Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what proportion of contracts issued by his Department and contractors include provisions to impose, as between parties to the subcontract, that any payment due from the contractor to a subcontractor under the contract is to be made no later than the end of a period of 30 days from the date on which the relevant invoice is regarded as valid and undisputed, as required by the Public Contract Regulations 2015.
Answered by Alan Duncan
Through the Public Contract Regulations 2015, all public sector buyers must include 30-day payment terms in new public sector contracts; and require that this payment term be passed down the supply chain. Public sector buyers must also publish annually details of their payment performance.
The Government strongly encourages businesses to report poor payment practice and instances of late payment, including late payment through the supply chain, in public sector contracts to its Mystery Shopper service. Mystery Shopper will then investigate.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 1 November to Question 183261 on United Arab Emirates: Official Visits, whether a (a) private secretary and (b) Embassy official was present at any meetings he had with Ministers or officials from overseas governments.
Answered by Alistair Burt
When attending the Sir Bani Yas Forum in United Arab Emirates in 2017, I was accompanied by a private secretary.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how much his Department has spent on consultancy fees relating to the UK leaving the EU since July 2016.
Answered by Alan Duncan
This information is not held centrally and to compile it would incur disproportionate cost. The FCO's expenditure on professional services and consultancy will be published in the annual report and accounts. Contracts awarded over £10,000 are reported on Contracts Finder.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the trip to the United Arab Emirates taken by the hon. Member for North East Bedfordshire in November 2017 was taken in his official ministerial capacity.
Answered by Alistair Burt
I attended the Sir Bani Yas Forum in the United Arab Emirates in November 2017 in my capacity as Minister for the Middle East and North Africa.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether civil servants accompanied the Minister of State for the Middle East on his visit to the UAE in November 2017.
Answered by Alistair Burt
I was accompanied by one official on my visit to the United Arab Emirates in November 2017.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many staff in his Department are classified as contingent labour.
Answered by Alan Duncan
As at 1 October 2018, the FCO had 104 contingent workers.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will publish a list of those implementing organisations referred to as various on page one of the Conflict Security and Stability Fund (CSSF) Programme Summary document for the CSSF Great Lakes Programme for the programmes entitled (a) Human rights in DRC elections and (b) Monitoring and responding to conflict risks in Burundi.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
The implementing organisations referred to as 'various' are:
(a) Human rights in DRC elections:
(b) Monitoring and responding to conflict risks in Burundi:
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 23 July 2018 to Question 165463 on Pakistan: Conflict, Stability and Security Fund, what the independent third party is referred to in that answer.
Answered by Mark Field
The independent third party referred to in the Answer of 23 July 2018 to PQ165463 is Ecorys. It is an international research and consulting company which conducts monitoring and evaluation for the Pakistan Conflict Security and Stability Fund.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, which organisations received a portion of the £64 million that was spent in Syria through the Conflict Stability and Security Fund.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The following organisations received a portion of the £64 million spent in Syria through the Conflict Stablity and Security Fund (CSSF) in 2016/17:
Through the Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Adam Smith International, Mayday Rescue, International Relief and Development, Independent Diplomats, Ark Group DMCC, International Alert, Peaceful Change Initiative, Commission for Justice and Accountability, Pechter Polls, Integrity Research and Consultancy Ltd, Synergy for Justice Ltd, The Shaikh Group, Public International Law and Policy Group, UN Mine Action Service, Impact Initiatives, Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies. Through the Department for International Development: ACTED, Adam Smith International, Blumont, Chemonics, International Center for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies.
This is not a complete list of suppliers as we do not publish details of our projects in Syria when this information could pose a risk to our partners.
The CSSF applies rigorous evaluation criteria when awarding contracts to suppliers to ensure best value for money, expertise and capability to deliver.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether any funding for counter-extremism purposes in Pakistan through the Conflict Stability and Security Fund was allocated to the Inter-Services Intelligence.
Answered by Mark Field
The Pakistan Conflict Security and Stability Fund conducts monitoring and evaluation via an independent third party. This monitoring and evaluation covers the individual programmes including the counter extremism programme. Monitoring and evaluation is conducted for the programme's performance as a whole, as well as specific lines of activity.
No funding provided through the Conflict Stability and Security Fund for counter extremism purposes in Pakistan has been allocated to the Inter-Services Intelligence.