Asked by: Lord Watson of Wyre Forest (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many officials of her Department have applied for special leave to carry out work for non-governmental departments in the last 12 months.
Answered by Desmond Swayne
DFID’s policy on special leave is specific and does not extend to working for other organisations. There has only been one exception to this policy in the last 12 months. As this relates to a single individual any further information is being withheld because releasing these details could lead to the individual being identified and would therefore breach the legitimate expectation of an individual’s right to protection of their personal information.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Wyre Forest (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many (a) civil servants and (b) special advisers in her Department are entitled to the use of a (i) car with a dedicated driver, (ii) car from the Government car pool and (iii) taxi ordered through a departmental account.
Answered by Desmond Swayne
Civil servants, including special advisers, may use a taxi or Government car in properly defined circumstances. Information about the use of taxis and Government cars for the most senior civil servants is published on a quarterly basis.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Wyre Forest (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether her Department will assess (a) the effect of drone strikes on civilian populations and (b) access to civilian compensation schemes as part of its humanitarian mission in Iraq and Syria.
Answered by Justine Greening
We are monitoring the impact of military operations on civilian populations in both Iraq and Syria and ensuring our humanitarian response is targeted to those most in need. To date, the UK has pledged £800 million in response to the humanitarian crisis in Syria and the region, and a further £39.5 million to the humanitarian crisis in Iraq. Access to civilian compensation schemes is an MoD lead and therefore does not form part of our humanitarian mission.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Wyre Forest (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what research her Department has undertaken on access of civilian victims of drone strikes in Afghanistan to civilian compensation schemes administered by troop contributing nations.
Answered by Justine Greening
Access to civilian compensation schemes is a Ministry of Defence lead. There is a system in place for handling all claims for compensation brought against the Ministry of Defence by Afghan civilians.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Wyre Forest (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether any staff of her Department are engaged in considering the effects of drone strikes on civilian populations as part of her Department's work in the Middle East and North Africa.
Answered by Desmond Swayne
In countries where DFID has humanitarian programmes, we monitor the general humanitarian situation in close communication with partners on the ground.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Wyre Forest (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what the value is of duplicate supplier payments identified by her Department since 2010; and what proportion of such payments have since been recovered in each of the last two financial years.
Answered by Baroness Featherstone
Duplicate payments to suppliers are shown in the table below.
Value | Financial Year |
£ 3,721,960.01 | 2010/11 |
£ 720,052.49 | 2011/12 |
£ 1,105,217.80 | 2012/13 |
£ 5,352,323.62 | 2013/14 |
The proportion of duplicate payments recovered over the last 4 years is 98.74%.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Wyre Forest (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment her Department has made of the effect of lethal operations in Yemen on (a) the civilian population and (b) security in that country.
Answered by Alan Duncan
Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) activity and attacks continue to threaten Yemen's development and security. DFID has made no specific assessment of the effect of such operations in Yemen, but along with other Departments has conducted detailed analyses of conflict and instability.