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Palestinian Education
Dr. Starkey: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement on those schools within the Occupied Territories which have been closed or unable to operate (a) because of Israeli military order or curfew and (b) because they are located in areas which are not safe for children or employees. [138711]
Mr. Foulkes: We understand that the Palestine Authority closed its schools for security reasons, but that most of them re-opened on 7 October. Where circumstances have prevented them from re-opening, contingency arrangements have been put in place to enable teachers and pupils, wherever possible, to attend other schools in their locality.
Dr. Starkey: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development when the International Consultation Workshop on Palestinian Education originally planned for 30 and 31 October will take place. [138714]
Mr. Foulkes: The International Consultation Workshop on Palestinian Education has had to be postponed because of security concerns in the West Bank
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and Gaza Strip. The Palestinian Ministry of Education plan to reschedule it as soon as circumstances allow and the safety of all participants can be guaranteed.
Dr. Starkey: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what proportion of the aid from Her Majesty's Government to Palestinian education and schools in each of the last six years has been spent on schools in Hebron and Hawara. [138712]
Mr. Foulkes: Britain has provided no direct assistance to schools in Hawara and Hebron in the last six years. We have provided technical assistance to the Palestinian Authority to build capacity in Ministry of Education, districts and schools to help them deliver high quality education to Palestinian children. Our assistance has taken the form of experts, training and some equipment.
Military Equipment
Mr. Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will list the occasions since 1996 in which the provision of aid has been associated with the sale of military equipment to the aided country. [138528]
Clare Short: The sale of British military equipment has not been associated with the provision of UK aid since 3 May 1997.
Colombia (EU Aid)
Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what projects the EU Aid package for Colombia will be spent on. [139660]
Mr. Foulkes: The European Union has not yet finalised its plans for the disbursement of its aid to Colombia. I understand an EU team is in Colombia at the moment considering this question and that the matter will be discussed by representatives of member states on 24 November.
Mr. Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development to whom the European Union aid to Colombia will be disbursed; and what mechanisms have been put in place to ensure the continued involvement of, and consultation with, Colombian civil society in building the conditions for peace. [138667]
Mr. Foulkes: The European Union has not yet finalised its plans for the disbursement of its aid to Colombia. I understand an EU team is in Colombia at the moment considering this question and that the matter will be discussed by representatives of member states on 24 November.
The involvement of civil society was initially a concern to donors but the Colombian Government has now accepted the need for consultation and played a full part in the civil society conference in Costa Rica last month. Representatives of civil society were invited to the meeting in London in June that initiated a series of meetings between donors and the Colombian Government on Plan Colombia and other proposals for assisting the peace process. Civil society representatives were present at the meetings in Madrid and Bogota and will also attend the meeting in Brussels in March.
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PRIME MINISTER
Special Advisers
Mrs. Lawrence: To ask the Prime Minister what plans he has to increase the numbers of Special Advisers working for assembly secretaries in the National Assembly for Wales. [139833]
The Prime Minister: The number of Special Advisers that can be appointed to provide advice to assembly secretaries in the National Assembly for Wales has been increased from four to six. An amendment has been made to the Civil Service Order in Council.
NORTHERN IRELAND
Paramilitary Offences
Mr. Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many paramilitary offences have been committed since the signing of the Belfast Agreement, broken down by offences, and which were attributable to Republican and Loyalist groups. [138866]
Mr. Ingram: The following table shows the number of security incidents recorded by the Royal Ulster Constabulary during the period 10 April 1998 to 31 October 2000.
| Number | |
|---|---|
| Deaths(3) | |
| By Loyalists | 22 |
| By Republicans | 38 |
| Other | 1 |
| Bombings incidents(4) | 278 |
| Shooting incidents(5) | 528 |
| Casualties as a result of paramilitary style attacks(6) | |
| Shootings: | |
| By Loyalists | 149 |
| By Republicans | 87 |
| Assaults: | |
| By Loyalists | 223 |
| By Republicans | 129 |
(3) Includes all deaths due to the security situation
(4) An individual bombing incident may involve one or more explosive devices. Incidents recorded include explosions and defusings. Incidents involving Hoax devices, petrol bombs or incendiaries are excluded. It is not possible to attribute all bombing and shooting incidents
(5) The following types of incidents are included:
shots fired by terrorists
shots fired by the security forces
paramilitary-style attacks involving shootings
shots heard (and later confirmed)
other violent incidents where shots are fired (eg armed robbery)
(6) Year 2000 statistics are provisional and may be subject to minor adjustment
Prison Service
Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Bedford (Mr. Hall) of 28 July 2000, Official Report, column 1005W, when he expects to receive the new Framework Document from the Northern Ireland Prison Service; and if he will place a copy in the Library. [139726]
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Mr. Ingram: It is planned to publish the Northern Ireland Prison Service Framework Document in December 2000. A copy will be placed in the Library.
RUC (Overseas Service)
Mr. John D. Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many officers of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (a) have served in Kosovo and (b) are currently serving in Kosovo; and if he will make a statement. [139525]
Mr. Ingram: Sixty officers from the Royal Ulster Constabulary have recently completed a one-year term with the United Nations Mission in Kosovo where they have been undertaking an executive policing role pending a new Kosovan police service being trained and ready to take over law enforcement there. In addition, six officers served with the body recovery teams from April to November 2000. Sixty-two officers from the RUC are currently serving in Kosovo; 23 from the original group and 39 deployed during November 2000.
Mr. John D. Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many officers of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (a) have served in Bosnia Herzegovina and (b) are serving in Bosnia Herzegovina; and if he will make a statement. [139526]
Mr. Ingram: A total of seven officers from the Royal Ulster Constabulary have served with the United Nations International Police Task Force in Bosnia monitoring the performance of the Bosnian police service; four during the period April 1999 to April 2000 and three from October 1999 to October 2000. There are currently five officers serving in Bosnia with a further four officers to be deployed in April 2001.
ENVIRONMENT, TRANSPORT AND THE REGIONS
Lyneburn Travellers Site
Mr. Beith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what consideration he gave to calling in the planning application made by Northumberland County Council to itself for the relocation of the Lyneburn travellers site, Lynemouth, Northumberland, to Lyneburn Cottage, Lynemouth; and what plans he has to seek the revocation of planning permission for this development. [138818]
Mr. Raynsford: The Northumberland County Council's Planning and Regulation Committee have determined an application by their Environment Directorate on 5 September 2000 for the development of an 11 pitch gypsy site at Lyneburn Cottage, Lynemouth. However, the application and local concerns about it did not come to the attention of the Government Office for the North East until shortly after that date. It was thus too late for the Secretary of State to consider whether or not to intervene by calling-in the application for his own determination.
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The Government Office has since had correspondence with three local parish councils on the subject. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State is in general reluctant to intervene in matters for which a local planning authority is properly responsible, unless they raise issues of more than local importance. His policy continues to be very selective about the applications he would call-in for his determination. My predecessor gave examples of such cases to the House in a written answer on 16 June 1999, Official Report, column 138W, which is now included as Annex 5 to the recent DETR Circular 5/2000.
As the right hon. Member is aware from a previous case, with which I know he is very familiar, the Secretary of State would also not wish to intervene once a local decision has been taken unless the issues raised were of national importance. An example would be where the authority's decision appeared to be grossly wrong. Although I understand some local concerns about cases where a local planning authority is determining a planning application from another part of the council, this is common practice and is subject to strict regulations and rules of propriety. From the information currently available, this case does not appear to be one in which the Secretary of State should be seeking revocation of the planning permission that the county council has granted.
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