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Royal Society (Decontamination Report)

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his response is to the recommendations made in the recent Royal Society report on the detection and decontamination of chemical and biological agents. [174617]

Mr. Blunkett: The Government have welcomed the Royal Society's report and has written to the President of the Royal Society setting out its response.

I have today placed in the Library a copy of the Government's response to the Royal Society report, and undertake to send the hon. Member a copy.

Security Industry Authority

Mr. Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the (a) budget and (b) staffing levels of the Security Industry Authority are. [174177]

Ms Blears: The level of grant funding for the Security Industry Authority (SIA) for 2004–05, as published in the Treasury Main Supply Estimate (HC 466), is £25,700,000. This expenditure will be largely offset by licence fees. The maximum staffing level of the SIA is projected to be 122.
 
26 May 2004 : Column 1667W
 

Mr. Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the work the Security Industry Authority has carried out since 1 April 2003. [174178]

Ms Blears: During this period the Security Industry Authority (SIA) has undertaken a considerable programme of work preparing itself and the security industry for the introduction of regulation. This has included work on licensing, compliance and investigation, communications, strategic development, and corporate services. Full details of the work undertaken by the SIA will be published in their Corporate and Business plan in due course.

SOLICITOR-GENERAL

Crown Prosecutors

Mr. Garnier: To ask the Solicitor-General what the average total cost was of employing each grade of Crown Prosecutor, including pension and holiday provision, and other benefits associated with such employment, in each financial year since 1 May 1997 for which figures are available. [167302]

The Solicitor-General : The average total cost of employing each grade of crown prosecutor in real terms, including pension and holiday provision, and other benefits associated with such employment, in each year since 1997, was as follows:
£

	Chief Crown Prosecutor	Band E	Band D	Band C
1997–98	94	67	58	45
1998–99	95	68	58	46
1999–2000	71	70	60	48
2000–01	91	73	61	49
2001–02	96	77	63	52
2002–03	105	77	64	52
2003–04	120	77	67	51

Mr. Garnier: To ask the Solicitor-General what arrangements are made for each grade of Crown Prosecutor to qualify for high court advocacy rights; and how much time has been spent on average by each qualified Crown Prosecutor on higher courts advocacy during each financial year since 1 May 1997 for which figures are available. [167305]

The Solicitor-General: an opportunity each year to apply for a place on a Higher Court Advocacy programme which is run by the Crown Prosecution Service in partnership with the Nottingham Law School.

The time spent on higher court advocacy by qualified crown prosecutors from 1999 to 2003 is shown in Table A. 1999–2000 was the first full year for which figures were collated.
 
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Table A

Number of sessions average hours per session	1999–2000	2000–2001	2001–2002	2002–2003
Number of sessions	2.718	4,075	7,186	6,839
Ave hours per session	5.29	4.84	4.89	5.15

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Bedouins (Negev)

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development (1) what assistance his Department provides to the Bedouins in the Negev; [175204]

(2) what discussions he has held with the Israeli Government about the situation of the Bedouins in the Negev. [175202]

Mr. Gareth Thomas: The Negev desert is part of Israel. DFID does not work in Israel because it is not a developing country. DFID's mandate for poverty reduction requires us to focus our efforts on development and humanitarian assistance in developing countries. DFID has had no discussions with the Israeli Government about the situation of Bedouins in the Negev.

Belize/Guatemala

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will list the projects his Department has supported in Belize over the past 20 years that have been classed as successful. [175239]

Mr. Gareth Thomas: I shall arrange for a copy of a document entitled "Department for International Development/Official Development Assistance in Belize" to be placed in the Libraries of the House.

The list shows all DFID/ODA projects funded in Belize since 1986 (the year to which project records for Belize date back). Performance scoring of projects began in 1992; all listed projects since then have been classed as partially or wholly successful.

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what role the UK Government have played in resolving the border disputes between Belize and Guatemala. [175240]

Mr. Rammell: I have been asked to reply.

The UK continues to support fully the Organisation of American States (OAS)-facilitated process between Belize and Guatemala as the best means to secure a permanent solution to their territorial dispute. I underlined this to both governments when I visited Belize and Guatemala from 14 to 17 January, and I have recently written to Vice-President Stein of Guatemala and Prime Minister Musa of Belize. We have also lobbied both countries to agree a long-term extension to the Confidence Building Measures Agreement, which is due to expire in June, at the next OAS meeting between Belize and Guatemala in Washington in June.

We are also supporting the OAS-sponsored Confidence Building Measures in Belize and Guatemala through the FCO/DFID/MOD Global Conflict
 
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Prevention Pool. £1.5 million has been allocated this financial year. Our projects are aimed at reducing tensions, encouraging co-operation between security agencies and addressing the underlying causes of conflict.

Computer File Formats

Mr. Allan: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what his Department's policy is in respect of the computer file formats used for the (a) distribution and (b) archiving of publicly available documents. [173366]

Mr. Gareth Thomas: Material is produced and distributed using a range of industry standard formats: Hypertext Mark-Up Language (html), Portable Document Format (pdf) and Microsoft Word (doc) as recommended in the "Guidelines for UK Government Websites"—as appropriate to the publication. According to the e-Government agenda, DFID is developing an Electronic Documents and Records Management System which will include a policy on the archiving of electronic files.

Darfur

Clare Short: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what action he has taken to secure access to Darfur for humanitarian relief; and if he will make a statement. [175839]

Hilary Benn [holding answer 25 May 2004]: I am gravely concerned about the situation in Darfur and the difficulties of ensuring humanitarian access to a displaced population of over 1 million.

I will be tabling a written ministerial statement on Thursday 27 May 2004.

Gambia

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much (a) monetary aid, (b) aid in kind and (c) logistical aid his Department has (i) pledged and (ii) delivered to the Child Protection Alliance in The Gambia in each year since 2000; and if he will make a statement. [175477]

Gareth Thomas: DFID has not directly funded or been involved in the activities of the Child Protection Alliance in The Gambia. However through DFID's Small Grants Scheme, which is administered by the British High Commission in Banjul, we have provided £3,465 over the past three years to the Child Protection Alliance. This helped to support a capacity building project, an information campaign on child protection issues, and an assessment of member organisations.

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