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number of seats in the European Parliament. All other member states have the necessary legislation in hand. They have committed themselves to completing the process in time for the European parliamentary elections in June next year.Sudan
Mr. Nigel Evans : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what measures the British Government are taking to further the peace process in Sudan and bring the fighting to an end ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : We have welcomed the initiative of the Kenyan, Ugandan, Ethiopian and Eritrean Presidents to try to encourage dialogue between the Government of Sudan and the factions of the Sudan People's Liberation Army. With other European Union member states, we are addressing ways of putting further pressure on the parties to respond positively to mediation efforts.
Mr. Nigel Evans : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what measures the British Government are taking to ensure that human rights are respected in Sudan ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given on 16 December to the hon. Member for Orkney and Shetland (Mr. Wallace), Official Report, column 767 .
Entry Appeals
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when was the last date on which appeals against refusal of entry to visitors were allowed ; and how many non-appeal representations he has received from those subsequently refused.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : Applications for visit entry clearances decided on or after Monday 26 July 1993 do not have the right of appeal following the enactment of the Asylum and Immigration Appeals Act 1993. The information about representations could not be provided except at disproportionate cost. However, there has been no discernible increase in Members' representations on entry clearance matters.
Visa Applications
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what monitoring he is carrying out to ensure that a different entry clearance officer is examining second applications for visitors' visas after a refusal of the first application ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : Following enactment of the Asylum and Immigration Appeals Act 1993 instructions have been issued to our posts overseas that, wherever possible, a different ECO should examine re-applications from people previously refused.
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many individuals have put in a second application for a visitors' visa having had the first one rejected since the coming into force of the abolition of the right of appeal contained in the Asylum and Immigration Appeals Act 1993.
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Mr. Lennox-Boyd : These figures are not available centrally. The information requested could not be provided except at
disproportionate cost.
Kenya
Sir Thomas Arnold : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is his new travel advice for Kenya.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : The latest travel advice for Kenya issued on 17 November and is available to the public on BBC 2 Ceefax and from the FCO's travel advice unit, telephone 071-270 4129, fax 071-270 4228. It is as follows :
"Except as indicated below, game reserves and the main tourist areas at the coast are generally safe.
Visitors should avoid North Eastern Province, the Tana River district of Coast Province and the Isiolo and Marsabit districts of Eastern Province (apart from the Samburu Game Reserve and when accompanied by tour operators, the Shaba Game Reserve). Even when estorted, traffic on the Malindi/Garsen/Lamu road is vulnerable to attack. The road should not be used.
Exercise common prudence everywhere, but especially in the main urban centres, when travelling after dark and in isolated places. In particular, do not go about Nairobi or coastal towns on
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foot at night, and avoid empty beaches. Muggings can take place anywhere in the country. Armed car hijackings are prevalent in the Nairobi area."European Court of Human Rights
Mr. Meacher : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the policy and legislative changes introduced by successive British Governments to comply with the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights since 1963.
Mr. Douglas-Hogg : Judgments against the United Kingdom since 1981 are listed in the attached list. Pre-1981 figures would be available only at disproportionate cost as such records are not held by any one department.
Where no Government action is shown in response to the court's finding of a violation, this is because the judgment hinged on the individual circumstances of the case and no legislation or procedural changes were found to be necessary.
The judgments against the United Kingdom since 1981 are as follows :
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Date |Name of the case |Government Department |Court's finding |Government action where appropriate
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
13 August 1981 |Young, James and Webster - Closed shop |Employment |Violation |Legislation introduced
22 October 1981 |Dudgeon - Homosexuality in Northern Ireland |Northern Ireland Office |Violation |Legislation introduced
5 November 1981 |X - Right to have detention reviewed |Home Office |Violation |Legislation introduced
25 February 1982 |Campbell and Cosans - Corporal punishment |Scottish Office |Violation |Legislation introduced
| in schools
25 March 1983 |Silver and Others - Prisoners' correspondence|Home Office |Violation |Prison rules amended
28 June 1984 |Campbell and Fell - Prison Boards of Visitors|Home Office |Violation |-
24 August 1984 |Malone - Telephone tapping |Home Office |Violation |Legislation introduced
27 May 1985 |Ashingdane - Access to court for mental |Health and Social Security |No Violation |-
| patient
28 May 1985 |Abdulaziz, Cabales and Balkandali |Home Office |Violation |New immigration rules
| - Immigration |introduced
21 February 1986 |James and Others - Leasehold reform |Environment |No violation |-
8 July 1986 |Lithgow and Others - Shipbuilding |Trade and Industry |No violation |-
17 october 1986 |Rees - Private life and right to marry |Home Office, |No violation |-
|Health and Social
|Security,
|General Register Office
24 October |Agosi - Confiscation of Krugerrands |Customs and Excise |No violation |-
2 March 1987 |Monnell and Morris - Appeal Proceedings |Lord Chancellor's |No violation |-
2 March 1987 |Weeks - Discretionary lifer |Home Office |Violation |-
8 July 1987 |O, H, W, B and R - Parental access |Health and Social |Violation |Legislation introduced
|Security,
|Lord Chancellor's
27 April 1988 |Boyle and Rice - Prisoners' complaints |Scottish Office |Violation |-
28 November 1988 |Brogan and Others - Detention under PTA |Home Office, |Violation |Derogation
|Northern Ireland Office
30 March 1989 |Chappell - Anton Pillar Order |Lord Chancellor's |No Violation |-
7 July 1989 |Gaskin - Access child care records |Health and Social |Violation |Legislation to be
|Security |introduced
7 July 1989 |Soering - Extradition United States |Home Office |Potential Violation |-
21 February 1990 |Powell and Rayner - Aircraft noise |Transport |No violation |-
28 March 1990 |Granger - Scottish legal aid |Scottish Office |Violation |Practice Note
30 August 1990 |Fox, Campbell and Hartley - Arrest under |Northern Ireland Office |Violation |Legislation changed
| Emergency Provisions Act
30 August 1990 |McCallum - Prisoner's correspondence |Scottish Office |Violation |Change in Prison
|Standing Orders
27 September 1990 |Cossey - Private life and right to marry |Home Office, |No violation |-
|General Register Office
25 September 1990 |Thynne, Wilson and Gunnell - Discretionary |Home Office |Violation |Change in legislation
| lifers
30 October 1991 |Vilvarajah - Asylum |Home Office |No violation |-
26 November 1991 |Observer } |Treasury Solicitor's |Violation |-
|Guardian }Spycatcher
|Sunday Times }
25 March 1992 |Campbell - Prisoners' correspondence |Scottish Office |Violation |Change in Prison
| Standing Orders
16 December 1992 |Edwards - Fair trial |Home Office |No violation |-
25 March 1993 |Costello-Roberts - Corporal punishment |Education |No violation |-
20 April 1993 |Sibson - Closed shop |Employment |No violation |-
26 May 1993 |Brannigan & McBride - Derogation under |Home Office, |No violation |-
| PTA |Northern Ireland Office
28 June 1993 |Colman - Doctors advertising restrictions |Health |No violation |-
28 June 1993 |Lamguindaz - Immigration |Home Office |No violation |-
26 October 1993 |Darnell - Medical discipline-length of |Health |Violation |-
| proceedings
Press Officers
Mr. Matthew Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many press officers his Department has employed in each year since 1983.
Mr. Goodlad : The number of press officers employed in the FCO news department and the ODA for the years in question is as follows :
Year |FCO |ODA -------------------- 1983 |11 |2 1984 |11 |2 1985 |11 |2 1986 |11 |2 1987 |10 |2 1988 |10 |2 1989 |9 |2 1990 |10 |2 1991 |10 |2 1992 |9 |2 1993 |9 |2
Nuclear Proliferation
Mr. Flynn : To athcoat-Amory : We attach the highest importance to preventing the proliferation of nuclear weapons. At its meeting on 9 December, the Defence Planning Committee and the Nuclear Planning Group of NATO, a copy of whose communique has been placed in the Library of the House, recognised the need for intensive efforts to prevent proliferation and to address and counter if necessary the associated risks to alliance security.
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Iraq
Dr. Reid : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on what dates and for what purposes Iraqi military personnel have been officially received in Britain since August 1990.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : No such visits have been made.
Indonesia
Mr. Corbyn : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what monitoring of the human rights situation in East Timor is undertaken by his Department ; and what representations are made by his Department to the Government of Indonesia.
Mr. Goodlad : We have consistently made clear to the Indonesian authorities our concern that human rights should be respected in East Timor. We raise our concerns whenever appropriate in the relevant international bodies and in our bilateral contacts with the Indonesian authorities. The most recent occasion was on 23 November during the visit of the Indonesian Minister of Research and Technology.
We monitor the sitution in East Timor through reports from members of our embassy in Jakarta who have visited the territory. We also follow closely reports from others who are involved on the ground, including non- governmental organisations.
Ministerial Hospitality
Dr. Reid : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much money has been spent on alcohol in Ministers' offices by his Department since 9 April 1992.
Mr. Goodlad : Ministers in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, including the Minister for Overseas Development, have spent £54,087 on official entertainment from 1 April 1992 to date. It would involve disproportionate cost to calculate the proportion of this spent between 1 April, the beginning of the financial year,
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and 9 April 1992. There are no records readily available to show what proportion of this sum was spent on alcoholic drinks and how much on soft drinks, food, catering and other staff costs.Honduras
Mr. Corbyn : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations have been made to the Government of Honduras concerning violation of human rights and the whereabouts of missing persons.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : Her Majesty's ambassador in Tegucigalpa regularly reminds the Honduran authorities of the concern in this country over human rights and is in frequent contact with the Honduran human rights ombudsman. European Union ambassadors discussed human rights with the presidential candidates before the elections on 28 November.
Western Sahara
Mr. Corbyn : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he expects the United Nations to hold the planned referendum on the future of the Western Sahara ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : In his report dated 24 November 1993 the UN Secretary-General has stated that he hopes to submit a further report to the Security Council early next year, with a view to holding the referendum in mid-1994.
Correspondence
Mr. Meacher : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what proportion of correspondence received by (a) his Department and (b) each of his Department's agencies receives (i) an acknowledgement within five days and (ii) a substantive reply within 15 days.
Mr. Goodlad : Statistics showing the response time of the Foreign and Commonwealth office, the Wilton house conference centre, our only agency, and the Overseas Development Administration to ministerial correspondence are contained in the reply given by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster on 23 March 1993, columns 550-54 , to the hon. Member for East Lothian (Mr. Home Robertson). Statistics for 1993 will be published early in 1994.
It is standard practice for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to acknowledge correspondence addressed to Ministers on the day it is received. The Wilton house conference centre does not issue acknowledgements, as it normally replies immediately. The Overseas Development Administration does not issue acknowledgements.
Russia
Mr. Winnick : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the policy of the Government towards any expansion by Russia against republics that used to belong to the former Soviet Union ; and if economic assistance towards Russia is dependent on full compliance with constitutional norms internally.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : We, along with the international community, recognised as independent and sovereign the
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countries of the former Soviet Union when it broke up in 1991. The Russian Government did likewise. We have no reason to suppose that President Yeltsin intends to call that into question : the British Government would take very seriously any change in policy. We have provided economic assitance to Russia in support of democratic and economic reforms and will continue to do so on that basis. We are pleased that the Russian people have endorsed a new constitution providing a democratic framework and guaranteeing human rights.Foreign Affairs Council
Mr. Hendry : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the outcome of the Foreign Affairs Council held on 6 and 7 December.
Mr. Hurd : I attended the Foreign Affairs Council on 6 and 7 December. My hon. Friend the Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs also attended.
The Council agreed the text of a joint declaration to be made on the occasion of President Yeltsin's visit to Brussels on 8 and 9 December, and the Commission reported on progress in negotiations for a participation and co-operation agreement between the European Community and Russia.
The Council agreed a code of conduct governing public access to documents held by the Council and the Commission, in accordance with a commitment entered into at Maastricht.
Following the Council's agreement on 4 October on a procedure for the publication of formal Council votes, the Council unanimously agreed a more automatic procedure for publishing votes on legislative acts, and a code of conduct for handling this in the Council. The Council agreed new rules of procedure for its activities. Denmark, Greece and the Netherlands voted against. The rules have been revised to take account of the Maastricht treaty, the December 1992 Edinburgh European Council's commitment to greater openness, new procedures on CFSP and justice/home affairs, and a number of other minor editorial changes.
The Council agreed a directive which lays down detailed arrangements allowing citizens of the union residing in a member state of which they are not nationals to vote and stand as candidates in elections to the European Parliament.
Mr. Delors presented the Commission's report on subsidiarity. This was welcomed by the Council. There was some discussion of presidency proposals on the institutional changes required for accession of the EFTA countries to the union.
Mr. Delors introduced the Commission White Paper on growth, competitiveness and employment which had been commissioned at the Copenhagen European Council. He stressed that the document was not aimed at increasing the powers of the Community or Commission. I and others regretted the absence of a full and substantive presentation to the Economic and Finance Council on the previous day.
The Council approved reports on the European Union's initiative to launch a pact on stability in Europe, which was subsequently confirmed at the Brussels European Council.
Ministers discussed with Lord Owen latest developments in the search for a negotiated settlement in the
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former Yugoslavia and the implementation of the Council's joint action on facilitating the delivery of humanitarian aid to Bosnia. The Council adopted the text for a joint action by the European Union to prepare for and monitor the elections in South Africa on 27 April next year. The Council also agreed to consider soon the future relations of a democratic South Africa with the Union.The Council received a report from the Commission on the recent EC/US GATT Uruguay round negotiations. There was broad agreement that significant progress had been made, although it was noted that it had not been possible to reach agreement on treatment of the audio-visual sector. The Council agreed that the Commission should pursue negotiations with other parties in Geneva on the basis of the understandings reached with the United States. It was agreed that the Council should meet again as necessary in the light of developments. The Council approved a mandate for the Commission to start talks with Morocco on an updated agreement between the European Union and Morocco. The United Kingdom underlined Gibraltar's particular interest in this agreement and that this would need to be taken into account as negotiations proceed. The Commission also presented to the Council draft negotiating mandate for updated agreements between the EU and Israel and the EU and Tunisia. The United Kingdom urged that the mandate for Israel should be agreed at the 20 December FAC ; the Council agreed with this objective.
The Council agreed a text to implement a language regime for the Community Trade Mark Office.
Liberia
Mr. Corbyn : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what monitoring of the human rights situation in Liberia is undertaken by his Department ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : Although Britain has no resident diplomatic representation in Liberia, we continue to monitor human rights through contacts with relief agencies
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and the UN. We lent our full support to the UN investigation into the massacre at Harbel in June. We hope that the efforts of the UN and the Economic Community of West African States to restore peace to Liberia will lead to a general improvement in the human rights situation in the country.NATIONAL FINANCE
Press Officers
Mr. Matthew Taylor : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many press officers his Department has employed in each year since 1983.
Mr. Nelson : The number of press officers employed by Her Majesty's Treasury is as follows :
|Numbers
------------------------
1986-87 |10
1987-88 |10
1988-89 |10
1989-90 |10
1990-91 |10
1991-92 |9
1992-93 |9
1993-94 |9
Information for the years prior to 1986-87 could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Income Tax
Mr. Milburn : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the net revenue forgone as a result of the reduction in personal income tax for higher rate taxpayers introduced by the Finance Act 1988 and the total number of beneficiaries in each year by region.
Mr. Dorrell : Available information is given in the table. Some regional estimates are based on small samples and all amounts are given to the nearest £50 million.
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Number of taxpayers benefiting and change in tax revenue resulting from abolition of rates in excess of 40 per cent.
(£ millions)
1988-89 1989-90 1990-91 1991-92
[NL] |Region of residence|Numbers |Amount |Numbers |Amount |Numbers<2> |Amount |Numbers<2>
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
North |20 |50 |20 |50 |30 |50 |30 |50
Yorkshire and Humberside |50 |100 |60 |150 |80 |200 |70 |200
North West |60 |150 |80 |250 |90 |250 |90 |350
East Midlands |40 |100 |60 |150 |60 |150 |60 |200
West Midlands |60 |150 |60 |150 |80 |250 |70 |250
East Anglia |30 |100 |30 |100 |50 |150 |40 |150
South East |490 |1,600 |530 |1,800 |630 |2,150 |630 |2,550
South West |70 |200 |60 |300 |80 |250 |90 |250
Wales |20 |50 |30 |100 |30 |50 |30 |50
Scotland |50 |100 |70 |100 |80 |150 |80 |200
Northern Ireland |10 |-<3> |10 |50 |20 |50 |20 |50
United Kingdom<1> |930 |2,600 |1,030 |3,200 |1,240 |3,700 |1,210 |4,300
<1>Includes members of the forces and merchant navy and a small number of civil servants servants serving overseas who are not all allocated to regions.
<2>For 1990-91 onwards the figures relate to the number of taxpaying individuals following the introduction of independent taxation.
<3>Under £25 million.
Mrs. Anne Campbell : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many extra pence in the pound on the standard rate of income tax would be required in 1994-95 to replace, and raise a sum equivalent to, the total effect of the changes in taxation and spending announced in the March and November Budgets this year.
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Mr. Dorrell : The total direct effect of the revenue and spending measures announced in the March and November Budgets is approximately £12 billion in 1994-95. The full-year yield from changing the basic rate of income tax by 1p is around £1.8 billion, so the basic rate would have to rise by about 7p in the pound to raise an equivalent sum. This would be a far more damaging way of raising the funds required to get borrowing down than the measures announced by the Government in the last two Budgets.
Foreign Seamen
Ms Walley : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many (a) full -time and (b) part-time staff working for the Inland Revenue have responsibility for collecting income tax from foreign seamen working in United Kingdom waters.
Mr. Dorrell : Most of the tax due from employed seamen, who are liable to United Kingdom tax, is collected by employers via the pay-as-you- earn system. Once the PAYE procedures have been set in place, it is estimated that up to two staff units are needed to deal with the tax affairs of foreign seamen.
Ms Walley : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what was the full amount of income tax collected in each month in 1993 from foreign seamen working in United Kingdom waters ; and if he will make a statement ;
(2) if he will estimate for each month this year the amount of income tax due but not collected by the Inland Revenue from foreign seamen working in United Kingdom waters.
Mr. Dorrell : I regret that this information is not available.
Ms Walley : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give full details of the liability of foreign seamen working in United Kingdom waters for the payment of income tax.
Mr. Dorrell : Seamen who are not resident in the United Kingdom for tax purposes are liable to United Kingdom income tax on their earnings arising from duties within the United Kingdom, subject to the provisions of any double tax conventions between the United Kingdom and their home countries.
Private Finance Projects
Ms Harman : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his answer of 8 December, Official Report, column 233, if he will name the private finance projects contained in the appendix to the text of his speech to the CBI Scotland's annual dinner that have been completed, or, in the case of services, the contracts signed, and which are under construction, or, in the case of works, for which contracts have been signed.
Mr. Dorrell : The following projects have been completed or, in the case of services, the contracts for them have been signed : Manchester Metrolink
Dartford-Thurrock River Crossing
Dialysis Centre, Sheffield Northern General NHS Trust
Relocation of Standing Committee on Post-Graduate Medical Education
Beds for the elderly, Greater Glasgow Health Board
Psycho-geriatric beds, Lanarkshire HB
Beds for the demented elderly, Lanarkshire HB
Beds for the elderly mentally infirm Grampian HB
Analyser equipment, Dundee Hospitals Trust
Welsh Development Agency joint ventures
Housing for Wales joint ventures
Local renal units, Wales
Contracts for the following projects, which are for
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works or leases, have been signed :Jubilee Line Extension
Heathrow Express
Second Severn Crossing
South Yorkshire Supertram
Clinical waste incinerator, Oldham
Clinical waste incinerator, King's College Hospital
Magnetic Resonance Imager for Royal Victoria Hospital,
Newcastle
Molecular Medicines Centre, Western General Hospital,
Edinburgh
Nunnery Square development, Sheffield
Immigration Service detention accommodation
Royal Armouries New Museum, Leeds
Development of managed workspace, London
Belasis Hall Technology Park
In addition, development work for the Croydon Tramlink is under way on the basis of a contract signed with a group of private sector companies group.
The following projects in an active stage of preparation but contracts have not yet been signed :
Clinical waste incinerators, Plymouth and Ashford
Long-stay residential care unit, Barnet
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