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21 May 2003 : Column 800W—continued

Broadband

9. Mr. Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what action is being taken to increase access to broadband technology in all areas of Northern Ireland. [113809]

Mr. Pearson: The Government have committed £290 million to progressively improve broadband access throughout Northern Ireland over the next 10 years. Significant initiatives include the major Classroom 2000 and Electronic Libraries projects. In addition we have introduced a range of complementary supply and demand side initiatives to increase access for business, citizens and communities across Northern Ireland.

Good Friday Agreement

10. Mr. McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what further measures will be taken to implement fully the Good Friday agreement and restore the political institutions in Northern Ireland. [113810]

Mr. Paul Murphy: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Broxtowe (Dr. Palmer).

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Decommissioning

11. Bob Spink : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what recent representations he has received on decommissioning. [113811]

Jane Kennedy: I can confirm that the Provisional IRA and the UDA have recently been engaged in talks with the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning. However, the Prime Minister stated clearly in his speech on 1 May 2003 that an undertaking is needed that 'all' arms will be put beyond use through the IICD.

15. Sir Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what recent discussions he has had with Sinn Fein about meaningful decommissioning of terrorist weapons. [113815]

Jane Kennedy: Clarity on the issue of an end to paramilitary activity, including the decommissioning of all arms, has been a central focus of our discussions with the parties—including Sinn Fein—on the restoration of the institutions on a stable and inclusive basis. We have been clear that all paramilitary activity, as specified in paragraph 13 of the Joint Declaration, must come to an end. We call on all paramilitary organisations to engage with the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning and put all weapons beyond use.

Paramilitary Activity

12. Mr. Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what progress has been made towards ending all paramilitary activity. [113812]

Jane Kennedy: The Government acknowledge that steps have been made by some groups in terms of paramilitary ceasefires, independent arms inspections and three acts of decommissioning. We now need a clear and unambiguous undertaking that all the activities listed in paragraph 13 of the Joint Declaration will cease completely.

The Government are determined in their resolve to see a complete and permanent end to all paramilitary activity and will continue to bear down and thwart the efforts of those who still see violence and terror as the way forward.

Peace Process

13. Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the peace process. [113813]

Mr. Paul Murphy: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Broxtowe (Dr. Palmer).

Assembly Elections

14. Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the political impact of the cancellation of the Assembly elections on 29 May 2003. [113814]

Mr. Paul Murphy: The decision to postpone the elections was not taken lightly. However, we judged that, in the absence of clarity on an end to paramilitary activity as set out in paragraph 13 of the Joint

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Declaration, the trust and confidence did not exist to permit the restoration of functioning institutions. If we had had elections, we would not have had Government under the Agreement. The Government are now focused on working hard to bring about the restoration of the necessary trust and confidence, with a view to holding elections in the autumn.

Asylum Seekers

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many asylum seekers are located in Northern Ireland; at what establishments they are being housed; and what the cost of housing asylum seekers in Northern Ireland was in the last 12 months for which figures are available. [113369]

Beverley Hughes: I have been asked to reply.

The information is not available in the form requested.

The availability of information on the location of asylum seekers in the UK is currently linked to the support the asylum seeker receives. Asylum seekers in the UK either receive support from the National Asylum Support Service (NASS), local authorities or the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), or are supporting themselves.

At the end of December 2002, 170 ¹ asylum seekers (including dependents) were being supported in NASS accommodation and 20 ¹ asylum seekers (including dependents) were in receipt of subsistence only support in Northern Ireland.

No information is held centrally on the location of residence of asylum seekers supported by DWP or who support themselves.

Information in respect of the cost of housing asylum seekers in Northern Ireland is not currently available.

¹ Figures have been rounded to the nearest five. The figures exclude cases where support has been ceased.

Bylaws

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland pursuant to his answer of 29 April 2003, Official Report, column 332W, on bylaws, which local government authorities have applications for bylaws outstanding; how many outstanding applications there are per local government authority; what the content is of outstanding applications received by the Department of Environment from local government authorities requesting permission to invoke new bylaws in the past 10 years; when they were received by the Department of Environment; what action has been taken towards granting permission on each separate application; how many of these applications are within the power of the Department to confirm; and when local government authorities are notified that an application has not been successful. [113573]

Angela Smith: In total 12 applications to the Department of Environment from eight district councils for the confirmation of bylaws are currently outstanding. The number of outstanding applications by district council is set out in the table together with the broad content of each application and the date received.

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Action has been taken on all applications and these have been the subject of extensive correspondence and discussion involving district councils and legal advisers for local and central government. Each application is currently at a different stage of consideration.

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All 12 applications are within the power of the Department to confirm and in four cases joint confirmation with the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is required. The Department of Environment has not notified any district council during the period that its application has not been successful.

District council	Number of bylaw applications	Broad content(6)	Date received
Ards	4	Pleasure Grounds, Public Walks and Open Spaces;Seashores, Esplanades and Promenades;Good Rule and Government—Miscellaneous; Good Rule and Government—Car Parks	16 March 1994
Carrickfergus	1	Pleasure Grounds, Public Walks and Open Spaces	15 May 2001
Craigavon	1	Pleasure Grounds, Public Walks and Open Spaces	5 August 1996
Castlereagh	1	Pleasure Grounds, Public Walks and Open Spaces	28 June 2002
Coleraine	1	Seashores, Esplanades and Promenades	29 April 1998
Down	1	Seashores, Esplanades and Promenades	14 September 1998
Lisburn	1	Good Rule and Government	14 August 2000
North Down	2	Seashores, Esplanades and Promenades	2 December 1994
		Pleasure Grounds, Public Walks and Open Spaces	18 January 2002
TOTAL	12

⁽⁶⁾ There are 8 model sets of Home Office bylaws. The current applications fall within three of the models, as follows:

"Pleasure Grounds, Public Walks and Open Spaces" includes bylaws for the regulation and management of playgrounds; control of certain sports; protection of flora and fauna; and skateboarding and roller skating.

"Seashores, Esplanades and Promenades" includes bylaws for the control of public meetings; animals; vehicles; games and entry to public conveniences.

"Good Rule and Government" includes bylaws for the control of noise; reckless/wilful damage; games near streets and district council car parks.

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INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Africa

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Minister of State for International Development what support the Government are giving (a) bilaterally and (b) through (i) World bank and (ii) UN agencies, to initiatives to assist African countries to overcome non-tariff barriers to trade by meeting G8 product standards and engaging in international standard setting; and if she will make a statement on G8 members' actions to improve the availability of information on standards and transparency to trade Ministers in developing countries. [113649]

Hilary Benn: The Department for International Development (DFID) has undertaken a considerable amount of work in the important area of assisting developing countries, including in Africa, in the areas of standard setting and compliance. Bilateral trade related technical assistance projects in Malawi and Ghana have both provided support to the Standards Bureaus in those countries, to enable them to participate in international standard setting and implement the standards set by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation's Codex Alimentarius Committee. The new Regional Trade Facilitation project in southern Africa, covering the Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries, also has a component to support implementation of international standards that SADC members have signed up to.

Through its funding of the Trade Policy Development Project of the World bank, DFID has supported the creation of the Standards and Trade Development Facility (STDF), which has already undertaken exploratory work in Africa and will be developing projects to enable African countries to meet standards for agricultural exports. The STDF is a partnership of the World bank, World Trade Organisation, the Food and Agriculture Organisation and World Health Organisation, which attempts to strengthen donor coordination in standards related to food safety, and plant and animal health. Between November 1999 and February 2003, reports and action plans were developed in Nigeria, South Africa, Mozambique, Kenya and Uganda, examining the link between trade facilitation, standards and trade.

DFID is also contributing to a new United Nations Industrial Development Organisation Trust Fund, 'Enabling Developing Countries to Participate in International Trade',which includes African countries in its first wave of projects. The Fund aims to: enhance developing country market accesses through appropriate infrastructure in order to meet and show compliance with export requirements; build capacity in potentially high productivity sectors; and provide support to developing countries that have encountered problems with meeting standards requirements for their exports.

The G8 will be reporting on their actions to implement the commitments in the Africa Action Plan,

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including in the area of standards, at the G8 summit in Evian in June 2003. However, the European Commission has already announced the establishment of a 'Help desk' within DG Trade, intended to facilitate developing country exports to the European Union through providing information on the requirements of the European Union market, including product standards. This helpdesk will be accessible through internet or by phone and Commission and member states delegations in countries with poor telecommunications.

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Minister of State for International Development what new initiatives her Department has taken since the G8 Kananaskis summit to promote agricultural productivity in Africa. [113617]

Hilary Benn: DFID promotes agricultural productivity in Africa through supporting African efforts to increase domestic productivity and working to creat a fair and equitable international trading system. We do not earmark bilateral funds, but support Africa's own priorities defined in national Poverty Reduction Strategy processes, which also seek to address the many constraints that lie outside the agriculture sector. These include issues such as economic policy, trade policy and credit and infrastructure provision. UK resources for Africa will increase by nearly 50 per cent. to around £1 billion by 2006.

The UK supports the development of a fair and equitable international trading system. We believe the G8 process can add significant political momentum to the relevant negotiations. Following Kananaskis, DFID has been supporting progress internationally on CAP reform and WTO agriculture negotiations, the reform and harmonisation of G8 preferential access schemes and multilateral trade related technical assistance to Africa.

Access to agricultural technology in Africa was highlighted at Kananaskis. Two relevant initiatives are our support for the design of the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (a public-private partnership to enable access to agricultural technology) and provision of £16 million to support agricultural research for Africa in 2002–03.

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Minister of State for International Development how many African-based businesses have won contracts funded by his Department in each of the last three years; what the values of those contracts were; and what steps his Department has taken to increase the opportunity for African businesses to bid for such contracts. [113621]

Hilary Benn: DFID untied its aid in April 2001, when we opened our contracting to international competition. In 2001–02 DFID headquarters awarded two contracts worth a total value of £0.37 million to African-based businesses. In 2002–03 there were eight such contracts with a total value of £10.64 million. Figures for the period before 2001 could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

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We have also developed trained contracting capacity in DFID's overseas offices to allow them to make better use of both local and international suppliers for lower-value contracts. In 2001–02 DFID offices in Africa let contracts worth a total of £11.82 million. In 2002–03, the corresponding figure was £9.41 million. We do not hold a central record of the share of these contracts awarded to local businesses.

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Minister of State for International Development what her Department has done to bring United Kingdom companies together with NEPAD. [113624]

Hilary Benn: DFID is supporting the Commonwealth Business Council (CBC) to develop private sector engagement in the NEPAD Programme of Action, and stimulate the increased domestic and foreign investment required for NEPAD to succeed. This work is subsumed under the principal private sector initiative in support of NEPAD—the NEPAD Business Group (NBG).

NBG comprises leading business organisations that have a broad constituency—both inside and outside Africa—and are committed to helping the continent realise its full economic potential. NBG includes the following organisations that count a number of UK businesses amongst their members: CBC; Prince of Wales International Business Leaders Forum; British African Business Association; and the International Chamber of Commerce.

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