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Christians (China)

Mr. Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Chinese Government regarding the persecution of Christians in south east China, with specific reference to the imprisonment of several Christians in Huadu Detention Centre in Guangdong Province. [30418]

Mr. MacShane: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary raised concerns about religious freedom in China with the Chinese Foreign Minister during his visit to the UK on 16–19 January. During my visit to China in September 2001, I raised concerns about human rights, including the treatment of Christians, with the Chinese

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authorities. These concerns were discussed in detail at successive rounds of the UK-China Human Rights Dialogue, most recently on 19–21 November 2001.

We raised the case of Pastor Li Dexian at the February 2001 round of the UK/China Human Rights Dialogue. The Chinese told us that he was not under arrest at that stage. Media reports indicate that he was arrested on 26 July 2001, and held at the Hua Du Centre, but released the following day.

Brussels Process

Jeff Ennis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what date has been set for the next round of talks under the Brussels Process; and what the time scale is for the end of talks. [30641]

Peter Hain: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for West Suffolk (Mr. Spring) on 5 December 2001, Official Report, column 311W. We propose to hold a further ministerial meeting of the Brussels Process shortly. It remains our intention to conclude a comprehensive agreement by the summer.

Jeff Ennis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement to Parliament following the next round of talks under the Brussels Process. [30645]

Peter Hain: We will continue to ensure that the House is kept fully informed of progress under the Brussels Process.

Commonwealth Games

Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what support from his Department is being given to overseas territories to compete in the Commonwealth games; and which overseas territories are benefiting from this support. [30435]

Mr. Bradshaw: The overseas territories are themselves responsible for determining and funding their teams' participation in the games. We are in contact with the organisers of the games to ensure the overseas territories are fully involved. We are also liaising with the organisers to facilitate the attendance of VIP visitors from the participating territories.

Spanish Residents

Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many Spanish people live and work in the UK. [30702]

Peter Hain: According to the Office for National Statistics, as of mid-2000 there were approximately 47,000 Spanish nationals resident in the UK. The Spring 2000 Labour Force Survey, also produced by the Office for National Statistics, records approximately 30,000 Spanish nationals working in the UK.

PRIME MINISTER

Honours

Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Prime Minister how many non-citizens of the United Kingdom have been knighted in each year since 1990. [30024]

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Mr. Straw: I have been asked to reply.

The numbers of non-UK citizens who have received honorary knighthoods (or who were invested as honorary Dames) are as follows:

Year	Number
1990	8
1991	9
1992	23
1993	7
1994	12
1995	18
1996	22
1997	21
1998	18
1999	6
2000	29
2001	13

These figures do not include Knight (or Dame) Commanders of the Victorian Order which is the Queen's personal prerogative.

LORD CHANCELLOR'S DEPARTMENT

Parliamentary Questions

Norman Baker: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many answers to parliamentary questions have not been answered by the Lord Chancellor's Department under exemption 13 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information in each year since 1994. [29425]

Mr. Wills: It has not been possible to identify the answers to the parliamentary questions that the hon. Member refers to without incurring disproportionate cost. The Department does not keep records of parliamentary questions and answers in such a form as to enable the information sought to be readily produced. The only way to identify the relevant parliamentary questions and answers, with any degree of reliability, would be to search manually through Hansards. This would be an extremely time-consuming task which would produce the information sought by the hon. Member only at disproportionate cost.

Crown Court Proceedings

Mr. Lilley: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what proportion of defendants who appealed against conviction in a magistrates court and whose case was reheard in the Crown court in 2000 were found (a) not guilty and (b) guilty. [29694]

Mr. Wills: Information held centrally relating to the results of appeals to the Crown court is limited and is not collected in a form to provide an answer to the hon. Member's question without incurring disproportionate cost. For information purposes, however, the table provides figures for receipts, by type of appeal, and outcome, by type of result, of appeals to the Crown court during 2000.

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Appeals to the Crown court, 2000

	Number
Net receipts
Conviction/sentence	5,341
Sentence only	7,691
Other(13)	870
Total	13,902
Results
Allowed	3,090
Dismissed	4,485
Varied	3,268
Other(14)	3,512
Total	14,355

⁽¹³⁾ Eg liquor licence refusals and non-renewal of shotgun certificates

⁽¹⁴⁾ Abandoned appeals, remitted to magistrates, other results

Private Finance Initiative

Mr. McNamara: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, what procedures are in place to inform local authorities about the withdrawal of PFI credits from projects under his Department's remit; and what evaluation has been undertaken on the effectiveness of those procedures. [30637]

Mr. Wills: There have been no instances of the Department withdrawing PFI credits from projects that have received Project Review Group (PRG) endorsement. In the unlikely event that it could become necessary to withdraw PFI credits, the Department would consult with the appropriate local authorities and magistrates courts committee prior to any decision being made.

Mr. McNamara: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, on how many occasions since 1997 PFI credits have been withdrawn from projects under his Department's remit; and what were the (a) costs and (b) reasons for withdrawal. [30636]

Mr. Wills: There have been no instances where PFI credits have been withdrawn from projects following the Project Review Group's endorsement.

Mr. McNamara: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, what procedures his Department has for local authorities to make representations to the Project Review Group on a decision to withdraw PFI credits from projects under his Department's remit; and what is the length of time for response. [30638]

Mr. Wills: No formal procedures are in place for local authorities to make representations to the Project Review Group on a decision to withdraw PFI credits. That is not the Project Review Group's role. In the unlikely event it was necessary to review the credit allocation it would be a matter for the Department, in consultation with the appropriate local authorities and magistrates courts committee or committees.

ELECTORAL COMMISSION COMMITTEE

Transfer of Functions (Costs)

Mr. Rendel: To ask the right hon. Member for Berwick-upon-Tweed, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission if the additional costs relating to the transfer of the functions of the Local

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Government Commission for England to the Electoral Commission will be met in advance of the transfer date of 1 April 2002 provided for in the Local Government Commission for England (Transfer of Functions) Order 2001 (S.I., 2001, No. 3962). [31316]

Mr. Beith: In order to ensure the efficiency and effectiveness of the transfer and to enable the transferring local government boundary review functions, together with the related functions transferring from the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, to be carried out without interruption, urgent expenditure estimated at £127,000 will be met by repayable advances from the Contingencies Fund.

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