Asked by: Chris Leslie (The Independent Group for Change - Nottingham East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the Government plans to introduce legislative proposals related to the agreement reached on the UK's relationship with the EU at the European Council on 19 February 2016.
Answered by David Lidington
At the February European Council, the Government negotiated a new settlement giving the UK a special status in a reformed EU.
The Government's view is that the UK will be stronger, safer and better off remaining in a reformed EU. The UK does intend to pass domestic legislation where necessary to underpin this settlement, following a vote to remain in the EU in the referendum.
Asked by: Chris Leslie (The Independent Group for Change - Nottingham East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to page 107 of his Department's Annual Report and Accounts 2013-14, HC17, what the value is of each piece of residential land worth more than £250,000.
Answered by David Lidington
The net book value of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s property (land and buildings) in the UK and overseas as at 31 March 2014 was £2,030m. This excludes property held by our Non-Departmental Public Bodies. Individual valuations per property cannot be provided as this information is commercially sensitive.
Asked by: Chris Leslie (The Independent Group for Change - Nottingham East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to page 107 of his Department's Annual Report and Accounts 2013-14, HC17, what the value is of each dwelling worth more than £250,000.
Answered by David Lidington
The net book value of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s property (land and buildings) in the UK and overseas as at 31 March 2014 was £2,030m. This excludes property held by our Non-Departmental Public Bodies. Individual valuations per property cannot be provided as this information is commercially sensitive.
Asked by: Chris Leslie (The Independent Group for Change - Nottingham East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to page 107 of his Department's Annual Report and Accounts 2013-14, HC17, what the value is of each antique and work of art worth more than £1,000.
Answered by David Lidington
The net book value of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Antiques and Works of Art in the UK and overseas as at 31 March 2014 was £16.672m. Individual valuations per item cannot be provided as this information is both commercially sensitive and would represent a security threat to the staff and properties.
Asked by: Chris Leslie (The Independent Group for Change - Nottingham East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to page 107 of his Department's Annual Report and Accounts 2013-14, HC17, what the value is of each building (excluding dwellings) worth more than £250,000.
Answered by David Lidington
The net book value of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s property (land and buildings) in the UK and overseas as at 31 March 2014 was £2,030m. This excludes property held by our Non-Departmental Public Bodies. Individual valuations per property cannot be provided as this information is commercially sensitive.
Asked by: Chris Leslie (The Independent Group for Change - Nottingham East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to page 107 of his Department's Annual Report and Accounts 2013-14, HC17, what the value is of each piece of non-residential land worth more than £250,000.
Answered by David Lidington
The net book value of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s property (land and buildings) in the UK and overseas as at 31 March 2014 was £2,030m. This excludes property held by our Non-Departmental Public Bodies. Individual valuations per property cannot be provided as this information is commercially sensitive.
Asked by: Chris Leslie (The Independent Group for Change - Nottingham East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to page 105 of his Department's Annual Report and Accounts 2013-14, HC17, what the reasons are for the £1.397m expenditure listed under other subscriptions.
Answered by David Lidington
Individual subscriptions are disclosed in the Annual Report and Accounts if they amount to over £1m. The £1.397 million expenditure listed under other subscriptions on page 105 includes payments to the Commonwealth Foundation (~£726.5k), the Institute for Security Studies (~£533k), the International Bureau of Expositions (~£20.5k) and the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environmental Programme (~£117.7k).
Asked by: Chris Leslie (The Independent Group for Change - Nottingham East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to page 77 of the British Council's Annual Report and Accounts 2013-14, what the value is of each tangible fixed asset worth more than £250,000.
Answered by Lord Swire
The net book value of the British Council’s tangible fixed assets as at 31 March 2014 was £165,850,000. Individual valuations per asset cannot be provided as this information is commercially sensitive.
Asked by: Chris Leslie (The Independent Group for Change - Nottingham East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to page 104 of his Department's Annual Report and Accounts 2013-14, HC17, what the amount spent was on each instance of travel expenditure totalling more than £1,000.
Answered by David Lidington
Before undertaking any travel staff must consider whether the journey is necessary and cost effective. We encourage staff to find alternatives to travel, such as video-conferencing facilities in a further effort to reduce the number of flights needed. Due to the nature of our diplomatic work, however, travel is essential.
The sum referred to on page 104 of the 13/14 Annual Accounts is £48.5m for Travel incurred under the delivery of our overseas programmes. These figures cannot be broken down further without incurring disproportionate costs.
Further detail of our Programmes can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/foreign-commonwealth-office/about#our-funding-programmes
Further details of senior officials and ministers travel can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/minister-data
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/pus-data.
Asked by: Chris Leslie (The Independent Group for Change - Nottingham East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to page 104 of his Department's Annual Report and Accounts 2013-14, HC17, what the reasons are for the £3.2m expenditure listed under consular.
Answered by David Lidington
The £3.32m expenditure listed under consular on page 104 of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Annual Report and Accounts 2013-14 include payments ranging from Emergency Travel Documents and other passport stationery to consular crisis and human rights work.