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24 Mar 2010 : Column 300W—continued
Departmental Location
Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence at what locations his Department's officials are based together with (a) Army, (b) Navy and (c) Royal Air Force staff. [322847]
Mr. Kevan Jones: The site level location data for service and civilian personnel are not held in a format that allows cross comparison. This information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Publications
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the dates of publication of any regular statistics or reports by his Department have been affected by planning for the forthcoming general election. [323560]
Mr. Kevan Jones: On the announcement of a general election, the Cabinet Secretary issues guidance to Departments on their activities during the pre-election period. This will be published on the Cabinet Office website.
Regular statistical releases and reports will continue to be issued and published during the election period on dates which have been pre-announced.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Burma: Asylum
Mr. Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received on the number of displaced people who have fled from Burma to Thailand since January 2010; whether he has had discussions with the government of Thailand on the safety and welfare of those people; and if he will make a statement. [323617]
Mr. Ivan Lewis:
We received reports of people fleeing from Burma to Thailand since January 2010 but the numbers are unconfirmed. Following news that Thailand was intending to force 3,000 refugees to return to Burma, our ambassador to Thailand raised this matter with the Thai authorities stressing the importance of adherence to international standards and to Thailand's international obligations. We understand that the Royal Thai Government decided not to deport the 30 families it had initially
identified for removal. We continue to closely monitor the situation are coordinating closely with UN High Commission for Refugees, US and EU partners and will continue to raise the issue with Thai authorities.
Burma: United Nations
Mr. Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how often he receives reports from the EU Special Envoy on Burma on his activities; and if he will make a statement. [323621]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The EU Special Envoy for Burma, Piero Fassino, regularly reports to EU member states including on his 20 November 2009 meeting with the Minister for Agriculture and Irrigation of Burma and his engagement with regional parliamentarians and officials in Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam, also in November 2009. More recently, Mr. Fassino reported on the EU Troika meeting with the Burmese Foreign Minister in December 2009 and on his meetings with Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and other partners, at the United Nations at the end of January 2010.
There are currently no plans to make a statement but the UK welcomes Mr. Fassino's continued efforts to communicate the EU's position to the Burmese authorities, countries in the region and international partners to try and bring positive change to Burma.
Israel: Foreign Relations
Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will discuss with the Israeli ambassador the matter of adherence to diplomatic protocol in commenting on proceedings in Parliament and internal British political activities. [322131]
David Miliband: I have no plans to discuss these matters with the Israeli ambassador. He, like everyone else, is entitled to his views on proceedings in Parliament.
Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development: Israel
Dr. Starkey: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the consideration by the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development of Israel's application for membership. [322896]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The UK supports Israel's bid for accession to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. However, there remain a small number of issues, such as the scope of statistical data, which are being resolved in the course of the accession process.
Sudan: Politics and Government
Mr. Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he has made a recent assessment of the security situation in the Nuba mountain region of Sudan; and if he will make a statement. [323618]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: We remain concerned by the ongoing instability and humanitarian suffering in the Nuba mountains region of Southern Kordofan. We continue to monitor the situation closely, including through visits to the area. The forthcoming elections period will be crucial: we note that the voting for Governor and the State Assembly in Southern Kordofan has been delayed until a new census can be carried out.
The Comprehensive Peace Agreement provides for popular consultations to be held in Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile. These will be essential to ensuring a lasting peace in Southern Kordofan and across Sudan as a whole. The dates and format of these consultations, and the referendum in Abyei (the third of the Three Areas) are yet to be finalised by the parties. It is essential that this process is inclusive and takes account of the legitimate concerns of the regions' populations.
The UK continues to support projects to mitigate conflict and foster peace in the Three Areas and has committed £30 million over the next three years to provide basic services to households.
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Agriculture: Subsidies
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when his Department will make the Single Payment Scheme payment to Mrs. Mary Wilkinson of Little Hadham, Hertfordshire for 2007; and if he will make a statement. [321616]
Jim Fitzpatrick: Mrs. Wilkinson has received her payment.
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the average cost was of processing a single payment in the latest period for which figures are available; and how many payments of less than that amount were made in that period. [322338]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The National Audit Office calculated the average cost for administering a Single Payment Scheme claim for the 2008 scheme year (England only) as £1,743.
29,897 claims under the Single Payment Scheme for 2008 scheme year (England only) had values equal to or less than £1,743. The values of claims could be adjusted however following the application of penalties or for over claims.
Carbon Emissions: Waste Disposal
Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar (Mr. Pickles) of 9 February 2009, Official Report, column 1578W, on carbon emissions: waste disposal, what the reference number is of the research project; which body undertook the research; and if he will place in the Library a copy of the research report on estimating carbon dioxide emissions from domestic burning. [323085]
Dan Norris: Research project ED431843 was undertaken by AEA Technology, and provides estimates of dioxin emissions from domestic burning. A copy of the research report has been placed in the House Library.
Departmental Correspondence
Mr. David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when he plans to reply to correspondence from Richard D. Hall dated (a) 4 December 2009, (b) 6 December 2009, (c) 15 December 2009 and (d) 2 March 2010 on animal mutilation. [323907]
Jim Fitzpatrick: Neither DEFRA nor its agency, Animal Health, hold a record of having received correspondence of the dates referred to by the hon. Member for Blaydon (Mr. Anderson).
Departmental Disciplinary Proceedings
Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many (a) disciplinary and (b) capability procedures have been (i) initiated and (ii) completed in his Department in each of the last five years; how much time on average was taken to complete each type of procedure in each such year; how many and what proportion of his Department's staff were subject to each type of procedure in each such year; and how many and what proportion of each type of procedure resulted in the dismissal of the member of staff. [320632]
Dan Norris: The following tables show the number of disciplinary and capability procedures initiated and completed in each of the last five years. In this instance we are referring to capability as performance. They also show the number of staff dismissed in each of the years and percentage of staff subject to procedures who were dismissed for each of the procedures.
The following information is provided for DEFRA and its agencies:
| Disciplinary | |||||
| Initiated | Completed( 1) | Prop ortion of staff( 2) | Dismissed | Percentage dismissed | |
| (1) Completed disciplinary cases short of dismissal would have concluded that the offences were either minor or serious misconduct and an appropriate warning or penalty would have been applied under DEFRA's disciplinary procedures. Alternatively the Decision Officer would have determined that the evidence did not support, or the offence did not warrant, a formal disciplinary warning. (2) The proportion of total DEFRA staff where disciplinary cases have been initiated. | |||||
| Capability | |||||
| Initiated | Completed | Proportion of staff( 1) | Dismissed | Percentage dismissed | |
| (1) The proportion of total DEFRA staff where capability cases have been initiated. | |||||
Information for this element of the questions is not available in all cases, we are therefore unable to provide the information requested.
Departmental Internet
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many people his Department employs to maintain its social media and social networking sites; and at what cost in the latest period for which figures are available. [322615]
Dan Norris: DEFRA does not employ anyone to maintain social media or social networking sites.
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much his Department has spent on maintaining its (a) Flickr channel, (b) YouTube channel and (c) Twitter feed in the latest period for which figures are available. [322618]
Dan Norris: The annual licence fee for DEFRA's Flickr channel is $24.95 (US dollars). There is no licence fee for DEFRA's YouTube channel. There are no other costs and both channels are maintained by in-house staff. DEFRA does not have a Twitter feed.
Departmental Publications
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether the dates of publication of any regular statistics or reports by his Department have been affected by planning for the forthcoming general election. [323461]
Dan Norris: On the announcement of a general election, the Cabinet Secretary issues guidance to Departments on their activities during the pre-election period. This will be published on the Cabinet Office website.
Regular statistical releases and reports will continue to be issued and published during the election period on dates which have been pre-announced.
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