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9 July 2009 : Column 943W—continued
Departmental Databases
Mr. Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what information databases his Department (a) maintain and (b) uses which do not contain personal information. [284396]
Mr. Kevan Jones: This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Military Aircraft
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many operational sorties have been flown by each aircraft type deployed to (a) Iraq, (b) Afghanistan and (c) other locations in each year since 2003. [284537]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Military Decorations: Crosby
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many families in Crosby constituency he estimates will receive the Elizabeth Cross in 2009. [284947]
Mr. Kevan Jones: It is estimated that the next of kin (NOK) of some 8,000 armed forces personnel, who have died on operations, or as a result of an act of terrorism, from 1 January 1948 to date, will be eligible to receive the Elizabeth Cross and Memorial Scroll. The eligibility criteria and how to apply were outlined by the Secretary of State for Defence, my right hon. Friend the Member for Coventry, North-East (Mr. Ainsworth) in his written ministerial statement of 1 July 2009, Official Report, columns 18-21WS. It is not possible for the Ministry of Defence (MOD) to determine how many NOK will actually apply, when they may choose to apply and where they live. Therefore it is not possible to identify how many families in the Crosby constituency will receive the Elizabeth Cross in 2009.
RAF Lyneham
Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether a sale site of RAF Lyneham would be subject to the Crichel Down rules. [285416]
Mr. Kevan Jones: RAF Lyneham was acquired under 61 conveyances, between the years 1940 and 1987, and the whole site will be subject to the Crichel Down Rules. If the site is declared surplus, Defence Estates will consider the Crichel Down position to determine whether, in certain circumstances, any land is to be offered back to former owners or their successors in title. This procedure will have to be finalised prior to any marketing of the site.
Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate Defence Estates have made of the monetary value of a vacated RAF Lyneham. [285417]
Mr. Kevan Jones: It is not our practice to make public any estimate of the value of disposal sites as to do so could prejudice bids for the site. However, Defence Estates sells its surplus land and property in accordance with Treasury Guidelines (Managing Public Money) which requires us to get the best price reasonably obtainable (i.e. market value).
Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the cost of decontaminating the site of RAF Lyneham. [285418]
Mr. Kevan Jones: No estimate of the cost of decontaminating RAF Lyneham has yet been made. A Land Quality Assessment will only be commissioned once the site has been formally declared surplus.
Olympics
Departmental Billing
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Minister for the Olympics how many days on average (a) her Office and (b) the Government Olympic Executive has taken to pay invoices from suppliers in each month since November 2008. [283448]
Tessa Jowell [holding answer 2 July 2009]: Data on the time taken to pay invoices are recorded in terms of the proportions paid within 10 days and 30 days. The figures for the Government Olympic Executive for November 2008 to May 2009 (latest available) are given in the following table.
| Total number of invoices | Number paid within 30 days | Percentage | Number paid within 10 days | Percentage | |
Invoices submitted to my Office as Minister for the Olympics are processed by the Government Olympic Executive and are, therefore, included in the figures given here.
The Executive complies with the Government’s policy of paying its suppliers as soon as possible and from 1 December 2008 aims to achieve all payments within 10 days.
Olympic Games 2012: Ashford Kent
Damian Green: To ask the Minister for the Olympics what her latest assessment is of the legacy for Ashford constituency for the London 2012 Olympic Games; and if she will make a statement. [283000]
Tessa Jowell: I was delighted to award Kent county council (KCC) a Beacon Award for its work on Olympic and Paralympic legacy earlier this year. This award recognised the council’s clear vision and determined approach to games legacy and its programme of bespoke 2012 projects across the county, and Ashford is part of the supporting county partnership.
The Kent Co-ordinating Group for the 2012 games, on which Ashford borough council is represented, plays a key role in this partnership and aims to derive the maximum benefits from the games for the county. It has set up nine task groups to co-ordinate action across Kent on: arts; communications and media; economic development and regeneration; schools and young people; sport; tourism; transport; and volunteering.
Kent has already made good progress with its Olympic and Paralympic legacy in these areas through initiatives such as the Kent School Games which in 2008 had 30,000 participants from over 500 schools including those in Ashford. In terms of Paralympic legacy, KCC has increased its disability sport associate officers network to cover 15 of the 19 summer Paralympics sports and two of the four winter sports. Kent also has the highest sign up in the South East (SE) of England for the Get Set School Programme and businesses registered for Competefor, the London 2012 brokerage system. Steps have also been taken to raise awareness of the importance of tourism, leisure and hospitality businesses to the Kent economy in the lead up to the games through initiatives such as the third successful ‘Kent's Big Day Out’ event to be held each year in the run up to the games. This year’s event held on 28 March 2009 saw over 17,000 vouchers offered to participants for free entry to 143 venues across the county including in Ashford.
It is also pleasing to see that there are a broad range of initiatives and programmes across the SE associated with building a legacy from the games. The SE currently has nine projects that have been awarded the Inspire Mark of which four are in Kent. There were around 70 events held in the SE during Open Weekend which launched the Cultural Olympiad in September 2008, of which, around 10 were in Kent. To celebrate London officially becoming host to the 2012 games handover events were held in the SE on 24 August 2008. Ashford played a significant role in these celebrations hosting a Free Swim day to mark the raising of the Olympic Handover Flag.
Olympic Games 2012: Contracts
Lorely Burt: To ask the Minister for the Olympics whether the performance of subcontractors not directly contracted by the Olympic Delivery Authority is monitored against the balanced scorecard criteria for procurement. [283903]
Tessa Jowell: Subcontractor performance is managed and monitored by the main contractors to the ODA. The ODA requires main contractors to apply good procurement practice as part of a rigorous supply chain management; however, the precise methods of subcontractor performance management are for main contractors to both define and implement.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Afghanistan: Drugs
Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what his policy is on poppy cultivation in Afghanistan; and if he will make a statement. [284144]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The UK is supporting the Afghan Government in the implementation of its national drug control strategy. The strategy is a comprehensive long-term approach towards countering narcotics. It provides ‘carrots’, including the promotion and support for alternative livelihoods and the building of Afghan institutions and ‘sticks’ through law enforcement actions such as targeted poppy eradication and interdiction.
Aung San Suu Kyi
Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will hold discussions with the UN Secretary-General on his recent visit to Burma, with particular reference to the continued detention of Aung San Suu Kyi. [285504]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: Both my right hon. Friends the Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary discuss Burma regularly with the UN Secretary-General. The Prime Minister most recently spoke to Ban Ki-Moon on 21 June 2009, prior to his visit to Burma, and they may speak again at the G8 summit. The Foreign Secretary is seeking to identify an early opportunity to speak to the UN Secretary-General about the visit and the continued detention of Aung San Suu Kyi.
BBC External Services
Mr. Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much funding the BBC World Service has received from his Department through grant in aid in each of the last three years. [284459]
Chris Bryant: The BBC World Service has received the following grant in aid funding over the last three years:
| £ million | |
Burma
Lembit Öpik: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when his Department will next review UK economic sanctions against Burma; and if he will make a statement. [285344]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The UK pursues sanctions against the Burmese regime as part of a wider EU Common Position. Sanctions are renewed annually in April, but the EU has repeatedly made clear its readiness to review, amend or reinforce existing sanctions on the basis of developments on the ground. On 19 June 2009, EU leaders made clear that the EU would respond to a failure to release Aung San Suu Kyi with additional targeted measures.
Departmental Finance
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what estimate he has made of the proportion of UK gross domestic product (a) allocated to and (b) spent by his Department in (i) 1997-98 and (ii) the most recent financial year for which figures are available. [284025]
Chris Bryant [holding answer 3 July 2009]: The 1997-98 appropriation accounts for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) show £2,924,205,000 as the net supply grant, which is the total of cash then voted by Parliament, of which £2,871,037,000 was spent. Against a money gross domestic product (GDP) of £843,145,000,000 for 1997-98, the FCO parliamentary supply figure represents 0.347 per cent. of GDP and the corresponding spend represents 0.341 per cent.
However, it should be noted that the appropriation accounts for 1997-98 include £1.8 billion of supply and expenditure for what is now the Department for International Development. This is the largest of the various machinery of government and public expenditure measurement changes that occurred between 1997-98 and 2008-09 which make comparisons of spending figures between the two financial years difficult.
The 2008-09 resource accounts for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office show a net cash requirement of £2,171,707,000, which is the total amount of cash voted by Parliament, of which £2,072,002,000 was spent. Against a money GDP of £1,432,148,000,000 for 2008-09, the Foreign and Commonwealth office parliamentary supply figure represents 0.152 per cent. of GDP and the corresponding spend represents 0.145 per cent.
Departmental Internet
Mr. Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when his Department plans to update its web browsers from Internet Explorer 6. [285015]
Chris Bryant: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has already started the process of updating its web browsers from Internet Explorer 6.
Departmental Manpower
Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many members of his Department's staff deployed in each region of Iraq (a) have been trained in each year since 2003 and (b) are being trained in each local Iraqi language. [283552]
Chris Bryant: Since 2004, 58 Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) staff have studied Modern Standard Arabic and one Sorani Kurdish before being deployed in Iraq. Currently there are eight staff studying Modern Standard Arabic who are due to be deployed to Iraq later this year or next. Since 2004, 323 FCO civil servants have been deployed to Iraq. There are currently 35 staff there.
We only started to hold management information about language skills centrally in 2004. Our system records those who have passed exams on completion of language courses funded by the FCO, so may not include those who did not take an examination, those whose acquisition of the language was not the result of class-based instruction, or whose studies were not funded by the FCO.
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