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Entry Clearance (Children)
Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many children by nationality, have been refused entry clearance for settlement because their parent in the United Kingdom has not had the sole responsibility for their upbringing, under paragraph 297(e) of the Immigration Rules, in each year since May 1997. [93327]
Mr. Hoon: The information requested is not recorded centrally or at overseas posts and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Belarus
Mr. Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if the United Kingdom will continue to recognise Mr. Lukashenko as President of Belarus after the expiry of his constitutional term on 27 July; and if he will make a statement. [92805]
Ms Quin: We recognise states rather than Governments. Therefore the question of recognition of President Lukashenko does not arise. In its declaration of 20 July, the EU made clear its view that President Lukashenko's mandate under the 1994 Constitution expired on that day.
Overseas Documents
Mr. Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many applications by the Crown Prosecution Service for assistance in securing documents from overseas, pursuant to an investigation in the UK, he has (a) supported by making representations to foreign Governments and (b) declined to support in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [93556]
Mr. Tony Lloyd: I shall reply to the hon. Member shortly and place copies of the letter in the Libraries of the House.
Correspondence
Mr. Winnick: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when the hon. Member for Walsall, North will receive a reply regarding his letter of 29 June concerning a constituent. (ref. GV100/51886). [93250]
Mr. Hoon: My noble Friend the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Baroness Symons, replied to my hon. Friend on 26 July.
Visa Fees
Mr. Lidington:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list (i) the
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total receipts from fees for (a) visa, (b) settlement and (c) other immigration applications and (ii) the total cost of entry clearance operations, for 1998-99. [92906]
Mr. Hoon:
Visa fee income is broken down into two categories only: settlement and non-settlement applications. The total receipts for the Financial Year 1998-99 were:
| Applications | |
|---|---|
| Non-settlement applications | 55.7 |
| Settlement applications | 11.3 |
| Total fee income | 67.0 |
The provisional cost of the entry clearance operation for 1998-99 is £65.2 million. The final 1998-99 costs figure will not be available until the end of August.
Belize
Mr. Campbell-Savours: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on what occasions since 1993 his Department received written or oral approaches from the hon. Member for Hertford and Stortford (Mr. Wells) on matters relating to banking regulations in Belize. [92069]
Mr. Tony Lloyd: No Minister in this Department has received oral or written representations from the hon. Member for Hertford and Stortford (Mr. Wells) on this subject since the change of Government in May 1997.
Ordtech Ltd.
Mr. Maples: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he, his Ministers, advisers or officials last met or had contact with any director of Ordtech Ltd. [92732]
Mr. Robin Cook:
Neither myself nor other FCO Ministers nor FCO Special Advisers have had any official meetings with Mr. Paul or John Grecian of Ordtech Ltd. In the time available we have not been able to make an
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extensive check with regard to officials, but to the best of my knowledge there have not been any meetings with officials.
I understand that Mr. Grecian had access to the FCO in 1997 as he was employed by a contractor working here. While working in the FCO, he approached one of my advisers in the corridor and in the course of his work may have approached other officials.
Departmental Staff
Ms Roseanna Cunningham: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many staff are employed in Scotland (a) by his Department and (b) by executive agencies responsible to his Department; where these staff are located; and how many staff are employed in (i) England, (ii) London and the South East, (iii) Wales, (iv) Northern Ireland and (v) United Kingdom in total. [90562]
Dawn Primarolo [holding answer 13 July 1999]: The statistics for the Chancellor's Departments and Agencies comprise:
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HM Customs and Excise (HMC&E)
Inland Revenue (IR) including Contributions Agency (CA)
HM Treasury (HMT)
Debt Management Office (DMO)
Valuation Office (VO)
National Savings (NS)
Office for National Statistics (ONS)
Royal Mint (RM)
Government Actuary's Department (GAD).
The following tables summarise by Department and Agency the latest headcount figures available and include part-time staff and those employed on casual contracts. Changes following the recent merger of the Contributions Agency with Inland Revenue and the outsourcing of National Savings work have been reflected. Local Authority area groupings have been used to summarise the location of staff in Scotland except that figures are not yet available for Contributions Agency staff.
| Local authority area | C and E | IR | CA | VO | NS | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scotland | ||||||
| Aberdeen | 194 | 182 | -- | 11 | -- | 387 |
| Argyll and Bute | 5 | 31 | -- | -- | -- | 36 |
| Borders | -- | 36 | -- | -- | -- | 36 |
| Dumbarton and Clydebank | 28 | 23 | -- | -- | -- | 51 |
| Dumfries and Galloway | 7 | 56 | -- | 6 | -- | 69 |
| Dundee | 139 | 133 | -- | -- | -- | 272 |
| East Renfrewshire | -- | 40 | -- | -- | -- | 40 |
| Edinburgh | 261 | 1,643 | -- | 33 | -- | 1,937 |
| Falkirk | 52 | 30 | -- | -- | -- | 82 |
| Fife | -- | 131 | -- | -- | -- | 131 |
| Glasgow | 393 | 619 | -- | 24 | 7 | 1,043 |
| Highlands | 20 | 123 | -- | 9 | -- | 152 |
| Inverclyde | 127 | 38 | -- | -- | -- | 165 |
| Moray | 16 | 15 | -- | -- | -- | 31 |
| North Ayrshire | -- | 38 | -- | -- | -- | 38 |
| North Lanarkshire | 24 | 1,078 | -- | -- | -- | 1,102 |
| Perthshire and Kinross | -- | 28 | -- | -- | -- | 28 |
| Renfrewshire | 130 | 46 | -- | -- | -- | 176 |
| Shetland | 11 | -- | -- | -- | -- | 11 |
| South Ayrshire | 54 | 63 | -- | -- | -- | 117 |
| South Lanarkshire | -- | 1,628 | -- | -- | -- | 1,628 |
| Stirling | -- | 52 | -- | -- | -- | 52 |
| Total staff | 1,461 | 6,033 | 202 | 83 | 7 | 7,786 |
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Mr. Field:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what research he is undertaking to gauge the effectiveness of individual savings accounts in encouraging saving among those on low incomes. [93316]
Ms Hewitt:
I refer my right hon. Friend to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for East Worthing and Shoreham (Mr. Loughton) on 8 July 1999, Official Report, column 609.
Mr. Brake:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many kilometres have been travelled on his Department's business in each of the last three years broken down by (a) foot, (b) bike, (c) bus, (d) train, (e) tram, (f) light-rail, (g) plane, (h) motorbike, (i) car, (j) taxi, (k) river-taxi and (l) other modes of transport; what plans and targets his Department has to reduce the kilometres travelled by private transport by his Department's employees; and if he will make a statement. [91025]
Ms Hewitt
[holding answer 13 July 1999]: The information on business travel is not collected in the form requested. As published in the Integrated Transport White Paper in July 1998, the Government have set a target that all Government Department headquarters buildings and main buildings occupied by Executive Agencies and Government Offices for the Regions should have green transport plans by March 1999 and all other key buildings by March 2000.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer's departments have already made some significant progress, for example:
The Inland Revenue have put in place Green Transport Plans at six of their sites and are now working on the roll-out of a further 300 plans by 31 March 2000, in line with the White Paper target. The plans include measures to reduce both business and commuter travel and promote alternative travel arrangements. Environmental considerations are also being addressed by adopting a number of initiatives, including:
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HM Treasury introduced a Green Transport Plan in March 1999 covering its two buildings. The plans include, among other things, measures to:
The Royal Mint has completed Green Transport Plans covering all key buildings in line with the targets set out in the White Paper. The plans include measures to reduce single-occupancy car use by employees.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has completed Green Transport Plans covering all its main buildings, both in London and nationwide, in line with targets set out in the White Paper. The plans include measures to positively encourage the use of public transport and to reduce single occupancy car use by employees for business.
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downsizing the cc of the Pool and Private Use Scheme car fleet;
piloting and promoting the use of bi-fuelled vehicles (LPG/Petrol);
with DSS, a joint tender programme to supply and install bunkered Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) taken on sites throughout the UK to encourage and support the use of this alternative fuel;
an appraisal of the use of electric cars;
providing defensive driver training which has a strong emphasis on better environmental driving techniques for 450 (50 per cent.) of our PUS drivers.
Customs and Excise have established Local Transport Plans in its headquarters sites. All other key sites will have established plans by the end of March 2000. Each plan forms the basis of a continuing programme of improvement to meet both the Government's commitments and to obtain the maximum benefits from local knowledge and experience, and covers:
strategic issues;
commuting;
business travel;
commercial/suppliers;
fleet.
The plans include measures to promote car sharing, public transport use, cycling and other solutions to reduce business travel (such as video conferencing) and raise awareness of the environmental and business issues associated with travel. Suppliers and contractors are required to support these plans.
set up a Bicycle User Group (BUG);
review travel and subsistence policy;
ensure all cars supplied under the Government Car and Despatch Agency contract are converted to run on alternative fuels by February 2000;
reduce car parking spaces to the standards laid down by Strategic Guidance for London Planning Authorities for Central London.
The National Savings Agency has completed a Green Transport Plan. The plan includes measures to minimise the environmental impact of travel on official business as well as facilitating employee use of public transport.
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