---

21 Mar 2003 : Column 975W—continued

RAF Fairford

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what provision under the Terrorism Act 2000 he is using to prevent people from protesting at RAF Fairford. [103483]

21 Mar 2003 : Column 976W

Mr. Blunkett [holding answer 18 March 2003]: The Terrorism Act 2000 is not being applied in the prevention of protests at RAF Fairford. Powers under this legislation are applied solely for the prevention and investigation of acts of terrorism.

Scotland

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many special advisers in the Department (a) have left and (b) will be leaving to work in Scotland for the Labour Party in the forthcoming Scottish parliamentary elections. [103605]

Mr. Blunkett: The rules relating to Special Advisers' political activities are set out in the Model Contract for Special Advisers. Further guidance in respect of elections for the Scottish Parliament is set out at paragraph 13 of the Guidance on Conduct for Civil Servants in United Kingdom Departments, published by the Cabinet Office on 10 March.

The reasons for a Special Adviser's resignation are a private matter between the Department and Adviser, and are therefore exempt from disclosure under paragraph 12 of the Code of Practice on Access to Information.

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans Ministers in the Department have to (a) visit Scotland on official business, (b) announce public appointments and (c) make ministerial announcements in April. [103660]

Mr. Blunkett: All business undertaken by the Home Office during the campaign period preceding elections to the Scottish Parliament will be conducted in accordance with the Guidance on Conduct for Civil Servants in United Kingdom Departments in respect of elections to the Scottish Parliament and National Assembly for Wales, published by the Cabinet Office on 10 March.

MINISTER FOR WOMEN

Women's Portfolio Duties

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Minister for Women if she will make a statement regarding the proportion of her ministerial time she gives to her Women's Portfolio duties. [99037]

Mr. Stunell: To ask the Minister for Women if she will make a statement on the proportion of her ministerial time she spends on women's portfolio duties. [103779]

Ms Hewitt: With women making up about half the workforce, setting up a third of new business start-ups and making the majority of decisions as consumers, my roles as Secretary of State for Trade and Industry and Minister for Women are inextricably linked. I do not therefore see the two as separate roles to which time should be specifically allocated or recorded.

My hon. Friend the Member for Hornsey and Wood Green (Mrs. Roche) also works on women and equality issues as part of her ministerial portfolio.

21 Mar 2003 : Column 977W

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Burundi

Mr. Key: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment her Department has made of the implications of the forthcoming change of leadership in the transitional Government of Burundi; and what plans she has to provide (a) financial and (b) political support to enable the deployment of observers and peacekeeping troops to Burundi. [103081]

Mr. Rammell: I have been asked to reply.

With the international community we remain committed to supporting the Arusha process and the transitional government institutions. We have given extensive support to South African Vice President Zuma and his facilitation team. We and our EU partners have committed Euro1.23 million to finance the African Union Observer Mission in Burundi. We now stand ready to assist financially the deployment of the African Mission, which is central to the success of the 2 December ceasefire. It is important that there is a smooth hand over of power in the Transitional National Government of Burundi. We will continue to monitor the situation closely.

Mr. Leigh: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the Government are doing to promote peace in Burundi. [103104]

Mr. Rammell: I have been asked to reply.

The UK continues to monitor the situation in Burundi closely. With the international community, we remain committed to supporting the Arusha process and the transitional government institutions. We have given extensive support to South African Vice President Zuma and his facilitation team. We and EU partners have committed Euro1.23 million to finance the African Union Observer Mission in Burundi. We stand ready to assist financially the deployment of the African Mission, which is central to the success of the 2 December ceasefire.

Humanitarian Assistance

Judy Mallaber: Asked the Secretary of State for International Development, what additional support is the UK Government providing to humanitarian agencies to help their preparedness and for immediate humanitarian response following conflict in Iraq. [104954]

Clare Short: I have committed £20 million to support contingency preparations by the UN humanitarian agencies, Red Cross/Red Crescent Movement and

21 Mar 2003 : Column 978W

international NGOs. DFID has set aside a further £70 million for the immediate humanitarian response. The UK Government is considering further assistance in line with emerging humanitarian needs.

DFID also provides 19 per cent. of EC funding for Iraq. The EC has committed 21 million euros to the immediate response, and the UK will support the Commission's request to the budgetary authorities for additional humanitarian assistance to Iraq.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Benefit Fraud

Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what checks he conducts against benefit fraud by members of his staff. [101554]

Malcolm Wicks: The Department for Work and Pensions adopts a robust approach to detection, prevention and deterrence of internal fraud. Local Security Specialists assess risks over a number of key areas and provide managers with assurance on the state of internal security. Management control systems are in place to deter and detect, which includes computer generated random checks on selected accesses by staff of the benefit system. In the event of internal fraud being suspected, specially trained staff are in place to investigate.

Departmental Press Releases

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many press releases have been issued by his Department in each (a) year and (b) quarter from 1995–96 to 2002–03; and if he will make a statement. [92475]

Mr. McCartney: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Bath (Mr. Foster) on 27 February 2002, and the answer given to the hon. Member for North Tayside (Pete Wishart) on 17 June 2002.

The Department of Work and Pensions was formed in June 2001. This involved the amalgamation of parts of the Department for Education and Employment (including the Employment Service) with the Department of Social Security. In April 2000, the BA and CSA Press Offices merged with the DSS team, and consequently from that date all Press Releases were categorised as DSS.

It is not possible to dis-aggregate those press releases issued by DfEE relating solely to employment issues in the period requested. However, the press releases issued by the former DSS and the DWP are as follows.

	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002
DWP	—	—	—	—	260	335
DSS	291	311	270	411	—	—
Benefits Agency (BA)	60	42	48	—	—	—
Contributions Agency (CA)	50	10	3	—	—	—
Child Support Agency (CSA)	10	4	—	—	—	—

21 Mar 2003 : Column 979W

The quarterly breakdown is only available for 2002, as the information on previous years is inaccessible.

	2002
January to March	95
April to June	78
July to September	73
October to December	89

Employment, Social Policy, Health andConsumer Affairs Council

Mr. Hood: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the outcome was of the Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council held on 6 March; what the Government's stance was on the issues discussed, including its voting record; and if he will make a statement. [102212]

Malcolm Wicks : I represented the UK at the Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs (ESPHCA) Council in Brussels on 6 March 2003, together with my hon. Friend the Minister for Employment Relations, Industry and the Regions.

The main business of this Council was a discussion on the proposed Directive on working conditions for temporary workers and the preparation of the Spring European Council, to take place on 21 March.

On the former, following lunchtime discussion, the Presidency concluded that the dossier was not ready for agreement at this point. The UK declared its readiness to reach agreement on a directive, but one with considerably more flexibility than the current draft, and joined the consensus for aiming for political agreement in June.

On the latter, the Council adopted without amendment the Joint Employment Report 2002 and its contribution to the Spring Council, "Key messages on the future of the Employment Strategy". In a public debate, member states were in broad agreement on the priorities for the revised Employment Guidelines outlined in the paper: the Guidelines should be fewer in number, focused on outputs rather than inputs, and linked closely to the Lisbon employment rate targets.

The debate also revealed broad support for the idea of an Employment Task Force, as proposed by the UK, France and Germany. The Council agreed that the Task Force should be a one-off, independent analysis of the measures required to improve Europe's employment performance in the short term. The Task Force should complement the revised Employment Strategy, without creating any new processes.

Council approved Joint Reports from the Commission and the Council on adequate and sustainable pensions, and on the future of health care and care for the elderly. It noted the opinion of the Social Protection Committee on the Commission's Synthesis Report and agreed a key issues paper on social protection to be sent to the Spring Council.

21 Mar 2003 : Column 980W

The Commission reassured the Council that its forthcoming Communication on streamlining of social protection would acknowledge that different methods and time scales were appropriate for different areas of work. It would also respect subsidiarity.

The Council noted the work programmes for 2003 of the Employment Committee and the Social Protection Committee.

The Council adopted a decision establishing a Tripartite Social Summit for Growth and Employment, noting the declaration from Denmark and the UK that the agreement was on the understanding that it did not set a precedent for the use of Article 202 as a Treaty base for such decisions.

The Council heard without comment presentations by the Commission on initiatives following the Commission action plan for skills and mobility: European health insurance card, legal basis of the European Employment Services (EURES), and free movement of workers.

Following an orientation debate, the Council agreed on a joint Presidency and Commission proposal for the Council to send an annual report on Gender Mainstreaming to the Spring Council. The Commission agreed with the UK that this would not involve the establishment of a new process.

The Commission reported on progress under the European Year of People with Disabilities and outlined its forthcoming report on the social situation in Europe focusing on health.

No Consumer Affairs items were on the agenda.

No votes were taken at this Council.

---