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The Insolvency Service Executive Agency of The Department of Business Innovation and Skills has published in full its Government Procurement Card spend at the end of each of the last two financial years.
Plans are in place to publish all Government Procurement Card spend from April 2012 to January 2013 in February 2013. Thereafter, Government Procurement Card spend for The Insolvency Service will be published in full on a monthly basis.
Letter from Kim Thorneywork, dated 5 February 2013:
Thank you for your question in asking the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what guidance or instructions have been issued to staff in (a) his Department and (b) its arm's length bodies about the timing of the publication of data relating to spend over (i) £25,000 and (ii) £500 using the Government Procurement Card.
Please be advised that the Skills Funding Agency aims to publish all of its GPC spend information by the end of the month following the completion of all accounting entries (checking for authorisation, coding, etc.) for each statement received. Currently we are up to date, with data published for the October 2012 statement. The data for the November statement will be published shortly (as at 31 January 2013).
Minimum Wage
Steve Rotheram: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many people in (a) Liverpool, Walton constituency, (b) Liverpool and (c) England and Wales earn (i) the living wage and (ii) less than the living wage. [140883]
Jo Swinson: One definition of a ‘living wage’ is a wage that is necessary to provide workers and their families with a basic but acceptable standard of living. This standard is socially defined and therefore varies by time, place and household characteristics.
An hourly wage that covers the costs of living will be different for every individual and will depend heavily on unique circumstances including the number of hours that the individual works. There is, therefore, no unique living wage.
However, it is possible to set out information on how many employees work at or below certain levels of wages. The following tables set out estimates of the number of people working in the Liverpool local authority and in England and Wales earning below certain hourly rates. These rates take in to account the total amount they are paid, including bonus and overtime payments in April 2012. This is based on data from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) 2012 and does not include people that are not in employment or the self-employed.
| Liverpool, April 2012 | |
| Estimated number of people | |
| England and Wales, April 2012 | |
| Estimated number of people | |
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The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills does not hold pay data on the Liverpool, Walton constituency. However, data published by the Office for National Statistics shows the deciles of the pay distribution by home parliamentary constituency. The following table sets out the tenth, twentieth, thirtieth and fortieth decile of the pay distribution for employees living in the Liverpool, Walton constituency.
| Liverpool, Walton constituency, April 2012 | |
| Percentile | £ |
| Liverpool local authority, April 2012 | |
| Percentile | £ |
| UK, April 2012 | |
| Percentile | £ |
Overtime
Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the (a) average cost per member of staff and (b) total cost was of overtime payments in (i) his Department and (ii) each of its arm's length bodies in (A) 2010-11, (B) 2011-12 and (C) 2012-13 to date. [141470]
Jo Swinson: The average cost per member of staff (includes all staff, not only those who made a claim for overtime payment), and total overtime payments in core BIS (including the UKTI) are shown in the following table:
| Average overtime payment per member of staff (£) | Overtime payments (£) | |
| (1) To the end of January 2013 | ||
All paid overtime has to be pre-approved by the line manager and the need for staff to work overtime should be on an exceptional basis.
I have approached the chief executives of the Department's executive agencies (Insolvency Service, Companies House, National Measurement Office, Intellectual Property Office, UK Space Agency, Ordnance Survey, Met Office, Land Registry and the Skills Funding Agency) and they will respond to the hon. Member directly.
Letter from Tim Moss, dated 1 February 2013:
I am replying on behalf of Companies House to your Parliamentary Question tabled 30 January 2013, to the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, UTN 141470.
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The (a) average cost per member of staff and (b) total cost of overtime payments in 2010/11, 2011/12, and 2012/13 was as follows:
| 2010/11 | 2011/12 | 2012/13 (year to date) | |
Letter from Peter Mason, dated 1 February 2013:
I am responding in respect of the National Measurement Office (NMO) to your Parliamentary Question tabled on 30 January 2013, asking the Secretary of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), about the cost of overtime payments in his Department's arm's-length bodies.
The answers to the parliamentary question for NMO, an Executive Agency of BIS, are shown in the following table:
| (a) Average cost per member of staff (£) | (b) Total cost of overtime payments (£) | |
Letter from David Parker, dated 1 February 2013:
Thank you for your question addressed to the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the (a) average cost per member of staff and (b) total cost was of overtime payments in (i) his Department and (ii) each of its arm's length bodies in (A) 2010-11, (B) 2011-12 and (C) 2012-13 to date. (141470)
The UK Space Agency became an Executive Agency of the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills on the 1st April 2011 and therefore can only report on (B) 2011-12 and (C) 2012-13 to date.
(a) The average cost per member of staff for (B) 2011-12 was £5.20 and the average cost per member of staff for (C) 2012-13 to date is £558.54
(b) The total cost of overtime for (B) 2011-12 was £176.82 and the total cost of overtime for (C) 2012-13 to date is £23,458.72
Letter from Sean Dennehey, dated 4 February 2013:
I am responding in respect of the Intellectual Property Office to your Parliamentary Question tabled 30th January 2013, to the Secretary of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.
For the Intellectual Property Office, the average cost per member of staff (full time equivalent) of overtime was:
| £ | |
The total cost of overtime was:
| £000 | |
These figures reflect increased demand for patents and trade marks.
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Letter from John Hirst, dated 4 February 2013:
I am replying on behalf of the Met Office to your Parliamentary Question tabled on 30 January 2013, U!N 141470 to the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills.
The information requested in respect of the Met Office is contained in the following table:
| (£000) | ||
| Average cost per member of staff of overtime payments | Total cost of overtime payments | |
| (1) Annualised (2) To 31 December 2012 | ||
I hope this helps.
Letter from Dr Vanessa Lawrence CB, dated 1 February 2013:
As Director General and Chief Executive of Ordnance Survey, I have been asked to reply to you in response to your Parliamentary Question asking the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills “what the (a) average cost per member of staff and (b) total cost was of overtime payments in (i) his Department and (ii) each of its arm's length bodies in (A) 2010-11, (B) 2011-12 and (C) 2012-13 to date”?
The information requested is provided in the table:
| £ | |||
| 2010/11 | 2011/12 | 2012/13 YTD | |
I hope this information is of use.
Letter from Malcolm Dawson, dated 1 February 2013:
I write on behalf of Land Registry in response to Parliamentary Question 141470 tabled on 30 January 2013 which asked the following:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the (a) average cost per member of staff and (b) total cost was of overtime payments in (i) his Department and (ii) each of its arm's length bodies in (A) 2010-11, (B) 2011-12 and (C) 2012-13 to date.
| £ | |||
| Average staff cost | Total overtime payments | Average overtime payment per FTE | |
| (1) Calculated by scaling up costs to 31 December 2012 to a full year. (2 )To 31 December 2012. (3) Year to date | |||
The total paybill (including salary and allowances, overtime, employer's national insurance and pension contributions) has been calculated and then divided by the average FTE to reach an average cost per member of staff. This figure is significantly higher than if we had used salary figures alone.
I hope you find this information useful.
Letter from Dr Richard Judge, dated 31 January 2013:
The Secretary of State for Business Innovation and Skills has asked me to reply to your question what the (a) average cost per member of staff and (b) total cost was of overtime payments in (i) his Department and (ii) each of its arm's length bodies in (A) 2010-11, (B) 2011-12 and (C) 2012-13 to date.
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The information requested in respect of The Insolvency Service is:
| £ | |
Letter from Kim Thorneywork, Skills Funding Agency, dated 6 February 2013:
Thank you for your question in asking the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the (a) average cost per member of staff and (b) total cost was of overtime payments in (i) his Department and (ii) each of its arm's length bodies in (A) 2010-11, (B) 2011-12 and (C) 2012-13 to date.
Please be advised of the following figures in answer to your question:
Answer to part (a):
| £ | |
Answer to part (b):
| £ | |
Prisoners: GCE A-level
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (1) how many prisoners sat A levels whilst in prison in each of the last five years; [141316]
(2) what steps he is taking to increase prisoner literacy; [141297]
(3) what assessment he has made of the level of prisoner literacy; [141326]
(4) how many prisoners sat GCSEs whilst in prison in each of the last five years. [141341]
Matthew Hancock: The basic skills of maths and English underpin all learning. They are a critical element of the vocational skills that prisoners need in order to secure employment on release. Evidence shows that employment is linked to reduced re-offending.
New prison education contracts introduced last summer give a clear focus on addressing maths and English early in prisoners' sentences, with a requirement to assess learning needs and, where a literacy need is identified, to address it. English and maths teaching is delivered
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both as standalone activity and as an embedded element of work and vocational training. We are working with education providers to help them develop engaging and motivating courses to target resistant learners.
We are pressing forward with the Apprenticeship agenda in custody, preparing prisoners for opportunities after release and during that period when they can be released on temporary licence to take up employment and other opportunities. Maths and English are a key part of Apprenticeship activity.
We are developing a new Traineeships policy and will be looking at the potential for this to operate in custody. The content is not yet fixed, but we have proposed that English and maths for young people who have not achieved a GCSE Grade C or equivalent will be a core element.
We have piloted intensive maths and English courses in prisons, based on the Army's model, particularly to address the needs of prisoners serving short sentences. Guidance will issue shortly.
The Learning and Skills Improvement Service published in December ‘Developing Speaking and Listening Skills: A support pack for staff working with offenders’ which uses English teaching to develop prisoners' communication skills.
Data shown in the table on offender learners only include those funded via the Offenders' Learning and Skills Service (OLASS) budget.
We do not hold information on the level of prisoner literacy. There were 25,200 offenders aged 18 or over in the prison system participating on a Skills for Life English course in the 2011/12 academic year.
Table 1 shows the number of offenders aged 18 or over in the prison system participating in A/AS Levels and GCSEs. Final data are shown for the 2010/11 and 2011/12 academic years. Data for previous years are not available on a comparable basis.
| Table 1: Offender Learners—Participation (2010/11 to 2011/12) | ||
| Final | ||
| 2010/11 | 2011/12 | |
| Note: All figures are rounded to the nearest 10. Source: Individualised Learner Record | ||
These data on A/AS-Level and GCSE participation represent only a small part of the offender learning provision. In the 2011/12 academic year 90,100 offenders aged 18 or over in the prison system participated in learning funded via the OLASS budget, undertaking learning ranging from basic maths and English provision through to full vocational qualifications at Level 2 and above.
Science: Israel
Pauline Latham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent discussions he had had with his Israeli counterpart on furthering scientific collaboration between the UK and Israel. [141553]
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Mr Willetts: I visited Israel from 29-31 October 2011 and during the visit I met with the Israeli Minister for Trade, Science and the Environment, Minister Rabbi Professor Daniel Hershkowitz, and Israeli Chief Scientist at the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labour, Avi Hasson. Together with Minister Rabbi Professor Daniel Hershkowitz, I announced the establishment of a new, joint fellowship exchange scheme to enhance collaboration between the countries in the area of regenerative medicine.
Students: Scotland
Gregg McClymont: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent discussions (a) he and (b) officials from his Department have had with the Scottish Government on student support. [141861]
Mr Willetts: I have not had any recent discussions with members of the Scottish Government on student support.
Officials in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills routinely meet with officials in the devolved administrations to discuss student finance issues. Recent discussions have included matters of personal eligibility of students and this Department's recent public consultation on applying student number controls in England to alternative providers with designated courses.
Teachers: Training
Gregg McClymont: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (1) what restrictions are in place regarding age for those applying to study for a post-graduate teaching qualification with regard to student support from either the Government or the Student Loans Company; [141862]
(2) what restrictions apply for student support for people aged 55 and over on the date at which the course commences. [141863]
Mr Willetts: Eligible students studying full-time higher education courses who are under the age of 60 on the first day of the first academic year of their course can apply for loans for living costs, part of which are based on household income.
Eligible students, regardless of age, can apply for a tuition loan in respect of full-time and part-time higher education courses and for means-tested maintenance grants in respect of full-time higher education courses. Students undertaking full-time postgraduate teacher training courses can apply for the same package of loans and grants as undergraduate students.
Women and Equalities
Travel and Subsistence Payments
Chi Onwurah:
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities how many senior officials in the Government Equalities Office (a) have and (b) have had during 2012-13 terms of employment that specify that their
6 Feb 2013 : Column 287W
main place of employment is their home address and that they are entitled to claim travel and subsistence expenses for visiting departmental offices. [141147]
Chi Onwurah: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities (1) how many senior officials in her Department's arm's-length bodies (a) have and (b) have had during 2012-13 terms of employment that specify that their main place of employment is their home address and that they are entitled to claim travel and subsistence expenses for visiting the offices of the arm's-length body; [141161]
(2) how many chairs in her Department's arm's-length bodies are paid on the basis that they are exempt from personally meeting any tax liability in respect of travel and subsistence payments for attending meetings at the offices of the arm's-length body; [141175]
(3) how many senior officials of her Department's arm's-length bodies are paid on the basis that they are exempt from personally meeting any tax liability in respect of travel and subsistence payments for attending meetings at the offices of the arm's-length body. [141189]
Mrs Grant: Since 4 September 2012 responsibility for the Government Equalities Office, formerly within the Home Office, moved to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Responses to these questions my right hon. Friend the Minister of State, who has responsibility for sport and tourism, will therefore include the information requested relating to the Government Equalities Office.
Wales
Government Procurement Card
Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what the mean average spend using a Government Procurement Card was per member of staff in (a) his Department in (i) 2011 and (ii) 2012. [141468]
Stephen Crabb: There are six Government Procurement Card holders in the Wales Office and the mean average spend per holder in 2011 and 2012 is shown in the following table:
| Mean average spend per member of staff | ||
| Card holder | 2011 | 2012 |
| Note: Please note that these figures have been worked out in calendar years (1 January - 31 December). | ||
Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what guidance or instructions have been issued to staff in (a) his Department and (b) its arm's length bodies about the timing of the publication of data relating to spend over (i) £25,000 and (ii) £500 using the Government Procurement Card. [141508]
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Stephen Crabb: The Wales Office follows the guidance provided by HM Treasury on how it should prepare and release details of spending over £25,000. The Department goes further than the guidance requires in publishing all items of expenditure over £500, whether purchased by invoice or Government Procurement Card. This information is published each month on the Wales Office website.
The Wales Office does not have any arms length bodies.
Overtime
Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what the (a) average cost per member of staff and (b) total cost was of overtime payments in (i) his Department and (ii) each of its arm's length bodies in (A) 2010-11, (B) 2011-12 and (C) 2012-13 to date. [141488]
Stephen Crabb: The average costs of overtime payments per member of staff were £154 for 2010-11, £159 for 2011-12 and £161 for 2012-13(1).
The total cost of overtime payments was £9,245 for 2010-11, £9,243 for 2011-12 and £7,911 for 2012-13(1).
The Wales Office does not have any arms length bodies.
(1 )To note, the values stated for 2012-13 represents expenditure up to 31 December 2012.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Egypt
Neil Parish: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent reports he has received on the role of Mohamed Badie in Egyptian foreign policy. [141356]
Alistair Burt: We conduct foreign policy with the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) and the Government of Egypt.
We are aware that Mr Badie, as the Supreme Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood, and other members of his organisation have expressed views on foreign policy issues, as have other civil society and political organisations in Egypt.
Chris Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations he has received on the treatment of Christians in Egypt. [141409]
Alistair Burt: We are in regular contact with representatives of religious groups, including Christians, both in the UK and Cairo, about religious freedom in Egypt. I visited Egypt on 15-16 January and discussed our concerns about the protection of minorities, including Christians, with a range of political and civil society figures. There continues to be significant interest in this subject from members of the British public and Parliament.
Dr Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent reports he has received on arms smuggling in the Sinai Peninsula. [141413]
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Alistair Burt: We are aware of reports of arms smuggling in the Sinai. We continue to monitor this closely. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and I have discussed the security situation in the Sinai with the Egyptian authorities. Officials at the British embassy in Cairo and Tel Aviv also discuss this with their Egyptian contacts.
Dr Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations he has made to the government of Egypt on the Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty. [141414]
Alistair Burt: Throughout the period of transition in Egypt we have pressed the authorities to respect Egypt’s existing international obligations, and raised this in ministerial bilateral meetings.
We want Egypt to continue to act as a force for regional peace and stability, including by maintaining a productive relationship with Israel. We welcome President Mursi’s commitment in his first speech as President on 24 June 2012 that Egypt would respect all international treaties and conventions already agreed by Egypt. We welcome Egypt’s efforts and the success in brokering the ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian factions in Gaza on 21 November, and continue to support Egyptian efforts to facilitate discussions between the parties to improve conditions in Gaza.
Government Procurement Card
Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the mean average spend using a Government Procurement Card was per member of staff in (a) his Department and (b) each of its arm's length bodies in (i) 2011 and (ii) 2012. [141459]
Mr Lidington: The Government Procurement Card (GPC) is a credit card for purchasing low value goods and services (£1,500 or less), such as stationery orders for goods not covered by contracted suppliers, or training course fees. Monthly spending on GPC cards is reviewed and approved by a designated ‘approver’, in accordance with Cabinet Office policy and all cards are monitored in this way. For low value transactions, the GPC speeds up procurement and reduces process costs.
For the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in 2011, there was a total spend of £1,700,699 from 379 cardholders (out of around 14,000 staff), leading to an average annual spend per Government Procurement Card (GPC) of £4,487. In 2012. the total spend was £2,616,616 from 762 cardholders, giving an average annual spend per GPC of £3,534.
Within the FCO arms length bodies, FCO Services and British Council make use of GPC cards.
For FCO Services, the average spend in 2011 per GPC was £1,464.27 from cardholders, leading to a total of £1,300,272.68. In 2012, the average spend was £2,188.19 from 835 cardholders, leading to a total of £1,827,142.08. FCO Services employed 849 permanent members of staff as of 31 December 2012.
For the British Council, the average spend in 2011 per GPC was £2,310 from 1565 cardholders leading to a total of £3,615,622. In 2012, the average spend was
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£2,325 from 2107 cardholders leading to a total of £4,898,344. The British Council employs over 7400 staff.
Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what guidance or instructions have been issued to staff in (a) his Department and (b) its arm's length bodies about the timing of the publication of data relating to spend over (i) £25,000 and (ii) £500 using the Government Procurement Card. [141499]
Mr Lidington: In line with the Prime Minister's Commitment on Transparency, we are publishing data relating to (i) spend over £25,000 and (ii) Government Procurement Card transactions over £500. Internal departmental instructions have been issued, stating that the data should be published within eight weeks of the end of the month in question.
The same instructions apply to arm’s length bodies where they participate in transparency publication.
Israel
Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 30 January 2013, Official Report, column 829W, on Israel, what assessment he made of the risk of unmanned aerial vehicles containing components exported to Israel being used during Operation Cloud Pillar (a) for internal repression, (b) to provoke or prolong armed conflicts and (c) to aggravate existing tensions or conflict. [141898]
Alistair Burt: Officials from our embassy in Tel Aviv keep the situation regarding the use of unmanned aerial vehicles which may contain exported components under constant review.
Languages
Mr Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what languages are spoken in his Department; and how many of his staff speak each such language. [141865]
Alistair Burt: Language skills are a priority within the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's (FCO) wider ‘Diplomatic Excellence’ initiative to improve the core diplomatic skills of our staff.
The following data reflect a range of qualifications and levels of proficiency, including qualifications gained outside the FCO. The language skills of locally-engaged staff are not routinely recorded.
At least 74% of UK-based staff have a recorded language skill in one or more of the following languages:
Afrikaans
Albanian
Amharic
Arabic
Armenian
Bengali
Bosnian
Bulgarian
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Burmese
Cambodian
Cantonese
Catalan
Chichewa
Chinyanja
Croatian
Czech
Danish
Dari
Dutch
Estonian
Farsi
French
Georgian
German
Greek
Gujarati
Hebrew
Hindi
Hungarian
Icelandic
Indonesian
Italian
Japanese
Korean
Latin
Latvian
Lithuanian
Macedonian
Malay
Mandarin
Nepali
Norwegian
Pashto
Polish
Portuguese (Brazil)
Portuguese (Continental)
Punjabi
Romanian
Russian
Serbian
Shona
Sinhalese
Slovakian
Slovenian
Spanish (Continental)
Spanish (Latin America)
Swahili
Swedish
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Tagalog
Tamil
Thai
Turkish
Ukrainian
Urdu
Uzbek
Vietnamese
Yoruba
Zulu
Of these, the most common are as follows:
| Language | Percentage of UK-based staff with language skills |
We are creating extra speaker positions in the FCO network in line with foreign policy priorities, including in the middle east, China and Latin America.
Morocco
Mr Mark Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will instruct HM Ambassador to Morocco to send an observer to the trial of the 23 Saharawi political prisoners imprisoned in Salé prison scheduled to begin on 1 February 2013. [141338]
Alistair Burt: We will not be attending the trial. However, we are following this case closely and continue to emphasise to the Moroccan authorities the importance of full respect for human rights in dealing with this case. I raised our concerns with the Moroccan Justice Minister in June 2012.
Overtime
Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the (a) average cost per member of staff and (b) total cost was of overtime payments in (i) his Department and (ii) each of its arm's length bodies in (A) 2010-11, (B) 2011-12 and (C) 2012-13 to date. [141479]
Alistair Burt: We have taken average cost per member of staff to be average cost of overtime payments per member of staff. The average amounts for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and its arm's length bodies (ALBs) are detailed in the following table:
| £ | ||||||
| 2010-11 | 2011-12 | 2012-13 to date | ||||
| Average cost of overtime per person | Total cost of overtime | Average cost per person | Total overtime | Average cost per person | Total overtime | |
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| (1) Almost all of the overtime in FCO Services is for work completed overseas, which must be completed outside of normal office hours or at weekends, to minimise disruption to the FCO's operation. This includes maintenance of, (and emergency repairs to ) IT systems, office facilities and the FCO estate. (2) The primary increase in overtime costs at the British Council for 2012-13 has been incurred as part of a significant refurbishment and rationalisation of its London offices enabling them to lease space to the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence and leading to significant savings in the future. This necessitated a significant amount of weekend working by estates and IT staff who were involved in implementing the moves outside of normal working hours. The total cost of this overtime was in the region of £800,000. The increased cost was taken into account in the programme business case and approved by the British Council's Board of Trustees. | ||||||
Westminster Fund for Democracy: Nil return
Great Britain China Centre: Nil return
Marshall Aid Commemoration Commission: Nil return
All UK-based staff working at home or undertaking duty visits overseas while on a home posting qualify for authorised paid overtime or time off in lieu (TOIL). The exceptions to this rule are: Members of the FCO Senior Management Structure; staff working rostered shifts and in receipt of shift disturbance allowance; or staff in receipt of an allowance paid in lieu of overtime, e.g. Private Office Allowance. Overtime is only payable when staff are required by management to work more than their conditioned hours at times of exceptional pressure and is not for working long hours to complete normal workloads. Staff are encouraged to take TOIL first but have the option to claim paid overtime. All excess hours must be recorded and both overtime and TOIL must be authorised in advance.
Staff working overseas on Diplomatic Service terms and conditions of service have a 24-hour obligation to the FCO. There are no conditioned hours for these staff and they cannot claim overtime or TOIL.
International Development
Armed Forces: Children
Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of UK aid overseas in reducing the number of child soldiers. [141706]
Mr Duncan: DFID's programmes aim to directly reduce the impact of war on children and provide access to health, education and opportunity. For example, in Northern Uganda, where the plight of child soldiers was acute, DFID funds a post-conflict recovery programme that will provide literacy, training and jobs to over 50,000 young people by 2015. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, DFID will enable 370,000 more children to attend school by 2015. In the long-term, children are best protected by peaceful, accountable states capable of providing security and justice for all, access to basic services, and meeting the needs of vulnerable groups. Together with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, we also strongly support United Nations efforts to prevent recruitment of child soldiers and to campaign for their release.
Developing Countries: Forests
Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much her Department has contributed to World Bank forest and forestry projects in each year since 2008. [141211]
Lynne Featherstone: The UK supports World Bank forest sector interventions through a number of initiatives. These are:
The Forest Investment programme (FIP) is one of the Climate Investment Funds administered by the World Bank. The UK has committed £100 million to FIP, of which £37,500,000 has been contributed by DFID since 2008.
The Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF). Since 2008, the UK has spent £15 million of which £7.5 came from the Department for International Development (DFID)
The World Bank Program on Forests (PROFOR). Since 2008, DFID has allocated £4.5 million to PROFOR through a multi-donor trust fund.
DFID spending on these programmes to date is as follows (millions):
| 2007-08 | 2008-09 | 2009-10 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | 2011-12 | 2012-13 | Total | |
Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much her Department has contributed to the World Bank Forest carbon partnership facility in each year since 2008. [141219]
Lynne Featherstone: The UK has contributed £15 million to the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) since 2008, of which £7.5 million came from the Department for International Development (DFID) as set out in the table:
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| FCPF contributions | |
| £ million | |
Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment she has made of the Independent Evaluation Group's report into the World Bank's financial support for forestry projects; and if she will make a statement. [141220]
Lynne Featherstone: The Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) report on 10 years of World Bank Group investments in the forest sector is currently under review. It will be considered at the next meeting of the World Bank Group Committee on Development Effectiveness (CODE), of which the United Kingdom is a member, due to be held on 4( )February in Washington DC.
Developing Countries: Religious Freedom
Chris Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps she is taking to promote religious freedom in the developing world. [141407]
Mr Lidington: I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Department for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs.
The promotion and protection of the right to freedom of religion or belief in both the developed and the developing world is one of the Government's key human rights priorities. We believe that it is a fundamental freedom which underpins many other human rights. Where freedom of religion or belief is under attack, often other basic rights are threatened too. To strengthen our defence of this fundamental freedom we have developed a strategy, backed up by an ambitious action plan, which includes (i) work in multilateral organisations—chiefly the UN, the EU and the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, (ii) bilateral contacts, when we can raise individual cases, or practices or laws that discriminate against people on the basis of their religion or belief; (iii) project work with non-government organisations in a range of countries including Iraq and Kazakhstan on issues such as promoting better understanding between faiths, bridging sectarian divides, promoting dialogue between faith groups and government and offering technical advice on laws that need amendment, and (iv) other initiatives, such as training Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) officials to better understand the role of faith in society and in foreign policy. We are also in close contact with civil society organisations and faith groups and are keen to continue to work closely with them to promote and protect the right to freedom of religion or belief.
I would like to draw particular attention to the work we are doing to follow up on UN Human Rights Council Resolution 16/18. This resolution focuses the international community on combating religious intolerance, protecting the human rights of minorities
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and promoting pluralism in society. In December last year we held an international conference as part of the process to implement this resolution. Furthermore on 22 January the Minster of State, my noble Friend the right hon. Baroness Warsi hosted a meeting at Lancaster House for a core group of Government Ministers, senior advisers and ambassadors from across the world which aimed to solidify the international consensus and gain greater political support around the need to do more to combat religious intolerance and promote the right to freedom of religion and belief worldwide.
Government Procurement Card
Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the mean average spend using a Government Procurement Card was per member of staff in (a) her Department and (b) each of its arm's length bodies in (i) 2011 and (ii) 2012. [141462]
Mr Duncan: The information requested regarding DFID's experience via the Government Procurement Card (GPC) for each of the last two calendar years is shown in the following table.
GPC holders in DFID use these as a cost-effective way to order and pay for purchases required by their business units. Cards are not used for personal expenses.
| Total payment (£) | Number of cardholders | Mean average payments(1)(£) | |
| (1)Total spend/number of cardholders. (2) Current 2012 figure available to end of November 2012. | |||
Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what guidance or instructions have been issued to staff in (a) her Department and (b) its arm's length bodies about the timing of the publication of data relating to spend over (i) £25,000 and (ii) £500 using the Government Procurement Card. [141502]
Mr Duncan: Guidance is published internally to ensure that all staff members are aware of the Department’s Transparency publication process, which is in line with the parameters set for all of government by Cabinet Office.
Further information on our purchasing card data publication process can be found on our external website at:
http://www.dfid.gov.uk/About-us/How-we-measure-progress/DFID-Government-Procurement-Card-transactions-over-500/
Languages
Mr Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what languages are available to be taught to her staff. [141864]
Mr Duncan: DFID staff have access to a Government wide e-learning solution for language learning in 31 spoken languages. The learning is suitable for a range of students, from absolute beginners with no previous knowledge of the language to level A2 of Common European Framework of Reference(1). The list of languages is as follows:
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Arabic
Chinese (Mandarin)
Dutch
Dari
English (American)
English (British)
French
Filipino (Tagalog)
German
Greek
Hebrew
Hindi
Indonesian
Italian
Irish
Japanese
Korean
Latin
Persian (Farsi)
Polish
Portuguese
Pashto
Russian
Spanish (Latin America)
Spanish (Spain)
Swahili
Swedish
Turkish
Urdu
Vietnamese
(1 )Where staff require language training for a language not provided, it is provided through other options.
Mr Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what languages are spoken in her Department; and how many of her staff speak each such language. [141866]
Mr Duncan: Details of the languages spoken by DFID staff, and the number of staff who are fluent in each language, are shown in the following table. The figures shown include details of the fluent language skills declared for Home Civil Servants and Staff Appointed in Country.
| Language | Number of speakers |
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Mali
Chris Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps she is taking to tackle any adverse treatment of Christians in Mali. [141408]
Lynne Featherstone: The UK is working with the Malian Government, Mali's neighbours, regional organisations and our international partners to ensure that peace and stability are returned to Mali as soon as possible so that all of Mali's citizens are able to exercise freely their right to freedom of worship.
Mozambique
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much aid her Department has given to Mozambique in (a) each of the last five financial years and (b) 2012-13 to date. [141292]
Lynne Featherstone: In the past five years DFID has provided development assistance to Mozambique as follows:
| Financial year | Aid (£) |
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In the current financial year (2012-13), to date, DFID has provided £51,535,814 in assistance.
Palestinians
Guto Bebb: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Brigg and Goole of 15 January 2013, Official Report, column 645W, on Palestinians, (1) when the Palestinian Authority began making payments to Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails using UK aid; [141317]
(2) when the Palestinian Authority began making payments to Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. [141318]
Mr Duncan: Since 1994 the Palestinian Authority has paid an allowance to cover the cost of food and clothing for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. The nature of this allowance is governed and managed by the Israeli authorities.
UK assistance to the Palestinian Authority (PA) supports a successful Middle East Peace Process by helping build Palestinian institutions and promoting economic growth, so that any future state will be stable, prosperous, well-run, and an effective partner for peace with Israel. This has been provided through the World Bank since 2004 and is provided subject to a number of safeguards.
Jack Lopresti: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how payments made to the families of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails are monitored. [141319]
Mr Duncan: Payments made to the families of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails are monitored by the Palestinian Authority (PA). Families are required to submit relevant documentation to the Ministry of Detainees and Ex-detainees Affairs before payments are distributed.
We are helping the PA with its overall public financial management and note that its systems have been commended by the International Monetary Fund.
Jack Lopresti: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Brigg and Goole of 15 January 2013, Official Report, column 645W, on Palestinians, what measures her Department takes to ensure Palestinian Authority payments to Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails are transparent, needs-based and affordable. [141357]
Mr Duncan: I refer my hon. Friend to my answer of 31 January 2013 Official Report, column 994W. The Palestinian Authority (PA) pays an allowance to cover the cost of food and clothing for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. The nature of this allowance is governed and managed by the Israeli authorities.
Jack Lopresti:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Brigg and Goole of 15 January 2013, Official Report, column 645W, on Palestinians,
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what safeguards her Department has in place covering the provision of UK assistance to the Palestinian Authority. [141358]
Mr Duncan: Our financial assistance to the Palestinian Authority (PA) is provided through the World Bank Palestinian Reform arid Development Plan Trust Fund which carries out close monitoring of PA expenditure and only transfers UK money to the PA during the year if an agreed reform plan is on track. The PA also publishes information on its expenditure which we monitor and its public financial management systems have been commended by the International Monetary Fund. Our development assistance to the PA is governed by a Memorandum of Understanding which reaffirms the PA's commitment to non-violence and a negotiated solution to the conflict, and we regularly review progress against these commitments with the PA.
We take extensive precautions to ensure that UK support conforms with European Union and UK legislation on terrorist financing. UK aid in the Occupied Palestinian Territories is subject to rigorous scrutiny, with robust safeguards in place to ensure that our funds do not benefit terrorist groups, and ensure that our partners do the same. We are rigorous in investigating concerns related to our funding. In addition to our own investigations, we draw on independent reports from neutral groups where these are available.
Sub-Saharan Africa
Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assistance her Department provided to clean water programmes in sub-Saharan Africa in 2012. [141526]
Lynne Featherstone: I refer the hon. Member to the reply the Secretary of State for International Development, the right hon. Member for Putney (Justine Greening), gave to the hon. Member for Workington (Sir Tony Cunningham) on 22 January 2013, Official Report, column 150W.
Justice
Alternatives to Prosecution
Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will list the different types of out-of-court disposals as a share of total out-of-court disposals for (a) England and Wales and (b) each police authority area in each year from 2002 to 2012. [140331]
Jeremy Wright: The proportion of out-of-court disposals accounted for by each type of out-of-court disposal, by police force area, in England and Wales, in each year from 2002 to 2011 (latest data available), can be viewed in the following tables.
Statistics on out-of-court disposals in 2012 are planned for publication in May 2013.
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| Proportion of out-of-court disposals(1) accounted for by each type of out-of-court disposal, by police force area, England and Wales, 2002-11(2, 3) | ||||||
| Percentage | ||||||
| Proportion of out of court disposals given within each calendar year (% in each out of court disposal category) | ||||||
| 2002 | 2003 | |||||
| Police force area | Cautions | PNDs | Cannabis warnings | Cautions | PNDs | Cannabis warnings |
| Percentage | ||||||
| Proportion of out of court disposals given within each calendar year (% in each out of court disposal category) | ||||||
| 2004(4) | 2005 | |||||
| Police force area | Cautions | PNDs | Cannabis warnings | Cautions | PNDs | Cannabis warnings |
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