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Refugee Accommodation
Mr. Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what investigations he has carried out into (a) the quality of accommodation and (b) the value for money offered by accommodation for refugees in the United Kingdom. [105575]
Mrs. Roche: Recognised refugees have freedom of movement within the United Kingdom and access to housing in the same way as other British residents. There is, therefore, no intention to make investigations into the quality of accommodation which they occupy.
A procurement exercise is currently underway for accommodation for destitute asylum seekers under new arrangements for their support by the Home Office. All tenders received are commercially confidential. As part of the process of procurement, checks will be carried out to ensure the quality, suitability and value-for-money of accommodation offered in tenders. We expect these to be carried out in a number of ways, including: scrutiny of financial and other information; visits to some properties; and specified consultation with relevant local authorities.
Seconded Staff
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many staff were seconded from the private sector to his Department in (a) May 1997 to April 1998, (b) May 1998 to April 1999 and (c) May 1999 to the latest date for which figures are available, stating in each case the companies from which staff have been seconded. [103606]
Mr. Straw
[holding answer 21 December 1999]: Secondments and attachments are part of the Interchange Initiative which promotes the exchange of people and good practice between the Civil Service and other organisations. All sectors of the economy are involved: Voluntary, Education, Health, Public and Private. Interchange is a key component of the reform agenda. The Modernising Government White Paper committed us to increasing interchange, in particular by bringing in more people on secondment and sending more of our people out.
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For the periods in question, two private sector staff are recorded as having been seconded to my Department. One was from Barclay's Bank between January 1997 to January 1999 and the other is from PriceWaterhouseCoopers for 12 months from 4 August 1999. Other inward secondments of three months or more recorded centrally in the above periods, were predominantly from local government, the health service, and the European Union.
Ayrshire
Q12. Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Prime Minister when he next plans to visit Ayrshire. [103528]
The Prime Minister: I have no immediate plans to do so.
Committee on Standards in Public Life
Mr. Bill O'Brien: To ask the Prime Minister if he will make a statement about the vacancy on the Committee on Standards in Public Life. [106130]
The Prime Minister: I am pleased to announce that Ann Abraham has accepted my invitation to serve as a member of the Committee on Standards in Public Life in succession to Baroness Warwick of Undercliffe who stood down at the end of last year.
I should like to take this opportunity to thank Baroness Warwick for her valuable contribution to the work of the Committee over the past five years.
British-Irish Council
Dr. Godman: To ask the Prime Minister if he will list the names of those who attended the inaugural meeting of the British-Irish Council, together with the names of their parliaments or assemblies; when and where the Council will next meet; and if he will make a statement. [105572]
The Prime Minister:
The British-Irish Council, which was established under the Belfast Agreement, held its inaugural summit meeting in London on 17 December. The membership of the Council comprises the UK and Irish
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Governments, the devolved administrations in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales and the administrations in the Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey.
I led the UK delegation and, as host, chaired the meeting. The remainder of the UK delegation consisted of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.
The other delegations were as follows:
The Council agreed that its next summit meeting should take place in Dublin at the end of June 2000.
Sir Peter Tapsell:
To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Wednesday, 19 January. [105232]
The Prime Minister:
This morning I had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others. In addition to my duties in the House I will have further such meetings later today.
Mr. Gordon Prentice:
To ask the Prime Minister (1) how many recent papers considered by the Joint Cabinet Consultative Committee have been drafted by Liberal Democrat hon. Members; [105668]
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The Prime Minister:
As a Cabinet Committee the Joint Consultative Committee's proceedings are exempt from disclosure under the exemption 2 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information, dealing with internal discussion and advice.
Mr. Baker:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to his answer of 13 December 1999, Official Report, column 37W, if he will list the organisations and individuals who made representations in favour of the suggested supplement to the licence fee for digital television purposes. [104113]
Janet Anderson
[holding answer 10 January 2000]: We will publish details of the responses to the Davies report when we announce the outcome of the review, shortly. This will include a summary of them. Subject to obtaining the permission of the organisations concerned, we will also make available the responses themselves. Pending our obtaining that permission, the responses must be regarded as having been given in confidence.
Mr. Cox:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will make a statement on the progress of the campaign to host the 2006 football World Cup in the United Kingdom. [104793]
Kate Hoey:
FIFA will make its final decision as to the host country for the 2006 FIFA World Cup on 6 July and so that FA's bid is entering its final critical stage of campaigning. During their visit in October last year, the FIFA Inspection Team made clear their view that England has a very strong technical bid. Efforts to convey its strengths, together with the many proposed legacy benefit associated with hosting a World Cup in England, will be maximised by the FA bid team in the coming months. The government's Envoy to the bid team will play a full part in this work.
An integral part of recent activity by the bid team has been the stepping up of lobbying of the 24 FIFA voters, involving both receiving visitors in England and the co-ordination of overseas visits. Recent events have included attendance by members of the bid team at the 2002 FIFA World Cup Preliminary Draw in Tokyo, the FIFA Under 17 Championships in New Zealand and the World Club Championship in Brazil involving Manchester United. In the coming months the bid team will make important presentations to each of FIFA's six Confederations across the world. The timetable for these presentations is as follows:
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Ireland
the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern TD
the Tanaiste, Mary Harney TD
Minister for Foreign Affairs, David Andrews TD
Minister for Justice, John O'Donoghue
Northern Ireland
First Minister, the right hon. David Trimble MLA MP
Deputy First Minister, Seamus Mallon MLA MP
Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Investment, Sir Reg Empey MLA
Minister for Finance and Personnel, Mark Durkan MLA
Minister for Health, Social Services and Public Safety, Bairbre de Brun MLA
Scotland
First Minister, the right hon. Donald Dewar MSP MP
Deputy First Minister, Jim Wallace MSP MP
Permanent Secretary at the Scottish executive, Muir Russell
Wales
First Secretary, the right hon. Alun Michael JP AM MP
Assembly Business Secretary, Andrew Davies AM
Finance Secretary, Edwina Hart AM
Isle of Man
Chief Minister, hon. Donald Gelling MHK
Chief Secretary, Fred Kissack
Jersey
President, Policy and Resources Committee, Senator Pierre Horsfall
Chief Executive, Policy and Resources Committee, John Mills
Guernsey
President, Advisory and Finance Committee, Conseiller Laurie Morgan
Chief Executive, Advisory and Finance Committee, Mike Brown.
(2) what plans he has to establish joint working groups between Government and Liberal Democrat hon. Members with a brief to report back to the Joint Cabinet Consultative Committee. [105667]
20 January: CAF, Ghana
5 February: CONMEBOL, Paraguay
12-13 May: CONCACAF, Bahamas
18 May: AFC, Malaysia
Week commencing 22 May: OFC, New Zealand
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