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Yemen (British Council Office)
Mr. Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what consultations he has had in relation to the closure of the British Council office in Yemen. [18129]
Sir Nicholas Bonsor: None. The British Council is still considering how best to make the necessary adjustments to its programmes and activities following the latest public expenditure round.
Scott Inquiry
Mrs. Golding: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make changes in the personnel of his Department following criticisms contained in the report of the Scott inquiry. [16567]
Sir Nicholas Bonsor [holding answer 22 February 1996]: Where officials criticised in the Scott report had acted conscientiously, in good faith and in accordance with Government policy, it would not normally be appropriate to take disciplinary action against them. If there are cases where disciplinary action is considered appropriate, this would be carried out under normal departmental disciplinary procedure.
Mrs. Clwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to paragraph K8.1 of the Scott report relating to the ministerial accountability, what additional measures he proposes to ensure his Department's compliance with paragraph 27 of "Questions of Procedure for Ministers". [17309]
Mr. Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what review has been undertaken by his Department of its role in overseeing export licence applications for technologies with the capability of assisting in the manufacture of nuclear weapons since the publication of the Scott report. [17578]
Sir Nicholas Bonsor [holding answer 26 February 1996]: I refer the hon. Members to the statement made by my right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade on 26 February, Official Report, columns 589-604.
Kenya
Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what actions Her Majesty's Government intend to take to improve the relationship between the United Kingdom and Kenya. [17101]
Mr. Hanley:
The United Kingdom has long-standing and deep-rooted links with Kenya, one of our most significant partners in Africa. The bilateral relationship
29 Feb 1996 : Column: 644
spans wide-ranging areas of activity, many of them outside the framework of Government contacts. We maintain a close dialogue with the Kenyan authorities, one objective of which is to strengthen bilateral relations.
Fair Employment
Mr. Trimble: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list all cases brought under fair employment legislation against (a) a Government Department and (b) a public body, indicating in each case the costs incurred in defending such action. [15150]
Sir John Wheeler: The number of cases registered with the fair employment tribunal under the Fair Employment Act (Northern Ireland) 1989 against (a) Government Departments and (b) public bodies is as follows:
(a) NIO/NI Departments
11 completed
31 withdrawn
33 on-going.
(b) Public bodies 1
46 completed
49 withdrawn
50 on-going.
1 This excludes public bodies for which the Department of Health and Social Services is responsible.
Criminals (Damages)
Mr. Robert McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) what power he has, when convicted criminals initiate actions for damages against the Government or their agencies, to commence a counterclaim for (a) the costs to the state of the criminal's activities, (b) any moneys incurred by the state to aid or recompense their victims and (c) the costs of their trial and any legal aid; and if he will make a statement; [16743]
- (2) how many claims for recompense his Department has commenced against convicted criminals in the last five years; and if there is a standing instruction to pursue this option in suitable circumstances. [16744]
Sir John Wheeler: My right hon. and learned Friend has no power to counterclaim against a convicted criminal who has initiated an action for damages against the Government or their agencies, except in the exceptional case where the Northern Ireland Office itself would be entitled to claim--for instance, where a criminal's activities had damaged Northern Ireland Office property.
However, regardless of whether a convicted criminal is claiming damages against the Government or their agencies, the Secretary of State may apply to the county court for an order directing the offender to reimburse an amount equal to the whole or part of any compensation, paid or payable under the criminal compensation legislation, which is directly attributable to the offence of which the offender was convicted.
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The total value of such recoveries under the criminal damage and criminal injuries schemes, over the last five years, is as follows:
Ms Jowell:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps his Department is taking to collect statistics broken down by gender where relevant. [17687]
Sir John Wheeler:
A wide range of statistics are collected by the Northern Ireland Departments to inform decision making. Data on major statistical series are broken down by gender where relevant.
Mr. Nigel Evans:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when he intends to publish Sir Louis Blom-Cooper's third annual report as Independent Commissioner for Holding Centres. [18766]
Sir Patrick Mayhew:
I have today arranged for the copies of Sir Louis Blom-Cooper's annual report for 1995 to be placed in the Library.
I am grateful to the commissioner for his report and for the assurance that it provides that he has found absolutely nothing that might give anyone the slightest cause for concern about the care and treatment of detainees held in the custody of uniformed officers of the Royal Ulster Constabulary.
I shall be studying the recommendations which Sir Louis has made carefully in the light of the changed circumstances since the ending of Provisional IRA's cessation of military operations.
Mr. Spearing:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment by what means and on what criteria she intends to apportion vouchers distributed to parents for early-age education, where in any of the areas designated for phases 1 of the scheme the places offered by providers are fewer than the number of pupils whose parents have applied for vouchers. [17876]
Mr. Robin Squire:
No such apportioning of vouchers will take place. All parents of all eligible four-year-olds in the phase 1 authorities will receive vouchers.
Mr. Byers:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she will list for each training and enterprise council (a) how much was spent on administration in 1994-95 and (b) the number of staff employed in (i) 1992-93, (ii) 1993-94 and (iii) 1994-95 (A) for each TEC and (B) by all TECs. [18098]
29 Feb 1996 : Column: 646
Mr. Paice:
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 27 February, Official Report, columns 483-84. This shows the amounts spent on administration in 1994-95 for each training and enterprise council and by all TECs. As TECs are private limited companies, they do not provide information to the DFEE on the number of staff they employ.
Mr. Byers:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what estimate she has made of the savings to be made as a result of full implementation of the efficiency scrutiny report into the training and enterprise management fee and administrative costs. [18097]
Mr. Paice:
I expect to publish shortly details of the action that the Department plans to take in response to the recent efficiency scrutiny into the training and enterprise council contract and management fee. We believe that implementation of the Department's plans will reduce costs significantly. However, estimates of total savings will need to await detailed discussions with TECs over the coming month.
Mr. Madden:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment (1) if asylum seekers who are currently enrolled on Government-funded training courses remain eligible to receive the full training allowance (a) if they are in-country asylum seekers, (b) if their application for asylum is refused and (c) while awaiting the outcome of an appeal; and if she will make a statement; [18128]
Mr. Paice:
Eligibility for Government-funded training programmes, and for training allowances, is a matter for the Department for Education and Employment.
1990-91: £65,000
1991-92: £182,000
1992-93: £232,000
1993-94: £246,000
1994-95: £376,000.
(2) if (a) future in-country asylum applicants and (b) asylum seekers whose application has been refused will remain eligible for training for work after obtaining permission to work; in what circumstances they will be entitled to receive a training allowance; and how the training allowance will be calculated. [18131]
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