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Sex Shops

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his policy is on advertising jobs in job centres for posts in licensed sex shops. [116465]

Mr. Browne: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the acting Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus, David Anderson he will write to the hon. Member.

Letter from David Anderson to Tim Loughton, dated 28 July 2003:

As Jobcentre Plus is an Executive Agency, the Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question concerning Jobcentre Plus policy on advertising jobs in Jobcentres for posts in licensed sex shops. This is something that falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Acting Chief Executive of the Agency.

The Ann Summers organisation recently challenged Jobcentre Plus' policy in refusing vacancies that are connected to the sale of sex related products. The outcome of the resulting Judicial Review was announced on Wednesday 18 June.

The outcome of the Ann Summers Judicial Review was to quash Jobcentre Plus' decision to refuse Ann Summers' vacancies and the policy that underpinned that decision. In response Jobcentre Plus have considered a range of options, taking into account the judge's observations in the case, the operational implications and the interests of all concerned.

Jobcentre Plus' decision is to accept all vacancies from the sex and related industries from 21 July 2003, provided that they are legal and fulfil our other criteria for accepting and displaying vacancies.

I hope this is helpful.

Small Business Council

Brian Cotter: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when his Department will be responding to the recommendations put forward in the Small Business Council Annual Report 2003 in relation to insurance; and if he will make a statement. [127831]

Mr. Browne: The Department will co-ordinate its response with the Department of Trade and Industry, which expects to respond to the Small Business Council's recommendations in October 2003.

Pensions

Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he is taking to ensure that the Government's low-cost stakeholder pensions are taken up by the people towards whom the Government is aiming them. [133203]

Malcolm Wicks: Stakeholder pensions are for everyone, but particularly moderate earners without access to a company pension scheme. Employers that do not provide a company pension scheme must give their employees access to a stakeholder pension. Charges are capped to 1 per cent. of the value of the individual's fund each year, people can pay amounts from £20 upwards into them, and can stop and start contributions without penalty. Everyone now has access to a good value

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pension. Over three-quarters of first-year stakeholder pension sales (690,000) were to workers earning under £30,000 a year, with around two-thirds of first-year sales (530,000) going to workers earning under £20,000 a year. The Government is working to ensure that individuals actively and regularly plan for their retirement, that they are aware of the various options for saving for retirement, including stakeholder pensions, and where they can get information to help them make decisions.

Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans he has to change the state pension age. [133518]

Malcolm Wicks: Following consultation on the options for equality in State Pension age, the Pensions Act 1995 introduced measures to gradually equalise the State Pension age at 65 between 2010 and 2020.

Our Green Paper "Simplicity, security and choice: Working and saving for retirement" (Cm 5677), which was published in December 2002, reviewed the issue of State Pension age and announced that we do not propose an increase in the State Pension age. Such an increase would impact most heavily on those most dependant on the State Pension.

The Government's priority is to address the employment rates of those approaching 65 and to introduce new choices to encourage people to work past 65 where they want to.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Democratic Republic of Congo

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the transitional Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo on the subject of child witches. [133618]

Mr. Mullin: None.

East Africa

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the peace process between Eritrea and Ethiopia. [133762]

Mr. Mullin: The current situation in the peace process is that the Boundary Commission set up under the Algiers Agreement has made a decision on the position of the boundary between Ethiopia and Eritrea, which is legally binding. We and the UN Security Council, most recently in Resolution 1507 of 12 September 2003, have called on both parties to implement this fully.

East Timor

Mr. Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with representatives from the UN Serious Crimes Unit regarding the progress of the East Timor humanitarian crimes trials in Jakarta; what steps the UN is taking to

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monitor proceedings; whether a UN review of the proceedings is being considered; and if he will make a statement. [132997]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: I have not had discussions with the UN Serious Crimes Unit (SCU) or any other UN officials about the Jakarta Ad Hoc Tribunal on Human Rights Abuses in East Timor. The UN office in Jakarta, rather than the SCU is responsible for monitoring the Ad Hoc Tribunal, but neither they nor the Secretariat in New York have made public any of their reports on the Tribunal. We believe that the UN is considering whether to do a formal review of the Ad Hoc Tribunal but no decision has been taken on this yet. Our officials at the UN remain in regular contact with UN officials about issues affecting East Timor. In August 2003 the EU issued a statement criticising the deficiencies of the Ad Hoc Tribunal.

Global Conflict Prevention Pool

Mr. Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which Minister in his Department has responsibility for the Global Conflict Prevention Pool; and what responsibilities other Departments have for the Pool. [133143]

Mr. Rammell: A review of the Government's work on conflict prevention in 1999–2000 concluded that delivery would be improved by bringing together in a more co-ordinated way the existing activities of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), the Department for International Development (DFID) and the Ministry of Defence (MoD) in this field. The Government therefore set up joint FCO/DFID/MoD Africa and Global Conflict Prevention Pools in 2000.

The Global Conflict Prevention Pool is overseen by a Cabinet Committee comprising my right hon. Friends the Foreign Secretary (the Chair), the Secretary of State for International Development, the Secretary of State for Defence and the Chief Secretary to HM Treasury. At Ministerial level, responsibility within the FCO rests with me.

The inter-departmental, tripartite management of the Pool is maintained at all official levels, including in the GCPP Steering Team and in the management teams for GCPP geographical and thematic strategies. While the FCO holds the Chair of the GCPP, responsibility for its management is shared equally between all three Departments.

Mr. Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs in which countries the Global Conflict Prevention Pool has been active; and when meetings with (a) the UN, (b) the EU and (c) state representatives regarding conflict prevention were held. [133144]

Mr. Rammell: The Global Conflict Prevention Pool (GCPP) works through a wide range of programmes grouped under geographical, regional, thematic or international capacity building strategies. Its geographical strategies are:

Afghanistan;

The Balkans ;

Belize and Guatemala;

Central and Eastern Europe

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Indonesia and East Timor;

India and Pakistan;

Iraq, The Middle East and North Africa;

Nepal;

Russia and the Former Soviet Union;

Sri Lanka.

The GCPP also has the following thematic and international capacity building strategies:

Security Sector Reform;

Small Arms Light Weapons;

OSCE and the Council of Europe;

The UN.

I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to him today (UIN 133142) for more details on these strategies.

Meetings to discuss conflict prevention with representatives of the UN, EU and of particular states take place regularly. Examples include UK participation in negotiations and discussions in the UN General Assembly and Security Council, and with the UN Secretariat, in the EU Political and Security Committee and during bilateral meetings with visiting Ministers and officials. Recent meetings include a visit to the UK in June for discussions of UN Reform by Jean-Mairie Guehenno, Head of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations in the UN Secretariat, negotiations on the UN General Assembly Resolution on the Secretary General's Report on Conflict Prevention in June and July, a call by the Swedish Ambassador for Conflict Prevention on the FCO in September, and bilateral discussions with the President of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai during his visit to the UK in October 2003.

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