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Sponsorship

Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which of his Department's projects have received sponsorship in the last financial year; who the sponsor was in each case; what the nature of each project was; what time-period was covered by each project; what the total cost of each project was; how much money was involved in each sponsorship deal; and if he will make a statement. [112399]

Mr. Rammell: In line with the Government's commitment in its response to the Sixth Report from the Committee on Standards in Public Life, details of individual amounts of sponsorship in 2002–03 valued at more than £5,000 are disclosed in the department's Annual Report which is available in the Library of the House.

Turkey

Ann Clwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations his Department made to the Turkish Government about the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights on 17 July 2001 in the case of Leyla Zana and other Kurdish members of the Turkish Parliament; whether diplomats from the Embassy in Ankara (a) attended the retrial hearing on 25 April and (b) intend to attend future hearings; and if he will make a statement on the treatment of the human rights of the defendants. [112827]

Mr. MacShane [holding answer 12 May 2003]: FCO officials raised the case of Leyla Zana and her co-defendants with their Turkish counterparts at the most recent round of an ongoing Human Rights dialogue on

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26 November 2002. A representative of the British Embassy in Ankara did attend the retrial hearing on 25 April. The Embassy will continue to liaise with our EU Partners to determine who attends future hearings.

UN Firearms Protocol

Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the UK has ratified the UN protocol against the illicit manufacturing of and trafficking in firearms, their parts and components and ammunition; and which other states have ratified the protocol. [112169]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: On 6 May 2002, the UK signed the Protocol against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, their Parts, Components and Ammunition, one of three protocols to the UN Convention on Trans-national Organised Crime. We are now working in conjunction with the European Commission to ensure that the necessary measures are in place for the UK to ratify the Protocol. We are also encouraging others to sign the Protocol and work towards its implementation.

According to the UN Office on Drugs and Organised Crime there have been 52 signatures and four ratifications to the Protocol.

United States

Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the US government about the Pentagon's proposals of 4 March to repeal the 1993 legislation that bans research and development of further nuclear weapons. [112278]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: We understand that the US Department of Defence has requested that the US Congress rescind US legislation that prohibits US government research and development into low-yield nuclear weapons. My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has not discussed this matter with the US government.

The US government stated in May 2003 at the second session of the Preparatory Committee for the 2005 Review Conference of the States Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, that it is reducing reliance on nuclear weapons and is not developing, testing or producing any nuclear warheads and has not done so in more than a decade. The US confirmed that there is no current requirement for a new nuclear warhead and that the US President has not directed such work.

PRIME MINISTER

Access to Government Information

Mr. Barnes: To ask the Prime Minister if he will ensure that the exemptions provided in the code of practice on Access to Government Information which allows for the waiving of legal professional privilege in the drafting of legislation is employed automatically by departments when legislation is being drafted which is intended to protect the public. [112980]

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The Prime Minister: The circumstances in which information is exempt from the code of practice on account of legal professional privilege are set out in paragraphs 4.15 and paragraphs 4.16 of the Guidance on Interpretation to the code of practice on Access to Government Information (second edition 1997), a copy of which is available in the Library.

Gibraltar

Mr. Ancram: To ask the Prime Minister what discussions he held with his Spanish counterpart concerning Gibraltar during the Azores Summit in March; and whether an agreement was reached. [113287]

The Prime Minister: None.

Official Visits

Mr. Steen: To ask the Prime Minister if he will make an official visit to Gaia House near Denbury in South Devon. [112965]

The Prime Minister: I have no current plans to do so.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Access to Work

Mr. Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he is taking to improve awareness of the Access to Work scheme; and how much was spent on its promotion in the last year for which figures are available. [110738]

Mr. Nicholas Brown: Jobcentre Plus invests around £300,000 per year on marketing and publicising its specialised services and programmes for disabled people. Promotional material is available in a wide range of media such as leaflets, audiotapes and videos. Information and advice on Access to Work forms an integral part of many of these campaigns and it is not therefore possible to give a separate figure for this scheme only.

Information on all our disability services is available from Jobcentre Plus offices. Detailed information is also available on the Jobcentre Plus web site. The web address is included on Jobcentre Plus publicity material and can be accessed through most internet search engines.

Disability Employment Advisers regularly meet local employers to promote the full range of disability services, including Access to Work. In addition, many disability organisations actively promote Access to Work to their members and some have information about the programme on their website.

Research shows that applications come from a range of sources, suggesting that knowledge of the programme is widespread ¹ .

¹ Source:

"Users' Views of Access to Work" Employment Service study, March 2001.

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Attendance Allowance (Burton)

Mrs. Dean: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in the Burton constituency are in receipt of attendance allowance. [113147]

Maria Eagle: There are currently 2,100 customers in receipt of attendance allowance in the parliamentary constituency of Burton.

Note:

Figures taken from a 5 per cent. sample at 30 November 2002. Figures are rounded to the nearest hundred.

Source:

IAD Information Centre

Benefit Payments

Mr. Alan Reid: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many recipients of (a) state pensions, (b) war pensions and (c) benefits were written to by his Department during April to inform them that they must change to a direct payment method; and for each of these three groups, how many chose to have their payments made into (i) a bank or building society account, (ii) a basic bank account and (iii) a post office card account. [112907]

Malcolm Wicks: The information is not available in the format requested.

Information that is available shows that 538,666 customer invitation letters were issued in April. This was made up of 538,430 child benefit customers, 209 Veterans Agency customers (the final segment of Veterans agency customers) and 27 Jobcentre Plus customers (the residue from a pilot exercise in March). For the same period 382,199 customers responded to our letters and opted for payment into a bank or building society account, many of which can be accessed at post office branches. We do not differentiate between current and basic bank accounts. 60,086 customers responded with a request for a post office card account.

The change will be phased in over a two-year period and is due to be completed in 2005.

Disabled People

Mr. Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans he has to improve access to Job Centre Plus for disabled people, with particular reference to (a) physical access to premises and (b) staff training in disability awareness. [110740]

Mr. Nicholas Brown: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the Acting Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus, Clare Dodgson. She will write to the hon. Member.

Letter from Clare Dodgson to Mr. Tim Boswell, dated 14 May 2003:

As Jobcentre Plus is an Executive Agency, I have been asked to reply to your question concerning what plans we have to improve access to Jobcentre Plus for people with disabilities. This falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Acting Chief Executive of the Agency.

We are currently undertaking a four year programme to upgrade our premises and introduce a new integrated service to all people of working age. As a part of this programme our offices are being designed and refurbished to enable all of our customers to gain access to them. We are also ensuring that our customers have access to all of our services through careful planning of our service

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delivery arrangements. For example, where Personal Advisor interviews are conducted on an upper floor and a lift is not available we will make arrangements to interview people with mobility problems on the ground floor.

In planning for our new services we are consulting on our proposals for service delivery with MPs, local partners, stakeholders, customer groups (including groups of and for disabled people), staff and trade unions. We are currently reviewing the training given to Personal Advisers and are seeking to better equip them to deliver work focused interviews to all of our customers.

Additionally, enhanced training is being developed for Personal Advisers specialising in helping people claiming Incapacity Benefit.

The new Jobcentre Plus service enables us to widen the help and support previously given to millions of customers in receipt of incapacity and disability benefits. Through building modernisation, integrating services and better training we aim to meet the needs of all of our customers.

I hope this is helpful.

Mr. Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions which organisations have been awarded contracts to deliver the New Deal for Disabled People in the Wycombe constituency. [112373]

Mr. Nicholas Brown [holding answer 12 May 2003]: New Deal for Disabled People, delivered by around 60 Job Brokers across England, Scotland and Wales, is helping people with health problems and disabilities to move into work. Since the national extension of the programme began, it has helped over 11,000 people into jobs and almost 38,000 have registered with Job Brokers to actively pursue employment.

Job Brokers are contracted to deliver their services by local authority area. The Job Brokers currently operating within the Wycombe district council area are Scout Enterprises (Western) Ltd, Support Shop Ltd, Yes2Work and Shaw Trust Employment.

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