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Iraq
Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Prime Minister if he will meet Mr. Hans von Sponeck, on his return from Baghdad to discuss (a) sanctions against Iraq, (b) water problems and (c) the effects on the children of Iraq of trauma in relation to bombing. [115633]
The Prime Minister: I had detailed discussions about Iraq with the UN Secretary General when he visited London earlier this month. I see no need to discuss this further with Mr. von Sponeck.
FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS
Websites
Mr. Maclennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the expenditure incurred by his Department, agencies and non-departmental public bodies on (a) the setting up and (b) the operation of websites, indicating the cases in which the expenditure has been above that budgeted; and if he will list for each website (i) the topics which have been covered, (ii) the current average number of hits per month and (iii) the estimated expenditure on each website for each of the next three years. [115393]
Mr. Hain: The FCO has four websites:
- (a) The main FCO website (www.fco.gov.uk) covers all aspects of the UK's external relations, including regular updates on current developments, travel, consular and trade matters, as well as providing material on British domestic policy for overseas audiences. Relaunched in 1998 it receives c. 1.5-2 million hits per month.
- (b) The 'Planet Britain 2000' (www.planet-britain.org) website and accompanying CD-ROM is a wide-ranging site aimed at a youth audience overseas. It carries a wealth of information about British education, culture, music, sport, technology and fashion. It receives 350,000 hits per month.
- (c) 'Information From Britain' (ww.informationfrombritain.com) is Whitehall's first e-commerce site, allowing customers worldwide to order and pay electronically for Foreign Office publications. It was set up in 1998 and receives c. 40,000 hits per month.
- (d) The FCO's Human Rights Project Fund database is published on the Human Rights in Foreign Policy site (hrpd.fco.gov.uk) which receives about 16,000 hits per month.
The set up costs of the above sites were:
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All contracts were awarded by competitive tender. Expected running costs over the next three years are the staff costs for the FCO's three Internet editors and ancillary staff, amounting to under £130,000 p.a.
The FCO main website has won six major international awards in the last two years.
Mr. Llew Smith:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans he has to appoint an experienced member of an appropriate non- Governmental organisation as atomic energy counsellor to the British Embassy in Tokyo. [115357]
Mr. Wilshire:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many mass grave sites have been identified in Kosovo; and how many of these have been investigated in detail. [115335]
Mr. Hain:
The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) have said that there are in excess of 500 reported grave sites. ICTY have already investigated 195 sites which yielded over 2,000 bodies. Further investigations will begin again shortly with the spring thaw.
Mr. Wilshire:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is his estimate of the number of Kosovar Albanians killed by Serb police and armed forces in Kosovo between June 1998 and June 1999. [115334]
Mr. Vaz:
Our estimate for the number of Kosovar Albanian civilians killed in Kosovo between June 1998 and June 1999 is at least 10,000.
Mr. David Atkinson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations have been made to the Iranian Government on the sentences on (a) Mr. Zabihullah Mahrami, (b) Mr. Musa Talibi, (c) Mr. Ataollah Hamid Nasirizadeh, (d) Mr. Zabihi-Moquaddan, (e) Mr. Kashefi-Najafabadi and (f) Mr. Manuchehro Khulusi. [115605]
Mr. Hain:
We and our EU partners regularly raise with the Iranian authorities our concerns over their treatment of the Baha'i religious minority, particularly cases where the death sentence is involved. Most recently I raised the cases of Mr. Zabihi-Moquaddam, Mr. Kashefi-Najafabadi and Mr. Khulusi with Deputy Foreign Minister Sarmadi during a meeting on 7 March.
Mr. Chaytor:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will provide assistance to NGOs from less developed countries to enable them to participate in the Millennium Civil Society Forum in May. [115146]
Mr. Hain:
To be truly representative, the Millennium Forum needs to secure the participation of civil society groups from developed and developing countries. The
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Government have therefore in principle offered financial assistance to the Forum to help fund the attendance of civil society representatives from less developed countries.
Mr. Cox:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many motorists were convicted of speeding in the Greater London area as result of the use of speed cameras during 1999. [114992]
Mr. Charles Clarke:
Figures relating to convictions for speeding following the use of speed cameras are not available.
However, there were 8,297 prosecutions taken and 15,323 fixed penalty notices issued for speeding offences as a result of the use of speed cameras in the area covered by the Metropolitan Police in 1997, the latest year for which figures are available. There were none in the City of London.
Mr. Cox:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the recruitment target is for the Metropolitan Police for the current year. [115033]
Mr. Charles Clarke:
I refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for North-East Hertfordshire (Mr. Heald) on 13 March 2000, Official Report, columns 91-92W.
Mr. Heald:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the number of entrants to the Metropolitan Police Service on intake start date 13 March. [115758]
Mr. Charles Clarke:
The Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis tells me that the information requested is 65.
Mr. Wilshire:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many investigations were carried out between 1 April 1998 and 31 March 1999 by the South West Area Major Investigation Pool of the Metropolitan Police; how many of those investigations concerned one or more deaths; how many officers worked in the pool; and what was the total sum available to the pool in that period for overtime payments. [115728]
Mr. Charles Clarke:
The Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis has informed me that between 1 April 1998 and 31 March 1999 the South West Area Major Investigation Pool undertook 37 investigations. The number of investigations involving one or more deaths was 31. There were approximately 95 police officers employed by the Pool over the year. The actual cost of overtime worked by police and civil staff was £525,756.
Ms Perham:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the rate of absenteeism of Metropolitan police officers for each of the years 1990 to 1999. [115223]
21 Mar 2000 : Column: 482W
Mr. Charles Clarke:
The Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis tells me that records are kept of sickness absences. Figures before 1994-95 are not readily available. Details over the last five financial years are shown in the table:
(a) £55,225
(b) £100,000
(c) £96,000
(d) £18,000.
| Working days lost | |
|---|---|
| 1994-95 | 369,140 |
| 1995-96 | 375,829 |
| 1996-97 | 386,001 |
| 1997-98 | 395,395 |
| 1998-99 | 289,789 |
Ms Perham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Metropolitan police officers were serving in specialist units for each of the years from 1990 to 1999. [115224]
Mr. Charles Clarke: The Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis tells me that the numbers of officers other than recruits in training, or in units other than Boroughs and Holding Branch, since 1990 are given in the table:
| Metropolitan police officers employed in some form of specialism | |
|---|---|
| December 1990 | 7,825.00 |
| December 1991 | 8,151.00 |
| December 1992 | 8,551.18 |
| December 1993 | 7,882.35 |
| December 1994 | 7,550.39 |
| December 1995 | 7,654.47 |
| December 1996 | 7,541.41 |
| December 1997 | 7,502.65 |
| December 1998 | 7,420.10 |
| December 1999 | 7,670.73 |
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