The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Murray on 2014-04-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what category of investor Lansdowne Partners was with regard to the sale of Royal Mail.
Michael Fallon
All investors in Royal Mail – whether individuals or institutions – have a reasonable expectation of privacy: therefore we have not disclosed the names of specific investors and their involvement in the IPO process.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Leslie on 2014-04-07.
To ask the Attorney General, which 10 consultancy firms were paid the most by the Law Officers’ Departments in the last financial year; and how much each of those firms was paid.
Oliver Heald
In 2013-14 Professor Shute was paid £2,286.30 and Dr Tapley was paid £1,735.70 for consultancy services to HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate (HMCPSI). There has been no other consultancy spend within that financial year by HMCPSI, the Treasury Solicitor’s Department or the Attorney General’s Office.
The two companies listed below are the only organisations to have been paid by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) for consultancy work during the last financial year.
SCC £32,316
CIO Partnership Ltd £2,100
Inaddition, two individuals carried out consultancy work for the SFO. The total amount paid for this work was £13,812
The table below details payments made by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to consultancy firms during the last financial year.
|
Evolve Business Consultancy |
£74,319 |
|
Saville Consulting UK Ltd Surrey |
£22,008 |
|
Triad Group Plc Surrey |
£19,260 |
|
Deloitte LLP Milton Keynes |
£9,661 |
|
Hay Group Management Limited |
£7,200 |
|
LA International Computer Consultants Ltd |
£6,398 |
|
ASE Consulting Ltd Lancashire |
£4,995 |
|
Enquin Enviromental Ltd Cardiff |
£4,110 |
|
HR Lounge Ltd London Total |
£3,180 |
|
Long and Partners Commissioning Consultancy Ltd |
£2,010 |
This information has been produced from the CPS accounting system, analysing spend against account codes for consultancy and professional services. Expenditure may include some payments for services not covered by the Crown Commercial Service Consultancy Value Programme definition of consultancy but provided by companies categorised as a consultancy firm. Excluded are payments for professional services supplied by third parties not classified as a consultancy firm such as employment agencies, training providers, solicitors, ICT managed service suppliers and freelance consultants engaged directly by the department.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lucy Powell on 2014-04-07.
To ask the Attorney General, how many jobs have been transferred from the public to the private sector as a result of privatisations or outsourcing by the Law Officers’ Departments since May 2010.
Oliver Heald
The Law Officers’ Departments have not transferred any permanent jobs from the public to the private sector as a result of privatisations or outsourcing since May 2010.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Leslie on 2014-04-07.
To ask the Attorney General, which five companies were used most often to provide temporary workers for the Law Officers’ Departments in the last financial year; and how much in agency fees was paid to each of them.
Oliver Heald
The following table lists the top five companies used by the Treasury Solicitor’s Department (TSol), to provide temporary workers in 2013-14, by expenditure. TSol financial systems do not distinguish between the costs of temporary workers and the associated agency fee. TSol data also covers any expenditure incurred by HM Crown Prosecution service inspectorate and the Attorney General’s Office.
|
Firm |
Amount spent (net of VAT) |
|
Capita Resourcing Ltd (Staff) |
£5,404,407 |
|
Kelly Services (UK) Ltd |
£1,711,926 |
|
Experis (Elan Computing Ltd) |
£634,916 |
|
Hudson |
£347,834 |
|
Methods Consulting Ltd |
£168,256 |
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has spent the following amounts with four companies during 2013/14 in relation to the provision of temporary workers. The expenditure includes the cost of temporary staff. It is not possible to separately identify the agency element of the payments.
|
Firm |
Amount spent (including VAT) |
|
Brook Street (UK) Limited |
£99,423 |
|
Reed Employment Plc |
£52,718 |
|
Badenoch and Clark |
£31,739 |
|
Hays Accountancy Personnel |
£19,832 |
This information has been produced from the CPS accounting system.
The following table lists the top five companies used by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) to provide temporary workers in 2013-14, by expenditure. SFO financial systems do not distinguish between the costs of temporary workers and any associated agency fee.
|
Firm |
Amount spent (including VAT) |
|
Adecco |
942,075 |
|
Alvarez and Marsal |
609,499 |
|
Crowe Clarke Whitehill |
590,264 |
|
Mazars LLP |
567,627 |
|
FTI Consultancy |
207,354 |
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Jones of Cheltenham on 2014-04-08.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they are taking steps to encourage the governments of China and Vietnam to cease the trade in ivory.
Lord De Mauley
The Governments of both China and Vietnam participated at Ministerial level in the London Conference on Illegal Wildlife Trade on 12 and 13 February 2014. They joined the other participating countries in agreeing to the London Conference Declaration. In this, Governments have committed to support the existing CITES commercial prohibition on international trade in elephant ivory until the survival of elephants in the wild is no longer threatened by poaching. They have also committed to taking a wide range of actions to reduce the demand for wildlife products, including ivory, and to agreeing for the first time to renounce the use of any products from species threatened with extinction. We very much welcome this strong signal by China and Vietnam of their commitment to join the rest of the international community in tackling the scourge of the illegal trade in ivory and other wildlife products.
In the margins of the Conference I had constructive meetings with both Forestry Vice Minister Jianlong Zhang of China and Deputy Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Ha Cong Tuan of Vietnam to discuss the impacts of the illegal wildlife trade and the action needed to tackle the problem. I hope to visit Vietnam in the near future to continue this constructive dialogue.
We will also fund two projects in Vietnam which applied through the 2013-2014 Darwin Initiative Funding Round, at a total cost of just over £0.5m. These will be supported from the £10m of new funding for tackling the illegal wildlife trade, announced on 23 December 2013 by the Secretaries of State for Environment and International Development. One project is focused on combating wildlife trafficking by cutting out the ‘middle man’. The other will support action to reduce demand for rhino horn.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Jones of Cheltenham on 2014-04-08.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what effect they expect that the recently announced Elephant Protection Initiative will have on the illegal wildlife trade; and what support they are giving to the Initiative.
Lord De Mauley
The Government warmly welcomes the Elephant Protection Initiative (EPI), launched at the London Conference on the Illegal Wildlife Trade in February 2014 by the Presidents of Botswana, Chad, Gabon and Tanzania, and the Foreign Minister of Ethiopia.
Through the EPI, these Governments are committing to:
· observing an extended moratorium on consideration of future international ivory trade
· closing domestic ivory markets
· putting all ivory stockpiles (both seized ‘illegal’ and ‘legal’ ivory accrued from elephant mortality) beyond economic use.
In response to these bold commitments, the EPI is intended to provide participating Governments with access to a fund to support the implementation of the measures contained in the Africa Elephant Action Plan. The UK Government has committed to supporting this fund, in the first instance by matching the first tranche of private sector funding amounting to around £1m.
The text of the Elephant Protection Initiative can be accessed through the following link: www.gov.uk/government/news/decisive-action-agreed-on-illegal-wildlife-trade.
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Jones of Cheltenham on 2014-04-08.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, following the recent conference in London, what support they are providing to the government of Botswana in preparing for the follow-up conference in early 2015 on the illegal wildlife trade.
Lord De Mauley
The Government welcomes the announcement made by the Government of Botswana that it will host a follow up conference on the illegal wildlife trade in early 2015. This meeting will be vital in helping to ensure that the commitments made at the London Conference in February 2014 are fully implemented.
The Government has offered its full support to Botswana in preparing the meeting. This may include continuing to convene the group of senior officials that prepared the London Conference, offering the support of the UK’s diplomatic network in maintaining high level political engagement on the issue with existing and new partner countries and a possible contribution to the cost of the conference.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Jones of Cheltenham on 2014-04-08.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what effect they expect that the recently announced St Helena hotel investment initiative by a British consortium will have on the Tourism Economic Development Plan of the St Helena Government.
Lord Bates
The UK Government expects tourism to be a driver of growth on St Helena once the airport opens in 2016. Any hotel investment which improves the quality and quantity of visitor accommodation is expected to have a positive impact on tourism and, over time, on St Helena’s economic development.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Patten on 2014-04-08.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the announcement by the government of Argentina that their new 50 peso banknote will show the Falkland Islands as part of their national territory.
Lord Wallace of Saltaire
The British Government obviously has no control over what other countries choose to put on their currency. However, we are clear that incorporating the Falkland Islands in this way in no way affects either the UK’s sovereignty or the right of the Falkland Islanders to self–determination, which they exercised in March 2013 in an overwhelming vote to remain part of the UK.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Patten on 2014-04-08.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the number of death sentences handed down so far during 2014 in Iran; and whether they have discussed the issue with President Rouhani and the government of Iran.
Lord Wallace of Saltaire
We are deeply concerned by reports of more than 100 executions in the first three months of 2014, including for crimes not considered by the international community to be the ‘most serious’ and for which the death penalty can be applied. We have raised our concerns about Iran’s use of the death penalty with the Iranian authorities; and will continue to do so.