Military Aircraft

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will estimate what proportion of the monetary value of the work on the Helicopter Support contract for Apache AH.1 and AW 1010 Merlin helicopters will be undertaken in (a) Scotland, (b) England, (c) Wales, (d) Northern Ireland and (e) overseas over the course of that contract. [169581]

Mr Dunne: I assume the hon. Member is referring to the recently awarded £367 million contract for the support of the RTM322 engine which is used in the Apache AHI and AW101 Merlin helicopters. Work under this contract is performed by the Rolls Royce Turbomeca joint venture in the UK, France, Germany and Italy with 60% of the work performed overseas. Of the remaining UK share, the vast majority of work is undertaken at the Rolls-Royce repair and overhaul facilities at Ansty in Warwickshire and Filton in South Gloucestershire.

We expect this contract to save taxpayers £300 million over its lifetime, compared to the previous contractual arrangements.

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the suitability of the BAe 146 as an air tanker. [169582]

Mr Dunne: The Department has identified Defence's requirements for air-to-air refuelling. This concluded that Voyager will meet all air-to-air refuelling requirements. No assessment has been made of the air-to-air refuelling capability of the BAE 146.

Military Decorations: World War II

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he expects to issue (a) Arctic Stars and (b) the Bomber Command Clasp to (i) living veterans, (ii) surviving spouses and (iii) other next of kin from applications received by 1 September 2013. [169372]

Mr Francois: Arctic Star and Bomber Command Clasps have now been issued to all eligible veterans where applications were received prior to 1 September 2013.

It is planned that the majority of Arctic Star and Bomber Command Clasps will be issued by the end of 2013 to surviving spouses where applications were received prior to 1 September 2013.

It is too early to say when all applications from other next of kin received prior to 1 September 2013 will have been processed. However, the first awards were despatched on 24 September 2013.

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Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many awards have been made of the (a) Arctic Star and (b) Bomber Command Clasp to (i) living veterans, (ii) surviving spouses and (iii) other next of kin as of 1 September 2013. [169373]

Mr Francois: The numbers of Arctic Stars and Bomber Command Clasps issued to surviving veterans as at 1 September were 3,857 and 2,021 respectively.

Only in exceptional circumstances or for compassionate reasons were a very small number of Arctic Stars and Bomber Command Clasps issued to surviving spouses or next of kin prior to 1 September 2013.

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many applications had been received for the (a) Arctic Star and (b) Bomber Command Clasp from (i) living veterans, (ii) surviving spouses and (iii) other next of kin as of 1 September 2013. [169374]

Mr Francois: The number of applications that had been received for the Arctic Star and Bomber Command Clasp as at 1 September 2013 is shown in the following table:

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many applications for (a) Arctic Stars and (b) the Bomber Command Clasp made by surviving spouses have been awarded to next of kin because of the death of the applicant during the processing period. [169375]

Mr Francois: As far as we are aware no Arctic Stars or Bomber Command Clasps have been issued to next of kin as a result of a surviving spouse dying since making their application.

Military Exercises

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assets and how many personnel will take part in Exercise Brilliant Mariner 2013; and what he estimates the cost to the public purse of that exercise will be. [169169]

Mr Robathan: Exercise Brilliant Mariner is a NATO Exercise in which one UK naval vessel with 40 personnel will be participating. This exercise is part of the ship's programmed activity within the Standing Commitment to NATO tasking and costs for the exercise are not identified separately.

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what assets and how many personnel took part in Exercise Albanian Lion; what assessment the Commanding Officer of 42 Commando Royal Marines made of the Albanian force; and what estimate he has made of the likely cost to the public purse of that exercise; [169170]

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(2) what assets and how many personnel will take part in Exercise Bright Star; what he estimates the cost to the public purse of that exercise will be; and which (a) Egyptian and (b) United States Armed Forces units will participate; [169171]

(3) what assets and how many personnel will take part in Exercise Red Alligator; what he estimates the cost to the public purse of that exercise will be; and which Saudi Arabian armed forces units will participate; [169172]

(4) what assets and how many personnel will take part in Exercise Djibouti Scorpion and Exercise Djibouti Lion; what he estimates the cost to the public purse will be; and which Djibouti armed forces units will participate; [169173]

(5) what assets and how many personnel will take part in Exercise Sea Khanjar; what he estimates the cost to the public purse will be; and which United Arab Emirates armed forces units will participate; [169174]

(6) what UK military assets and how many UK military personnel will take part in Exercise Omani Cougar; at what cost to the public purse; and what Omani armed forces units will participate in that exercise; [169175]

(7) what countries have accepted invitations for their service personnel to embark on Exercise Cougar 13; and how many personnel have embarked, by country. [169176]

Mr Robathan: The Cougar 13 Task Group deployment fulfils a range of objectives: training and work-up, force integration with multinational allies, and Defence engagement with international partners during its transit through the Mediterranean and the Gulf region.

Exercise Albanian Lion was the first exercise of the deployment, and involved HMS Bulwark, HMS Illustrious, HMS Montrose, RFA Mounts Bay, RFA Lyme Bay, RFA Fort Austin, MV Hurst Point, three RAF Merlin Mk3, three Army Air Corps Lynx Mk7, one RN Merlin Mk1, one RN Lynx Mk8 and the Lead Commando Group from 3 Cdo Brigade. There were approximately 2,750 UK personnel involved in Exercise Albanian Lion. In addition, a sub unit from the Royal Netherlands Marine Corps and Albanian force elements played a central role in the exercise and contributed fully in achieving the training objectives. It was the third such exercise in as many years, and concluded with a demonstration for the President of Albania.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 5 September 2013, Official Report, column 485W, regarding the number of UK assets and personnel participating in Cougar any of which may participate in one, or all, of the remainder of these exercises. I am unable to confirm the participation of specific units ahead of time, as the level of UK contribution remains subject to wider planning considerations and circumstances.

It would be inappropriate for me to release details of the planned levels of participation in each exercise, in terms of specific assets or personnel, of our partners in the region. However, the exercises are largely amphibious in nature and include a Task Group centred around the flagship with the land elements of the exercises at unit level.

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Activity costs for individual exercises are not identified separately from the overall Cougar deployment. The specific information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost but their marginal costs above planned operating levels are low.

There are 53 personnel from Australia, Albania, Libya, Denmark, Estonia, Saudi Arabia, Netherlands, Canada, Norway, UAE and Oman who have been, or plan to be, attached on a temporary basis to units in the Cougar Task Group.

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what exercises are planned for the Royal Marine Commandos in Norway in 2014; and which units will participate. [169177]

Mr Robathan: The winter deployment in Norway is the UK annual activity required to maintain the Royal Marines’ ability to conduct mountain and cold weather warfare training. The Royal Marine (RM) Commando units planned to participate for Exercise CETUS 14 are:

Tranche 1: One Company from 40 Cdo RM and elements from Commando Logistics Regiment, 30 Cdo IX Group RM and Armoured Support Troop. Additionally there will be specialist trainers drawn from across the Brigade.

Tranche 2; 42 Cdo RM HQ, two Company Groups, 8 Battery from 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery, and elements from Commando Logistics Regiment, from 24 Commando Engineer Regiment and from 539 ASRM. Additionally there will be specialist trainers drawn from across the Brigade.

In addition, Royal Marines are planned to participate in Exercise Cold Response 14. the Norwegian biennial invitational live exercise that provides an arena to exercise joint and combined aspects of operations at the tactical level and enhance war-fighting skills for participating forces. Allied and partner nations are invited to participate to benefit from Norwegian exercise facilities and to exercise in a joint and combined context under challenging conditions. The RM units planned to take part are:

The Response Cell from HQ 3 Cdo Brigade, 42 Cdo RM HQ, two Company Groups, 8 Battery from 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery, and elements from 30 Cdo IX Group RM, from 24 Commando Engineer Regiment, from 539 ASRM and from Commando Logistics Regiment.

Military Intelligence

Mr Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 2 September 2013, Official Report, column 51W, on military intelligence, whether Project Crossbow operates from US military bases in the UK. [R] [168526]

Mr Robathan: No. The Crossbow capability, which provides near real time imagery intelligence analysis to support the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, is only delivered from RAF Marham in Norfolk by personnel of the RAF Tactical Imagery-Intelligence Wing using RAF Tornados.

Procurement

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment his Department makes of the (a) payment of minimum wage, (b) payment of living wage and (c) use of zero hours contracts when tendering for public procurement contracts. [169316]

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Mr Dunne: The Ministry of Defence may, where appropriate, take account of social considerations in the evaluation of tenders where they are linked to the object of the contract and do not contravene any law.

Prosecutions

Dr Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many successful prosecutions have been brought under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986 in each of the last five years. [168246]

Mr Francois: I will write to my hon. Friend with the information requested.

Substantive answer from Mark Francois to Dr Matthew Offord:

I undertook to write to you in answer to your Parliamentary Question on 12 September (Official Report, column 796W) about how many prosecutions have been brought under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986 in each of the last five years.

I can confirm that a successful prosecution took place in 2011 following an investigation by the Ministry of Defence Police, which resulted in the conviction of a diver who removed items from the protected military wreck, HMS Duke of Albany.

Radioactive Materials

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether there is a radiation protection officer assigned to each of his Department's sites that handles ionising radioactive materials. [169695]

Mr Francois: Ministry of Defence (MOD) radiation safety requirements are set out in JSP 392—Radiation Safety Handbook. This is a publicly available document and can be accessed at the following web addresses:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/jsp-392-radiation-safety-handbook-volume-1

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/jsp-392-radiation-safety-handbook-volume-2

The precise nature of the arrangements at each site is the responsibility of the Commanding Officer or Head of Establishment and depends on the outcome of statutorily required risk assessments and advice from Radiation Protection Advisers.

JSP 392 describes the duties of individuals currently known as Radiation Safety Officers, Radiation Protection Supervisors and Workplace Supervisors. MOD is aware that draft EU regulations have introduced the term "radiation protection officer" and foresee no difficulty in adapting the current arrangements in JSP 392 to take account of any new statutory management requirement.

Service Personnel and Veterans Agency

Wayne David: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the average response time is of the Service Personnel and Veterans Agency to queries raised with it by veterans in the latest period for which figures are available. [169687]

Mr Francois: The majority of queries received in the Service Personnel and Veterans Agency are fielded in the first instance by the Veterans UK Freephone Helpline (H/L) which also responds to email correspondence from veterans. The Veterans Welfare Service (VWS) does not monitor call response times however, for

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completeness their correspondence target achievement is included. Latest figures held are as follows:

Helpline call response times averaged over June/July/August 2013: 69 seconds

Written correspondence percentage against five working day target YTD:

H/L: 99.08%

VWS: 95.04%

Wayne David: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many complaints were received by the Service Personnel and Veterans Agency about its procedures for veterans making a claim for their pensions in the latest period for which figures are available. [169688]

Mr Francois: For the period 2 April 2013 to 30 August 2013 the total number of complaints received by the Service Personnel and Veterans Agency's Customer Services Team from veterans regarding any aspect of their ongoing claims to War Disablement Pension is 119.

Territorial Army: Scotland

Mr Reid: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which sites are used by the Territorial Army (TA) in Scotland; and how many TA personnel are based at each such site. [164110]

Mr Robathan [holding answer 8 July 2013]: I will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.

Substantive answer from Andrew Robathan to Alan Reid:

I undertook to write to you in answer to your Parliamentary Question on 18 July 2013 (Official Report, columns 958-59W), about sites used by the Territorial Army in Scotland.

As at 1 May 2013, there were 52 sites used by the Territorial Army (TA) in Scotland. Information on the number of TA personnel based at each site is not held in the format requested but information on the approximate numbers by location is set out in the following table:

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The data has been sourced from the Joint Personnel Administration system and the accuracy of the underlying data is yet to be fully validated and is under review. As such all figures in the above table should be considered to be estimates.

Under the plans announced in the House on 3 July (Official Report, column 922), the number of sites in Scotland will reduce to 46.

Trillium Group

Mr Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much his Department has spent on contracts with Trillium Group in each year since 2008. [169252]

Mr Dunne: Expenditure on Ministry of Defence (MOD) contracts with Trillium Group between 2008-09 and 2010-11 is shown in the following table:

This does not include payments which may have been made on behalf of other Government Departments, by the MOD executive non-departmental public bodies (which lie outside the MOD accounting boundary), locally by the Department, through third parties such as prime contractors or other Government Departments, and in relation to collaborative projects where the payments are made through international procurement agencies or overseas governments. Payments made by Government Procurement Card are also not included.

Since January 2011, as part of this Government's commitment to improve transparency, central Government Departments publish information on the contracts they award on Contracts Finder:

www.contractsfinder.businesslink.gov.uk/

8 Oct 2013 : Column 38W

In addition, Departments publish details of spend in excess of £25,000.

Deputy Prime Minister

Air Travel

Michael Dugher: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many individual domestic air flights were undertaken within Great Britain by representatives of his Office in the most recent year for which figures are available; and what the cost to the public purse of such flights was. [168897]

The Deputy Prime Minister: Representatives of the Deputy Prime Minister’s office undertook 12 domestic air flights between 1 September 2012 and 1 September 2013 at a cost of £3,724.41.

Buildings

Michael Dugher: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what refurbishments to his Office's buildings have been carried out in the last 24 months; and at what cost. [168800]

Mr Hurd: The Deputy Prime Ministers Office is an integral part of the Cabinet Office.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply given on 13 June 2013, Official Report, column 397W, to the hon. Member for Glasgow East (Margaret Curran).

Christmas Cards

Michael Dugher: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much his private ministerial office spent on sending Christmas cards in 2012. [168678]

The Deputy Prime Minister: The Deputy Prime Minister’s Office spent £359.63 on purchasing 1,400 Christmas cards in 2012. Postage costs are administered centrally through the Cabinet Office.

Lobbying

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to the answer of 3 June 2013, Official Report, column 800W, on lobbying, what meetings (a) he and (b) his officials have had with (i) those likely to be affected by his proposal for a statutory register of lobbyists and (ii) any other interested party. [166244]

Greg Clark: The Government introduced on 17 July a Bill to the House of Commons that provides for a Statutory Register of Lobbyists.

Over the summer, the Government have engaged with a range of stakeholders. The Deputy Leader of the House and I co-chaired two roundtable events in July at which the content of the Bill was discussed. Representatives from the consultant lobbying industry as well as advocacy groups attended these events.

Similarly, the Cabinet Office has had discussions with both industry representatives and advocacy groups.

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I intend to continue to engage with interested parties as the Bill progresses through its parliamentary stages to ensure that the register will be a success.

Ministers' Private Offices

Michael Dugher: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many full-time equivalent staff of each civil service grade are currently employed in the private office of each Minister in his Office; and what the pay band of each such member of staff is. [168715]

The Deputy Prime Minister: There are 16 staff currently working in the Deputy Prime Minister’s private office, at the following grades:

Officials are employed within Cabinet Office pay bands, and in some cases are entitled to a private office allowance in addition.

Press: Subscriptions

Michael Dugher: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister which newspapers, periodicals and trade profession publications his private ministerial office subscribes to on a (a) daily, (b) weekly, (c) monthly and (d) quarterly basis. [168696]

The Deputy Prime Minister: The Deputy Prime Minister’s Office receives the following newspapers on weekdays:

Financial Times;

Guardian;

Independent;

Daily Mail;

Daily Express;

Daily Mirror;

The Sun;

The Times;

Daily Telegraph.

Publications

Michael Dugher: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list (a) the title and subject, (b) total cost to his Department and (c) commissioned author or organisation of each external report commissioned by his Office in each year since 2010. [168895]

Mr Maude: The Deputy Prime Minister’s Office is an integral part of the Cabinet Office.

The Cabinet Office publishes all its own reports (dating back to 2002) on the gov.uk website:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications

Information on costs is not held in the format requested.

This Government have committed to publishing digitally by default, to reduce the costs of publication, and to increase accessibility.

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Transparency of Lobbying, Non-party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Bill

Hywel Williams: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what consultation he has held with the devolved legislatures on the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Bill. [168414]

Miss Chloe Smith: I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Cabinet Office.

The Government introduced the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Bill on 17 July 2013 to the House of Commons.

The Bill primarily concerns reserved matters, however the Minister for Political and Constitutional Reform wrote to the Scottish Government, Welsh Government and Northern Ireland Executive when the Bill was introduced, outlining the contents of the Bill.

Part 3 of the Bill contains amendments to the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 which will apply in Scotland and Wales but not in Northern Ireland, where employment law is a devolved matter.

The Government welcome further discussions with the devolved Administrations.

Hywel Williams: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what representations he has received from the Welsh Government on the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Bill. [168415]

Greg Clark: I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Cabinet Office.

The Government introduced the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Bill on 17 July 2013 to the House of Commons.

The Minister for Political and Constitutional Reform wrote to the Welsh Government on 17 July to set out the main provisions of the Bill. The Welsh Government responded on 7 August, thanking the Minister. The Welsh Government have asked to be kept informed about any matters concerning them throughout the Bill's passage in Parliament.

Hywel Williams: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what formal assessment he has made of the potential impact of the provision of the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Bill on the functioning of civil society in the devolved nations. [168965]

Greg Clark: I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Cabinet Office.

The Government have published impact assessments to accompany the three parts of this Bill. The impact assessment of Part 2, Non-Party Campaigning, considers the impact on third parties in the whole of the United Kingdom.

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Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Bahrain

Gareth Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment has he made of the political situation in Bahrain and anti-Government demonstrations in that country. [168539]

Hugh Robertson: We assess that the Bahraini Government remains committed to political dialogue and implementing the recommendations of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI). Although the Government of Bahrain have made progress in addressing the human rights concerns outlined in the BICI, more must be done to address the concerns fully. While we continue to urge the Bahraini Government to fully respect the rights of individuals to peaceful protest and freedom of expression, we understand the Government's concerns about maintaining law and order, especially when faced with increasingly violent protests. We expect protesters to ensure their rhetoric does not incite violence, and that they desist from violent or illegal acts.

Accountants

Michael Dugher: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much his Department has spent on accountants in each year since 2010. [168592]

Mr Lidington: The amount spent by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) on fully qualified Consultative Committee of Accountancy Bodies accountants in the last three financial years was:

This response relates to accountants working for the FCO in the UK only. Information regarding the cost of accountants working overseas is not held centrally, and could be supplied only at disproportionate cost.

Air Travel

Michael Dugher: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many individual domestic air flights were undertaken within Great Britain by representatives of (a) his Department and (b) its associated public bodies in the most recent year for which figures are available; and what the cost to the public purse of each such flight was. [168771]

Hugh Robertson: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) are committed to ensuring that travel is as cost effective as possible. Where possible and appropriate, we encourage secure video-conferencing around the FCO network in a further effort to reduce the number of flights needed.

The following costs are for bookings-through the FCO travel management company (Hogg Robinson Group plc) and do not include data for all bookings

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made through focal travel agencies, which would be available only at disproportionate cost. These figures include domestic legs of international journeys.

In the period April 2012 to March 2013 there were 616 flights at a total cost of £61,196 made domestically within the United Kingdom, including our preparatory work for the UK-chaired G8 Summit at Lough Erne in Northern Ireland.

Since 2011, the FCO has used a single supplier for all domestic travel. Prior to this, officers purchased tickets using their corporate credit cards or from their own funds and were reimbursed for actual costs. Much of this data is already published and available through the Government procurement card data which can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/government-procurement-card-data

The FCO does not hold data for non-departmental public bodies. Details of their spend on domestic travel and hotel bookings can be seen in the answer of 25 April 2013, Official Report, column 1055W.

British Nationals Abroad

Mr Ward: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how his Department assists British citizens in addressing overseas land disputes in other Commonwealth countries. [168441]

Mark Simmonds: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office consular policy on dealing with disputes worldwide (including in Commonwealth countries) is set out publicly in our booklet ‘Support for British Nationals Abroad: A Guide’. It states:

“We cannot get involved in private disputes over property, employment, commercial or other matters because we are in no position to judge the facts and have no jurisdiction overseas to resolve such matters”.

Many thousands of British nationals are involved in civil and criminal disputes cases around the world every year and we have neither the resources nor the legal powers to help. While we do not engage on individual cases, we do consider raising ‘systemic’ issues by consulting national and local governments.

Buildings

Michael Dugher: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what refurbishments to his Department's buildings have been carried out in the last 24 months; and at what cost. [168803]

Mr Lidington: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) maintains around 4.700 buildings in over 270 locations around the world. The FCO's Global Asset Management Plan for the estate, which includes all proposed major building renovations, is approved annually by the FCO Management Board. In the last 24 months, FCO HQ completed the following refurbishments to its buildings:

Essential upgrade to Tel Aviv embassy for security and health and safety-requirements at a cost of AFC¹ £20.473,000,

Refurbishment of redundant building and conversion to staff accommodation in Algiers at a cost of AFC £1,028,000.

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Reconfiguration of visa and consular sections to enable co-location by DFID in Accra at a cost of £437,000. This will save money in the long run as HMG will only incur the cost of running and maintaining one building.

Remodelling of part of the consulate-general offices in New York at a cost of £230,000.

Through the refurbishment and enlargement of the FCO crisis centre in King Charles Street, at a cost of AFC £1,959,000, the FCO have benefited from an enhanced crisis capability which has been fully used in dealing with recent events in Egypt and Syria.

Refurbishment and conversion of office space in King Charles Street at a cost of AFC £6,484.126. This includes works in King Charles Street in preparation for the FCO's exit from Old Admiralty Building (OAB). The FCO will save £5 million per year when we move out of the OAB in 2015.

Removal and reinstatement of light fittings in King Charles Street; Old Admiralty Building sub-ground floor refurbishment and new kitchen floor/ceiling lighting and units in Hanslope Park, at a cost of £20,000.

¹ AFC: Anticipated final cost.

There will have been other small refurbishments in overseas offices which will have been funded by the respective embassy and high commission budgets. To gather details on these would represent disproportionate cost.

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many square metres of office space his Department (a) owns and (b) rents in London; and what the value is of that property. [169422]

Mr Lidington: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office owns two office buildings in London; King Charles Street with a net internal area of 28.75 lm² and the Old Admiralty Building with a net internal area of 15,279m². A further building is leased; Lancaster House with a net internal area of 3,668m², which is partly used for offices.

Valuations of individual buildings cannot be provided as this information is commercially sensitive.

Cameroon

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make representations to the Government of Cameroon regarding recent reports about a number of Pentecostal churches being closed due to supposed safety concerns. [169303]

Mark Simmonds: I am pleased to say that the decision by the Ministry of Territorial Administration to close churches has been reversed by the Government of Cameroon. All those churches closed have now reopened their doors and we understand they are now functioning normally.

Canada : Musicians

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make representations to his Canadian counterparts on the effect on the UK music industry of the decision by the Canadian Government to impose a fee on employers who book international musicians in venues whose primary source of income is not music. [169438]

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Hugh Robertson: We are concerned that the measure has the potential to restrict trade for UK musicians in Canada. We are aware that this issue has been raised with the Canadians by UK Music and we understand that this is being considered by the relevant Ministers in Ottawa.

Christmas Cards

Michael Dugher: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much his private ministerial office spent on sending Christmas cards in 2012. [168681]

Mr Lidington: The Private Office of my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State paid £837.40 for official Christmas cards in 2012. These were sent to Foreign Ministers and other partners in the UK and overseas.

Cyprus

Mr David Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress has been made in securing compensation for UK citizens who incurred losses as a result of property fraud and the default of Alpha Bank in Cyprus. [169440]

Mr Lidington: Many British and other nationals face property and banking problems in Cyprus and clearly for those who encounter such difficulties it is a very distressing experience. While the Foreign and Commonwealth Office is not able to engage on individual cases, we do raise “systemic” issues, by lobbying national and local governments. In the case of Cyprus, the Secretary of State, my right hon. Friend the British High Commissioner to Cyprus and I have all raised property disputes with the Government of Cyprus, including those linked with the Alpha Bank. We will continue to do so.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) Consular policy on dealing with property-disputes worldwide is set out publicly in our booklet “'Support for British Nationals Abroad: A Guide”.

Mr David Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made on behalf of UK citizens who incurred losses as a result of property fraud and the default of Alpha Bank in Cyprus. [169441]

Mr Lidington: I raised property issues experienced by British nationals with the Cypriot Foreign Minister, Mr Ioannis Kasoulides, on 24 April during Mr Kasoulides' visit to the UK. my right hon. Friend, also raised the subject when he met Mr Kasoulides on 17 June. Our High Commissioner in Cyprus raises property issues whenever there is an opportunity and most recently wrote to Mr Kasoulides on 20 September.

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Democratic Republic of Congo

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with (a) his Democratic Republic of Congo counterpart, (b) his Rwandan counterpart and (c) UN officials on the escalation of violence in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. [169197]

Mark Simmonds: My most recent discussions with my counterparts from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda and with UN officials were held in New York in the margins of the UN General Assembly from 23 to 27 September. In these, I outlined the importance of ending the conflict in eastern DRC, and of ensuring that there should be no impunity for human rights abusers.

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with (a) the UN Special Envoy to the Great Lakes and (b) the World Bank on using the recent World Bank funding package to the region as an incentive for political negotiations between Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Uganda. [169223]

Mark Simmonds: The UK is fully supportive of the Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework (PSCF) including the role economic development can play in securing lasting stability. As part of this, I have spoken to Mary Robinson about the situation in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, most recently in the margins of the UN General Assembly in New York from 23-27 September. In addition, we welcome the leadership role the World Bank is playing on economic development in the region and on the PSCF, including the first ever joint visit by the UN Secretary-General and the World Bank executive director in May.

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking to ensure that a regional approach is taken with regard to development and diplomatic decisions in the Great Lakes Region. [169225]

Mark Simmonds: I am fully supportive of the important roles being played by the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region, the Southern African Development Community and the African Union and have made clear with interlocutors that a regional solution to the problems in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo is necessary if lasting peace is to be secured.

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking to encourage the Governments of Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda to resume peace talks. [169361]

Mark Simmonds: I have made clear to my Rwandan and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) counterparts in recent discussions that the UK is fully supportive of genuine efforts to secure a lasting peace in eastern DRC, and that full implementation of the Peace, Security and Co-operation Framework, led by the UN Special Envoy Mary Robinson, is needed to achieve this.

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Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with his (a) Democratic Republic of Congo counterpart, (b) his Rwandan counterpart and (c) officials at the UN on the recent violence in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. [169362]

Mark Simmonds: My most recent discussions with my counterparts from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda and with UN officials were held in New York in the margins of the UN General Assembly from 23-27 September. In these, I outlined the importance of ending the conflict in eastern DRC, and of ensuring that there should no impunity for human rights abusers.

EU External Trade

Jonathan Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the calls by the French Government asking the EU to ensure EU companies are protected in the current transatlantic trade talks; and if he will make a statement. [169332]

Mr Swire: The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) represents a real opportunity to provide a boost to the UK, US and European economies. The negotiations will be unprecedented in their breadth of coverage. The UK believes that we should approach these negotiations openly and ambitiously. Sensitive issues for both sides will be on the table, but we need to focus on the long-term benefits: £10 billion a year to the UK economy; the removal of trade barriers; and helping to set a liberal global trade agenda.

Georgia

Stephen Phillips: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the situation in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. [169294]

Mr Lidington: Georgia's conflicts with the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia remain unresolved. While both regions are different and challenging places, we continue to encourage all parties to the conflicts, including Russia, to work constructively towards a long-term settlement.

South Ossetia faces real constraints on freedom of movement. The building offences along the disputed administrative boundary line is having a negative impact on many residents. I called in June for such activities to stop. The work of civil society is already difficult and proposed new 'foreign agent' legislation will make this more challenging for many organisations.

Our assessment of the current situation in Abkhazia is that the population is experiencing increasing political instability as well as security restrictions. We welcome efforts by some members of society to champion tolerance and inclusivity. The British Government consider these regions to be part of Georgia. But we believe that the people living there should not be left in isolation. We continue to fund projects, concentrating on initiatives acceptable to all sides. We welcome the Georgian government's renewed willingness for engagement and encourage them to continue to reach out to these societies.

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We also call on the de facto authorities to seek areas where mutually beneficial cooperation is possible in the short term, while a longer term solution is pursued.

Mali

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many electoral observers from the UK were present at the recent elections in Mali. [169221]

Mark Simmonds: Two UK observers were appointed to the EU Election Observation Mission (EOM). In addition, UK diplomats joined the EOM to observe voting in Bamako on both election days (five on 28 July, and four on 11 August).

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with his Malian counterpart on setting an early date for legislative elections in that country. [169222]

Mark Simmonds: When I visited Mali earlier this month I met members of the new Government, including the Prime Minister and Minister for the North and National Reconciliation. I discussed with the Prime Minister the importance of holding early legislative elections. These, alongside renewed peace negotiations and a national process of dialogue and reconciliation, will be an important step in Mali's continued return to democracy. However, it will be important to ensure that sufficient time is allowed in preparing for the elections to make them well-organised, nationally inclusive and credible.

Ministers' Private Offices

Michael Dugher: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many full-time equivalent staff of each civil service grade are currently employed in the private office of each Minister in his Department; and what the pay band of each such member of staff is. [168719]

Hugh Robertson: The full-time equivalent staff of civil service staff (excluding special advisers) employed in each Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) ministerial office is shown in the following table.

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Lord Green is a joint Minister with BIS and his office is staffed from both Departments.

The current FCO salary scales are shown in the following table.

Press: Subscriptions

Michael Dugher: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which newspapers, periodicals and trade profession publications his private ministerial office subscribes to on a (a) daily, (b) weekly, (c) monthly and (d) quarterly basis. [168700]

Mr Lidington: The Private Office of my right hon. Friend subscribes to the following publications:

(a)

Daily Mail

Financial Times

The Guardian

The Independent

International Herald Tribune

The Sun

The Telegraph

The Times

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(b)

Economist

Spectator

There are no subscriptions to monthly or quarterly publications.

Public Relations

Michael Dugher: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much his Department and its associated public bodies spent on (a) external public relations consultants and (b) public affairs consultants, in each of the past three years; and for what purposes such consultants were engaged. [168663]

Mr Lidington: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has spent £300,000 per year since 2010 with Grayling PR on a campaign that aims to help British nationals have safe and trouble free trips abroad by keeping them informed of necessary travel preparations as part of the ‘Know Before you Go’ campaign.

None of the FCO's arm’s length bodies or executive agencies have contracted public relations or public affairs consultants over the past three years.

The Cabinet Office introduced the marketing and advertising freeze in 2010 which the FCO fully adheres to.

Publications

Michael Dugher: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list (a) the title and subject, (b) the total cost to his Department and (c) the commissioned author or organisation of each external report commissioned by his Department in each year since 2010. [168786]

Mr Lidington: Details of reports commissioned from external authors by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and its network of overseas posts are not held centrally. This information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Publishing

Michael Dugher: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much his Department has spent in each of the last three years on hard copy printing of documents for external audiences. [168628]

Mr Lidington: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) annual report and accounts and the FCO's Annual Human Rights and Democracy report are published annually. The hard copy printing costs for the annual report for the last three years were: 2010-11: £2469.09 2011-12: £1596.76 2012-13: £1257.87 The hard copy printing costs for the Human Rights and Democracy Report were: 2010-11: £16.500 (including printing and hosting the launch). This was a 40% saving on the 2009 cost. 2011-12: £16,063 2012-13: £12,393. In 2011 the FCO published the Consular Strategy (2010-13). The hard copy printing cost was £20,000. The Consular Strategy (2013-15) has not been printed in hard copy. It is available through the FCO website at GOV.UK:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/consular-strategy

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The first set of reports in the review of the balance of competences between the EU and the UK were published in July 2013. The reports were published digitally on GOV.uk, along with the evidence received. However, a limited number were also printed in hardcopy for Parliament and for other key stakeholders. The cost was £6182.24.

Figures for the total cost of printed documents used by all departments in the FCO and all our global network are not held centrally and could be collated only at disproportionate cost.

Russia

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with his Russian counterpart on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights in that country. [169330]

Mr Lidington: Human rights, including lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender (LGBT) rights, are a regular feature of bilateral discussions with the Russian authorities. The Prime Minister raised concerns about the protection of human rights for LGBT people with President Putin in their bilateral meeting at the G20 summit on 6 September. He made clear the strength of feeling about the Russian law prohibiting the promotion of “non-traditional sexual relations” to minors, which has the potential to prevent LGBT people from fully enjoying the right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secertary, discussed the issue again with Foreign Minister Lavrov at the UN General Assembly in New York on 25 September. The issue of LGBT rights was a key theme of the most recent Human Rights Dialogue with Russia in May this year. The Foreign Secretary and I regularly raise human rights with our counterparts and will continue to do so.

Satellite Broadcasting

Michael Dugher: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what subscriptions his Department has for premium satellite television channels; and what the cost of each such subscription was in the most recent year for which figures are available. [168645]

Mr Lidington: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has not spent any money on premium satellite television channels in the UK; the Digital television system used by the FCO is provided through our support agreement with FCO Services. It has been in place for four years and all 70 channels available are free to air and are therefore subscription free.

This does not capture subscriptions sourced locally overseas as it would incur disproportionate cost to obtain this information.

Security

Michael Dugher: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many departmental identity cards or passes have been reported lost or stolen by staff in his Department since May 2010. [168610]

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Mr Lidington: Current Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) records for lost and stolen passes date back to July 2011. In those two years, 140 security passes for the FCO's UK estate have been recorded as lost or stolen. In all cases, the passes were deactivated immediately, to ensure they could not be used to enter FCO buildings.

Somalia

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had regarding the humanitarian situation in Somalia. [169331]

Justine Greening: I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Department for International Development.

I regularly discuss the humanitarian situation in Syria with international counterparts, including at the New Deal for Somalia Conference in Brussels on 16 September.

Standards

Michael Dugher: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the reasons are for the time taken to publish his Department's Quarterly Data Summary for the second quarter of 2012-13 and the third quarter of 2012-13. [168821]

Mr Lidington: The Quarterly Data Summary (QDS) is published by the Cabinet Office. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) submits quarterly returns to the Cabinet Office, for publication on the GOV.UK website. The FCO has submitted all QDS returns on time.

All the quarter two and quarter three QDS returns of all 17 Departments (including the FCO) participating in the QDS process were delayed owing to the development of the Cabinet Office's Government Interrogating Spending Tool (GIST). The GIST was developed in response to recommendations made in Dr Martin Read's independent report entitled 'Practical Steps to Improve Management Information in Government'. The GIST is an online tool that allows the public to access a breakdown of government expenditure through the Gov.UK website. It makes the process of accessing and analysing complex QDS and OSCAR data easier and quicker, and for these reasons was seen to justify a short delay in publishing QDS data.

Syria

Mr Buckland: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received on the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war in the conflict in Syria; and if he will make a statement. [168451]

Hugh Robertson: According to the UN Commission of Inquiry (COI), sexual violence has been a persistent feature of the conflict. However, it is very difficult to get a true sense of the scale and impacts of the problem. This is due to the lack of available evidence. There is a broad consensus that underreporting due to cultural and religious sensibilities is the main reason for this lack of evidence.

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Despite this unusual set of issues and a lack of rigorous evidence, we do know that sexual violence affects women and girls and men and boys. Perpetrators involve both government and opposition forces. The COI suggests that sexual violence is being used more systematically by government forces and their militias than by opposition forces. Sexual violence is predominantly carried out during house searches, at checkpoints and during detention.

In response to these growing accounts of sexual violence in Syria, the UK has directly funded two projects as part of PSVI, on the Syrian borders, to improve the capacity to document crimes of sexual violence. We are also training journalists to document human rights violations. These can be used for the future accountability process.

The UK is supporting survivors of sexual and gender based violence including for example providing clinical care and case management for 12,000 Syrian refugees in Jordan. We are also providing support to affected households and strengthening confidential support networks for survivors of sexual and gender-based violence. We work to ensure the needs of women and girls are specifically factored into humanitarian programmes, and continue to urge others to do so.

Televisions

Michael Dugher: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many flat screen televisions have been purchased by his Department in the last 24 months; and what the cost to the public purse was of such purchases. [168753]

Mr Lidington: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) is committed to ensuring the most cost-effective way to procure items; in all cases maximal value for money has been sought through competitive sourcing.

In the past two financial years we have purchased 11 flat screen televisions through our support agreement with FCO Services at a cost of £2,924.00 total.

Televisions bought by our overseas Posts (funded from each Post's individual administrative budget) and outside the agreement are not included as it would incur disproportionate costs to provide these data.

Trillium Group

Mr Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much his Department has spent on contracts with Trillium Group in each year since 2008. [169256]

Mr Lidington: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) did not have any contracts or spend with Trillium Group from 2010 to date. The current records system only goes back as far as 2010 and to obtain records prior to this would incur a disproportionate cost.

Western Sahara

Mr Mark Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will (a) raise with the Moroccan Ambassador and (b) instruct the UK Ambassador to Morocco to investigate the

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circumstances in which a recent demonstration against the use by Morocco of natural resources in the Western Sahara was broken up with violence. [168557]

Hugh Robertson: We are aware of reports of a recent demonstration. The former Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, my hon. Friend the Member for North East Bedfordshire (Alistair Burt), raised human rights issues in Western Sahara with the Moroccan ambassador and with his Moroccan counterpart during his trip to Rabat last month. He pressed the need for Morocco to respond to and act upon the reports from the Moroccan National Council of Human Rights (CNDH).

Mr Mark Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will (a) raise with the Moroccan Ambassador and (b) instruct the UK Ambassador to Morocco to investigate the circumstances in which a demonstration of unemployed Saharawi graduates in El Aaiun, Western Sahara on 31 August 2013 was broken up with violence. [168558]

Hugh Robertson: We are aware of reports of a recent demonstration. The former Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, my hon. Friend the Member for North East Bedfordshire (Alistair Burt), raised human rights issues in Western Sahara with the Moroccan ambassador and with his Moroccan counterpart during his trip to Rabat last month. He pressed the need for Morocco to respond to and act upon the reports from the Moroccan National Council of Human Rights (CNDH).

Mr Mark Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the Polisario has been consulted on the wishes of the Saharawi people in respect of the proposed new protocol to the EU-Morocco Fisheries Partnership Agreement and the inclusion of waters off Western Sahara. [168559]

Hugh Robertson: The new Fisheries Partnership Agreement (FPA) with the Kingdom of Morocco was negotiated by the European Commission on behalf of the European Union. The FPA between the European Union and the Kingdom of Morocco has not yet been agreed. We expect the European Commission to publish proposals in the near future. Those proposals will be considered by both the Council and the European Parliament prior to adoption.

Mr Mark Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs with reference to the answer of 26 November 2012, Official Report, column 104W, on Western Sahara, if he will request the European Commission to call on the government of Morocco to produce evidence that the EU-Morocco Fisheries Partnership Agreement is conducted to the benefit of the Saharawi people when any extension of the Protocol to the Agreement is discussed. [168552]

Hugh Robertson: The Fisheries Partnership Agreement (FPA) between the European Union and the Kingdom of Morocco has not yet been agreed. We expect the European Commission to publish proposals in the near future. The agreement as initialled requires Morocco to report on the geographical distribution of European funds for structural support and infrastructure, and to include the impact on jobs and investment.

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Yemen

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many times he has (a) met and (b) had telephone conversations with the Yemeni Ambassador since January 2013. [169614]

Hugh Robertson: My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, has had no meeting or phone-calls with Ambassador Al-Rhadi since January 2013.

The former Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for North East Bedfordshire (Alistair Burt), had a telephone conversation with Ambassador Al-Rhadi on 1 September, and also met Ambassador Al-Radhi on 4 September.

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many times he has (a) met and (b) had telephone conversations with the Yemeni Foreign Minister since January 2013. [169615]

Hugh Robertson: My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs met Foreign Minister Al-Qirbi on 7 March in London, and on 25 September in New York.

The former Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for North East Bedfordshire (Alistair Burt), had telephone conversations with Foreign Minister Al-Qirbi on 9 January, 6 August, and 2 September. He also met Yemeni Foreign Minister Al-Qirbi on 7 May, 9 September, and 25 September.

Energy and Climate Change

Accountancy

Michael Dugher: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much his Department has spent on accountants in each year since 2010. [168590]

Gregory Barker: The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) expenditure on accountants in each year since 2010 is shown in the following table:

The amounts shown above relate to qualified and part-qualified in-house staff. The cost is estimated and based on average salary costs.

The amounts relating to external contractors will include the costs of accountants but will also include the costs of all other services provided, such as consultancy

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services, by these professional firms. Identifying the element that relates to accountants can be done only at disproportionate cost.

Air Travel

Michael Dugher: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many individual domestic air flights were undertaken within Great Britain by representatives of (a) his Department and (b) its associated public bodies in the most recent year for which figures are available; and what the cost to the public purse of each such flight was. [168769]

Gregory Barker: The Department of Energy and Climate Change is co-located in Aberdeen and London and the nature of its business necessitates frequent travel between the two offices. Air travel is considered to be the most efficient form of travel saving in both time (productivity) and money (travel subsistence minimised) but in accordance with departmental policy, is undertaken only after due consideration of business needs and only with prior authorisation. The number of individual air flights within Great Britain undertaken by Department of Energy and Climate Change representatives (including Ministers) in 2012-13 was (a) 668 for core-DECC at a cost of £148,000. This amount includes exchange/refunds valued at an amount of £3,000 but which are not readily attributable to specific flights.

A table containing details of these flights will be placed in the Library of the House.

In respect of (b) the Department's public bodies the number of flights was 1,072 at a cost of £163,000. Information on the breakdown of the flight details for the Department's NDPBs is only available, however, at disproportionate cost.

Buildings

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many square metres of office space his Department (a) owns and (b) rents in London; and what the value is of that property. [169420]

Gregory Barker: The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) does not own any property but rents space in three buildings in London. The value of these buildings is not known to the Department but the rental cost has been included below for information.

3 Whitehall Place (whole building)—covers 8,768 square metres in total—Annual rental of approximately £4.3million

55 Whitehall (whole building)—covers 1,710 square metres in total—Annual peppercorn rental of £1 (building is owned by the Crown Estate)

1 Victoria Street (partial rental from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills—BIS)—part of one floor totalling 414 square metres—Annual rental of approx. £582,000 (which includes the DECC share of other building facilities such as Utilities etc.)

Mr Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of the expenditure on office refurbishment by (a) his Department and (b) his Department's non-departmental public bodies in each year since 2010-11. [169447]

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Gregory Barker: The Department of Energy and Climate Change and its NDPB's have spent the following on office refurbishments in this period:

There was also one large-scale refurbishment in 2011 where the Department took over an Grade II Listed building at 55 Whitehall which needed full refurbishment and furniture. This came at a cost of £622,297.63.

Civil Nuclear Police Authority

2010 Culham Building F7 for relocation of the Training School from Cumbria to Oxfordshire to be collocated with HQ £44,894.00

2011 Firearms Training Unit from Culham to Bisley to be collocated with the firing ranges £161,102.00

2012 Firearms Training Unit Skills facility relocation from various sites to Aldershot to be in one location close to Bisley £52,108.00

2013 Strategic Escort Group who were displaced from accommodation on Sellafield site and Divisional Command Team North from Sellafield to Greengarth Business Park Cumbria £88,331.00

Nuclear Decommissioning Authority

Eland House Refurbishment 2012/13 £428,646.44 (Dept for Communities and Local Government costs £279,121.18 Lambert Smith Hampton costs £149,525.26)

Hinton House Refurbishment 2012/13 £513,617.43 (Spie Matthew Hall costs £390,041.00 MITIE costs £123,576.43) However NDA personnel only accounted for 20% of this cost which totalled £102,723.48, because it was part of the co-location with INS and therefore a joint project.

Herdus House Refurbishment 2012/13 £153,877.75 (TSK Group costs £153,877.75)

Committee on Climate Change

£158,622.40 on the refurbishment of the first floor of 7 Holbein Place, SW1W 8NR in 2011.

Coal Authority

Office refurbishment costs incurred by the Coal Authority in the period since 2010-11 have been business case led and incurred to facilitate the relocation of Authority staff into a single open plan office at its freehold Head Office, freeing up office space for sub-let to tenants. An office refurbishment commenced March 2013 and was completed by July 2013 at a cost of £425,000 (£29,000 in 2012-13 and £396,000 in 2013-14).

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Following completion of tenancy agreements, to full site occupation, the authority derives an income of £270,000 pa, providing a contribution towards the cost of the refurbishment and ongoing operating costs.

Mr Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of the number of office relocations made by staff of (a) his Department and (b) his Department's non-departmental public bodies (i) within the original building and (ii) to other buildings in each year since 2009-10; what the cost of (A) removals and (B) refurbishments related to such moves has been; and on how many occasions offices refurbished by his Department in that period have been used by his Department's staff for less than four years before a further move. [169461]

Gregory Barker: At the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) there have been two moves within the main HQ building (at 3 Whitehall Place) since the Department first took occupation of the building in 2009 (DECC was created in September 2008). This was to better locate staff according to required space and came at no cost on both occasions as internal porters were used from the existing facilities management contract and no disposals or refurbishments were required.

In June 2011 the Department took over occupation of 55 Whitehall from previous Government tenants. This was to provide necessary extra space for a growth in staff numbers. The cost of preparing and refurbishing this circa 1900 Grade II Listed building, including the purchase of furniture was £622,297.63.

In 2012, the Department also rented some floor space at the Department for Business Innovation and Skills to accommodate a policy team. The cost of this relocation was £92,899.83 which included subsequent relocations of staff throughout the HQ building.

The Department has not yet moved staff from these locations in less than a four year period.

The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority:

Eland House refurbishment 2012/13 £428,646.44 (Department for Communities and Local Government costs £279,121.18 Lambert Smith Hampton costs £149,525.26)

Hinton House refurbishment 2012/13 £513,617.43 (Spie Matthew Hall costs £390,041.00 MITIE costs £123,576.43) However NDA personnel only accounted for 20% of this cost which totalled £102,723.48, because it was part of the co-location with INS and therefore a joint project.

Herdus House refurbishment 2012/13 £153,877,75 (TSK Group costs £153,877.75)

The Committee on Climate Change (CCC), another of DECC's NDPB's has relocated once since 2009-10. This was part of the Government estate rationalisation programme. Following expiration of the lease, the CCC moved from premises in Victoria, to accommodation near Sloane Square which it currently shares with the Heritage Lottery Fund (an NDPB of DCMS). This move took place in June 2011. We have not yet been at the premises for four years; however, the current lease is until 2024.

The costs associated with the move were as follows:

(A) Relocation: £4,414.40

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(B) Refurbishment: £158,622.40

The Civil Nuclear Police Authority:

2009 Refurbishment of ACPO senior management offices to create an office for the CNPA chairman £19,900.00,

2010 Culham Building F7 for relocation of the training school from Cumbria to Oxfordshire. This was so it would be collocated with HQ £44,894.00. Removal costs were £11,180.00

2011 Firearms Training Unit from Culham to Bisley to allow for the increase in number of instructors and to be collocated with the firing ranges £161,102.00 There were no significant removal costs.

2012 Firearms Training Unit Skills facility relocation from various sites to Aldershot to accommodate the increased amount of skills training required by all firearms officers and be in one location close to Bisley £52,108.00. There were no removal costs incurred for this project.

2013 Strategic Escort Group who were displaced from accommodation on Sellafield site and Divisional Command Team North from Sellafield to Greengarth Business Park Cumbria £88,331.00. The removal costs are expected to be £1,000.00 this will take place in October 2013.

¦None of these staff have been moved from these locations since.

The Coal Authority:

Office refurbishment costs incurred by the Coal Authority in the period since 2010-11 have been business case led and incurred to facilitate the relocation of authority staff into a single open plan office at its freehold Head Office, freeing up office space for sub-let to tenants. An office refurbishment commenced March 2013 and was completed by July 2013 at a cost of £425,000 (£29,000 in 2012-13 and £396,000 in 2013-14).

Following completion of tenancy agreements, to full site occupation, the authority derives an income of £270,000 pa, providing a contribution towards the cost of the refurbishment and ongoing operating costs. Removal costs associated with relocating the authority's staff on-site were negligible, but are included within the quoted refurbishment costs above.

The authority also confirms that it continues to occupy the refurbished accommodation.

Chris Huhne

Thomas Docherty: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change on how many occasions Mr Chris Huhne has been registered as a visitor to his Department's main building since February 2012. [169492]

Gregory Barker: We have no record of Chris Huhne having visited DECC since February 2012.

Coal: Wales

Susan Elan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many households in (a) Wales and (b) Clwyd South constituency have received (i) concessionary coal and (ii) concessionary coal payments in each of the last 10 years. [168505]

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Michael Fallon: The following tables show the total number of households in receipt of concessionary fuel under DECC's obligations for the National Concessionary Fuel Scheme, broken down into cash in lieu and fuel beneficiaries in the UK over the past 10 years (table 1) and Wales over the last three years (table 2).

The entitlement management database used by the Department's contractor does not hold beneficiary information by constituency as it is not required for operational delivery of the scheme.

Cycling

Ms Ritchie: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what input his Department provided to the Department for Transport's response to the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Cycling report, Get Britain Cycling. [168386]

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Gregory Barker: The Department did not provide any recorded input into this report.

Energy

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate his Department has made of the projected cost of (a) the Energy Company Obligation, (b) the Renewables Obligation, (c) the EU Emissions Trading System, (d) the carbon floor price, (e) the warm home discount, (f) the feed-in tariff, (g) smart meters, (h) contracts for difference and (i) capacity payments to average household (i) gas, (ii) electricity and (iii) energy bills in each year to 2020. [169300]

Gregory Barker: The Government's latest assessment of the impact of climate change and energy policies on consumer energy bills was in March 2013.¹This shows impacts for 2013, 2020 and 2030. Based on this report, the average costs of policies, as estimated at the time of the report, per household for 2013 and 2020 are set out in the following tables for gas, electricity and total energy bills.

It should be noted that these tables show the costs associated with policies, however after accounting for energy efficiency savings, household bills are estimated to be 5% (£65) lower in 2013, and £11% (£166) lower in 2020 than they would be in the absence of energy and climate change policies.

Since this report was published, cost estimates for a number of policies have been updated, for example in the Electricity Market Reform Draft Delivery Plan Impact Assessment.² These updated cost estimates will be reflected in the next report on prices and bills.

¹ https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/estimated-impacts -of-energy-and-climate-change-policies-on-energy-prices-and-bills

² https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/consultation-on-the-draft-electricity-market-reform-delivery

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