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15 Jul 2003 : Column 204W—continued

Electoral Identity Card

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what percentage of those eligible to vote in each constituency of Northern Ireland have (a) applied for and (b) received an electoral identity card. [120889]

Mr. Spellar: No record is maintained of applications made for the electoral identity card by constituency because of the validation procedures set up involving the electoral register. All accurate and complete applications, however, will result in the issue of the card. The number of cards issued at 3 July 2003, along with the percentage of the electorate having applied in each of the 18 Northern Ireland constituencies, is as follows:

Constituency	Number ofcards issued	Percentage of electorate issued with cards
Foyle	6,847	10.5
East Londonderry	4,194	7.5
North Antrim	4,921	7.0
East Antrim	3,183	5.7
Mid Ulster	4,318	7.2
West Tyrone	5,165	8.9
Fermanagh and South Tyrone	5,217	8.1
Upper Bann	3,840	5.6
Newry and Armagh	3,887	5.6
South Down	4,175	5.9
Lagan Valley	4,097	6.0
Strangford	3,743	5.6
South Antrim	3,465	5.4
North Down	2,853	5.0
Belfast East	3,555	6.8
Belfast South	3,323	6.5
Belfast West	6,154	12.1
Belfast North	5,545	10.8
Total	78,482	7.1

15 Jul 2003 : Column 205W

Post Offices

Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list the post offices, and their locations, which have been closed permanently in Northern Ireland in each year since March 1998. [125307]

Mr. Timms: I have been asked to reply.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave him on 30 June 2002, Official Report, column 75W. This is an operational matter for Post Office Ltd.

Sickness Absence

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) how many staff in his Department were on long-term sick leave in each of the last five years; [109254]

(2) how many staff in the Department have been on long-term sick leave in each of the last two years. [115857]

Mr. Paul Murphy: The number of staff in the Northern Ireland Office who were on long-term sick absence is as follows:

Long-term sickness absence—Northern Ireland Office staff

	Number
1997–98	(7)—
1998–99	(7)—
1999–2000	(7)—
2000–01	147
2001–02	143

⁽⁷⁾ Figures for 1997–98 to 1999–2000 could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Long-term sickness absence—Northern Ireland prison civilian staff

	Number
1998	30
1999	33
2000	30
2001	46
2002	46

The Northern Ireland Office considers 20 consecutive days (28 for prison civilian staff) to be long-term absence.

Sick absence statistics for the 11 Departments within the Northern Ireland Administration are analysed by financial year as opposed to calendar year. The information sought is readily available only for the period 1999–2000 to 2001–02.

Long-term sick leave in the NICS is defined as those sick absences lasting more than 20 working days. Published statistics for Northern Ireland Departments for the financial years 2000–01 and 2001–02 are accessible on the Department's website at: www. dfpni.gov.uk.publications

The following table identifies the number of staff who were on long-term sick leave during the period 1999–2000 to 2001–02.

15 Jul 2003 : Column 206W

	Number
1999–2000	2,690
2000–01	2,804
2001–02	3,029

The level of sick absence has been a matter of concern over recent years and a range of corporate and departmental initiatives have been, and are being, taken forward to reduce the current levels of sick absence. Northern Ireland Departments have now set individual targets for reduction in sick absence.

SOLICITOR-GENERAL

Feroz Abbasi/Moazzam Begg

Mr. Cash: To ask the Solicitor-General pursuant to her answer to the hon. Member for Stone of 10 July 2003, ref 124822, what response she has received from the United States Administration on why Mr. Feroz Abbasi and Mr. Moazzam Begg have been detained; and what discussions she has held with the Crown Prosecution Service on whether the information received is adequate to found a criminal prosecution in the UK against Mr. Abbasi and Mr. Begg. [126038]

The Solicitor-General: The US Administration confirmed to the Attorney-General that its view is that all the detainees in Guantanamo Bay, including Feroz Abbasi and Moazzam Begg, have been detained as enemy combatants under the laws of armed conflict. It is not the policy or practice of the CPS to comment on whether a prosecution is likely to be commenced in individual cases.

Iraq

Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Solicitor-General pursuant to the published statement of the Attorney-General immediately prior to the war in Iraq, on legal aspects of military action in Iraq, if she will make a further statement on how the length of the military occupation of Iraq impinges on those legal aspects. [126036]

The Solicitor-General: The written answer given by the Attorney-General on 17 March 2003 in the House of Lords related to the legality of the use of force against Iraq. Since then, the United Nations Security Council has adopted Resolution 1483 of 21 May 2003. This Resolution, together with the relevant provisions of international humanitarian law, in particular the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 and the Hague Regulations, now governs the conduct of the United Kingdom and the United States as occupying powers in Iraq. The Resolution calls upon the occupying powers to work towards the creation of conditions in which the Iraqi people can freely determine their own political future.

TREASURY

Airport Passenger Tax

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the Airport Passenger Tax is designed to produce environmental benefits. [R] [124761]

15 Jul 2003 : Column 207W

John Healey: Air passenger duty (APD) was introduced in 1994 as a measure whose principal purpose was to raise revenue from the aviation industry but with the anticipation that there would be environmental benefits through its effect on air traffic volumes.

The Government are currently discussing with stakeholders the most effective economic instruments to ensure the aviation industry takes account of, and where appropriate reduces, its contribution to global warming and local air and noise pollution. A Government discussion document, Aviation and the Environment: using economic instruments, was published in March 2003.

Aviation Tourism

Mrs. Anne Campbell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the balance of payments in aviation tourism was in each of the last three years. [124252]

John Healey: The precise information requested is not collected centrally although "The UK Balance of Payments—The Pink Book 2002" states that the total deficit for all forms of overseas travel (business and tourism, by air, sea and rail) for the years 1999, 2000 and 2001 was £8.87 billion, £10.94 billion and £13.75 billion respectively (page 45). It should be noted, however, that the UK runs a significant surplus in overall services trade.

Page 39 of the Pink Book 2002 states that in 2001, 58 million UK residents travelled abroad and 23 million foreign nationals visited the UK with the comment that

"the sharp fall in the numbers of overseas visitors to the UK in 2001 is thought to be partly due to events such as the foot and mouth crisis deterring people from travelling to the UK".

Biofuels

Mr. Meacher: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps he proposes to take in respect of (a) fuel duty rebates and (b) other measures to ensure that the UK meets the EU guidelines for biofuel use at the end of (i) 2005 and (ii) 2010. [125854]

John Healey: I refer to my reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Peterborough (Mrs. Clark), of 10 July 2003, Official Report, column 928W

Drug Seizures

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many kilograms of (a) heroin, (b) cocaine and (c) cannabis were seized by HM Customs and Excise whilst being imported into the UK in each of the last five years; and what percentage of each substance was seized at the Port of Liverpool. [121623]

Simon Hughes: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer on how many occasions in each of the last five years (a) firearms, (b) drugs and (c) other dangerous goods were intercepted at Royal Mail sorting offices in the London area. [124942]

John Healey: For information on HM Customs and Excise's seizures of drugs, firearms and other dangerous goods, I refer the hon. Members to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Southwark, North and

15 Jul 2003 : Column 208W

Bermondsey on 30 June 2003, Official Report, column 50W. The more detailed information requested is not available; exemption 4 (law enforcement and legal proceedings) of the Open Government Code applies.

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