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22 Jun 2009 : Column 634W—continued
USA and Canada: Diplomatic Service
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many consular staff his Department employs in its diplomatic posts in (a) Washington DC and (b) Ottawa. [281633]
Chris Bryant: The number of full-time equivalent staff carrying out consular activities in Washington is 33.6 and Ottawa is 1.5.
International Development
Departmental Carbon Emissions
Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what estimate he has made of the volume of carbon dioxide emissions from offices in his Department in (a) 2006-07 and (b) 2007-08 (i) in total and (ii) per full-time equivalent member of staff. [280971]
Mr. Michael Foster: The weather-corrected carbon dioxide emissions from the Department for International Development's (DFID) UK estate, as reported to the Sustainable Development Commission, for the years in question are:
| Carbon dioxide (tonnes) | Per full-time equivalent member of staff | |
Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what estimate he has made of the volume of carbon dioxide emissions arising from air travel by staff in his Department in (a) 2006-07 and (b) 2007-08 (i) in total and (ii) per full-time equivalent member of staff. [281053]
Mr. Michael Foster: The carbon dioxide emissions as reported to the Sustainable Development Commission are set out in the following table. The figures include travel arranged by overseas offices, and United Kingdom- based and local staff in these offices.
| Carbon dioxide (tonnes) | Per full-time equivalent member of staff | |
Departmental Energy
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much (a) electricity and (b) gas was used (i) on his Department’s estate and (ii) by his Department's agencies in each year from 2004-05 to 2008-09. [280511]
Mr. Michael Foster: The following is the weather-corrected total amount of gas and electricity used on the Department for International Development UK estate from 2004 to 2009, as reported to the Sustainable Development Commission. We have no Executive agencies.
| kWh | ||
| Electricity | Gas | |
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much was spent on energy efficiency measures for his Department’s estate in each year from 2004 to 2009; what assessment has been made of the effectiveness of that expenditure; and what plans he has for future energy efficiency measures. [280543]
Mr. Michael Foster: Precise figures are not available for energy efficiency measures and could not be obtained without incurring disproportionate cost. We would estimate that our expenditure in the last two years, and this year to date, were as follows:
| £ | |
Pre assessments of expenditure gains (payback periods) and energy savings are estimated before the energy saving initiative has been approved and implemented. Such energy saving initiatives contribute to the Department for International Developments (DFID’s) progress towards meeting the Sustainable Development in Government (SDiG) targets. In 2008-09 we achieved a 12 per cent. reduction in our energy used and savings of £72,000 in energy costs compared with 2007-08.
DFID is continuing to look for ways to achieve further energy savings and are currently evaluating the possibility of a Tri-Generation system, the installation of variable speed devices for Air Conditioning and installing a Biomass boiler and Wind Turbine at our office in East Kilbride.
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development which official is responsible for the energy efficiency of his Department’s estate. [280560]
Mr. Michael Foster: The head of office services department manages the Department for International Development’s environment management team and leads on the energy efficiency agenda.
Departmental Internet
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development pursuant to the answer of 10 February 2009, Official Report, column 1879W, on the departmental internet, how many (a) unique visitors and (b) page impressions were received by the (i) Research and Development and (ii) Developments website in each of the last 12 months. [280765]
Mr. Michael Foster: During the period June 2008 to May 2009, the Research4Development website received the following hits:
| Unique visitors | Page views | |
During the same period Developments website received the following hits:
| Unique visitors | Page views | |
Departmental Location
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much his Department spent on relocation costs for new members of staff in each of the last three years. [280774]
Mr. Michael Foster: The requested information could not be provided without incurring disproportionate costs.
Western Sahara: Overseas Aid
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what development assistance his Department is providing for Sahrawi refugees and internally displaced people in Western Sahara; and whether such assistance is channelled through the Government of (a) Morocco and (b) Algeria. [281201]
Mr. Michael Foster:
The Department for International Development (DFID) supports Sahrawi refugees through its 17 per cent. share of the budget of the European
Community Humanitarian Aid Office (ECHO) and its £19 million core contributions to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) for its work with refugees across the world. In 2008, ECHO committed to provide €10 million to support Sahrawi refugees, while UNHCR spent $3.1 million in their support.
DFID does not provide any bilateral aid to the Government of Morocco or Algeria.
Communities and Local Government
Building Regulations: Energy
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will undertake research into levels of compliance with building regulations relating to energy efficiency. [281240]
Mr. Ian Austin: The Department has ongoing plans to undertake research into levels of compliance with building regulations relating to energy efficiency. We recently completed a joint project with the Energy Efficiency Partnership for Homes (EEPfH) looking at compliance levels for new homes built to 2006 Part L standards. The report has been published at the EEPfH website at:
We have also studied compliance levels for non-domestic buildings and for work to existing buildings. A consultation document published on 18 June outlines our proposals to strengthen Part L standards by 25 per cent. in 2010 including measures to further improve compliance and a strategy for further research. The document can be viewed at:
Council Housing
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 15 June 2009, Official Report, column 20W, on housing, in which local authorities the schemes are being operated. [281326]
Mr. Ian Austin: As at April 2009 Choice Based Lettings housing allocations schemes were being operated in the following local authorities in England:
Adur
Amber Valley
Arun
Ashford
Barking and Dagenham
Barnet
Barnsley
Basildon
Bassetlaw
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