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13 May 2004 : Column 512W—continued
Housing Stock Transfer
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what proposals he has for bringing housing in local housing authorities where tenants have voted against stock transfers or Arms Length Management Organisations up to the decent homes standards specified in Labour's 2001 manifesto. [172282]
Keith Hill: Where local authorities need additional funds over and above the substantial increases this government has made to funding for council housing, they have three options, establishing an Arms Length Management Organisation, using the Private Finance Initiative or transfers or their stock to a registered social landlord. If tenants reject all of these options then we will respect their decision. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has no proposals for providing additional resources above the three options. It is for local authorities with their tenants to work through the Options Appraisal process and to reach a decision from the options available.
Local Government Finance
Mr. Djanogly: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the standard spending assessment for youth and community in (a) Cambridgeshire and (b) the constituency of Huntingdon (i) was in each of the last five years and (ii) is for 2004–05. [172635]
Mr. Raynsford: The Youth and Community block is a sub-block within the Education service block and was introduced in 2003–04. In the same year the Government replaced Standard Spending Assessments (SSA) with Formula Spending Shares (FSS). Huntingdonshire is a district council and does therefore not provide Education services. The Youth and Community FSS figures for Cambridgeshire are:
| £ | |
|---|---|
| 2003–04 | 4,036.647 |
| 2004–05 | 4,211.442 |
Chris Ruane: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister which local authorities have been capped in the last 25 years. [172931]
Mr. Raynsford: The local authorities capped each year in England were:
13 May 2004 : Column 513W
Capping legislation was originally introduced in 1984. More flexible reserve capping powers were taken in 1999. These have not been used until this year. My Statement in the House on 29 April 2004, Official Report, column 1019, sets out the action the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is taking this year.
Diana Organ: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the standard spending assessment for youth and community services in Gloucestershire (a) was in each of the last four financial years and (b) is for 2004–05. [169874]
Mr. Raynsford: The youth and community block is a sub-block within the education service block and was introduced in 2003–04. In the same year the Government replaced standard spending assessments (SSA) with formula spending shares (FSS). The youth and community FSS figures for Gloucestershire are:
| £ | |
|---|---|
| 2003–04 | 4,138,595 |
| 2004–05 | 4,303,748 |
Ministerial Visits
Matthew Taylor: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list visits made by each Minister in the Department between December 2003 and April 2004, broken down by (a) date, (b) constituency visited and (c) cost. [171572]
Yvette Cooper: The information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS
Afghanistan
Mr. Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what his latest estimate is of the number and percentage of registered voters for the pending national election in each province of Afghanistan; and if he will make a statement. [172091]
Mr. Mike O'Brien:
According to the Afghanistan Joint Electoral Monitoring Body, as of 6 May a total of 2,033,568 Afghans (approximately 20 per cent.) have been registered to vote, of whom 30 per cent. (615,818) are women. Following is a regional breakdown.
13 May 2004 : Column 514W
| Regional breakdown | Number |
|---|---|
| Central | 837,650 |
| East | 299,416 |
| North East | 150,790 |
| South East | 49,844 |
| Central Highlands | 46,576 |
| North | 212,568 |
| South | 143,846 |
| West | 292,878 |
Phase I of voter registration (in Kabul and regional centres) has been completed. Phase II (designed to reach more rural areas) was launched on 1 May.
The UK is committed to supporting the electoral process. Last year we contributed £10.55 million to support election registration. We have pledged a further £0.5 million for voter education and £2.77 million to support preparations for the elections themselves.
British Citizens (Imprisonment Abroad)
Mr. Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many British citizens were imprisoned abroad in each of the last three years, broken down by country of imprisonment. [171254]
Mr. Mullin: The total number of British citizens detained overseas in the last three years is:
| Number | |
|---|---|
| 2002–03 | 7,861 |
| 2001–02 | 7,499 |
| 2000–01 | 8,428 |
I have placed a breakdown by country of imprisonment and British Posts for 2002–03 in the Library of the House. It would incur disproportionate costs to provide a breakdown by country for those detained in 2001–02 and 2000–01. However, the following tables show those British Posts recording the highest numbers of British citizens detained for the last three years:
13 May 2004 : Column 515W
| Post | Numbers detained | Percentage of British citizens detained compared to all overseas Posts | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ibiza | 1,531 | 20 | Spain |
| Orlando | 492 | 7 | USA |
| Tenerife | 318 | 4 | Spain |
| Lille | 272 | 4 | France |
| Los Angeles | 257 | 3 | USA |
| New York | 243 | 3 | USA |
| Kingston | 230 | 3 | Jamaica |
| Palma | 229 | 3 | Spain |
| Athens | 190 | 3 | Greece |
| Sydney | 164 | 2 | Australia |
| Total | 3,926 | 52 | — |
| Post | Numbers detained | Percentage of British citizens detained compared to all overseas Posts | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| Malaga | 619 | 8 | Spain |
| Orlando | 546 | 7 | USA |
| Houston | 391 | 5 | USA |
| Los Angeles | 384 | 5 | USA |
| New York | 327 | 4 | USA |
| Tenerife | 315 | 4 | Spain |
| Sydney | 246 | 3 | Australia |
| Alicante | 231 | 3 | Spain |
| Palma | 227 | 3 | Spain |
| Dublin | 225 | 3 | Ireland |
| Total | 3,511 | 45 | — |
Mr. Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many British citizens were sentenced to life imprisonment abroad in each of the last three years, broken down by country of imprisonment; and how many of these sentences were revised on appeal. [171256]
Mr. Mullin: The number of British Nationals detained in prisons overseas is collected on a quarterly and annual basis by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The data is not categorised by the length of sentence received and only represents those prisoners who have asked the local authorities to inform the British consulate of their arrest or who request consular assistance.
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