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18 May 2009 : Column 1143W—continued
Departmental Older Workers
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many staff over the age of (a) 55 and (b) 65 years of age are employed by his Department. [275694]
Ann McKechin: All the staff in the Scotland Office are on secondment from the Scottish Executive or the Ministry of Justice who hold individual staff personnel records, including details such as dates of birth. The Office does not maintain a central record of dates of birth of staff.
Departmental Pay
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much his Department paid in end-of-year performance bonuses to (a) all staff and (b) senior Civil Service staff in 2008-09; and how many such payments were made. [275248]
Ann McKechin: All staff in the Scotland Office are on secondment from the Scottish Executive or the Ministry of Justice. Staff may be eligible for end of year performance bonuses under their parent Department’s performance management arrangements. The Scotland Office does not itself make the end of year awards and does not hold information centrally on end of year bonus payments made to its secondees.
Departmental Responsibilities
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the operation of the concordats between the Government and the Scottish Executive. [273475]
Ann McKechin: The Government have been leading work to review the working arrangements with the devolved Administrations. We are close to finalising an updated version of the memorandum of understanding which governs the relationship between the UK Government and the three devolved administrations.
Departmental Stationery
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much his Department has spent on branded stationery and gifts for (a) internal and (b) external promotional use in each of the last five years. [273771]
Ann McKechin: The Scotland Office has incurred no costs on branded stationery and gifts for internal or external promotional use in the last five years.
Departmental Training
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much his Department has spent on IT training for its staff in each of the last five years. [274225]
Ann McKechin: The Scotland Office does not hold information in the form requested. The staff in the office are on secondment from the Scottish Executive or the Ministry of Justice, both of whom provide free access to training and development opportunities, including a range of IT training specific to the software used.
Industrial Health and Safety
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much his Department has spent on health and safety training for its staff in each of the last five years. [275693]
Ann McKechin: The Scotland Office does not hold information in the form requested. The staff in the Office are on secondment from the Scottish Executive or the Ministry of Justice, both of whom provide free access to training and development opportunities, including a range of health and safety events.
Isle of Lewis
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many visits he has made to the Isle of Lewis in an official capacity in the last 24 months. [275696]
Mr. Jim Murphy: My hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow, North the Under-Secretary of State for Scotland, (Ann McKechin) visited the Isle of Lewis on the 7 and 8 May 2009 and I intend to visit next month.
Olympic Games 2012
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what recent discussions he has had with the First Minister on Scotland’s role in hosting events and facilities associated with the London 2012 Olympic Games. [275698]
Ann McKechin:
My right hon. Friend has not had any recent discussions with the First Minister. Earlier this month I met the Minister for the Olympics on her
visit to Glasgow and discussed Scotland’s role in hosting events, during our visit at Scotstoun Leisure Centre and National Badminton Centre, which has been listed as one of the 30 facilities in Scotland as potential pre-Games training camps.
Sheep
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many sheep farms in Scotland he has visited in an official capacity in the last 12 months. [275703]
Mr. Jim Murphy: I have not visited a sheep farm in Scotland in my official capacity.
Whisky
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what recent discussions he has had at EU level on the future prospects for the whisky industry. [275692]
Mr. Jim Murphy: DEFRA Ministers represent the UK Government in EU discussions on the whisky industry. I and my officials continue to have regular discussions with DEFRA and with the Scotch Whisky Association on issues affecting the Scotch Whisky industry.
As part of my recent trade mission to China, I visited the Edrington Group HQ in Shanghai and made representations to the Chinese Government on the importance of their taking steps to deal with counterfeit Scotch Whisky.
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many whisky distilleries in Scotland he has visited in an official capacity in the last 12 months. [275695]
Mr. Jim Murphy: My predecessor, the right hon. Member for Kilmarnock and Loudoun (Des Browne) visited the Isle of Arran distillery in August. I met with Gavin Hewitt of the Scotch Whisky Association in November and my predecessor met with Mr. Hewitt in September. In December I hosted and spoke at a Scotch Whisky Association reception at the Scotland Office. I will be visiting a distillery with the Scotch Whisky Association in June. On a trade mission to China in March I visited Edrington Group, a Scottish international premium spirits company. I am currently in discussions with Diageo and will be visiting one of their distilleries in the near future.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Afghanistan
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the mission statement for employees of his Department in Afghanistan is. [275464]
Bill Rammell: The Mission of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) South Asia and Afghanistan Directorate is to promote the national interests of the UK in South Asia, to contribute to regional stability and the FCO’s strategic priorities, managing an effective network of posts in the region.
The specific mission of the Afghanistan Group within the wider directorate is to help Afghanistan achieve stability, security, prosperity, to the benefit of the Afghan people, the UK and the world community.
Conflict Prevention
Mr. Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 25 March 2009, Official Report, columns 17-19WS, on conflict resources 2009-10, under the 2007 Comprehensive Spending Review, what the original planned total allocation was for (a) South Asia, including Afghanistan, (b) Africa, (c) Europe and (d) the Middle East; and if he will make a statement. [267724]
Bill Rammell: The UK's total available conflict resource for FY 2009-10 (leaving aside the cost of UK military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq) is £627 million, compared with the original planned total allocation of £556 million.
As set out in the written ministerial statement of 25 March 2009, Official Report, column 17WS, £456 million will be set aside for assessed peacekeeping activity, leaving £171 million to fund all conflict prevention, stabilisation and discretionary peacekeeping activity.
Individual country/regional allocations were not set out in the comprehensive spending review. These were agreed after an annual tri-departmental (Department for International Development, Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Ministry of Defence) review of planned activity across all three funds.
Departmental Air Conditioning
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much has been spent by his Department on carrying out inspections of air conditioning systems within departmental buildings in accordance with the Energy Performance of Buildings (Certificates and Inspections) (England and Wales) Regulations 2007. [272118]
Gillian Merron: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has not incurred any expenditure to date on carrying out inspections of air conditioning systems within departmental buildings in accordance with the Energy Performance of Buildings Regulations (2007/991).
A registered inspector was booked to carry out the inspections on 15 May 2009. The costs will be covered in the FCO’s overarching facilities management contract, at no further cost to the Department.
Departmental Art Works
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 24 March 2009, Official Report, columns 188-89W, on departmental art works, in which of the official residences used by his Department each of the works of art mentioned is. [273706]
Gillian Merron: All of the Government art collection works listed in my previous answer are located in Flat 2, Admiralty House.
Departmental Billing
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the names and addresses are of each organisation which has supplied goods and services to his Department in 2009. [273703]
Gillian Merron: I refer the hon. Member to the written answer given to the hon. Member for Rochford and Southend, East (James Duddridge) on 22 October 2008, Official Report, column 387W.
Departmental Dismissal
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many members of staff in his Department and its agencies were dismissed (a) for under-performance and (b) in total in each of the last 10 years. [274304]
Gillian Merron: 19 members of Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) staff have been dismissed for inefficiency (which covers failure of sick absence procedures and poor performance) and eight members of FCO Services (FCOS) staff have been dismissed for under-performance.
43 members of FCO staff have been dismissed since 2004 and 24 members of FCOS staff have been dismissed in total over the last 10 years.
Departmental Finance
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what changes to services provided by his Department he anticipates following the efficiency savings outlined in the Budget Red Book 2009. [273682]
Gillian Merron: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) will deliver the government target for comprehensive spending review (CSR) value for money savings (CSR07) and the additional savings allocated for 2010-11 whilst continuing to provide a global network for the Government overseas. We will continue to deliver on FCO priorities including our departmental strategic objectives (DSOs), public service agreements (PSAs) and the long-term international challenges facing the UK as outlined in the FCO's Strategic Framework.
Departmental ICT
John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he has taken to reduce the level of carbon dioxide emissions arising from the operation of ICT systems in his Department under the Greening Government ICT Strategy. [273557]
Gillian Merron:
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has taken an active role in the Greening Government Information and Communications Technology (ICT) strategy by providing a detailed plan for the FCO. The plan includes the baseline of the FCO's current carbon footprint and a number of initiatives that cover the full life-cycle of our ICT, including how we procure, operate and dispose of equipment. We are
also looking at how use of ICT will enable savings outside of ICT itself through videoconferencing and collaboration initiatives that reduce the need for travel. This process is integrated into our ICT strategy.
Departmental Official Cars
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what guidelines his Department has in place on the procurement of cars for official use (a) in the UK, (b) in UK Overseas Territories and (c) at diplomatic posts overseas. [273681]
Gillian Merron: Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) guidance for the procurement of cars for official use in the UK, in UK Overseas Territories and at diplomatic posts overseas is as follows:
Procurement of vehicles for the FCO is based on achieving value for money and in a manner which conforms to appropriate UK regulations and EU directives. Where they are readily available and represent value for money, we prefer the FCO in the UK and British missions abroad to buy British cars.
Currently the FCO's preferred supplier for flag vehicles is Jaguar for saloon cars, and Land or Range Rover where four wheel drive capability is essential. The FCO maintains central contracts with these companies, negotiated to ensure value for money. In general flag vehicles will be on a par with the vehicles allocated to Government Ministers in London. The particular model allocated to individual posts will reflect local circumstances.
Posts which consider that there are overriding reasons not to purchase flag cars manufactured by our preferred suppliers, have to submit a detailed case for ministerial approval in London.
Posts have delegated authority to purchase pool vehicles within agreed costs for vehicle purchase. Decisions taken under this delegation have to meet value for money criteria and must always include examination of the option to buy suitable vehicles available under the central contracts referred to above.
Departmental Official Hospitality
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much his Department has spent on (a) conference services and (b) banqueting services in each of the last five years. [274505]
Gillian Merron: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) operates through a network of overseas posts and directorates in London who may independently contract conference and banqueting services. The information requested therefore is not held centrally by the FCO and to obtain it for the last five years would incur disproportionate cost.
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