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Ministerial Meetings

Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many meetings he has had in his capacity as Secretary of State for Wales in the past 15 months. [150653]

Mr. Hain: In common with past Secretaries of State, I continue to hold a wide range of meetings with interested parties. These include meetings with Cabinet colleagues, the First Minister, Assembly Ministers, MPs (including the hon. Member for Meirionnydd Nant Conwy), business/commercial interests, voluntary sector and TUC.

National Assembly for Wales

Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) how many visits he has made to the National Assembly for Wales in each of the last 15 months; [150655]

(2) how many meetings he has had with the National Assembly for Wales in each of the last 15 months. [150656]

Mr. Hain: I have formally addressed three National Assembly Plenary sessions arising from my responsibilities under the Government of Wales Act. In addition, I meet with the First Minister on a weekly basis, Assembly Government Ministers and the Presiding Officer as the need arises.

Official Engagements

Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many official engagements he undertook in Wales over the last six months; and how many of those were in Mid and North Wales. [150057]

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Mr. Hain: As Secretary of State for Wales I regularly undertake official engagements throughout Wales, including addressing conferences, visiting business and industry and newspaper offices. I also attend major national events such as the Royal Welsh Show, and the National and International Eisteddfods. Since July 2003, I have made five visits to Mid and North Wales for such engagements.

Press Office

Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many press releases the Wales Office Press Office issued each day in (a) November and (b) December 2003. [150060]

Mr. Hain: The Wales Office does not issue press releases on a daily basis but as demand requires.

Six press releases were issued in November 2003. In December 2003, 14 press releases were issued.

These figures do not include operational notes, lobby notes circulated after our weekly media briefings, articles for the media or contributions to joint press releases with other organisations.

The Press Office also arranges press conferences and briefings, media interview requests and inquiries and also maintains the Wales Office website.

Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what the total salary cost of the Wales Office Press Office was in 2003. [150061]

Mr. Hain: The Wales Office employs three Press Officers, whose basic salary scales currently range from £23,764 to £31,003, £26,688 to £35,214 and £42,999 to £56,737.

Young Offenders Institution, Glyn Neath

Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many representations he received concerning the application for planning permission for a youth offender institution in Glyn Neath; and how many of those supported the application. [150054]

Mr. Hain: I have received a number of representations on this issue, expressing a range of views.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Diplomatic Staff

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many staff work at the British High Commission in Islamabad, Pakistan. [149889]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: There are 94 UK based and 334 locally employed staff working at the British High Commission in Islamabad, Pakistan.

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the average number of staff working at a British High Commission was in 2003. [149890]

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Mr. Mike O'Brien: The average numbers of staff working at a British High Commission (HM representation in Commonwealth countries) in 2003 was: UK based 19 and locally employed 67.

Guantanamo Bay

John Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs for how long each of the British citizens being held in Guantanamo Bay has been held; and if he will make a statement. [151471]

Mr. Mullin: There are nine British nationals detained at Guantanamo Bay. Three of the British nationals were transferred to Guantanamo Bay in January 2002, two in February 2002, two in May 2002, one in October 2002 and one in February 2003.

The Government's discussions with the US about the future of all the British detainees at Guantanamo Bay are continuing. It is hoped that the situation will be resolved in the next few weeks.

Iraq

Mr. Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on progress towards the establishment of the International Trust Fund to manage Iraq's oil revenues. [149534]

Mr. Rammell [holding answer 27 January 2004]: Iraq's oil revenues are being paid into a Development Fund for Iraq which is overseen by an International Advisory and Monitoring Board, as mandated by UN Security Council Resolution 1483.

Middle East

Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations he has made to the Israeli Government concerning (a) illegal settlements in Gaza and the West Bank and (b) continued construction of the security wall. [149820]

Mr. Rammell: The Government regularly raise these issues with the Government of Israel. We have made clear that settlements are illegal under international law and an obstacle to a comprehensive peace in the region, and that we regard the building of the wall on occupied Palestinian land as unlawful.

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what action the UK Government is taking in relation to the building of the partition wall by Israel in Palestinian territory; and if he will make a statement. [151161]

Mr. Rammell: The Government continues to urge the Government of Israel to re-route the fence away from Palestinian areas. My right hon. Friends the Prime Minster and the Foreign Secretary have made clear our concerns to the Israeli Prime Minister and Foreign Minister on a number of occasions. My noble Friend the Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean has raised the matter with the Israeli Foreign Minister, the Israeli

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Ambassador and the Israeli Minister for National Infrastructure. My noble Friend saw the impact of the fence for herself on 22 January.

The Government recognises Israel's legitimate security concerns, and deplores the suicide bombings of Israeli civilians. But we consider Israel's building of a wall, or fence, on occupied land to be unlawful, and have urged the Israeli government to reconsider its route.

Statutory Sick Pay

Mr. Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many people employed in his Department have claimed statutory sick pay for (a) less than one week, (b) one to three weeks, (c) four to six weeks, (d) seven to 12 weeks, (e) 13 to 20 weeks and (f) 21 to 28 weeks in each year since 1997. [148635]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office holds detailed electronic records on SSP claims from 1999. To provide the information for 1997 and 1998 would incur disproportionate costs.

Information from 1999 is as follows:

	1999(14)	2000	2001	2002	2003(15)
Less than 1 week	125	244	229	169	105
1 to 3 weeks	30	91	75	62	41
4 to 6 weeks	6	22	23	15	12
7 to 12 weeks	9	16	24	22	9
13 to 20 weeks	6	15	11	15	9
21 to 28 weeks	0	0	0	0	0

⁽¹⁴⁾ Data for 1999 is incomplete due to the commencement of the data system in-year.

⁽¹⁵⁾ Data available to 1 September only.

We are committed to managing sickness absence effectively and expect to meet our Service Devlivery Agreement target for reducing sickness absence to an average of 5.7 days.

Terrorism (Political Parties)

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs in which nations his Department deems that political parties which remain linked to terrorist groups are participating in Government. [149614]

Mr. MacShane: Terrorism is incompatible with the legitimate political life of any nation. It is not clear how many political parties globally have operational or organisational links to terrorist groups. In cases where we do believe there are links, for example Hizbollah in Lebanon, we have pressed strongly for the abandonment of all terrorist activity and the exclusive pursuit of legitimate political engagement.

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