Asked by: Lord Beamish (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many Twitter accounts are run by her Department; how much her Department spends annually on (a) Twitter accounts and (b) all social media; and how many people in her Department are employed to work on social media.
Answered by Baroness Featherstone
The Department of International Development (DFID) is currently responsible for monitoring and updating the following corporate Twitter accounts: @DFID_UK, @DFID_Press, @DFID_response, @DFIDNepal, @DFIDEthiopia, @DFID_PSD, @DFID_innovation, @DFID_research.
Asked by: Lord Beamish (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what her Department's policy is on the consumption of alcohol during social occasions held in her private office.
Answered by Baroness Featherstone
I refer Hon. Member to the answer provided today by my Rt Hon. Friend the member for Horsham (Mr Maude).
Asked by: Lord Beamish (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many away days her Department has held for its officials in (a) 2013 and (b) 2014 to date; and what the cost of each such event has been.
Answered by Baroness Featherstone
Information on the number of DFID away days and the costs incurred is not held centrally and precise information is not readily available.
Away days for Department for International Development (DFID) staff are overwhelmingly undertaken on DFID or Other Government Department premises where there is little or no cost involved.
Asked by: Lord Beamish (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much has been spent on refurbishing (a) gymnasium and leisure facilities, (b) cafeteria and (c) interior decoration within (i) her Department and (ii) buildings owned by her Department in (A) 2013 and (B) 2014 to date.
Answered by Baroness Featherstone
No refurbishment was made to facilities in 2014.
The East Kilbride office carried out refurbishment to facilities mentioned at a cost of £5,790 during 2013.
Asked by: Lord Beamish (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what subscriptions to (a) magazines and (b) television channels her Department funds; and what the annual cost is of each of those subscriptions.
Answered by Baroness Featherstone
DFID's communications team subscribes to following magazines:
The Economist: £136 per annum
The Spectator: £129 per annum
The New Statesman: £92 per annum
The New Scientist: £149 per annum
Private Eye: £28 per annum
Marketing Magazine: £155 per annum
PR Week: £99.50 per annum
PR Week Global: £119.50 per annum
A figure for magazine subscriptions across the entire Department cannot be compiled from our accounting records without incurring disproportionate cost.
Television channels are paid for via the Parliamentary feed. DFID pays £6,728.90 each year for maintenance of the Parliamentary TV system and £13,500 a year for rental of the telecomms link from 22 Whitehall to the Palace of Westminster.
Asked by: Lord Beamish (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much her Department has spent on (a) media training and (b) social media training for (i) her and (ii) other Ministers in her Department; and what specific training was provided in each such case.
Answered by Baroness Featherstone
DFID operates a decentralised Learning and Development system and does not hold central records of course attendance or small scale expenditure. DFID publishes all expenditure over £500, which can be found on our website http://www.dfid.gov.uk/About-us/How-we-measure-progress/DFID-spend/. Producing any other type of report would incur disproportionate costs.