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Recruitment and Retention Fund

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills for what reason the recruitment and retention fund is limited to two financial years. [19340]

Mr. Timms: Funding of £35 million for the recruitment and retention fund was made available in April and we said that there would be at least that available next year. No decisions have been made concerning the future of the fund.

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what criteria were used to allocate the recruitment and retention fund. [19377]

Mr. Timms: The fund was allocated on the basis of vacancy data from the annual census of vacancies conducted each January averaged over the three years 1998–2000.

Terrorism

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much she forecasts will be spent in the current financial year by her Department as a direct result of measures associated with the current action against terrorism. [10951]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: The additional costs forecast to be incurred by the Department for Education and Skills on enhanced security measures in the current financial year, as a direct result of measures associated with the current action against terrorism, is £233,783. That figure includes £100,000 for IT network resilience.

SOLICITOR-GENERAL

Correspondence

Mr. Burns: To ask the Solicitor-General how many letters her Department received from hon. and right hon. Members between 20 June and 20 July. [18590]

The Solicitor-General: Information on the volume of correspondence from Members of Parliament received by ministerial agency chief executives, and Departments and agencies, and performance in handling them is published

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annually by the Cabinet Office. The most recent report, covering 2000, was announced by the then Minister for the Cabinet Office, on 6 April 2001, Official Report, columns 325–27W. Between 20 June and 20 June 2001 a total of 22 letters were received by my Department from hon. and right hon. Members.

Mr. Burns: To ask the Solicitor-General how many and what proportion of letters received by her Department between 20 June and 20 July were replied to (a) in under 15, (b) in under 20, (c) in under 30, (d) in under 40 and (e) in over 40 working days. [18576]

The Solicitor-General: Of the 22 letters received by my Department from hon. and right hon. Members between 20 June and 20 July, 95 per cent. were replied to in under 15 working days and 100 per cent. were replied to in under 20 working days.

During June and July some 212 letters were received from members of the public and of these 70 per cent. received replies within the target of 20 working days.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Zimbabwe

Mr. Win Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations (a) his Department and (b) international organisations to which the UK belongs, have made to the Government of Zimbabwe on the approval of a Public Order and Security Bill and the operation of free media. [18090]

Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the Government of Zimbabwe regarding the proposed introduction of a new Public Order and Security Bill in Zimbabwe. [18878]

Mr. Bradshaw [holding answer 28 November 2001]: The Government of Zimbabwe have said that they plan to table a Public Order and Security Bill, to replace the Law and Order (Maintenance) Act, introduced in 1960. The Bill itself has not yet come before the Zimbabwe Parliament. Discussion at this stage would thus be premature. The early indications are that, if enacted, the Act could have a profoundly negative impact on freedom of expression in Zimbabwe.

Correspondence

Mr. Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many letters his Department received from hon. and right hon. Members between 20 June and 20 July. [18561]

Mr. Straw: My Department received 1,349 letters from hon. and right hon. Members between 20 June and 20 July 2001.

Mr. Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many and what proportion of letters received by his Department between 20 June and 20 July were replied to (a) in under 15, (b) in under 20, (c) in under 30, (d) in under 40 and (e) in over 40 working days. [18581]

Mr. Straw: Of the 1,349 letters received from hon. and right hon. Members between 20 June and 20 July:

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(a) 72 per cent. were replied to in under 15 days;

(b) 79 per cent. were replied to in under 20 days;

(c) 81 per cent. were replied to in under 30 days;

(d) 82 per cent. were replied to in under 40 days;

(e) 18 per cent. were replied to in over 40 days.

Joint Entry Clearance Unit

Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he has taken (a) to assess the extent of and (b) to raise awareness of institutional racism with entry clearance officers working for the Joint Entry Clearance Unit. [17988]

Mr. Bradshaw: All correspondence to the Joint Entry Clearance Unit is monitored for allegations of racism. The work of entry clearance officers is scrutinised by the independent monitor, who reports to Parliament on the quality of the decision making process. The Parliamentary Ombudsman can investigate allegations of maladministration, including racism. He has received one such complaint this year, which was unfounded.

All entry clearance staff are trained in race awareness.

Sudan

Mr. Dawson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the Government of Sudan about the recent bombing of civilian and humanitarian facilities in Malualkon, Bahr El Ghazal; and if he will make a statement. [20203]

Mr. Bradshaw: We are aware of recent aerial bombing incidents in Bahr El Ghazal which affected humanitarian operations there. The UN have made strong protests to the Sudanese Government about these incidents. We regularly call on the Government of Sudan, both bilaterally and within the framework of the EU Sudan dialogue, to stop the indiscriminate aerial bombardment of civilian and humanitarian targets. We have urged both sides to stop immediately hostilities in order to create an environment conducive to negotiations and to engage in a continuous and sustained negotiation towards a just and lasting political settlement.

Royal Visits

Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on how many occasions in the past five years members of the Royal Family, other than Her Majesty the Queen, Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, have been accommodated (a) in the residences of United Kingdom representatives overseas and (b) at public expense when primarily involved on private visits overseas. [18378]

Mr. Straw: Members of the Royal Family on private visits overseas may be accommodated at the residences of UK representatives overseas, particularly if security questions are involved, but no consolidated record is kept.

The FCO does not pay hotel and other bills when members of the Royal Family travel privately.

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INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Correspondence

Mr. Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development (1) how many letters her Department received from right hon. and hon. Members between 20 June and 20 July; [18564]

(2) how many and what proportion of letters received by her Department between 20 June and 20 July were replied to (a) in under 15, (b) in under 20, (c) in under 30, (d) in under 40 and (e) in over 40 working days. [18584]

Clare Short: We received 139 letters from right hon. and hon. Members between 20 June and 20 July. Of these, 98 were answered in less than 15 days, 17 in less than 20 days and two in over 40 days. Twenty two letters did not require a response.

Tuvalu

Mr. Nigel Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assistance her Department is making available to the people of Tuvalu. [19251]

Clare Short: DFID does not provide bilateral assistance to Tuvalu. My Department administers a regional programme in the Pacific totalling some £4 million per year, which is inclusive of the poorest Pacific island countries. We work closely with key regional partners including the Form Secretariat, Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) and South Pacific Applied Geoscience Commission (SOPAC). Given the regional nature of the programme, it is not possible to determine exactly how much of this assistance goes directly to Tuvalu. DFID also contributes to the multilateral programmes maintained by the Asian Development Bank, World bank, the EU and the UN from which Tuvalu benefits.

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