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7 Sept 2004 : Column 1059W—continued
Voter Participation
Mr. Wiggin: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what plans he has to encourage (a) young and (b) first-time voters to vote at the next General Election. [186873]
Mr. Leslie: The Government are keen to ensure that all young people are encouraged to play as full a part as possible in all our democratic processes.
A range of initiatives, such as citizenship education in schools and the UK Youth Parliament, assist this aim. At the last General Election we sought to bring this learning to life for young people by working with partners to provide mock elections in schools and colleges. We are considering how to take forward such initiatives in future elections.
In addition, the Independent Electoral Commission established under the Political Parties, Elections and Referendum Act 2000, whose remit includes educating and informing people on electoral matters, makes special efforts to target young people especially those who are on the point of attaining the right to vote.
However, the main responsibility for encouraging young and first-time voters to participate at the next General Election must lie with the political parties.
Written Constitution
Kevin Brennan: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what recent representations he has received in support of a written constitution for the UK. [187670]
Mr. Leslie: One of the only recent representations that I have received was from one of my hon. Friend's constituents. My right hon. Friend, the Lord Chancellor explained in his reply that the Government have been engaged since 1997 in a major programme of constitutional reform aimed at addressing the key issues and enhancing the credibility and effectiveness of the UK's constitutional arrangements. We have no plans to formulate an overarching codified constitution.
FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS
British Indian Ocean Territories
Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent (a) discussions have taken place with and (b) representations have been received from the US military on the resettlement of the Chagos Islands and Diego Garcia. [183929]
Mr. Rammell: The US authorities have from time-to-time made clear their concerns about the possible restoration of a settled civilian population in the British Indian Ocean Territory. However, the only formal representation from US authorities on this subject was in June 2000.
Mr. Salmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether detainees are currently held on Diego Garcia; and if he will make a statement. [183528]
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Mr. Rammell: The US authorities have repeatedly assured us that no suspected terrorists or Iraqi prisoners are, or ever have been, held on Diego Garcia or on vessels within its waters. The British Representative on the island has confirmed this to be the case.
Mr. Salmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the International Criminal Court will have jurisdiction over (a) British Indian Ocean Territories and (b) Diego Garcia while the latter are under lease to the US military; and if he will make a statement. [182543]
Mr. Rammell: The Order in Council to extend the United Kingdom's International Criminal Court Act 2001 to the Overseas Territories, which is a necessary preliminary to the United Kingdom's ratifying the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court in respect of those territories, will not apply to the British Indian Ocean Territory since that territory has no settled population.
Butler Inquiry
Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to his answer of 12 January 2004, Official Report, column 84W, on Iraq, if he will place in the Library a copy of (a) Mr. Nadhmi Auchi's letter to him of 15 May 2003 introducing the Anglo Arab Organisation and (b) his subsequent acknowledgement. [151126]
Mr. Mullin: I apologise for the delay in replying to the hon. Member. As my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mr. Rammell) stated in his answer to the hon. Member on 5 January 2004, Official Report, column 84W, Mr. Auchi wrote to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (Ms Hewitt) to introduce the Anglo Arab Organisation, on 15 May 2003, and she replied on 29 May 2003.
In his pursuant answer on 3 March 2004, Official Report, column 980W, Mr. Rammell stated that Mr. Auchi also wrote to my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 15 May 2003 about the Anglo Arab Organisation, and that my noble Friend the Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean, replied on his behalf on 7 July 2003.
Copies of the letters, parts of which have been obscured under Exemption 12 of Part 2 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information, have been placed in the Library of the House.
Commonwealth Countries
Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs of which countries the Queen is the head of state. [186895]
Mr. Mullin: The Queen is the Sovereign and Head of State of the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland, Her Majesty's Realms and Her Majesty's Overseas Territories.
Antigua and Barbuda
Australia
The Bahamas
Barbados
Belize
Canada
Grenada
Jamaica
New Zealand
Papua New Guinea
St Kitts and Nevis
St. Lucia
St. Vincent and the Grenadines
Solomon Islands
Tuvalu
Anguilla
Bermuda
British Antarctic Territory
British Indian Ocean Territory
British Virgin Islands
Cayman Islands
Gibraltar
Montserrat
Pitcairn, Henderson, Dulcie and Oeno Islands
St Helena (and her Dependencies of Ascension Island and Tristan da Cunha)
Falkland Islands (and her dependencies of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands)
Turks and Caicos Island
Departmental Expenditure
Mr. Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much the Foreign Office spent on press officers (a) in 1996–97 and (b) the latest year for which figures are available, broken down by grade. [184501]
Mr. Straw: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office spent the following amounts on different grades of staff in its press office. These amounts are based on an average salary for the grade, employer national insurance and superannuation for each grade, and therefore do not reflect actual payments to press office staff.
| £ | |
|---|---|
| SMS | 183,734 |
| Band D | 341,873 |
| Band C | 333,122 |
| Band B | 130,705 |
| Band A | 80,372 |
The salary costs for overseas press officers and all costs requested for 1996–97 are not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much the Department spent on (a) mobile phones, (b) hospitality and (c) taxis in (i) 1996–97 and (ii) the latest accounting period. [184504]
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Mr. Straw: The information is as follows:
1996–97: £169,356.77
2003–04: £680,527.56.
This does not include the costs of mobile phones for staff overseas. Responsibility for such contracts is devolved to our overseas missions and the relevant figures could be provided only at disproportionate costs.
DS Entertainment Fund, used for official hospitality by Ministers and Officers in London: £383,507.89
Accountable Entertainment Allowance spent on official hospitality abroad by officers with representational duties against a personal authorised ceiling: £3,865,746.74
Frais expenditure by Heads of Mission on official hospitality abroad: £5,532,641.13
Total for 1996–97: £9,781,895.76
Direct Entertainment Expenditure in London and at Post, that includes the DS Entertainment Fund and expenditure from a system of local entertainment budgets abroad that replaced the former Accountable Entertainment Allowance for individual officers: £4,178,832.75
Frais expenditure by Heads of Mission on official entertainment abroad: £4,103,380.55
Total for 2003–04: £8,282,213.30
Between these two financial years, entertainment budgets have been largely devolved to individual FCO Directorates and some payments previously made directly to individual officers now have to be drawn against tighter objectives from pooled entertainment funds. The annual totals are not therefore altogether directly comparable.
Expenditure on hospitality for official guests invited to London from overseas for either year could be provided only at disproportionate costs.
Official taxi contract spend for the two periods concerned are:
FY 1996–97: £113,058.09
FY 2003–04: £412,168.68
The 1996–07 figures may not provide a full picture of expenditure as they will not include the large ad-hoc use of black cab taxis in London by FCO staff. Staff would claim these costs via individual travel claims. This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate costs.
The figures relate to both the FCO's offices in London and Hanslope Park. Hanslope Park, since 1996–07, has developed into an important operational site to the Department and leads on major Projects such as Firecrest, the FCO Telecommunications Network and PRISM; hence the number of visitors has increased. The site is not supported by public transport links and use of taxi's to/from Central Milton Keynes (London main line) station has been the only method of reaching the site for train users. We have recognised the increased use of taxis at Hanslope Park and introduced an 'in-house' minibus service at peak times of the morning/afternoon to cut costs. In addition, we are actively managing the taxi contracts to ensure value for money. We have also encouraged taxi-sharing where possible.
7 Sept 2004 : Column 1063W
Mr. Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the cost was of printing Foreign Office headed notepaper in (a) 1996–97 and (b) the latest year for which figures are available. [184505]
Mr. Straw: For normal departmental use the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) does not use pre-printed headed notepaper. FCO staff use electronic templates to print out the FCO letterhead. There are, however, some departments/posts which require the use of pre-printed headed paper.
Data from the financial year 1996–97 are not available, although headed paper produced by FCO Services Crystal Print cost £7.70 for 500 sheets in 1996–97. This does not include embossed letterheads which would have been sourced through an external supplier; financial data for this is not available.
The cost of obtaining 500 sheets of pre-printed letterheads from FCO Services Crystal Print is £49.00, £6.50 for each extra 500 thereafter. In 1996–97 the letterheads were charged at cost (ink and paper) as the artwork was supplied by a separate department, and pricing for the internal market had not been introduced fully. Now that the artwork is produced in house a charge for the set up fee of the artwork is included in the initial cost, hence the reduction in price for multiples of 500. This current price also includes full economic cost. For the latest period June 2003—June 2004, FCO Services Crystal Print took orders for about 133,000 sheets of letterheads, including continuation sheets, for both home and overseas departments. The total cost was approximately £5,200. This type of letterhead is produced in house, from layout to print. For the period June 2003 to July 2004 FCO Services Crystal Print ordered embossed letterheads to the value of £6,586 from external suppliers.
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