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Charter of Fundamental Rights
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the impact of the Charter of Fundamental Rights on employment practice within the armed forces; what representations he has made on the issue; and if he will make a statement. [106374]
Mr. Spellar: None as yet. The Government see no reason for the Charter to add to existing rights and obligations, nor is there any agreement that it should so do.
DERA
Mr. Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if his plans for the defence budget assume a receipt arising from the sale of all or part of the Defence Estimate and Research Agency. [107413]
Mr. Hoon [holding answer 1 February 2000]: For outline planning purposes, we have assumed that a Public Private Partnership (PPP) for the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency will generate a receipt for the Exchequer and that an element of this will form a credit to the defence budget. The size of any receipt will depend on the PPP option chosen and no final decision on this has yet been made.
HOME DEPARTMENT
Commission for Racial Equality
Jean Corston:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department who he is appointing as the new Chair of the Commission for Racial Equality. [109086]
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Mr. Straw:
I am very glad to announce that I have today appointed Gurbux Singh as Chair of the Commission for Racial Equality.
Gurbux Singh is currently the Chief Executive of the London Borough of Haringey and a member of my Race Relations Forum. The appointment is for four years initially.
Mr. Hope:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will announce the results of the bids which police forces in England and Wales have made for money from the Crime Fighting Fund to fund the recruitment of police officers. [109087]
Mr. Straw:
I am currently considering the bids which forces have made. I will be announcing the results next week.
Maria Eagle:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the progress of the University of Derby's research project into religious discrimination, which he commissioned in April 1999. [109088]
Mr. Straw:
The interim report of the University of Derby's research project into religious discrimination was published on 31 January. Copies are available in the Library or from the research project's web-site at: www.multifaithnet.org.
The interim report is useful in beginning to develop a better understanding of the complex issues around religious discrimination. We hope it will inform the debate in advance of the publication of the research project's full findings, due this autumn.
It is important to remember that this is an interim report only (based on a literature review and consultation with relevant organisations); it does not yet include any information from the research project's own data collection, which is continuing. The final report will inform the development of policy in this important and sensitive area.
Mr. Wyatt:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the sources of primates used for research in (a) 1997 and (b) 1998. [108144]
Mr. Mike O'Brien:
In 1997, the overseas sources of primates were Mauritius, Philippines, China, Israel and Switzerland.
In 1998, the overseas sources were Mauritius, Philippines, China, Israel, Kenya, South Africa and the United States of America.
The vast majority of these imports, for both years were for Cynomolgus Macaques, the main source being Mauritius. Very few were bred in the United Kingdom.
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A small number of Marmosets were imported from overseas sources as these, and other New World primates, were bred mainly at designated establishments in the United Kingdom.
Mr. Mackinlay:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will place in the Library Fenella Tayler's letter of 5 November 1999 to Michael Caplan, acting for Senator Pinochet; [108463]
Mr. Straw:
I have placed in the Library copies of the correspondence relating to the medical report which has been disclosed in the application brought by Amnesty International and other human rights groups for permission to bring judicial review proceedings against the Secretary of State.
Mr. Mackinlay:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) for what reasons the Director of Public Prosecutions was not consulted under Article 7 of the UN Convention on Torture about his decision to abandon the extradition proceedings against Senator Pinochet consequent on the medical examination; and what representations he has received from the Director of Public Prosecutions on this matter; [108637]
(3) on which date and by what instrument the (a) DPP and (b) Solicitor-General indicated their approval, in accordance with Article 7 of the United Nation's Convention on Torture, of the Home Secretary's decision on the abandonment of the extradition proceedings against Senator Pinochet consequent on his medical examination. [108460]
Mr. Straw:
Article 7(1) of the Convention states that:
As I indicated in the reply I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Islington, North (Mr. Corbyn) on 20 January 2000, Official Report, column 560W, a copy of the medical report on Senator Pinochet was forwarded to the Solicitor-General and Director of Public Prosecutions on 11 January.
Mr. Mackinlay:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for what purpose Fenella Tayler (a) wrote to and (b) telephoned Michael Caplan, acting for Senator Pinochet, on 11 November 1999, concerning
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a request that the report of doctors who had examined Senator Pinochet be brought to the attention of Spain, France, Belgium and Switzerland; and what was (i) his response and (ii) the date of his response. [108461]
Mr. Straw:
I have placed Mrs. Tayler's letter of 11 January to Mr. Caplan (to which I assume the Question refers) and his reply of 11 January, clarified by a further letter of 13 January, along with related correspondence, in the Library. As Mrs. Tayler's letter explains, Senator Pinochet's solicitors were asked to agree urgently that the report of the doctors should be disclosed to the four states with an outstanding extradition application relating to Senator Pinochet. Senator Pinochet's solicitors replied on the same day, refusing the request.
Mr. Mackinlay:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for what reason Fenella Tayler's letter of 5 November 1999 to Senator Pinochet's lawyers offered to keep confidential the report of the doctors who were to examine the Senator. [108458]
Mr. Straw:
Assurances of confidentiality were given because it appeared to me (i) that Senator Pinochet had a right, subject to any overriding public interest, to have personal information about his health kept confidential, (ii) because I wished to have authoritative advice about Senator Pinochet's state of health and I was conscious that he had no obligation to submit to a medical examination, and (iii) that it was appropriate to ask Senator Pinochet for his consent only for the purpose for which I needed the information, namely to equip myself to perform my own functions and to enable the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Solicitor-General to perform theirs.
Mr. Mackinlay:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which (a) Chilean and (b) British doctor was nominated by Senator Pinochet's lawyers to witness the consideration of the doctors' report on Senator Pinochet, by the DPP or Solicitor-General; when this meeting was held; and if he will make a statement. [108462]
Mr. Straw:
No such nomination or meeting has taken place. Two doctors nominated by Senator Pinochet's legal representatives did observe the medical examination on Senator Pinochet conducted at my request.
Mr. Mudie:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people with visitors' visas overstayed where the country of origin was (a) Pakistan and (b) India, in each year since May 1997. [108502]
Mrs. Roche:
Comprehensive information on the numbers of persons originating from Pakistan and India who have overstayed their leave in the United Kingdom, having originally entered on visit visas, is not available. The available information, which relates to the numbers of those nationals issued with notice of intention to deport on the grounds that they have overstayed, is shown in the following table. Central records do not show how many of those persons had obtained a visit visa.
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(2) what were the contents of Fenella Tayler's letter of 26 November 1999 on behalf of the Home Office to Michael Caplan, acting for Senator Pinochet. [108459]
(2) if the medical report on Senator Pinochet has been tendered under Article 7 of the UN Convention on Torture for examination by the (a) DPP and (b) Solicitor-General; and if he will make a statement; [108598]
"The State Party in the territory under whose jurisdiction a person alleged to have committed any offence referred to in Article 4 is found shall in the cases contemplated in Article 5, if it does not extradite him, submit the case to its competent authorities for the purpose of prosecution".
I have not yet taken a decision on whether to bring the extradition proceedings against Senator Pinochet to an end.
| Nationality | May to December 1997 | January to November 1998 (3) |
|---|---|---|
| Pakistan | 340 | 400 |
| India | 220 | 210 |
(3) Figures are provisional. Data for December 1998 onwards are not yet available.
Note:
All figures are rounded to the nearest ten.
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