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15 Dec 2009 : Column 1024W—continued
Bermuda
Mr. Andy Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking to support the Government of Bermuda in tackling gun crime; and if he will make a statement. [305981]
Chris Bryant: Under the Bermuda constitution, the governor has responsibility for the police. He is working closely with the Bermuda police service and the Bermuda Government to help the police tackle rising gun crime. Three overseas police forces have offered their experience and advice: a force in Florida, the Federal Bureau of Investigation of the Washington DC area and West Midlands police in the UK. All three offers have been accepted by Bermuda and will be put to the best possible use.
Bosnia-Herzegovina: Judiciary
Mr. Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions his Department has had with the High Representative in Bosnia-Herzegovina on the future role of international judges and prosecutors in Bosnia-Herzegovina; and what recent representations he has received on the matter. [307110]
David Miliband: High Representative Inzko briefed the 18-19 November Peace Implementation Council (PIC) Steering Board on the future role of international judges and prosecutors in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The PIC Steering Board invited him to consider what further steps could be taken to address the concerns raised in this regard. Officials from my Department have since been in regular contact on this issue with High Representative Inzko and his staff.
Mr. Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with his EU counterparts on the continued presence of the international judges and prosecutors serving in the War Crimes Chamber of the State Court in Bosnia-Herzegovina; and what the outcomes of those discussions were. [307111]
David Miliband: The continued presence of international judges and prosecutors serving in the War Crimes Chamber of the State Court in Bosnia and Herzegovina was raised at the European Foreign Affairs Council on 8 December, where I made clear UK support for an extension to their mandate.
Mr. Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of recommendations in the 3 December report to the UN Security Council by Prosecutor Serge Brammertz on the continued presence of the international judges and prosecutors serving in the War Crimes Chamber of the State Court in Bosnia-Herzegovina. [307112]
David Miliband: The Government support the assessment made by International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia Chief Prosecutor Brammertz in his 3 December 2009 report to the UN Security Council on the continued presence of the international judges and prosecutors serving in the War Crimes Chamber of the State Court in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). The Government agree that these judges make an important contribution to the justice system in BiH, and to the ability of the country to meet its international obligations, and therefore strongly supports High Representative Inzko's 14 December 2009 decision to extend the mandate of international judges and prosecutors working in the war crimes department of the Court of BiH.
Christmas
David T.C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many Christmas trees were purchased by his Department and its agencies in each of the last five years; what the cost was of those trees in each year; from where the trees were sourced; what account was taken of the sustainability of the sources of the trees; and by what process the trees were disposed of. [305634]
Chris Bryant: This information is not held centrally, and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Mr. Vaizey: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much his Department has budgeted for Christmas trees in 2009. [305719]
Chris Bryant: This information is not held centrally, and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Departmental Carbon Emissions
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what estimate he has made of the tonnage of carbon dioxide emissions arising as a result of his activities undertaken in an official capacity in each year since his appointment. [305560]
Chris Bryant: The information requested is not held centrally, and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. Since 1999 the Government have published a list of Cabinet Ministers' overseas travel over £500 along with the total cost for all ministerial travel. Copies of lists are available in the Library of the House. All ministerial travel is undertaken in accordance with the Ministerial Code and all central Government ministerial and official air travel has been offset from 1 April 2006.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) is actively seeking to improve the sustainability of its operations through its "Greening the FCO" programme, whose objective is to ensure that all aspects of FCO operations at home and overseas are managed sustainably, and that environmental considerations are at the heart of the way the FCO is run.
Departmental Conferences
Mr. Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which conferences held overseas have been attended by civil servants based in his Department in the last three years; and what the cost to the public purse was of such attendance at each conference. [305864]
Chris Bryant: This information is not held centrally, and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Departmental Co-ordination
Mr. Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs with reference to the answer of 14 August 2008, Official Report, column 125W, on Departmental coordination: Department for International Development, what progress has been made on his Department's planned co-location with the Department for International Development in Abuja; and if he will make a statement. [307169]
David Miliband:
In May 2009, when the business case was developed and the amount of their financial contribution formally assessed, the Department for International Development withdrew from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's project to construct a new high commission in Abuja and decided to remain in
their existing offices in the city. However, in order to provide flexibility, the design of the new mission is being taken forward to allow future co-location with the Department for International Development should circumstances change.
Co-location is the preferred option for both the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Department for International Development and each proposal is assessed on both its financial and non-financial elements with a focus on achieving best value for the Government.
Departmental Cost Effectiveness
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what efficiency savings projects (a) his Department and (b) its agencies put in place under the Operational Efficiency Programme; on what date each such project was initiated; how much each such project was expected to contribute to departmental savings; how much had been saved through each such project on the latest date for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement. [300923]
Chris Bryant: Building on the comprehensive spending review 07 (CSR07) programme to deliver £35 billion in savings by the end of financial year 2010-11, the Operational Efficiency Programme (OEP) is a key part of the Government's drive to achieve greater efficiency savings across public spending.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) is working on its contribution towards the £35billion in savings as outlined in its most recent Departmental Report and forthcoming Autumn Performance Report. Despite over £100 million of financial pressures caused by sterling's fall in value, the FCO is working to achieve its OEP contribution through:
The Corporate Services Programme, which was launched in December 2008. This is expected to deliver £4 million in financial benefits in 2010-11. As of November 2009, the Corporate Services Programme had delivered £3.4 million in financial benefits from outsourcing facilities management services, localising corporate services positions overseas and rationalising corporate services activity in the UK.
Corporate Procurement which is contributing £2 million savings in Programme Spend targeted mainly at the daily rates being charged by organisations awarded accountable grants and £2 million savings through the implementation of the FCO's Consultancy Value Programme and Category Management for Consultancy.
FCO Services (FCOS) which is an independent trading fund. In addition to their £6million saving target already agreed for CSR07, FCOS will generate an additional £4million in 2010-11 by driving down their costs further and through an increased dividend.
£2.1 million to be found by further driving down of costs.
The wider FCO Family is also contributing. The British Council will deliver £2.6 million in savings in 2010-11 through its Business Transformation programme which began in May 2009. The BBC World Service has made strides in the sharing and outsourcing of back office functions, including procurement and will continue to examine its processes to help produce future savings to contribute £3.3 million.
Departmental Electronic Equipment
Mr. Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many plasma screen televisions his Department has purchased since 2001; and what the cost has been of purchasing and installing such screens in each such year. [306066]
Chris Bryant: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the right hon. Member for Horsham (Mr. Maude) on 6 March 2008, Official Report, column 2791W.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) delegates budgets for such equipment to individual internal departments and does not hold a centralised record of such purchases. The information could therefore be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Standard FCO guidance applies to the purchase of plasma television screens. This is based on achieving value for money.
Departmental Energy
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the (a) energy rating and (b) energy band of each building occupied by his Department and its agencies was in each year for which figures are available. [305944]
Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the energy efficiency rating is of each of his Department's buildings in London. [307421]
Chris Bryant: The energy ratings and bands for Foreign and Commonwealth Office buildings are as follows:
| 2008 | 2009 | |||
| Rating | Band | Rating | Band | |
Departmental Internet
David T.C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what redesigns of websites operated by (a) his Department and (b) its agencies have taken place since 27 June 2007; and what the (i) cost to the public purse and (ii) date of completion of each such redesign was. [306161]
Chris Bryant: The information is as follows:
(a) The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has undertaken two redesigns of its websites since 27 June 2007. Between March and September 2008, the FCO delivered a new FCO web platform, which included
redesigns of all its 250 websites. Then in October 2009, the FCO completed a redesign of its main site www.fco.gov.uk.
(i) The cost to the public purse of the two redesigns are as follows:
2008: It is not possible to break down the costs for the 2008 redesign because the redesign costs were part of the wider FCO web platform project, which was delivered by Logica. Logica subcontracted elements of the project out (for example, to XM for design, to Alterian for the content management system, to Verizon for hosting). The amount Logica paid subcontractors for the design work is commercially protected and not known to the FCO.
2009: In October 2009, the FCO redesigned the FCO corporate site www.fco.gov.uk. The work was completed using in-house resources at no additional cost to the public purse. The in-house resources cannot be disaggregated from the ongoing cost of maintaining the FCO web platform.
(ii) Dates of completion are as follows:
2008: Our corporate site www.fco.gov.uk launched on 31 March 2008, including with the new design. Our other sites were launched over the summer, with the final one going live on 29 September 2008, including with the new design.
2009: The 2009 redesign of our corporate site www.fco.gov.uk went live on 24 October 2009.
(b) We are not aware of redesigns by our agencies.
Departmental Manpower
Mr. Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what change there has been in the number of locally engaged staff at each overseas post as a result of budgetary changes since the withdrawal of the overseas price mechanism; and if he will make a statement. [307053]
David Miliband: Staffing levels at posts take into account a number of factors, chiefly operational need, affordability and sustainability. Local budgets are devolved to heads of post, therefore, the recording of changes to the number of locally engaged staff as a result of the withdrawal of the overseas price mechanism (OPM) and any subsequent budgetary changes are not held centrally. To provide a breakdown for each overseas post spanning the period from the withdrawal of OPM to the present could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Official Hospitality
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much (a) his Department and (b) its agencies spent on (i) alcohol and (ii) entertainment in the last 12 months. [305537]
Chris Bryant: Spend on alcohol for official entertainment was included within the total for entertainment expenditure in the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Chipping Barnet (Mrs. Villiers) on 12 October 2009, Official Report, columns 38-39W. Expenditure on official entertainment is devolved to individual departments and posts and to provide a breakdown for alcohol alone could be done only at disproportionate cost.
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