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21 July 2009 : Column 1242W—continued
| Table 2: DFID bilateral spending on food aid and food security programmes in SSA | |||||
| £000 | |||||
| Recipient country | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 |
Africa: Poverty
Andrew Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent discussions he has had with his G8 counterparts on progress towards meeting the target of doubling funding for the alleviating of poverty in Africa between 2005 and 2010; and on what dates these discussions were held. [285692]
Mr. Thomas: The Secretary of State discussed this issue when he met counterparts from Germany, France and the United States at the World Bank annual meetings, held in Washington in April on 25-26 April. Further to this, I attended the G8 Development Ministers meeting in Rome on 11-12 June, where these issues were also discussed. Ministers and officials have regular conversations on this subject with counterparts.
The G8, at its summit in Italy, agreed a renewed commitment to development and to meeting its aid commitments including those for Africa. A mechanism for achieving greater accountability and transparency of G8 promises including an interim accountability framework was also agreed. In addition, the Prime Minister secured agreement for an international assessment of what is needed to meet the Millennium Development Goals, to take place in 2010.
CDC
Dr. Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will direct CDC to cease conducting business through each of its subsidiaries located in off-shore financial centres. [288181]
Mr. Douglas Alexander: CDC will in future only commit capital to new funds and direct investments in jurisdictions implementing the international tax standard and in developing countries they are aiming to help.
Children's Rights
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent representations he has had from UNICEF on its Promise Me campaign on children's rights in respect of climate change and HIV/AIDS. [287538]
Mr. Michael Foster: The Department for International Development has not to date received representations from UNICEF on this campaign.
Damian McBride
Mr. Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development on what date he last met Mr. Damian McBride in the course of his official duties. [287401]
Mr. Douglas Alexander: I have not met with Mr. McBride in the course of my ministerial duties since his resignation on 11 April 2009.
Departmental Accountancy
Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development when he expects to publish his Department's resource accounts for 2008-09. [287331]
Mr. Michael Foster: The Department for International Development's (DFID) resource accounts were published with the annual departmental report on the 16 July 2009. Copies are available in the Library of the House and on the DFID website:
Departmental Billing
John Mason: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what percentage of invoices from suppliers his Department paid within 10 days of receipt in June 2009. [288911]
Mr. Michael Foster: The Department for International Development paid 90 per cent. of correctly rendered invoices within 10 days of receipt in June 2009.
Departmental Conditions of Employment
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what percentage of employees in his Department (a) are on a flexible working contract, (b) are on a job share employment contract and (c) work from home for more than four hours a week. [287089]
Mr. Michael Foster: The Department for International Development (DFID) is committed to improving the work/life balance of its staff, and provides a wide range of flexible work pattern options.
On joining DFID, and at any subsequent time, all staff have the option to request to join our Flexible Working Hours Scheme (FWHS). Agreement to this is made by line managers, taking into account the operating needs of their unit. Options include home and remote working; term-time working; reduced hours; compressed hours; and flexible start and finish times.
We do not retain a central register of staff who have asked to join our FWHS, nor of all those who are working under those arrangements, but as at 30 June 2009, 145 (i.e. 8.6 per cent.) of our Home Civil Service (HCS) staff were working reduced hours.
DFID does not hold central records of those on job share employment contracts. Similarly, there are no central records of employees who work from home for more than four hours per week. To provide this would incur disproportionate cost.
Departmental Contracts
Lorely Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many contracts let by his Department were awarded to businesses with fewer than 50 employees in each of the last five years; and what the monetary value of such contracts was in each such year. [287803]
Mr. Michael Foster: The number of contracts let by the Department for International Development (DFID) to suppliers with fewer than 50 members of staff could not be made available without incurring disproportionate cost.
Departmental Internet
Mr. Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development pursuant to the answer of 14 July 2009, Official Report, column 250W, on departmental internet, what the (a) names and (b) versions are of the web browsers used on the (i) desktop machines and (ii) laptop computers used by his Department's (A) Permanent Secretary, (B) chief information officer, (C) head of communications and (D) head of finance. [288995]
Mr. Michael Foster: All Department for International Development desktop and laptop computers use a standard PC build that includes Internet Explorer 7.
Departmental Manpower
Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what percentage of employees in his Department are (a) women and (b) men; and what the average hourly pay of the (i) male and (ii) female employees in his Department was in the latest period for which figures are available. [287555]
Mr. Michael Foster: Civil service statistics are collected by ONS from the annual civil service employment survey. The latest published statistics are for 31 March 2008.
Departmental Marketing
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development (1) what he estimates the cost to his Department of the rebranding of his Department's overseas aid will be; from which line in his Department's budget the cost will be paid; what the cost was of designing the new UKaid logo; which company designed it; if he will place in the Library a copy of the design contract; and what names other than UKaid were considered for the rebranding; [285338]
(2) if he will place in the Library a copy of each logo which was considered during the redesign process for rebranding his Department's overseas aid; on which (a) items, (b) buildings, (c) vehicles and (d) other places the new logo will be placed; what he estimates the cost of printing (i) stationery, (ii) business cards and (iii) other items with the new logo will be; and if he will make a statement. [285339]
Mr. Douglas Alexander: 'UKaid' was developed through a process of research and testing with the UK public. From this research a range of designs were tested, of which 'UKaid' was the preferred option. It would be inappropriate to make public copies of unsuccessful designs.
We anticipate spending approximately £130,000 on re-branding our overseas aid, which will come from DFID's central communications budget. Of this, just over £98,000 was spent on developing, designing and testing the logo to ensure that it was meaningful to the UK public. It was commissioned via the Government's Central Office of Information (COI), following best practice and ensuring optimal value for money. As COI are the Government's procurement specialists no design contract was required.
In order to minimise the additional costs, and to ensure that the logo is introduced sensitively and appropriately, 'UKaid' will be phased in both in the UK and in the countries where we work. Within the UK the 'UKaid' logo will be used on a range of public communications, as well as DFID's website. Electronic templates will be updated at no extra cost; the logo will be incorporated into products as they are due to be replaced or replenished.
Departmental Postal Services
Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much his Department spent on Royal Mail services in each of the last two years. [288746]
Mr. Michael Foster: The Department for International Development spent the following sums using the Royal Mail in the last two years:
2007-08: £31,084
2008-09: £28,000
Departmental Procurement
Lorely Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what progress his Department has made in implementing the recommendations of the Glover Report in its procurement processes. [287142]
Mr. Michael Foster: The Department for International Development (DFID) current procurement processes now meet or partially meet the majority of the Glover Report recommendations. We have introduced a new Commercial Strategy which encourages the use of outcome based specifications, and our contract award details are published online. DFID's Innovation Procurement Plan will be finalised this year. We are on track to meet the other recommendations through the strategic reforms we are bringing in as part of DFID's Procurement Improvement Plan.
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