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1 Feb 2010 : Column 19W—continued
DFID does not have plans to develop and implement a specific child protection strategy. DFID has an institutional strategy with UNICEF. This provides annual core funding to UNICEF of £21 million to support their mission to improve the lives of children, their families and communities, including programmes specifically focused on protecting children from violence, exploitation and abuse.
Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the contribution of the policies in his Department's White Paper to the realisation of children's rights. [313777]
Mr. Michael Foster: The Department for International Development's (DFID's) 2009 White Paper promotes the realisation of children's rights through a range of policies. These include:
Launch of a nutrition strategy to integrate nutrition and food security, especially for women and young children.
Launch of a new UK global education strategy, including a commitment to support 8 million children in school in Africa by 2010.
Commitment to support 50 million poor people (including children) through social assistance and related measures.
Disease prevention policies, including supporting the Global Alliance for Vaccines (GAVI) to secure a predictable funding base, supporting an Advanced Market Commitment for pneumococcal vaccines, and a commitment to deliver 10 million bed nets each year from 2010 to 2013.
DFID assesses policies on a thematic basis. The timetable for forthcoming policy evaluations can be found in the publication "Evaluation Department, Forward Work Programme 2009/10 and list of Evaluation topics proposed for 2010/12", which is available at:
Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many (a) projects and (b) programmes which contribute to enabling child rights his Department has funded in the last three years. [313790]
Mr. Michael Foster: The Department for International Development (DFID) supports the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and works towards fulfilling children's rights through various means. Many DFID projects and programmes contribute to meeting the needs and rights of both children and adults and we do not track the number that contributes to enabling child rights as a separate category. Examples of DFID support that is enabling child rights include:
Committing £8.5 billion for education from 2007-15.
Working with multilateral agencies such as UNICEF. We have committed £55 million to UNICEF over five years to strengthen government capacity to realise child rights in India, including working with the government for child-friendly social policy.
Working with and supporting civil society organisations such Plan UK (£7.1 million from 2009-11), Save the Children (£23.4 million from 2009-11) and Anti-Slavery International (£1.4 million from 2008-13).
Departmental Consultants
Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much consultants employed by his Department and its agencies have been paid (a) in total and (b) in reimbursable expenses in each of the last 10 years. [313989]
Mr. Michael Foster: The Department for International Development's (DFID's) expenditure on consultancy (as defined by central Government) is available from 2007-08 onwards. Consultancy expenditure prior to 2007-08 cannot be obtained without incurring disproportionate cost. The annual expenditure totals are provided in the following table:
| Total expenditure (£) | |
Reimbursable expenses paid to consultants are not recorded centrally and would incur disproportionate cost to collate.
Departmental Manpower
Mr. Philip Hammond:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many performance reviews were undertaken in respect of staff of his Department in each of the last five years; in how many cases performance was rated as unsatisfactory or
below; how many staff left as a direct result of such a rating; and what percentage of full-time equivalent staff this represented. [313828]
Mr. Michael Foster: The Department for International Development (DFID) operates a continual appraisal process that requires a formal end of year performance review to be completed for all staff. For those who are considered to be performing least effectively(1), a range of support measures are set in place to help them improve their performance. Should these measures prove unsuccessful, then disciplinary action and ultimately dismissal, may occur.
Figures set out in the following table, for the last four years for which comparable data are available, show the numbers of staff who were performing least effectively and the numbers of those staff who have since left DFID.
(1) Performing least effectively is defined as follows: For members of the senior civil service (SCS), those receiving the lowest performance rating within a relative appraisal system (specified by the Cabinet Office). For staff in grades below the SCS, those assessed as "most in need of development" using DFID's own performance criteria.
| Staff performing least effectively | Staff performing least effectively who have since left DFID | ||||
| Number of staff( 1) | Number | Percentage | Number | Percentage | |
| (1) The total staff figures include HCS staff and those locally engaged by DFID overseas. | |||||
The data are not held in a format that allows a direct comparison to be made between those leaving as a direct result of their performance rating and those who may have left for other reasons.
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what estimate he has made of the proportion of staff of his Department managed out in the last five years who remain working in the public sector. [313852]
Mr. Michael Foster: The Department for International Development (DFID) has not exited any staff in transition over the past five years.
Departmental Publications
Mr. Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what publications his Department has produced for hon. Members to send to their constituents in each of the last three years; at what cost; and for what purpose. [314175]
Mr. Michael Foster: The Department for International Development (DFID) has published a wide variety of publications in the last three years to promote the work of the Department and raise awareness of international development, as well as to meet our statutory reporting requirements. None of these publications have been expressly produced for hon. Members to send to their constituents.
Haiti: Earthquakes
Lindsay Roy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what his most recent assessment is of the humanitarian situation in Haiti; and if he will make a statement. [314424]
Mr. Michael Foster: This is a human tragedy of enormous proportions. For the survivors, conditions have been desperate and remain so for many. However co-ordination of the relief effort is improving and responding well to the humanitarian needs of the population.
Our most recent assessment of the humanitarian situation, shared by the UN, is that priority areas for assistance are now shelter, sanitation and food. Two emergency response field hospitals departed from Haiti on 27 January as priority health care needs have now shifted to post-operative and primary health.
An update on the United Kingdom's own relief effort was provided in the written ministerial statement by the Secretary of State (Mr. Alexander) on 25 January 2010, Official Report, column 42WS.
Human Rights: Children
Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will incorporate child rights situational analysis into his Department's (a) country governance analysis and (b) country assistance plans. [314318]
Mr. Michael Foster: The Department for International Development's (DFID) Country Planning process requires a mandatory Country Governance Analysis (CGA). CGAs provide the UK with an overview analysis of the political, conflict, economic and social context of our partner countries. CGAs are drawn up using a variety of analytical tools, including social exclusion analysis, which incorporates an examination of the status of child rights. The situation of child rights in our partner countries is also considered in the design stages of DFID sectoral programmes, in particular for education and health support.
Transport
A14
Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what estimate he has made of the cost of constructing a new dual carriageway between Ellington and Fen Drayton as part of the A14 improvement work. [311183]
Chris Mole: The A14 Ellington to Fen Ditton improvement scheme is a very large road project. In managing the costs of the project the Highways Agency follows good practice-for example by making use of range estimates and allowing for risks in the delivery of the programme, and by ensuring individual elements of the project are co-ordinated most effectively as part of the whole scheme.
This means that it is not possible to be precise about the cost of individual elements of the scheme viewed in isolation. But we estimate that the cost of constructing a new dual carriageway between Ellington and Fen Ditton within the current range forecast for the A14 Ellington to Fen Ditton improvement project is approximately £342 million to £470 million, if land costs and risk allowances across the project are calculated on a pro rata basis.
Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what estimate he has made of the cost of widening the A1 to three lanes in each direction between the new Brampton interchange and the existing junction at Brampton Hut as part of the A14 improvement work. [311184]
Chris Mole: The A14 Ellington to Fen Ditton improvement scheme is a very large road project. In managing the costs of the project the Highways Agency follows good practice-for example by making use of range estimates and allowing for risks in the delivery of the programme, and by ensuring individual elements of the project are co-ordinated most effectively as part of the whole scheme.
This means that it is not possible to be precise about the cost of individual elements of the scheme viewed in isolation. But we estimate that the cost of widening the A1 to three lanes in each direction between the new Brampton interchange and the existing junction at Brampton Hut within the current range forecast for the A14 Ellington to Fen Ditton improvement project is approximately £13 million to £17 million, if land costs and risk allowances across the project are calculated on a pro rata basis.
Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what estimate he has made of the cost of the demolition of the Huntingdon Railway viaduct as part of the A14 improvement work. [311185]
Chris Mole: The A14 Ellington to Fen Ditton improvement scheme is a very large road project. In managing the costs of the project the Highways Agency follows good practice-for example by making use of range estimates and allowing for risks in the delivery of the programme, and by ensuring individual elements of the project are co-ordinated most effectively as part of the whole scheme.
This means that it is not possible to be precise about the cost of individual elements of the scheme viewed in isolation. But we estimate that the cost of demolishing the Huntingdon Railway Viaduct within the current range forecast for the A14 Ellington to Fen Ditton improvement project is approximately £15.5 million to £21.3 million, if land costs and risk allowances across the project are calculated on a pro rata basis.
Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what estimate he has made of the cost of improving local roads in Huntingdon following the demolition of the Huntingdon Railway viaduct as part of the A14 improvement work. [311186]
Chris Mole: The A14 Ellington to Fen Ditton improvement scheme is a very large road project. In managing the costs of the project the Highways Agency follows good practice-for example by making use of range estimates and allowing for risks in the delivery of the programme, and by ensuring individual elements of the project are co-ordinated most effectively as part of the whole scheme.
This means that it is not possible to be precise about the cost of individual elements of the scheme viewed in isolation. But we estimate that the cost of alterations to the local road network in Huntingdon within the current range forecast for the A14 Ellington to Fen Ditton improvement project is approximately £13 million to £17 million, if land costs and risk allowances across the project are calculated on a pro rata basis.
Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what estimate he has made of the cost of widening the Huntingdon to Brampton Road following the demolition of the Huntingdon Railway viaduct as part of the A14 improvement work. [311187]
Chris Mole: The works proposed within Huntingdon as part of the A14 Ellington to Fen Ditton improvement do not require the widening of Brampton Road.
Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what estimate he has made of the cost of noise mitigation measures to be implemented along the A1 at Brampton as part of the A14 improvement work. [311188]
Chris Mole:
The A14 Ellington to Fen Ditton improvement scheme is a very large road project. In managing the costs of the project the Highways Agency follows good practice-for example by making use of
range estimates and allowing for risks in the delivery of the programme, and by ensuring individual elements of the project are co-ordinated most effectively as part of the whole scheme.
This means that it is not possible to be precise about the cost of individual elements of the scheme viewed in isolation. But we estimate that the cost of noise mitigation measures proposed along the A1 at Brampton within the current range forecast for the A14 Ellington to Fen Ditton improvement project is approximately £1.5 million to £2 million. This is included in the estimate for the widening of this section to three lanes.
Aviation: Fuels
Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what restrictions apply to the jettisoning of aviation fuel over (a) British and (b) international waters. [313000]
Paul Clark: Article 129 of the Air Navigation Order 2009 prohibits aircraft flying over the United Kingdom from the dropping of articles to the surface unless permission has been given by the Civil Aviation Authority. However, the jettisoning of fuel in the case of an emergency is exempted from this requirement. The decision to jettison rests solely with the pilot but he may request guidance from air traffic control regarding where best to jettison the fuel. The pilot will be advised to fuel jettison at above 10,000 feet above ground level and away from cities and towns, preferably over water, where this is possible.
There are no specific requirements covering the jettisoning of fuel over international waters.
Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how much fuel was jettisoned by aircraft while in the air on (a) outward journeys from and (b) inward journeys to Great Britain, in the last year for which figures are available. [313005]
Paul Clark: Fuel jettisoning will only take place in an emergency when an aircraft needs to lose weight in order for it to reach its maximum landing weight. In the 12 months from 1 November 2008 to 31 October 2009 the Civil Aviation Authority received 18 reports of aircraft jettisoning fuel. 17 of the aircraft concerned were outbound from the UK when they had to make emergency landings. The other aircraft was inbound. The CAA does not record the amount of fuel jettisoned.
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