Asked by: Chuka Umunna (Liberal Democrat - Streatham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what proportion of suppliers to his Department and its agencies and non-departmental public bodies paid subcontractors within 30 days in the last period for which figures are available.
Answered by David Lidington
Contracts awarded under Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) standard terms and conditions mandate that suppliers should pay their subcontractors within 30 days. However the data required to answer this question is not held centrally by the FCO and cannot be provided without disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Chuka Umunna (Liberal Democrat - Streatham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many apprentices employed by (a) his Department and (b) its executive agencies and associated bodies are aged (i) 16 to 18, (ii) 19 to 24 and (iii) 25 years or older; and how many of those apprentices employed in each form of body and of each age group were previously employed by the Government.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
The Foreign and Commonwealth has not employed any apprentices, but are in the process of recruiting five apprentices in the 19-23 year old age bracket.
The number of apprentices employed by FCO Services, an Executive Agency of the FCO, is eight for the 16-18/19-24 group and 14 apprentices who are aged over 25. None of these apprentices were previously employed by the Government immediately prior to joining FCO Services.
Asked by: Chuka Umunna (Liberal Democrat - Streatham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what meetings Ministers in his Department have had on UK Islamic finance initiatives since 15 July 2014.
Answered by Lord Swire
My right hon. and noble Friend the former Minister of State (Baroness Warsi) met Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials to discuss UK Islamic Finance initiatives on 30 July. I wrote to all members of the Global Islamic Finance and Investment Group on 20 October, and to the Deputy Governor of the Bank of England on 29 September, to progress the agenda on our Islamic Finance initiatives. In addition, the Economic Secretary to the Treasury, my hon Friend the Member for South Northamptonshire (Ms Leadsom), represented the UK at the World Islamic Economic Forum in Dubai between 27-29 October 2014.