Departmental Accountancy
Mr. Hurd:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether any written instructions have been provided to his Department's
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Accounting Officer in accordance with paragraph 5.5 of the Ministerial Code since May 1997. [315562]
Departmental Buildings
Mr. Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which UK embassies provide office space to officials of the Department for International Development; and how much is charged to that Department for that provision. [314181]
Chris Bryant: Co-location is the preferred option for both the Department for International Development (DfID) and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO).
We have 27 co-locations (Kabul, Luanda, Sarajevo, Brazilia, Rangoon, Phnom Penh, Kinshasa, Addis Ababa, Georgetown, Baghdad, Kingston, Amman, Nairobi, Lilongwe, Chisinau, Islamabad, Moscow, Kigali, Belgrade, Dushanbe, Dar Es Salaam, Bangkok, Kampala, Hanoi, Sana'a, Lusaka and Harare), which include locations where DfID occupy office space supplied by the FCO, share the same building as the FCO (all the named above except Kabul, Kinshasa, Addis Ababa, Islamabad, Moscow, Kampala, and Hanoi) or where DfID own properties on land provided by the FCO. We have a further 11 co-location projects in various stages of planning.
In 2008-09, the FCO charged DfID a total of £648,000 on the basis of office space occupied and services consumed.
Departmental Internet
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many people his Department employs to maintain its social media and networking sites; and at what cost. [315937]
Chris Bryant: One full-time member of staff maintains the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's blog platform at:
http://blogs.fco.gov.uk
and free social media channels such as Twitter:
www.twitter.com/foreignoffice
It is not possible to separate out the cost of the blog platform from the cost of the global web platform.
Departmental Meetings
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what (a) meetings and (b) other contacts (i) Ministers and (ii) officials in his Department have had with (A) Niall Fitzgerald, (B) Keith Craig, (C) Sir Rod Eddington, (D) Sir Kieran Prendergast, (E) Robert Webb QC and (F) Mark Getty since 1 January 2009. [313776]
Chris Bryant: Ministers and officials meet many people as part of the process of policy development. It is not normal practice to disclose details of such meetings. A record of all individuals met by Foreign and Commonwealth officials and Ministers is not held centrally.
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Departmental Public Expenditure
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much his Department spent on (a) new furnishings, (b) works of art and (c) new vehicles in each of the last two years. [312430]
Chris Bryant: I refer the hon. Member to the response provided by my hon. Friend. Member for Lincoln (Gillian Merron) on 17 November 2008, Official Report column 190W, in relation to 2007-08.
As my hon. Friend explained in her response, furnishings are not recorded in the fixed assets register. It would not be possible to provide the information required without incurring a disproportionate cost.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) spend on motor vehicles in 2008-09 was £15,463,000. The majority of spend was for vehicles in Iraq and Afghanistan. These require additional security features that significantly increase costs. FCO Services spend on motor vehicles in 2008-09 was £179,000.
There was no spend on works of art.
Diplomatic Service: Pay
Mr. Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 2 February 2010, Official Report, column 239W, on departmental manpower, what the annual salary is of each (a) ambassador and (b) high commissioner serving overseas. [316233]
Chris Bryant [holding answer 8 February 2010]:Our ambassadors and high commissioners (heads of mission) abroad are appointed from a range of civil service grades.
The pay ranges for staff in the senior civil service are determined centrally and based on the findings of the independent senior salaries review body.
For staff below the senior civil service, Departments are responsible for setting their own salary ranges following guidance issued by HM Treasury and the Cabinet Office.
The average salary for a head of mission is £80,852. Information on the number of heads of mission receiving salaries over £90,000 is provided in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s annual departmental report, which can be viewed at:
http://www.fco.gov.uk/resources/en/pdf/4103709/5476465/departmental-report/dept-report-vol2-2
EC Law
Mr. Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the scope and application of Article 122 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union; whether he has sought legal advice on the scope and application of Article 122; what assessment he has made of any financial liability arising from the use of Article 122 to provide financial assistance to an EU member state in financial difficulties; and if he will make a statement. [315693]
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David Miliband: The scope and application of Article 122 were subject to extensive debate during the passage of the Lisbon Treaty Bill. Any request for financial support in accordance with Article 122 would need to satisfy the specific criteria set out in the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and would be considered on its individual merits by the EU Economic and Financial Affairs Council, where it would be voted upon by qualified majority.
G20: Greater London
Mr. Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many companies tendered for the contract for the supply of public relations services for the London Summit with the heads of the G20 in April 2009; and to which company the contract was awarded. [315328]
Chris Bryant: As stated in my reply to the hon. Member on 16 September 2009, Official Report, column 2232W, no external public relations or public affairs firms were contracted to provide support for the London G20 summit. Eight companies submitted bids.
Government Car and Despatch Agency
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much his Department paid to the Government Car and Despatch Agency in each of the last five years; how much it has spent on such payments in 2009-10; and what proportion of such payments was made in respect of the Government Car Service. [316428]
Chris Bryant: Costs to Departments of ministerial cars are reported annually to Parliament by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport through written ministerial statement and are available in the Libraries of the House. Any other costs incurred with Government Car and Despatch Agency are not recorded centrally and are available only at disproportionate cost.
Government Hospitality: Wines
Mr. Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 18 January 2010, Official Report, column 101W, on Government hospitality: wines, if he will publish the most recent (a) paper and (b) electronic copy of the Government wine cellar database. [314170]
Chris Bryant [holding answer 29 January 2010]: The Government hospitality wine database contains sensitive commercial details about the pricing of wines as well as subjective comments on individual stock items, which could prove both commercially and reputationally damaging to suppliers and producers if released. I will place an illustrative list of wines held in the cellar in the Library of the House.
Haiti
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he plans to visit Haiti in an official capacity. [315916]
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Chris Bryant: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary continues to follow the situation in Haiti closely and is in regular contact with our ambassador, the UN Secretary General and other counterparts, including Secretary Clinton. He has no plans to visit at this time.
Hakluyt
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs with reference to the answer of 5 November 2009, Official Report, columns 1112-13W, on Hakluyt, what contacts Ministers in his Department have had with Hakluyt and Co since 1 January 2009; on what dates such contacts took place; and what form such contacts took. [312788]
Chris Bryant: Ministers and officials meet many people as part of the process of policy development. It is not normal practice to disclose details of such meetings. A record of all individuals met by Foreign and Commonwealth officials and Ministers is not held centrally.
Legal Services Commission: Billing
Laura Moffatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the Legal Services Commission has undertaken to observe the prompt payment code. [316110]
Bridget Prentice: I have been asked to reply.
The Legal Services Commission (LSC) is not a formal signatory of the Prompt Payment Code—a Government initiative introduced by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) to tackle the issue of late payments to businesses. However, the LSC has already taken its own steps to regulate and accelerate payments to legal aid providers. Standard monthly payments (SMP's) are made in advance for advice work completed under contract and in addition, weekly payments are made on bills submitted for civil representation work.
Newspaper Licensing Agency
Mr. Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what payments (a) his Department and (b) each of its agencies made to the Newspaper Licensing Agency in each of the last 10 years. [315594]
Chris Bryant: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) made the following payments to the Newspaper Licensing Agency (NLA). Records are not available for the period 2000-02.
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| Total cost including VAT (£) |
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Prior to 2007 the FCO had a paper cuttings service. When we moved to the more environmentally friendly digital service, the NLA increased its fee as the digital information can now be provided across the whole of the FCO's worldwide network rather than just in the UK.
Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with his counterparts in the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe on the upholding of democratic principles through its activities. [315914]
Chris Bryant: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary is in regular contact with his counterparts in the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and will, as appropriate, discuss the OSCE's democratisation related activities.
Most recently, he spoke to Kazakhstan's Foreign Minister, Kanat Saudabayev, on 8 January 2010. The Foreign Secretary welcomed Kazakhstan's Chairmanship of the OSCE for 2010. He underlined the importance the UK attaches to the OSCE's work across all three dimensions—politico-military, economic and environmental and the human dimension which includes human rights and good governance. I reiterated these points during my 28 January meeting with Foreign Minister Saudabayev.
Palestinians
Mr. Pope: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many visits to Gaza have been made by officials of his Department in the course of their duties in the last 12 months. [316213]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: Our officials based in Jerusalem and, to a lesser extent, Tel Aviv, have visited Gaza on more than 20 occasions since January 2009. Our consulate general in Jerusalem also has two members of local staff permanently based in Gaza.
Somalia: Piracy
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much the Government has spent on measures to combat piracy around the Horn of Africa in the last 12 months. [315918]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: Piracy off Somalia is being tackled comprehensively across Government Departments in line with the Government's Somalia Strategy and in close co-ordination with international partners.
Over the last 12 months, the UK has contributed to three international counter-piracy operations: this has included the provision of the operation Headquarters and Operation Commander to the EU Naval Force (Operation ATALANTA); The common funded budget for Op ATALANTA in 2009-10, which is paid through the Athena mechanism, currently amounts to €17.64 million, with the UK share approximately £1.15 million. The UK also provides a frigate, tanker, the Deputy Commander and staff to Combined Maritime Forces;
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and a frigate to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation Operation OCEAN SHIELD. Furthermore the UK also provides the UK Maritime Trade Organisation, co-ordinating the movement of merchant shipping and acting as a first point of contact for any ships attacked in the region. The cost of all Ministry of Defence counter piracy activity is not recorded centrally.
It is widely recognised that the solution to piracy lies on land in Somalia through security, economic, and judicial development. As part of the Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia (CGPCS) the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has led and funded two regional needs assessments missions including all key donors to discuss with Somali representatives and others in the region the priorities for capability development in the legal, judicial, penal and maritime security sectors. In line with the internationally agreed outcomes of these needs assessments, the UK and other partners are supporting security sector reform in the region, including assistance to coastguards that will improve maritime security in the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden. The FCO has also funded the participation of Somali representatives in CGPCS-related activity.