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Indonesia
Mr. Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will publish the recent representations which he has received on the issue of arm sales to Indonesia; and if he will make a statement. [108886]
Mr. Battle: To date I have received many representations from MPs, NGOs and members of the public on this subject. To publish them would entail disproportionate cost and permission from the authors of the correspondence.
Chagos Islands
Mr. Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what actions are being taken by his Department to ensure that the Chagos Islands can be re-occupied by the Ilois people. [108873]
Mr. Battle: The immigration law affecting the British Indian Ocean Territory is the subject of High Court proceedings. While these are underway the matter is sub judice and I cannot comment further.
Sri Lanka
Mr. Corbyn:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations he has received from the different forces in Sri Lanka concerning a possible peace process; and if he will make a statement. [108884]
8 Feb 2000 : Column: 141W
Mr. Hain:
I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave on 18 January 2000, Official Report, column 416W.
Mr. Corbyn:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has received on the proposed financial bond scheme for visitors to the UK from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh; and what reports he has received on reactions to the proposal in those countries. [108876]
Mr. Vaz:
Ministers and officials in India and Bangladesh raised this issue with me during my recent visit to these countries. We have taken note of their concerns and will pass these on to colleagues in the Home Office, who are conducting a consultation exercise on the proposed scheme.
Mr. Corbyn:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list his Department's ministerial meetings that were held with representatives of the people of Chechnya in the last 12 months. [108885]
Mr. Vaz:
I refer my hon. Friend to the response given to an earlier question of 17 January 2000, Official Report, column 327W.
No meetings have been held in the last 12 months between FCO Ministers and Chechen representatives.
Mr. Corbyn:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what meetings British officials have held with human rights groups in Pakistan in the past 12 months. [108888]
Mr. Hain:
The Political and Development Sections of our High Commission in Islamabad are in regular contact with a wide-range of human rights groups. These include the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, Shirkat Gah (women's rights), SPARC (rights of the child) and the Progressive Women's Association. A senior FCO official visited Pakistan in May 1999 and had comprehensive talks on human rights issues with NGOs and the Pakistani authorities.
Prison Standards
Mr. Derek Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how he plans to raise the performance of those prisons that are identified as performing to a poor standard. [109168]
Mr. Boateng: I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given to my hon. Friend the Member for Bolton, West (Ms Kelly) on 31 January 2000, Official Report, column 426W.
Passport Applications
Mr. Kidney:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for what reason the UK Passport Agency ended the service available at main post offices for processing urgent applications for passports. [108587]
8 Feb 2000 : Column: 142W
Mrs. Roche:
The Passport Agency's partnership arrangement with Post Office Counters Limited, entered into in January 1996, provided a facility for applications marked as urgent to be processed within a minimum of four working days. The service proved very difficult to operate and the urgency of the applications was not always clear. When the Agency re-tendered the partnership arrangements late in 1999, the specification was for a guaranteed 10 day service for customers applying via a partner. The Agency believes this is the best way to meet its customers needs. Final negotiations are currently taking place with Post Office Counters Limited on the new arrangements, but the Agency considered it sensible to implement the standard 10 day turnaround now.
The Agency is planning to introduce a "Fast Track" five day service via the Post Office from December 2000.
Mr. Kidney:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what length of time in future the UK Passport Agency will take to process standard passport applications received via the Post Office's special service whereby applications are checked for common errors and forwarded by secure post. [108588]
Mrs. Roche:
The Passport Agency aims to process all straightforward and complete applications received from their partners, Post Office Counters Limited and Worldchoice Travel Agents, within 10 working days. This target will continue to apply in the future.
Mr. Bob Russell:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 31 January 2000, Official Report, column 431W, on electronic tracking, (1) which category of one-off absence was used to allow a professional footballer to breach the home detention curfew restrictions; who gave authority for this one-off absence; and if the player will be allowed further one-off absences; [108682]
Mr. Boateng:
Mr. Gary Croft was granted a variation in the hours of his Home Detention Curfew on 21 and 22 January by the Governor of Her Majesty's Prison Hollesley Bay. The variation in hours was, therefore, not a one-off absence, which can be granted by contractors in specified circumstances as outlined in my earlier reply to the hon. Member.
Governors have the discretion to vary an offender's curfew hours, taking into account legitimate reasons for the necessary absence of the curfewee from his or her home at certain times. This would include working hours, and would take into account reasonable travelling times. Mr. Croft was granted the variation in hours to enable him to represent his employers, Ipswich Town Football Club, in an away match against Bolton Wanderers Football Club. He was subsequently granted a similar variation in hours to enable him to represent Ipswich Town in an away match against Barnsley Football Club on 5 February.
8 Feb 2000 : Column: 143W
Mr. Croft continued to be subject to the curfew requirement until his automatic release date on 6 February and the total number of hours he spend under curfew was not reduced.
There is no contractual provision for the electronic monitoring contractors to notify the Home Office of one-off absences. The contractors are able to provide the Home Office with details of any such absence on request, and there are no plants to make any changes to these requirements.
Mr. Fraser:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what offences have been committed by prisoners released under the home detention curfew scheme while they were on the scheme. [108291]
Mr. Boateng
[holding answer 3 February 2000]: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the right hon. Member for Maidstone and The Weald (Miss Widdecombe) on 2 February 2000, Official Report, column 249W.
Mr. Winnick:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if Satpal Ram has been given a place on the offending behaviour course. [108310]
Mr. Boateng
[holding answer 3 February 2000]: Mr. Ram is currently held at Full Sutton prison which does not provide a specific offending behaviour course. However, it does provide a number of other courses all directed towards dealing with offending behaviour. Following an assessment by probation staff and psychologists, Mr. Ram has been recommended for the reasoning and rehabilitation programme which is available at the prison.
Mr. Winnick:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when Satpal Ram will be eligible for parole. [108311]
Mr. Boateng
[holding answer 3 February 2000]: As with any mandatory life sentence prisoner, Satpal Ram will be released from prison on life licence only if, following a review of his case by the Parole Board, the Board recommend his release and Ministers, after consulting the judiciary, agree. Satpal Ram's latest Parole Board review began in December 1999. The review will take account of reports prepared by prison and probation staff familiar with Mr. Ram's case, an interview between Mr. Ram and a Parole Board member (who will not be a member of the Panel who ultimately considers Mr. Ram's case) and any representations which Mr. Ram wishes to make for consideration by the Board. A Panel of the Board will then consider his case and make their recommendation. This all takes time, but the outcome of Mr. Ram's latest review should be known later this year.
(2) if he will make it a requirement for private sector contractors operating the home detention curfew scheme to notify his Department of all one-off absences and the circumstances in which they occur. [108683]
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