development 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. [268245]
Mr. Michael Foster: The Department for International Development (DFID) purchases its mobile telephones and BlackBerrys from a number of suppliers. No central record is held within DFID of the costs of purchase and usage, and this could not be obtained without disproportionate cost.
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development 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. [268288]
Mr. Michael Foster: The Department for International Development (DFID) purchases its mobile telephones and BlackBerrys from a number of suppliers. No central record is held within DFID of the number of BlackBerrys and phones that have been provided, and this could not be obtained without disproportionate cost.
Departmental Public Expenditure
Mr. Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what funding his Department provided to the (a) Home Office and (b) Foreign and Commonwealth Office migration funds in each financial year since 2001. [268868]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Department for International Development (DFID) transferred £1 million to the Home Office Migration Fund in each of the financial years 2006-07 and 2007-08.
DFID transferred £5 million to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in the last financial year (2008-09) as our contribution to the Returns and Reintegration Fund (a pooled fund comprising DFID, FCO, United Kingdom Borders Agency (UKBA) and Ministry of Justice (MOJ) financial resources and expertise, administered by the FCO).
Departmental Training
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many (a) staff and (b) ministerial away days have been organised by his Department in each of the last five years; and what the cost of such events was in each year. [266213]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 15 January 2009, Official Report, column 911W, to the hon. Member for Sutton Coldfield (Mr. Mitchell).
Mr. Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what his Department's policy is on holding departmental away days at locations other than departmental premises. [268534]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: Individual departments and overseas offices within DFID plan and manage away days, training events and team building exercises in accordance with their specific needs; and in the context of business planning, professional development and performance improvement. These events are permitted to take place outside DFID premises, but the venues should be located close to a DFID office. The costs of holding such events must be proportionate to the benefits derived, offer value for money and not interfere with the normal conduct of DFID's business.
Iran: Drugs
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assistance is being provided under his Department's auspices to the Iranian anti-drug enforcement agencies. [267897]
Mr. Michael Foster: The Department for International Development (DFID) is not providing funding to Iranian anti-drug enforcement agencies.
Overseas Aid
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development (1) what humanitarian assistance the Government have provided to the population of the Democratic Republic of Congo in the last 12 months; [268952]
(2) what humanitarian assistance the Government have provided to the population of Sierra Leone in the last 12 months; [268953]
(3) what humanitarian assistance the Government has provided to the population of Sri Lanka in the last 12 months; [268954]
(4) what humanitarian assistance the Government have provided to the population of Afghanistan in the last 12 months. [268955]
Mr. Michael Foster: Details on the Department for International Development's (DFID) bilateral expenditure are contained in the publication ‘Statistics on International Development’. This is available in the Library of the House and online at:
The relevant figures are produced in the following table.
| DFID Bilateral humanitarian assistance expenditure 2007-08 | |
| Country | £ 000 |
Details on DFID's expenditure in 2008-09 are not yet available but will be published in the 2009 annual report in July.
St. Helena: Airports
Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether his Department has incurred expenditure on legal advice in preparation for a possible judicial review of the decision to pause negotiations on a proposed St. Helena airport. [268424]
Mr. Michael Foster: The Department for International Development (DFID) has incurred expenditure for legal advice on a range of matters related to the possible St. Helena airport as part of its consideration on how to proceed.
Justice
Antisocial Behaviour: Fixed Penalties
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many penalty notices for disorder were issued (a) in a police station and (b) on the street in 2007. [269261]
Mr. Straw: Information available to the Ministry of Justice on the number of persons aged 16 and over issued with a penalty notice for disorder (PND) in (a) a police station and (b) on the street, in England and Wales, 2007 can be viewed in the following table.
2008 data will be available in the autumn of 2009.
PNDs were introduced under the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001, to provide the police with a simple financial punishment to deal with minor disorder offences either at a police station or on the street. Operational guidance to forces issued by the Secretary of State for Justice sets out the criteria which should be considered by officers in deciding where to issue a PND.
| Number of persons aged 16 and over issued with a Penalty Notice for Disorder in a police station and on the street in England and Wales, 2007( 1) | |
| England and Wales | Number |
| (1) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. Source: OCJR E&A (Office for Criminal Justice Reform, Evidence and Analysis Unit), Ministry of Justice | |
Council for the Registration of Forensic Practitioners
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what recent discussions he and officials of his Department have had with representatives of (a) the Home Office and (b) the Lord Chief Justice on the closure of the Council for the Registration of Forensic Practitioners; and if he will make a statement. [268593]
Mr. Alan Campbell: I have been asked to reply.
The independent forensic science regulator was appointed in February 2008 and given responsibility for regulating forensic science quality standards. Since then he has published his Manual of Regulation, his Review of the Options for the Accreditation of Forensic Practitioners, and Quality standards for the Providers of Forensic Sciences to the Criminal Justice System. The regulator proposes to move to a more robust model of standards regulation that moves the focus from just forensic practitioners to include standards for organisations, practitioners and the science methods used. The forensic science laboratories are already accredited to testing international standards, accreditation that now includes assessment by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) of practitioner competence.
Policy decisions regarding forensic science rest with the Home Office and policy decisions regarding the public funding for CRFP are the responsibility of the National Policing Improvement Agency. However, such decisions were agreed with Home Office Ministers. The Home Office Minister wrote to the Secretary of State for Justice and the Lord Chief Justice with advance copies of the regulator’s report on the Options for the Accreditation of Forensic Practitioners.
Departmental ICT
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what estimate he has made of the (a) energy consumed by, (b) energy cost of and (c) carbon dioxide emissions from each category of IT device in each division of his Department and its predecessor in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [269552]
Maria Eagle: The Ministry of Justice is committed to reducing its carbon emissions in accordance with the campaign initiated by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Activities. In order to support this commitment MOJ has employed third party expertise to conduct a Green ICT Scorecard exercise. This analysis of the sustainability of IT operations in MOJ has helped to identify where current ‘carbon hotspots’ are and where MOJ should focus its efforts for improvement.
The overall energy consumption of IT devices used by MOJ is difficult to evaluate as much of MOJ’s estate is within buildings shared with other organisations like police and local councils. Within locations which house solely MOJ operations, IT devices are not metered separately from the other electrical equipment so the electricity consumption associated specifically with IT devices has not been determined.
As data centres are solely for housing and running IT equipment it can reasonably be considered that all power supplied to a data centre is for IT devices be it directly or indirectly. Because MOJ’s IT is outsourced, all of its major data centres our outside of the MOJ estate and shared with other clients. As such the power consumption of these sites is not a direct cost to MOJ nor is it reported to MOJ. Nevertheless, MOJ has been working closely with its suppliers to include data centres in the Green ICT Scorecard work and it has already led to increased data centre energy efficiency without negatively affecting the volume or efficiency of data processing.
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps his Department has taken to address the effect on levels of carbon dioxide emissions from his Department of its ICT purchases since the publication of the Greening Government ICT Strategy; and if he will make a statement. [269559]
Maria Eagle: The Ministry of Justice is committed to reducing its carbon emissions in accordance with the campaign initiated by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Activities and the Greening Government ICT Strategy. The MOJ recognises that making Green IT work is not just about technology but also about embedding sustainability in our process and behaviour as well.
MOJ has worked to meet the 'Areas for ICT Carbon Reduction' in the Greening Government ICT Strategy improving the sustainability of its printing, the energy efficiency of its desktop PCs and data centres.
MOJ has built sustainable IT principles into its IT policy and consideration of sustainability forms part of process of evaluation of changes to the IT estate. MOJ is working with its suppliers to improve the energy efficiency of IT operations both in its outsourced data centres and at its own sites and has employed third party expertise to analyse the sustainability of IT operations managed by a sample of MOJ's key suppliers and advise on how best to realise improvements.
This work has already led to increased data centre energy efficiency, and work on the centralisation of data processing will further reduce data centre energy consumption without negatively affecting the volume or efficiency of data processing carried out. The convergence of formerly separate networks offers better sharing of IT resources for staff and the reduction of the overall number of devices we need to deliver the same level of service.
MOJ has also used initiatives to realise the positive impact that ICT can have on the overall carbon emissions of its operations. It continues to invest in video-conferencing and teleconferencing technology to reduce emissions. The imminent uplift of desktop PCs will offer not just improved power management to reduce energy consumption but also roaming profiles allowing any users to log to any machine helping support MOJ estates' goal of 80 per cent. desking and a reduction in the overall size of the MOJ HQ estate.
MOJ is also working on staff awareness of green IT issues. Campaigns have been run encouraging the shut down of electrical items outside of office hours, the reduction of printing and paper consumption and the better use of video-conferencing and teleconferencing to reduce travel.
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what estimate has been made of the proportion of personal computers in each of his Department's offices that are turned off (a) overnight, (b) at weekends and (c) during holiday periods; and if he will make a statement. [269621]
Maria Eagle: The Ministry of Justice is committed to reducing its carbon emissions in accordance with the campaign initiated by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Activities. Most of the Department's IT equipment is switched off overnight, as a matter of routine. The capability for automated shut down is being added into PCs as a rolling programme of replacement takes place.
There are some PCs that have had to be left on in order to safeguard overnight data processing on some systems. In conjunction with our IT suppliers we are currently piloting a technical solution to remove this need. If successful it will be rolled out to all relevant areas of the Department.
Within National Offender Management Service, including Her Majesty's Prison Service, computers that are logged off but left switched on will automatically shut down out of office hours.
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many and what proportion of IT products in each category procured for each division of his Department were compliant with the Government's Buy Sustainable-Quick Wins standard in the latest year for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement. [269623]
Maria Eagle: The Ministry of Justice is committed to reducing its carbon emissions in accordance with the campaign initiated by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Activities.
The Ministry of Justice out sources its IT function and the selection and purchase of IT equipment is conducted by its suppliers. MOJ's IT contracts include contractual criteria in line with the version of the OGC Buy Sustainable-Quick Wins which were available at the time. Consequentially, IT devices will comply with the Buy Sustainable-Quick Wins criteria for the contract they are purchased under.
As the Buy Sustainable-Quick Wins standards have become more comprehensive than those in the current contractual commitment, precise numbers and proportions of procured IT devices that comply with the updated standard have not been recorded.
The Buy Sustainable-Quick Wins standards are referenced as part of MOJ's Sustainable Procurement Policy and therefore are part of the criteria that MOJ will include in its contract negotiations for ICT equipment and services. MOJ is in discussion with its suppliers regarding a commitment to use the current the Buy Sustainable-Quick Wins standards as the minimum for future purchases.
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