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General Pinochet
Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs at what time (a) his office and (b) he personally, was first informed of (i) the presence of General Pinochet in the United Kingdom, (ii) his intention to leave the UK on 20 October, (iii) the reports from the British Embassy in Madrid on Judge Garzon's activities, (iv) the contact between the 5th Central Magistrate's Court in Madrid and the Metropolitan Police and (v) the issuing of an arrest warrant for General Pinochet. [70290]
Mr. Tony Lloyd [holding answer 9 February 1999]: On the answers to (a) and (b) (i), and (ii) I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Spelthorne (Mr. Wilshire) on 4 November 1998, Official Report, column 601, and to the answer I gave to the hon. Lady on 27 October 1998, Official Report, column 146.
(iii) The reports from our Embassy in Madrid of 12 November 1997 and 23 January 1998 were read at desk level; the reports of 15 and 16 October 1998 were read at senior official level, and drawn on in briefing the Foreign Secretary orally on 16 October before Senator Pinochet was detained.
(iv) FCO officials were informed of the request to interview Senator Pinochet from the 5th Central Magistrate's Court in Madrid on 14 October. My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary was briefed on this request at the same time as he was informed of the request for Senator Pinochet's provisional arrest on 16 October.
(v) The FCO was informed of the issuing of a warrant for the provisional arrest of Senator Pinochet by the Bow Street Magistrate late on the evening of 16 October. The Foreign Secretary was immediately informed.
Mr. Vaz:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps are being taken by Her Majesty's Government to establish arrangements for prisoner transfers between Venezuela and the UK. [76423]
Mr. Fatchett:
Her Majesty's Government has encouraged the Venezuelan Government to sign the Council of Europe Convention of the Transfer of Sentenced Prisoners. The Venezuelan Government's application to accede to the convention is being processed by the Council of Europe.
16 Mar 1999 : Column: 621
Mr. Gorrie:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs in which countries the facilities for obtaining entry documents by people wishing to enter the UK are not available. [76622]
Mr. Fatchett:
There are no facilities to apply for UK entry clearance in the following countries: Andora, Benin, Bhutan, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cape Verde, Cayman Islands, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Gabon, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Kiribati, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Macao, Maldives, Mali, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Micronesia, Moldova, Monaco, Nauru, Netherland Antilles, North Korea, Niger, Palau, Paraguay, San Marino, Sao Tome and Principe, Sikkim, Suriname Tajikistan, Togo, Tuvalu, Western Samoa, Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, British Virgin Islands, Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent & The Grenadines.
Posts in Afghanistan, Iraq, Sierra Leone, Somalia and Sudan are closed.
The following Posts offer a limited entry clearance service: Algiers, Almaty, Baku, Kigali, Riga, Skopje, St. Helena, Taipei, Tallinn, Tashkent, Tblisi, Tehran, Tirana, Tripoli, Vilnius and Yerevan.
Applicants for visit visas may apply at any UK diplomatic or consular Post offering a full visa service. Applicants for other categories of visas who have no UK entry clearance Post in their country of residence are required to apply to a designated Post, usually in a neighbouring country. My noble Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary will write to the hon. Member with full details of such Posts.
Mr. Maclean:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Leicester, South (Mr. Marshall) of 5 March 1999, Official Report, column 940-42, on the General Affairs Council, for what reasons funds from the Russian TACIS programme were transferred to the European Community Humanitarian Office; and if the issue of fraud was raised in the course of this stage of deliberations. [76368]
Clare Short:
I have been asked to reply.
TACIS is a technical assistance programme wherever this European Community Humanitarian Office (ECHO) provides emergency humanitarian relief. However, the need in this particular case was for emergency assistance. Transferring funds from TACIS to ECHO is the best way to address these needs while at the same time respecting overall budgetary ceilings. There has been no suggestion of fraud in discussion of the transfer.
Mr. Dalyell:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer of 16 February 1999, Official Report, column 739, on Iraq, from whom he received the account of the episode relating to the 16-year-old Iraqi youth. [72887]
16 Mar 1999 : Column: 622
Mr. Fatchett
[pursuant to his reply, 15 March 1999, c. 511]: An administrative error led to a mistake in my answer to the hon. Member of 15 March. The correct answer should read as follows:
My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary received the information from my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence.
Mr. Cousins:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many individuals were claiming incapacity benefit in (a) each region and nation of the United Kingdom and (b) in each county, metropolitan or unitary authority in the Government Office-North East Region on 31 May (i) 1996, (ii) 1997 and (iii) 1998. [76124]
Mr. Bayley:
The available information is set out in the tables.
| 31 May 1996 | 31 May 1997 | 31 May 1998 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| All cases | 1,872,328 | 1,810,908 | 1,720,655 |
| England | 1,376,060 | 133,220 | 1,270,720 |
| North East | 140,600 | 133,000 | 124,080 |
| North West | 258,540 | 235,040 | 221,020 |
| Merseyside | 81,600 | 76,540 | 72,560 |
| Yorkshire and Humber | 162,020 | 167,380 | 157,640 |
| East Midlands | 111,780 | 109,660 | 107,980 |
| West Midlands | 155,740 | 151,060 | 144,880 |
| South West | 100,240 | 99,890 | 102,420 |
| Eastern | 111,820 | 110,220 | 105,220 |
| London | 98,680 | 98,060 | 100,840 |
| South East | 155,040 | 152,280 | 134,080 |
| Scotland | 234,220 | 225,240 | 211,000 |
| Wales | 175,440 | 165,760 | 154,920 |
| Overseas | 8,740 | 8,520 | 8,000 |
| Northern Ireland | 77,868 | 78,168 | 76,015 |
Notes:
1. Great Britain figures are taken from a 5 per cent. sample of the computer and exclude a small number of cases held clerically.
2. Northern Ireland figures are taken from a 100 per cent. sample of the computer and exclude a small number of cases held clerically.
| 31 May 1996 | 31 May 1997 | 31 May 1998 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gateshead | 12,038 | 11,960 | 10,728 |
| Newcastle upon Tyne | 12,424 | 11,649 | 11,032 |
| North Tyneside | 9,175 | 8,606 | 7,991 |
| South Tyneside | 8,303 | 7,976 | 7,664 |
| Sunderland | 18,534 | 17,678 | 16,246 |
| Chester-le-Street | 2,903 | 2,760 | 2,698 |
| Darlington | 3,694 | 3,552 | 3,366 |
| Derwentside | 5,278 | 5,054 | 4,746 |
| Durham | 4,141 | 3,937 | 3,449 |
| Easington | 11,145 | 10,371 | 9,515 |
| Sedgefield | 6,131 | 5,622 | 5,355 |
| Teesdale | 771 | 731 | 710 |
| Wear Valley | 3,938 | 3,714 | 3,429 |
| Alnwick | 1,015 | 1,035 | 1,013 |
| Berwick-upon-Tweed | 873 | 731 | 689 |
| Blyth Valley | 3,918 | 3,714 | 3,448 |
| Castle Morpeth | 1,705 | 1,766 | 1,622 |
| Tynedale | 1,746 | 1,624 | 1,722 |
| Wansbeck | 3,918 | 3,613 | 3,327 |
| Hartlepool UA | 5,989 | 5,683 | 5,171 |
| Middlesborough UA | 7,085 | 6,312 | 6,044 |
| Redcar and Cleveland UA | 8,080 | 7,713 | 7,181 |
| Stockton-on-Tees UA | 7,796 | 7,469 | 6,935 |
Notes:
1. Figures are derived from available information about postcodes
16 Mar 1999 : Column: 623
Company Licences
Mr. Maclean: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list for (a) small and medium-sized enterprises and (b) larger companies (i) all licences and permits issued by his Department and its agencies to companies permitting them to carry out their business, (ii) the cost of each such licence or permit in (A) 1997-98 and (B) 1999-2000 and (iii) the current number of companies which are in receipt of each such licence or permit. [76848]
Mr. Timms: We issue no licences or permits.
Housing Benefit Fraud
Ms Kelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what estimate he has made of the level of fraud in respect of housing benefit in (a) Bolton, (b) the North West and (c) England. [75621]
Mr. Timms: There are no figures available regarding the level of Housing Benefit fraud in Bolton.
| Percentage of caseload | Confidence limits | |
|---|---|---|
| North West | ||
| Confirmed fraud | 1.6 | Below 0.05-3.4 |
| Strong suspicion of fraud | 4.3 | 1.9-6.8 |
| Mild suspicion of fraud | 1.1 | Below 0.05-2.7 |
| England | ||
| Confirmed fraud | 1.5 | 0.8-2.3 |
| Strong suspicion of fraud | 4.1 | 1.8-7.2 |
| Mild suspicion of fraud | 1.2 | 0.7-2.0 |
| Great Britain | ||
| Confirmed fraud | 1.9 | 1.3-2.6 |
| Strong suspicion of fraud | 4.0 | 1.9-6.8 |
| Mild suspicion of fraud | 1.1 | 0.7-1.7 |
Note:
The main figures provide the best estimate from the review for the percentage of the Housing Benefit caseload in 1997-98 within each of the categories. These estimates are uncertain since conclusions about the level of fraudulent payments were derived from evidence from a sample of HB claims. The uncertainty surrounding an estimate derived from a sample can be quantified by calculating "confidence limits". For the table above 95 per cent. confidence limits have been calculated for each of the estimates and are shown in brackets. These limits indicate the range within which we can be 95 per cent. certain that the true value lies. For each estimate derived there is a 5 per cent. chance that the true value lies outside the stated range.
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