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13 Feb 2003 : Column 932W—continued
Minimum Income Guarantee
Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people it is estimated are eligible for Minimum Income Guarantee in Northern Ireland. [96857]
Mr. Browne: At October 2002 there were 76,101 people claiming the Minimum Income Guarantee. At present, the proportion of people who are eligible but have not claimed cannot be precisely estimated.
It is hoped that information from the new Family Resources Survey, will start to become available in the autumn. This information will enable take-up to be estimated.
The Social Security Agency continues to actively encourage uptake of Minimum Income Guarantee to ensure that all people claim and receive all the help they are entitled to.
Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people have applied for the Minimum Income Guarantee in Northern Ireland in each year since its introduction. [96858]
Mr. Browne: Minimum Income Guarantee was introduced in April 1999. Since then, almost 50,000 pensioners have applied.
The figures in the following table set out the number of applications made each financial year.
| Year | Applications |
|---|---|
| 1999–2000 | 10,923 |
| 2000–01 | 15,904 |
| 2001–02 | 14,721 |
| 2002 up to December | 8,297 |
Old People's Dwellings
Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many old people's dwellings in Northern Ireland have been allocated to people under 60 years of age. [96854]
Mr. Browne: Currently some 6,500 properties out of a total 17,500, one or two bedroomed bungalows have been let to people under the age of 60, some of whom have a disability. In addition there are approximately 5,000 ground floor flats which are considered to be suitable for the elderly but figures on age profile of the occupants is not readily available.
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Public Transport (Free Fares)
Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans there are to introduce free fares on public transport for women aged 60 and over in Northern Ireland. [96855]
Angela Smith: Currently under the Northern Ireland Concessionary Fares Scheme both men and women over 65 are eligible for free travel on public transport. Under equality legislation any reduction in the eligibility age would have to apply to both men and women. However, we have no plans at present to reduce the age of eligibility from 65.
Senior Citizens
Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what funding has been provided by Belfast Regeneration Office to projects and programmes dealing with senior citizens in each financial year since 1997. [96853]
Mr. Browne: Detail of funding provided by Belfast Regeneration Office (BRO) to those projects and programmes which benefit senior citizens are listed in the following table.
| Financial year | Total amount of funding allocated to senior citizens by BRO (£) |
|---|---|
| 1997–98 | 7,475.45 |
| 1998–99 | 3,100.00 |
| 1999–2000 | 2,623.00 |
| 2000–01 | 9,670.00 |
| 2001–02 | 977.71 |
| 2002–03 | 0 |
Sports Council
Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much money was allocated to the NT Sports Council in (a) 1997–98, (b) 1998–99, (c) 2000–01, (d) 2001–02 and (e) 2002–03. [96953]
Angela Smith: The total amount of money allocated to the Sports Council in the years listed is as follows:
| £ million | |
|---|---|
| 1997–98 | 3.009 |
| 1998–99 | 2.558 |
| 2000–01 | 4.618 |
| 2001–02 | 3.778 |
| 2002–03 | 5.748 |
Traffic Volume (Moy Village)
Mr. Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will commission a new survey for traffic volume in Moy village. [97012]
Angela Smith: I have asked the Chief Executive of Roads Service to write to the hon. Member in response to this question. A copy of the letter will be placed in the Library.
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FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH
Colombia (Human Rights)
Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) what recent discussions he has had with the US Administration regarding (a) developments and (b) the abuse of human rights in Colombia; and if he will make a statement; [97480]
- (2) what discussions he has had with the Government of Colombia regarding (a) abuses of human rights and (b) persecution of human rights workers; and if he will make a statement; [97510]
(3) what discussions he has had with UK and UN representatives at the UN regarding human rights surveillance by the United Nations in Colombia; and if he will make a statement. [97481]
Mr. Rammell: I refer the hon. Member to the answers I gave her on 22 January 2003, Official Report, column 354W.
Arms and Drugs Trafficking
Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information exchange systems there are between (a) UK and (b) EU agencies to monitor and tackle arms and trafficking. [97488]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The UK regularly exchanges information with its EU partners, both bilaterally and in multilateral fora such as the EU Committee on Conventional Arms Export Policy (COARM), the Wassenaar Arrangement, the Nuclear Suppliers' Group, the Australia Group and within the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe.
Under the EU Code of Conduct on Arms Exports, which relates to conventional arms, there is a Denial Notification (DN) system. EU Code of Conduct DNs are issued for all military listed and dual-use goods which have been refused a licence for export by a member state. No member state may export essentially identical goods, without first consulting the member state that issued the denial notification. Member states also contribute information about their arms export policy and licensing activity for inclusion in an annual report.
Only a minority of EU member states have legislation which controls the trafficking of arms.
Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps the Overseas Law Enforcement Liaison Officer network has taken to co-ordinate efforts to tackle arms and drugs trafficking. [97491]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: Drug and other law enforcement liaison officers represent a range of UK law enforcement agencies and are funded and tasked to combat specific aspects of organised crime. If in the course of their duties, liaison officers discover information that is relevant to the work of other UK law enforcement agencies, that information is shared rapidly as appropriate.
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Bermuda
Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the Government of Bermuda on constitutional change. [96670]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: My noble Friend Baroness Amos discussed the constitution review process with the Premier of Bermuda, the Attorney General and Senator David Burch in London in September 2002.
British Indian Ocean Territory
Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the use of British Indian Ocean Territory in relation to the international war against terrorism. [96669]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: Diego Garcia, part of the British Indian Ocean Territory, is the location of a US defence facility which was used as an important strategic staging post for coalition forces during the military campaign in Afghanistan; it contributed to the defeat of Taleban and al-Qaeda forces.
British Prisoners Overseas
Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the countries in which British (a) men and (b) women are serving a prison sentence. [96611]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The following table lists the countries in which British men and women are imprisoned and gives the numbers of men and women detained in each as at 31 December 2002. The figures represent those prisoners who either requested consular assistance or who gave permission to the local authorities to notify the British Consul of their arrest.
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