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OVERSEAS DEVELOPMENT ADMINISTRATION

Cameroon

Mrs. Helen Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has received with regard to the environmental impact of World bank-funded transport projects in the Cameroon.[8411]

Dr. Liam Fox: The Friends of the Earth wrote to my right hon. and noble Friend Baroness Chalker on 6 September expressing concern about the possible environmental impact of this programme. The ODA acknowledged the possible risks but pointed out that the

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World bank was working with the Government of Cameroon to ensure that environmental impact was considered when individual projects were being selected.

Iraq

Mrs. Clwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what efforts are being made by Her Majesty's Government to enable the Save the Children Fund to enter northern Iraq. [8654]

Dr. Liam Fox: We understand that two members of Save the Children Fund have recently entered northern Iraq.

Mrs. Clwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many British aid agencies are operating in (a) northern Iraq and (b) Iraq. [8653]

Dr. Fox: As far as we are aware there are eight British non-governmental organisations operating in northern Iraq and one in Baghdad-controlled Iraq.

Mrs. Clwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which British aid agencies are being denied access to northern Iraq. [8655]

Dr. Fox: The usual route for western NGOs carrying out humanitarian work in northern Iraq since 1991 has been via Turkey. The Turkish Government introduced new requirements in August, since when no British NGOs have been given authority to travel into northern Iraq from Turkey. We have raised this on several occasions with the Turkish Government, urging them to allow reputable British NGOs, who have complied with their new requirements, to enter northern Iraq.

Zambia

Mr. Tony Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of human rights in Zambia. [8737]

Dr. Fox: Our high commission closely monitors respect of human rights in Zambia. We welcomed the recent legislation establishing a human rights commission but we were concerned that two non-governmental organisations' leaders were questioned by police on 24 November following their reports on the recent elections.

Mr. Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent reports he has received about the current internal political situation in Zambia. [8736]

Dr. Fox: We receive regular reports from our high commission at Lusaka. There have been no reports of any civil unrest since the presidential and parliamentary elections which were held on 18 November. The current internal political situation is stable.

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LORD CHANCELLOR'S DEPARTMENT

Immigration Appeals

Mr. Henderson: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what is the budget of the Immigration Appellate Authority in the financial year 1996-97; and what it was in financial years (a) 1995-96 and (b) 1994-95. [7793]

Mr. Streeter: The question concerns a matter which has been assigned to the Court Service under the terms of its framework document. I have therefore asked the chief executive to write to the hon. Member.

Letter from M. D. Huebner to Mr. Doug Henderson, dated 12 December 1996:

The Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department has asked me to reply to your Question about the budget of the Immigration Appellate Authority.
In 1994/95 the Immigration Appellate Authority spent £6,965,344 and in 1995/96 this rose to £8,404,699. The current estimate of the expenditure for the financial year 1996/97 is £9,917,983.
I can confirm that these figures include both tribunal staff and judicial salaries; they do not include any provision for accommodation expenditure.

Mr. Henderson: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many (a) full-time and (b) part-time special adjudicators were employed by the Immigration Appellate Authority (i) at the latest available date, (ii) on 1 January 1995 and (iii) on 1 August 1993. [7785]

Mr. Streeter: At the latest available date, 6 December 1996, 29 full-time and 97 part-time immigration adjudicators were designated as special adjudicators by the Lord Chancellor. On 1 January 1995 there were 18 full-time and 44 part-time immigration adjudicators who were so designated. On 1 August 1993 there were 16 full-time and 15 part-time immigration adjudicators so designated.

Mr. Henderson: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many appeals against a refusal of asylum are currently outstanding; and what was the number on (a) 1 January 1996, (b) 1 January 1995 and (c) 1 January 1994. [7786]

Mr. Streeter: The question concerns a matter which has been assigned to the Court Service under the terms of its framework document. I have therefore asked the chief executive to write to the hon. Member.

Letter from M. D. Huebner to Mr. Doug Henderson, dated 12 December 1996.

The Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department has asked me to reply to your Question about the number of outstanding asylum appeals.
As at the end of November 1996 there were 20,388 appeals outstanding. This compares with 11,691 at the beginning of 1996, approximately 3,400 in January 1995 and 1,069 in April 1994.

Legal Aid

Mr. Harry Greenway: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will make a statement on the eligibility for legal aid of young people who are suing local education authorities over their school education. [7779]

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Mr. Streeter: In addition to qualifying financially, an applicant must also show to the Legal Aid Board that he or she has reasonable grounds for taking, defending or being a party to proceedings, and that it is reasonable in the particular circumstances of the case for legal aid to be granted. However, I should make clear that, as yet, the Legal Aid Board has not yet received any applications for legal aid in the case relating to educational achievement, which was recently reported in the press.

Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what recent representations he has received from the Bar Council on the subject of reform of the legal aid budget; and if he will make a statement. [7915]

Mr. Streeter: I recently met the chairman of the Bar Council to discuss the reforms. I look forward to having further discussion and consultations with the Bar and other interested bodies as the reforms progress.

Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many certificates issued by the Legal Aid Board were revoked in (i) 1992, (ii) 1993, (iii) 1994 and (iv) 1995; and if he will make a statement.[7907]

Mr. Streeter: The number of civil legal aid certificates revoked in each year was as follows:

1992-93: 11,630
1993-94: 19,503
1994-95: 21,773
1995-96: 25,032.

The figure for 1992-93 represents revoked emergency certificates only because revoked substantive certificates were not recorded on the Legal Aid Board's case administration computer system until 1993-94. The 1993-94 figure does not include substantive revoked certificates for Cardiff as that office was not upgraded with the new computer system until August 1994.

Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department in how many cases in the past six months claims for legal aid to pursue civil claims for compensation in cases involving (a) criminal harassment by landlords, (b) illegal eviction and (c) disrepair have been refused; and how many of these claims have been granted on appeal. [7800]

Mr. Streeter: The information requested is not available as the data gathered by the Legal Aid Board do not separately identify those categories of cases.

Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department when he last met the Law Society to discuss the provision and funding of legal aid; and if he will make a statement. [7916]

Mr. Streeter: The Lord Chancellor, I and officials in my Department regularly meet representatives of the Law Society to discuss a very wide range of issues relating to the provision and funding of legal aid.

Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will list the 20 (a) solicitors firms and (b) barristers who have received the largest sums of money from the legal aid scheme for each year for which information is available. [8700]

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Mr. Streeter: In the time available it has not been possible to provide the information requested. I will reply as soon as possible.

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