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1 Apr 2004 : Column 1644W—continued

Ministerial Visits

Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when a Minister in his Department last visited (a) Singapore, (b) Malaysia and (c) Thailand. [164208]

Mr. Rammell: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary visited Singapore between 8–9 January 2003 and Malaysia on 10 January 2003. My hon. Friend the then Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) (Ben Bradshaw) was the last FCO Minister to visit Thailand, between 16–19 December 2001.

1 Apr 2004 : Column 1645W

Register of Interests

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the requirements are on officials in his Department to declare current interests; and what register of interests is kept for his departmental officials. [164709]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: The requirements for officials in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to declare current interests are contained in the Diplomatic Service Regulations and Home Civil Service Regulations. These regulations, stemming from the Civil Service Management Code, set out the principal terms governing employment in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and highlight the general principle of conduct that

"you must not use your official position to further your private interests".

Separate regulations cover the circumstances in which officers must declare:

Gifts, advantages and hospitality

Private occupations

Business interests

Declarations and paperwork relating to private occupations and business interests are held on individual files.

Taiwan

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the recent election in Taiwan. [164536]

Mr. Rammell: The United Kingdom Government continues to welcome the development of democracy in Taiwan. On 26 March Taiwan's Central Election Committee announced formally that Chen Shui-bian had won the election. The Opposition candidates have asked for a recount and a judicial review. The United Kingdom hopes that the issue can be dealt with through the appropriate legal mechanisms.

Turkey

Mr. Russell Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations he has made to the Turkish authorities in relation to (a) human rights issues and (b) the possibility of accession to the EU. [164200]

Mr. MacShane: Both my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary and I frequently discuss human rights and Turkey's EU accession prospects with Turkish Ministers—most recently in the margins of the spring European Council. The Foreign Secretary also raised these issues with Foreign Minister Gul in Istanbul on 3 March. We repeatedly affirm the UK's strong support for Turkey's EU aspirations and urge Turkish Ministers to press ahead with implementation of human rights reforms.

Venezuela

Mr. Davidson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what his policy is on promoting regime change in Venezuela; what

1 Apr 2004 : Column 1646W

discussions he or his officials have had with United States counterparts on this matter; and if he will make a statement. [164606]

Mr. Rammell: The UK with its European Union partners has made clear its position regarding Venezuela in the most recent EU Declaration of 4 March 2004 which encourages the country to find a democratic and peaceful solution to its current political crisis. We have regular discussions with the US on a range of foreign policy issues, including the situation in Venezuela.

Visas

Mr. Russell Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with US immigration authorities in relation to proposed changes to visa requirements for British citizens. [164198]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to the hon. Member for Worthing, West (Peter Bottomley) on 10 March 2004, Official Report, column 1532W.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Council Tax

Mr. Edward Davey: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what estimate he has made of the cost to (a) the Valuation Office Agency, (b) the valuation tribunals and (c) central government of administering council tax and council tax benefit in financial year 2003–04. [164486]

Mr. Raynsford: The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) budget for council tax work in 2003–04 is about £29 million. The part of the Valuation Tribunals budget for 2003–04 relating to council tax work is approximately £1 million. The Government is responsible for the policy and legislation rather than the administration of council tax and council tax benefit.

Fire Service

Mr. McLoughlin: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the training costs were (a) per officer and (b) in total for new recruits to the Fire Service in (i) the East Midlands and (ii) West Derbyshire in each year since 1997. [163738]

Mr. Raynsford: The information is not held centrally, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Mr. McLoughlin: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many people were recruited to the Fire Service in (a) the East Midlands and (b) West Derbyshire in each year since 1997; and what percentage of each year's intake remains as serving officers, in each case. [163740]

Mr. Raynsford: Information since 1998 for the five fire and rescue services within the East Midlands Region on the number of people recruited to the Fire Service (in

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whole time, retained, fire control and non-uniformed positions) are tabled as follows. Data prior to 1998 are not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. Information is not available for West Derbyshire, but is available for Derbyshire FRS as a whole.

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Data are not held centrally on the percentage of each year's fire and rescue service recruits who remain on as serving officers for East Midlands region or for West Derbyshire. The cost of gathering the information about the FRS concerned could be obtained only at a disproportionate cost.

Number of successful applicants in East Midlands fire and rescue services between 1998–99 and 2002–03

	Derbyshire	Leicestershire	Lincolnshire	Northamptonshire	Nottinghamshire	Regional total
Whole-time
1998–99	5	20	28	0	28	81
1999–2000	14	18	0	14	18	64
2000–01	0	10	0	20	24	54
2001–02	18	47	8	0	25	98
2002–03	6	0	36	25	34	101
Retained
1998–99	16	14	68	19	45	162
1999–2000	39	12	72	30	39	192
2000–01	26	24	42	30	43	165
2001–02	34	17	81	35	46	213
2002–03	37	24	31	23	39	154
Fire control
1998–99	0	0	0	0	2	2
1999–2000	2	5	0	0	2	9
2000–01	0	3	3	3	0	9
2001–02	2	0	8	7	0	17
2002–03	4	7	6	2	0	19
Non-uniformed
1998–99	14	2	9	5	13	43
1999–2000	0	6	8	4	11	29
2000–01	15	9	6	10	10	50
2001–02	13	9	18	0	15	55
2002–03	13	23	8	8	16	68

Government Offices for the Regions

Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the budget is for each of the Government offices for the regions for 2003–04; and what the budget of each has been for each of the previous three years. [164828]

Mr. Raynsford: The running cost budgets of Government Offices for the Regions have increased as more Departments have devolved more work to be carried out in the regions. The budgets for 2003–04 and each of the previous three years are tabled as follows:

Amounts in £000

GO	2003–04
North East	12,061
North West	17,508
Yorkshire and Humber	12,848
West Midlands	13,043
East Midlands	10,861
East	12,950
South East	14,461
South West	14,053
London	16,611
Totals	124,396

Amounts in £000

GO	2000–01	2001–02	2002–03
North East	8,197.33	8,973.88	10,074.76
North West	13,651.03	15,250.91	13,543.84
Yorkshire and Humber	9,357.21	9,889.50	11,094.48
West Midlands	9,960.77	10,315.96	10,584.49
East Midlands	7,335.77	8,200.80	8,835.46
East	7,542.50	8,532.82	9,357.24
South East	9,477.27	10,309.34	10,860.12
South West	8,711.39	10,671.85	11,752.84
London	13,860.98	13,175.10	14,082.01
Totals	88,094.25	95,320.16	102,185.24

The growth in the Government Office over the last three years is attributable to additional sponsor Departments joining and contributing staff and funding to the network, notably Defra (formerly MAFF) in 2001–02 and Home Office in 2002–03.

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