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20 Nov 2003 : Column 1319W—continued

UN Sanctions

Mr. Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to his answer of 6 October 2003, Official Report, column 1118W, on UN sanctions, what progress the Government have made in considering whether or not to re-initiate proposals for an independent sanctions monitoring mechanism. [138611]

Mr. Rammell: The UK and France floated informally our proposal for a semi-permanent monitoring mechanism on sanctions in the context of discussions within a Working Group of the Security Council which met in 2000 and 2001 to consider various aspects of UN sanctions regimes. Unfortunately our proposal failed to generate sufficient support among other members of the Security Council. We will consider whether to revive the proposal in 2004, when we have informally canvassed the views of the new members of the Council.

Visas

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the visa fees were for (a) 2001, (b) 2002 and (c) up to August 2003. [139813]

Mr. Mullin: The fees charged by Visa Sections worldwide for entry clearance are detailed in the following table. The fees charged to visa applicants remained unchanged from 1997 until they were increased in July 2002. There have been no increases since. Both sets of fees are detailed.

20 Nov 2003 : Column 1320W

£

	1997 (35)	1 July 2002 (36)
Entry Clearance for a Commonwealth Country	20	22
Entry clearance for an overseas territory	20	22
Direct airside transit	25	27
Visit (standard)	33	36
Visit (multiple entry) one year	55	60
Visit (multiple entry) two years	65	70
Visit (multiple entry) five years	80	88
Visit (multiple entry) 10 years(37)	—	150
Settlement	240	260
Marriage	240	260
Long-term	50	75
Certificate of entitlement	100	110

⁽³⁵⁾ To June 2002.

⁽³⁶⁾ To present.

⁽³⁷⁾ 10 year multiple entry visit visas were introduced on 1 July 2002

Mr. Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the geographical validity of European Union visas will become a matter for qualified majority voting under the European constitution. [140278]

Mr. MacShane: I will write to my hon. Friend shortly and place a copy of the letter in the Library of the House.

Mr. Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether European visas issued by the consulates of other member states will be valid for entry to the UK under the European constitution. [140264]

Mr. MacShane: I will write to my hon. Friend shortly and place a copy of the letter in the Library of the House.

Working Holidays

Mr. Stinchcombe: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to his answer of 29 October 2003, Official Report, column 277W, on working holidaymakers, if he will break down by country of origin the numbers of applications (a) received, (b) issued, (c) refused and (d) outstanding for visas for working holidays. [137815]

Mr. Mullin: I have placed in the Library of the House figures of the working holidaymaker visa applications received, issued and refused in the financial year 2002–03 by our entry clearance posts.

TREASURY

Civil Registration

Mr. Drew: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) if he will make a statement on the reasons for ending face to face civil registration services; and what plans he has to retrain registrars for their new remote role; [140260]

(2) what procedures will be put in place to prevent fraud after the move to remote civil registration; [140261]

(3) what plans he has to compensate local authorities for any funding shortfall arising from the move to remote civil registration; [140262]

20 Nov 2003 : Column 1321W

(4) what assessment has been made of the risk of competition between local authorities following a move to remote registration. [140263]

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.

Letter from Len Cook to Mr. David Drew, dated 20 November 2003:

As Registrar General for England and Wales, I have been asked to reply to your four recent questions on the move to remote civil registration. (140260, 140262, 140263, 140264)

In January 2002, the White Paper 'Civil Registration: Vital Change' was published which set out the Government's intention to reform the civil registration service. The White Paper offers the public a choice in how to register births and deaths in person (at any Register Office), by telephone or via the internet.

These proposals appear in more detail in the consultation document 'Civil Registration: Delivering Vital Change' which was published in July 2003. The document can be downloaded from the General Register Office website at: http://www. statistics.gov.uk/registration/whitepaper/default.asp

The document is the first stage in the use of the order-making powers of the Regulatory Reform Act 2001. This is being used to bring about the legislative changes that are needed to implement the White Paper reforms. The consultation period ended on 24 October. Currently the responses are being analysed.

It would be inappropriate at this stage to comment on the final shape of the proposals to be included in the Regulatory Reform Order. Issues such as funding, retraining and security are being fully considered during the passage of the civil registration regulatory reform order and, in the event of legislation change, prior to implementation.

Economic Activity (Airdrie and Shotts)

Mrs. Liddell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what the economic activity rate in the Airdrie and Shotts constituency was in (a) 2002–03 and (b) 1997; [140371]

(2) what the employment rate in the Airdrie and Shotts constituency was in (a) 2002–03 and (b) 1997; [140372]

(3) what the rate of (a) unemployment, (b) long-term unemployment and (c) youth unemployment in the Airdrie and Shotts constituency was in (i) 2002–03 and (ii) 1997; and how many individuals this represented in each case. [140373]

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.

Letter from John Pullinger to Mrs Helen Liddell, dated 20 November 2003:

The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Questions about economic activity, employment and unemployment rates in Airdrie and Shotts constituency. I am replying in his absence. (140371, 140372, 140373)

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles statistics of economic activity, employment and unemployment from the Labour Force survey (LFS) following the internationally standard International Labour Organisation definitions.

Table 1 gives estimates of economic activity and employment rates in the Airdrie and Shotts constituency for the twelve month periods ending February 1998 and February 2002. These estimates are from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) annual local area databases. Comparable information for the twelve month

20 Nov 2003 : Column 1322W

period ending February 2003 is not yet available. The LFS sample size is too small to give reliable estimates of unemployment in the Airdrie and Shotts constituency.

ONS also compiles statistics of those claiming Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) for local areas including Parliamentary constituencies.

Table 2 gives, for the periods specified, the total number of JSA claimants, the number of those claiming JSA for over 12 months, and the number of claimants aged 18–24 in the Airdrie and Shotts constituency. Claimant count rates for local areas are expressed as proportions of the 2001 mid-year working-age population estimates which are based on the 2001 Census, following the withdrawal from National Statistics in January 2003 of the previous workplace based rates. Table 2 shows the rates, on this basis, for the Airdrie and Shotts Constituency.

Table 1 Working age⁽³⁸⁾ economic activity and employment rates Airdrie and Shotts constituencyPercentage

March to February	Economicactivity rate(39)	Employmentrate(40)
1997–98	73.3	66.0
2001–02	67.7	56.8

⁽³⁸⁾ Men aged 16–64 and women aged 16–59

⁽³⁹⁾ Economically active people of wording age as a percentage of the working age population

⁽⁴⁰⁾ Employed people of working age as a percentage of the working age population

Note:

These LFS estimates have not been adjusted to reflect the 2001 Census results

Source:

ONS Labour Force Survey

Table 2People claiming Jobseeker's Allowance in the Airdrie and Shotts constituency

	Total		Long-term(42)	Aged 18–24
	Number	Rate(41) (Percentage)	Number	Number
Average January to December 1997	2,887	5.9	851	903
Average April 2002 to March 2003	1,902	3.9	239	528

⁽⁴¹⁾ People claiming Jobseeker's Allowance as a percentage of the mid-2001 working age population estimate, based on the 2001 Census

⁽⁴²⁾ People claiming Jobseeker's Allowance for over 12 months

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