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Mozambique

Mr. Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what debt is owed by Mozambique to the (a) UK Government and (b) UK private sector; what are the debt service payments relating to that debt; and by how much that debt service will be reduced by debt cancellation and other national and international debt relief initiatives. [131625]

Clare Short: Mozambique's aid debts of £21.8 million to the UK were cancelled in 1983. Under the Government's policy on 100 per cent. debt relief for countries eligible under the enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative, debt service payments on Mozambique's remaining debt of £9.5 million to the Export Credits Guarantee Department (ECGD) ceased. The enhanced HIPC Initiative both removes the unpayable portion of Mozambique's debt and halves the debt service that it was previously paying to official creditors.

We do not have figures for Mozambique's debt to the private sector. However, since we estimate its worldwide private sector debt to be less than one per cent. of its total debt, the amount owed to the UK is presumed to be minimal.

CABINET OFFICE

Official Meetings

Mr. Matthew Taylor: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office from which sections of the US Departments of Justice, Defense and State officials were drawn attending each of the meetings which took place since 1 January 1998 between her departmental representatives and Ambassador David Aaron. [130514]

Marjorie Mowlam: The information is not held centrally and can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

SCOTLAND

Astute Submarines

Mr. Sarwar: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on the impact on the Scottish economy of the decision to place the mast order for the Royal Navy's Astute submarines with Pilkington Optronics in Govan. [127715]

Dr. Reid: The contract for optronic masts for Astute submarines was awarded by BAe Systems, the prime contractor, to Pilkington Optronics. The order is worth over £20 million and will support the jobs of the 600-strong workforce. Pilkington Optronics won this order in open competition demonstrating their excellent capability to provide leading-edge technology in this field.

Saudi Arabia (Trade)

Mr. Sarwar: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on the recent Scottish trade mission to Saudi Arabia. [129932]

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Mr. Wilson: Trade missions organised by Scottish Trade International are the responsibility of the Scottish Executive. However, the recent trade mission from 16-26 June was STI's third trade mission to Saudi Arabia.

Nine companies participated in the mission from a range of sectors. The mission covered three centres in Saudi Arabia: the Eastern Province, Riyadh and Jeddah. It is too early to estimate the likely success of the mission, but both the British Embassy in Saudi Arabia and STI report extremely positive responses from the business community.

Lords Lieutenant

Mr. Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many of Scotland's Lords Lieutenant are (a) women and (b) members of an ethnic minority. [132141]

Dr. Reid: Four Lords Lieutenant are women (including two ex-officio); none are members of an ethnic minority.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Firearms

6. Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he plans to respond to the second report of Session 1999-2000 from the Home Affairs Committee on controls over firearms (HC 95). [130327]

Mr. Charles Clarke: The Government are currently considering the Select Committee's report and hope to publish their response shortly.

Police (Racism)

18. Helen Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress he has made in his campaign to eliminate racism from the police force. [130339]

Mr. Straw: In February, I published my first annual report on progress of the implementation of my Action Plan to take forward the recommendations of the report of the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry, a copy of which is in the Library. I was able to report that over half of the report's 70 recommendations had already been implemented and that work was under way on the others. The Bill to extend the Race Relations Act 1976 to the police and other public authorities was introduced in December 1999. I have set targets for forces on recruitment, retention and progression of ethnic minority officers. In addition, a nationally co-ordinated and funded programme of community and race relations training is now under way in police forces. I have made increasing trust and confidence in policing among ethnic minority communities one of just two Ministerial Priorities for the current year.

Asylum Seekers

20. Mr. Russell Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the effect of the employment concession on the total number of applicants for asylum in the United Kingdom. [130341]

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Mrs. Roche: We believe that the concession, which has operated since 1986, acts as a pull factor for applicants wishing to find work in this country but who do not qualify for asylum. A number of other European countries have no such concession allowing asylum seekers to work. We are keeping the need for the concession under review, particularly in the light of the substantial progress we are making to speed up asylum decisions.

22. Dr. Ladyman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions he has had with the London boroughs about the dispersal of asylum seekers by those boroughs to other local authority areas. [130343]

Mrs. Roche: We have had general discussions with the Association of London Government about the dispersal of asylum seekers. We recently announced the further roll-out from today of the national asylum support scheme to include new in-country asylum applicants in London. This should, over time, reduce the number of cases where the London boroughs are proposing dispersal under the voluntary scheme.

39. Sir Teddy Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on his policy towards asylum seekers. [130360]

Mrs. Roche: We remain committed to a fairer, faster and firmer approach to immigration and asylum, and aim to achieve most asylum decisions within two months and most appeals within a further four months from April 2001. We are already meeting the two month target for family cases. We will continue to provide protection to those in real need of it, while taking the strongest possible measures to deter unfounded claims. In particular, a new civil penalty has been introduced for bringing clandestine entrants into the United Kingdom in lorries and other vehicles.

Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his estimate is of his Department's spending on asylum seeker support for (a) 2000-01, (b) 2001-02, (c) 2002-03 and (d) 2003-04. [132355]

Mrs. Roche: The Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND) budget for 2000-01 has been increased by £609 million to £1,198 million. This includes a cash estimate for spending on asylum seeker support for 2000-01 of £604 million.

Following the Spending Review, the total budget for IND has been increased by £409 million to £952 million in 2001-02, by £446 million to £990 million in 2002-03 and £501 million to £990 million in 2003-04. The provisional estimates for asylum seeker support in those years are £403 million for 2001-01, £434 million for 2002-03 and £491 million for 2003-04. The asylum support estimates for 2001-04 have been calculated on a resource basis and are not directly comparable with those for 2000-01.

Burglary

23. Ms Rosie Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on progress with the reducing burglary initiative. [130344]

Mr. Charles Clarke: Sixty-three strategic development projects approved in April last year are underway and another 161 projects have been approved in the last three

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months. In total these have been granted nearly £16 million and they cover over 800,000 households that suffered more than 60,000 burglaries in a year.

In April, we launched the third round, inviting bids from crime and disorder partnerships for a share of the remaining funding--over £30 million.

Police Recruitment

24. Mr. St. Aubyn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on police recruitment. [130345]

Mr. Charles Clarke: Taking account of their Crime Fighting Fund bids, forces currently estimate that they will recruit about 7,600 officers this financial year.

I understand from Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and other sources that most forces are experiencing no difficulties in recruiting. The Metropolitan Police Service and the City of London Police are, however, finding it difficult to recruit, as are other forces, including Essex, Hampshire, Hertfordshire and Thames Valley.

The Government are doing all they can to help all forces maximise recruitment, including funding a national recruitment campaign to be launched later this Summer. This will focus particularly on London and the South East. It is designed to improve the image of the police and encourage quality applicants.

My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary announced on 23 June an increase of £3,327 in the London Allowance for those Metropolitan and City officers who joined on or after 1 September 1994 and who are not in receipt of housing allowance. The increase is intended to make the starting pay of new officers in those forces, more attractive and so boost recruitment.

34. Mr. Salter: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what reports he has received indicating which police forces find it most difficult to (a) recruit and (b) retain police officers; and what plans he has to seek to address these difficulties. [130355]

Mr. Charles Clarke: I understand from Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and other sources that most forces are having no difficulty in recruiting. The Metropolitan Police Service and the City of London police are however finding it difficult to recruit and retain new police officers. A few others, including Essex, Hampshire, Hertfordshire and Thames Valley have reported some recruitment problems.

We are doing all we can to help all forces maximise recruitment and minimise wastage, including funding a national recruitment campaign to be launched later in the summer. This will focus particularly on London and the South-east. It is designed to improve the image of the police and encourage quality applicants.

To help address the recruitment and retention problems in London my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary announced in the policing of London debate, on 23 June 2000, Official Report, column 562, a £3,327 increase in London Allowance for those Metropolitan or City Officers who joined on or after 1 September 1994 and who are not in receipt of housing allowance.

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