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Entertainment Budgets

Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the entertainment budget for his Department was in each year from 1997 to date. [160101]

Mr. Wilson: Total worldwide entertainment expenditure amounted to £10.3 million in 1997-98, £9.3 million in 1998-99 and £11.2 million in 1999-2000. Figures for 2000-01 are not yet available. Expenditure on entertainment covers a wide range of activities including promotional and trade events, receptions in honour of high-level visitors, and events to establish and cultivate contacts; all were undertaken in pursuit of FCO objectives, both at home and in our 224 Posts overseas.

In addition, the FCO-administered Government Hospitality Fund, drawn upon by all Government Departments when entertaining overseas visitors, spent £1.2 million in 1997-98, £1.8 million in 1998-99, and £1.3 million in 1999-2000.

Turkmenistan

Mr. David Atkinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer of 3 April 2001, Official Report, column 132W, on Turkmenistan, if he has received a formal response from the Turkmen authorities concerning the continuing incarceration of Shageldy Atakov; what representations he is making to the Turkmen authorities on this issue; and if he will make a statement. [160144]

Mr. Vaz: The British Government, along with their EU Partners, have not yet received a formal response from the Turkmen Foreign Minister concerning the detention of Mr. Atakov. EU Embassies in Ashgabat have requested a further meeting with the Foreign Minister to remind him of our concern. We also raised Mr. Atakov's situation with the Deputy Foreign Minister in April.

Nagorno-Karabakh

Mr. Salmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what involvement his

10 May 2001 : Column: 348W

Department has had in attempts to reach a settlement between Azerbaijan and Armenia over Nagorno- Karabakh. [159852]

Mr. Vaz [holding answer 2 May 2001]: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has not played a direct role in the international mediation that has taken place in an effort to resolve the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk group, America, Russia and France are leading the negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The UK has constantly encouraged both sides to find a mutually acceptable solution.

Gibraltar

Mr. John D. Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress there has been in complying with the ruling of the European Court of Human Rights in relation to the franchise for Gibraltarians for elections to the European Parliament; when the Court decision was made; and if he will make a statement. [160146]

Mr. Vaz: The Matthews judgment, given on 18 February 1999, requires the UK to extend the European Parliamentary franchise to Gibraltar. The UK unequivocally accepts this obligation.

The UK has proposed an amendment to the 1976 EC Act on Direct Elections to extend the franchise to Gibraltar. This amendment remains on the agenda of the relevant Council working group. But HMG are considering other options in order to extend the franchise before the 2004 European Parliament elections.

Family Visit Visas

Mr. Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) if he will provide a breakdown, by entry clearance post, of the number of family visit visa refusals in relation to which (a) an appeal was received, (b) a refusal was overturned by an entry clearance manager after receipt of an appeal and (c) an appeal was despatched in April; [160463]

Mr. Vaz [holding answer 8 May 2001]: Statistical information is received monthly only from the 100 largest posts. The remaining 64 posts submit information on an annual basis. To answer this question for all 164 posts we would have to ask the annual reporting posts to provide the information requested. This could only be done at disproportionate cost.

The monthly reporting posts are not required to submit statistical information on any given month until the middle of the following month. So information for April is not yet available. I will write to the hon. Member when it becomes available.

Mr. Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many family visit visa applications were (a) received, (b) determined, (c) allowed and (d) refused by (i) the largest 100 entry clearance posts and (ii) all entry clearance posts in the first quarter of 2001. [160462]

10 May 2001 : Column: 349W

Mr. Vaz [holding answer 8 May 2001]: (i) Our latest information from the 100 largest entry clearance posts which submit monthly statistical data is shown in the table.

10 May 2001 : Column: 350W

(ii) the remaining 64 posts submit information on an annual basis. To answer this question for all 164 posts we would have to ask the annual reporting posts to provide the information requested. This could be done only at disproportionate cost.

10 May 2001 : Column: 349W

Family visit visa applications 2001--top 100 posts

Applications received Applications determined
JanuaryFebruaryMarchJanuaryFebruaryMarch
1. Abidjan192916202219
2. Abu Dhabi243434233534
3. Abuja(33)--(33)--(33)--(33)--(33)--(33)--
4. Accra7531,6941,8576857821,962
5. Addis Ababa311215391115
6. Almaly361320371320
7. Amman426855808558
8. Amsterdam383434383434
9. Ankara293819293819
10. Bahrain1610216102
11. Baku19981998
12. Bandar Seri Begawan(33)--(33)--(33)--(33)--(33)--(33)--
13. Bangkok8017336173154277
14. Banjul383449403132
15. Beirut926282896278
16. Belgrade2583913204352290
17. Bogota333347333347
18. Bombay6191,0701,7876191,0701,791
19. Bratislava5012218450118171
20. Brussels1410354722
21. Bucharest58851095990110
22. Budapest675675
23. Cairo137145146129142143
24. Calcutta9411822297120225
25. Canberra7151571615
26. Casablanca117119115110116115
27. Chicago141176200119162190
28. Colombo7074161707449
29. Copenhagen443642443639
30. Damascus00150015
31. Dar Es Salaam107104191107104191
32. Dhaka451490502348415437
33. Doha493124493124
34. Dubai717975758151
35. Dublin362120361818
36. Dusseldorf106272383100246332
37. Ekaterinburg111624111624
38. Geneva257463216761
39. Georgetown337463332561
40. Guangzhou121143(33)--9091(33)--
41. Hanoi435434
42. Harare01(33)--01(33)--
43. Havana300300
44. Hong Kong32344032375
45. Islamabad2,3262,2253,4111,5121,1202,864
46. Istanbul430453227485522231
47. Jakarta365862375661
48. Jedda000000
49. Jerusalem591352913
50. Kampala11610215612084142
51. Karachi57542049546082495
52. Kathmandu010000
53. Khartoum441545151649
54. Kiev83(33)--(33)--20(33)--(33)--
55. Kingston52681304670132
56. Kuala Lumpur141220131320
57. Kuwait20043282004328
58. Lagos1,1471,1931,7189011,2931,509
59. Lima122729123029
60. Los Angeles02163200216320
61. Luanda8214823
62. Lusaka0556501965
63. Madras217229490233226544
64. Madrid263726263726
65. Manila0129(33)--0129(33)--
66. Minsk0142001418
67. Moscow237214286228191268
68. Muscat753965723965
69. Nairobi156164203156164203
70. New Delhi9131,1531,3359071,1291,244
71. New York533558650511549635
72. Nicosia0(33)--(33)--0(33)--(33)--
73. Oslo304492274289
74. Ottawa475278364442185255
75. Paris2862532960248328
76. Peking109632889451288
77. Port Louis8013627580136275
78. Port of Spain50205020
79. Prague000000
80. Pretoria27259201311
81. Quito241417241416
82. Riga116(33)--1112(33)--
83. Riyadh815(33)--1220(33)--
84. Rome639099618092
85. Sana'a201312201011
86. Sarajevo6111915961119159
87. Shanghai10301161030116
88. Singapore212639242537
89. Sofia8911812074117114
90. St. Petersburg00650065
91. Sto Domingo600600
92. Stockholm89103105129123116
93. Taipei000000
94. Tashkent1351313513
95. Tbilisi000000
96. Tehran00(33)--000
97. Tirana212115152315
98. Tokyo55115412
99. Tunis97921058770105
100. Valletta(33)--(33)--(33)--(33)--(33)--(33)--
Total13,05314,86219,37610,55512,16418,094

(33) Information not yet received from posts


10 May 2001 : Column: 351W

10 May 2001 : Column: 351W

Applications issued Applications refused
JanuaryFebruaryMarchJanuaryFebruaryMarch
1. Abidjan192118111
2. Abu Dhabi172932662
3. Abuja(34)--(34)--(34)--(34)--(34)--(34)--
4. Accra2777571,06040825902
5. Addis Ababa146102555
6. Almaly371320000
7. Amman08457011
8. Amsterdam323032642
9. Ankara283817102
10. Bahrain16100002
11. Baku1897101
12. Bandar Seri Begawan(34)--(34)--(34)--(34)--(34)--(34)--
13. Bangkok45131253282324
14. Banjul32202081112
15. Beirut876177211
16. Belgrade0347289451
17. Bogota252946841
18. Bombay4548741,419165196372
19. Bratislava47115171330
20. Brussels3522120
21. Bucharest48821021188
22. Budapest574101
23. Cairo113124132161811
24. Calcutta95116224241
25. Canberra41315330
26. Casablanca105114106529
27. Chicago119162190000
28. Colombo32480382649
29. Copenhagen443639000
30. Damascus0011004
31. Dar Es Salaam9383172142119
32. Dhaka203227234145188203
33. Doha463121303
34. Dubai474733283418
35. Dublin341617221
36. Dusseldorf94241332650
37. Ekaterinburg111624000
38. Geneva206657114
39. Georgetown282057554
40. Guangzhou8485(34)--66(34)--
41. Hanoi211223
42. Harare00(34)--01(34)--
43. Havana300000
44. Hong Kong27323552
45. Islamabad1,1121,0591,664400611,200
46. Istanbul424451207617124
47. Jakarta3350494612
48. Jedda000000
49. Jerusalem59130200
50. Kampala10059114202528
51. Karachi397193456363150
52. Kathmandu000000
53. Khartoum564510104
54. Kiev(34)--(34)--(34)--20(34)--(34)--
55. Kingston3559118111114
56. Kuala Lumpur101112328
57. Kuwait1963923445
58. Lagos6881,1431,316213150193
59. Lima82628441
60. Los Angeles0216318002
61. Luanda813010
62. Lusaka07580127
63. Madras216211511171533
64. Madrid263726000
65. Manila059(34)--070(34)--
66. Minsk01318010
67. Moscow223190261517
68. Muscat683663432
69. Nairobi132141167242336
70. New Delhi573682777334447467
71. New York5005476331122
72. Nicosia0(34)--(34)--0(34)--(34)--
73. Oslo274189010
74. Ottawa442184252013
75. Paris0246325023
76. Peking884023861150
77. Port Louis7312626371012
78. Port of Spain5020000
79. Prague000000
80. Pretoria16117424
81. Quito201416400
82. Riga116(34)--06(34)--
83. Riyadh99(34)--311(34)--
84. Rome607791131
85. Sana'a8161295
86. Sarajevo61117158021
87. Shanghai823107279
88. Singapore182537600
89. Sofia71113114340
90. St. Petersburg0061004
91. Sto Domingo500100
92. Stockholm128121116120
93. Taipei000000
94. Tashkent12411112
95. Tbilisi000000
96. Tehran00(34)--00(34)--
97. Tirana152015030
98. Tokyo4211121
99. Tunis607084272121
100. Valletta(34)--(34)--(34)--(34)--(34)--(34)--
Total8,30810,46714,1142,2471,7183,980

(34) Information not yet received from posts


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10 May 2001 : Column: 355W


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