---

Civil Service

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many and what proportion of each civil service grade in his Department is located in each region and nation of the UK; what the average salary is for each grade; and if he will make a statement. [6832]

Dr. Moonie: The information required is given in the following tables:

Number of staff by grade level and region (Full-time equivalent) April 2000

	Grade equivalent (paid grade)
Government office region	SCS	Band B	Band C	Band D	Band E	Industrial/ other grades	All grades
London	130	707	2,377	1,621	3,198	557	8,590
South East	71	1,283	5,268	4,102	6,688	4,962	22,375
South West	89	1,170	6,038	4,221	7,268	3,986	22,772
West Midlands	17	499	1,498	1,239	2,177	2,583	8,014
North West	1	17	260	325	1,109	445	2,156
North East	—	—	42	42	173	230	487
Yorks and Humber	2	21	293	693	1,011	966	2,986
East Midlands	—	22	331	339	982	952	2,626
Eastern	8	164	1,391	1,331	2,430	1,061	6,385
England total	318	3,881	17,499	13,914	25,038	15,743	76,392
Wales	3	37	328	711	1,384	2,512	4,975
Scotland	3	90	1,080	1,430	3,811	2,980	9,394
Northern Ireland	1	13	215	241	1,103	1,655	3,228
Unreported and elsewhere	40	261	1,571	616	710	3,146	6,344
Grand total	365	4,282	20,693	16,912	32,046	26,036	100,333

Number of staff by grade level and region (Full-time equivalent) April 2000

	Grade equivalent (paid grade)
Government office region	SCS	Band B	Band C	Band D	Band E	Industrial/ other grades	All grades
London	36	17	11	10	10	2	9
South East	19	30	25	24	21	19	22
South West	24	27	29	25	23	15	23
West Midlands	5	12	7	7	7	10	8
North West	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
North East	—	—	—	—	1	1	—
Yorks and Humber	1	—	1	4	3	4	3
East Midlands	—	1	2	2	3	4	3
Eastern	2	4	7	8	8	4	6
England total	87	91	85	82	78	60	76
Wales	1	1	2	4	4	10	5
Scotland	1	2	5	8	12	11	9
Northern Ireland	—	—	1	1	3	6	3
Unreported and elsewhere	11	6	8	4	2	12	6
Grand total	100	100	100	100	100	100	100

Median salary by pay band as at September 2000

Grade equivalence pay band	Salary (£)
SCS	56,990
Band B	35,639
Band C	20,873
Band D	18,400
Band E	16,771
Industrial/other grades	26,075

Royal Navy Vessels

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which Royal Navy vessels are (a) ready for active service, (b) currently undergoing refit and (c) out of service but not currently undergoing refit; what proportion of all vessels each category represents; and if he will make a statement. [6956]

15 Oct 2001 : Column: 965W

Mr. Ingram: The following table shows, as at 1 October 2001, the Royal Navy vessels undergoing refits or docking periods and the total number of vessels in each class. There are currently no vessels held out of service.

(i) Type	(ii) Vessels undergoing refit/docking period	(iii) Percentage of vessels	(iv) Total number
SSBN	0	0	4
SSN	Sceptre
	Spartan
	Torbay	42	12
	Trenchant
	Turbulent
CVS	Invincible	66	3
	Ark Royal
Destroyers/Frigates	Liverpool
	Manchester
	Iron Duke
	Cardiff	22	32
	Cumberland
	Somerset
	Grafton
Minor war vessels	Cottesmore	9	22
	Sandown
Patrol vessels	Dumbarton	28	7
	Castle
Royal fleet auxiliaries	Orangeleaf	6	17

All RN vessels other than those listed at (ii) above are within the operation of the fleet and as such are ready for active service within agreed timescales.

Awareness Events

David Maclean: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what (a) national and (b) international awareness events his Department has participated in since June 1997 in the form of (i) sponsorship, (ii) departmental attendance, (iii) similar departmental activities and (iv) a message of support. [5036]

Dr. Moonie: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

BBC World Service

Mr. Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he was consulted on the ending of shortwave broadcasting by the BBC World Service to North America and Australasia; and if he will make a statement. [7355]

Mr. MacShane: Operational decisions on resource allocation are for the World Service, working within the framework of overall objectives agreed with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The World Service informed the Government of its plan to withdraw from short wave broadcasts to the regions concerned in advance. The Government have asked the World Service to review the impact on audience figures next year.

15 Oct 2001 : Column: 966W

Pakistan

Mr. Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations he has made to Pakistan regarding their use of the death penalty to enforce their blasphemy laws. [7300]

Mr. Bradshaw: We were instrumental in ensuring that the EU followed up an earlier demarche to the Pakistani Attorney-General and Minister of Law, Justice and Human Rights, Ms Shahida Jamil, on 28 August, which reiterated the EU's concern about the misuse of the blasphemy laws and the unacceptability of the death penalty in Pakistan.

Along with our EU partners, we will continue to look for appropriate opportunities to raise our concerns about the blasphemy laws and the application of the death penalty with the Pakistani authorities.

Coalition against Terrorism

Mr. Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with representatives of the United States Government regarding the role of (a) Iran and (b) Saudi Arabia in the coalition against terrorism. [7830]

Mr. Bradshaw: The Government cannot disclose the detail of confidential discussions. We are committed to building international consensus against terrorism through bilateral and multilateral diplomacy.

Kashmir

Mr. Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what his policy is regarding the situation in Kashmir. [7832]

Mr. Bradshaw: We remain concerned by the situation in Kashmir and continue to urge India and Pakistan to persevere with dialogue to resolve all issues outstanding between them. In this context, we welcome the recent contacts between President Musharraf and Prime Minister Vajpayee.

Ross Cranston: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the prospects for the people of Kashmir following the meeting between Indian and Pakistani leaders. [7090]

Mr. Bradshaw: We welcomed the talks between Prime Minister Vajpayee and General Musharraf in July. We hope that India and Pakistan will persevere with dialogue and reach a peaceful settlement to this issue.

Ross Cranston: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress has been made since July in allowing international human rights monitors to enter Kashmir. [7089]

Mr. Bradshaw: I regret that there has been no progress since my answer to the same question by my hon. Friend the Member for Rochdale (Mrs. Fitzsimons) on 10 July 2001, Official Report, column 474W. We continue to impress upon the Indian Government the benefits of transparency and regularly urge them to allow access for human rights bodies, including the UN Rapporteurs on

15 Oct 2001 : Column: 967W

Torture and on Extra-judicial Executions, the Working Group on Disappearances and groups such as Amnesty International.

---