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Oxford Forum
Mr. Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs who selects hon. Members to attend the Oxford Forum. [116929]
Mr. Vaz: There is no organisation called the Oxford Forum in which the Foreign and Commonwealth Office is involved.
Sierra Leone
Mr. Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs who were (a) the three officials from other Foreign and Commonwealth Office departments, (b) the official from the Cabinet office and (c) the official from the Department for International Development who attended the meeting referred to in the Second report of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Session 1998-99 (HC 116) at footnote 163, page xxi. [116926]
Mr. Hain: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has already given a full account to Parliament of the events covered in the FAC report. There is nothing to add to his previous statements.
Kazakhstan
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations he has made to the Government of Kazakhstan about freedom of the press. [117113]
Mr. Vaz: This is an issue of concern to us and our EU partners. We have ensured that it has been raised in EU statements, including at the OSCE Review Conference in Vienna and Istanbul in September 1999, and more recently in the EU response to the statement by President Nazarbaev at the OSCE Permanent Council meeting in Vienna in February.
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with European Foreign Ministers on human rights in Kazakhstan. [117114]
Mr. Vaz:
We and our EU and OSCE partners continue to monitor developments in Kazakhstan, including those relating to progress on democratic reform there, and will raise issues of concern as necessary. We shall also seek to ensure that, in the context of the Partnership &
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Co-operation Agreement, these issues are adequately addressed at the next EU-Kazakhstan Co-operation Council due in June.
Mr. Baker:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what decision was taken by the General Affairs Council on 20 March on sponsoring a resolution on China at the 56th Conference on Human Rights. [116279]
Mr. Battle:
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to my hon. Friend the Member for Clydesdale (Mr. Hood) on 29 March 2000, Official Report, columns 167-68W.
The position the EU will take on the US resolution on China will reflect developments up until the time the resolution is considered by UNCHR.
Mr. Fabricant:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs for what reason, when his officials met analysts from the United States International Trade Commission during the last two weeks, they advised the analysts not to meet hon. Members. [116312]
Mr. Vaz:
UK Ministers and officials did not advise the visiting International Trade Commission analysts not to meet with hon. Members, nor was any such advice given to US Government members or officials. Meetings between officials and the analysts were wide-ranging covering the Government's policy towards the EU, the assumptions underlying the ITC inquiry and the economic consequences of the scenarios the ITC are considering.
Mr. Mitchell:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which proposals made by EU institutions and member states for incorporation into a new treaty, other than those relating to composition of the Commission, cannot be adopted via the fast track option contained in the Treaty amendments agreed at Amsterdam in 1997. [116308]
Mr. Vaz:
There is no fast-track option for Treaty change. The Treaties can only be changed through an IGC. All amendments need to be agreed unanimously by member states' Governments and ratified by the member states before they can come into force.
Departmental Properties
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what (a) number and (b) percentage of properties in his charge are empty; and what steps are being taken by his Department to reduce the number of such properties. [116923]
Dr. Reid:
My Department has no empty properties.
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Websites
Mr. Maclennan: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will list the expenditure incurred by her 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 she 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. [115391]
Clare Short: The Department for International Development's website was set up at an initial cost of £10,000. Operating costs have been £16,000 per annum and expenditure has been within the allocated budget. The topics covered are: "Who We Are"--an introduction to DFID; "What We Do"--an introduction to DFID's work around the world; "Working with Us"--information for users seeking to work with DFID; "News Centre"--information on press releases, speeches etc.
The average number of hits per month is 55,000. Maintenance costs for the next three years are likely to be around £12,000 per annum. The website will be re-designed over the coming year at a cost of up to £50,000.
Sudan
Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent discussions she has had with the Canadian Government regarding exports to Sudan; and if she will make a statement. [115719]
Clare Short: I have held no discussions with the Canadian Government regarding exports to Sudan.
Forest Fires (Ethiopia)
Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what representations she has received concerning the forest fires in Oromiya state, Ethiopia; and if she will make a statement. [116550]
Clare Short: It is reported that tens of thousands of hectares of natural forest have been razed by fires in the forest areas of Bale and Borana Administrative Zones. It is believed that the fires were started by local farmers burning land for local cultivation that escalated out of control. The Ethiopian Government sought donor help to combat the fires in February 2000. A number of donor countries who were well placed to address the problem helped form and deploy an International Fire Emergency Advisory Group. Donors, including DFID, maintain daily contact in Addis Ababa.
International experts travelled down to Bale and Borana to assess the damage and map out a strategy to contain the fires. Their findings were presented to the Ethiopians on 6 March. A US expert was brought in to head up the fire-fighting operation with support and equipment from South Africa and Germany. On 9 March, South Africa announced that it would provide a further 22 fire-fighters and other experts. We concluded that as the UK has
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limited experience in fighting large-scale forest fires it was best for those with expertise and technical equipment to take the lead.
Mr. Don Foster:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what (a) number and (b) percentage of properties in her charge are empty; and what steps are being taken by her Department to reduce the number of such properties. [116910]
Clare Short:
No properties in my charge as Secretary of State for International Development are empty.
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Dr. Lynne Jones:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many people aged (a) 18 to 21, (b) 21 to 24 and (c) 25 years and over have applied for higher education in each of the last three years; and what percentage of the population in each age group these figures represent. [109978]
Mr. Wicks:
The latest data on applicants via UCAS are shown in the following table. Although applicants fell between 1998 and 1999, the final number of accepted applicants increased by 1.6 per cent. over the same period.
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| 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age | Number | Percentage of population (1) | Number | Percentage of population (1) | Number | Percentage of population (1) |
| Under 21 | 300,926 | 43.1 | 303,729 | (2)41.0 | 306,809 | 40.9 |
| 21 to 24 | 41,000 | 5.3 | 37,287 | 5.1 | 36,361 | 5.1 |
| 25 and over | 56,401 | 6.0 | 48,572 | 5.2 | 45,521 | 5.0 |
| Total | 398,327 | 389,588 | 388,691 | |||
(1) Based on the averaged 17 and 18 year old population for under 21s, the averaged 21-24 year old population for 21-24s, and the averaged 25-34 year old population for 25s and over.
(2) The drop in the participation rate between 1997 and 1998 reflects the unusually large increase in the number of 18 year olds in the population between these years, resulting from a rise in the birth rate.
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| 1997 | 1998 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age | Number | Percentage of population(4) | Number | Percentage of population(4) |
| Under 21 | 15,227 | 2.2 | 16,236 | 2.2 |
| 21 to 24 | 26,116 | 3.5 | 26,645 | 3.8 |
| 25 and over | 176,139 | 18.9 | 181,572 | 19.8 |
| Total | 217,482 | 224,453 | ||
(3) Includes courses in HE institutions, including the Open University, and FE institutions. The figures for the Open University will include some double counting of students who enrol on more than one course.
(4) Based on the averaged 18 and 19 year old population for under 21s, the averaged 21-24 year old population for 21-24s, and the averaged 25-34 year old population for 25s and over.
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