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4 Nov 2004 : Column 409W—continued
Uzbekistan
Sir Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the withdrawal of Mr. Craig Murray, former Ambassador to Uzbekistan. [195508]
Mr. Straw: Operational staffing decisions are taken by senior Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) officials, in accordance with long-standing convention. My officials decided to withdraw Mr. Murray from his post as he was no longer able to perform effectively the full range of duties required in the conduct of our relations with Uzbekistan. Mr. Murray has since been suspended on full pay pending investigation into his conduct in relation to a number of statements which have been made about the FCO.
Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will set up an inquiry into the leaking of a confidential report from former British Ambassador to Uzbekistan, Craig Murray, to The Financial Times. [195938]
Mr. Alexander: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office launched an investigation on 14 October into the leak of a confidential document to the Financial Times, in accordance with Cabinet Office guidelines.
Zimbabwe
Sir Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will estimate the number of British war (a) veterans and (b) widows living in Zimbabwe; and if he will make a statement. [195044]
Mr. Mullin: There are currently 13,000 British nationals resident in Zimbabwe but the records do not specify how many of them are war veterans and widows.
Sir Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the (a) financial and (b) physical wellbeing of British war (i) veterans and (ii) widows living in Zimbabwe; and if he will make a statement. [195045]
Mr. Mullin: We do not make assessments of financial or physical wellbeing of British nationals living overseas, whether war veterans or not. If a British national is in need of consular assistance, we will help as much as we properly can.
Sir Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans Her Majesty's Government have to organise the emergency repatriation of British war (a) veterans and (b) widows living in Zimbabwe who express a wish to return to the UK; and if he will make a statement. [195047]
Mr. Mullin:
Although we have emergency evacuation plans for British nationals in the event of certain scenarios, for example civil disorder or natural disaster,
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we do not have any specific plans to repatriate those British war veterans and widows who express a wish to return to the UK.
If British war veterans or widows express a wish to return to the UK, we will offer all appropriate advice and assistance we can, eg contacting relatives or friends in the UK for financial or other assistance. We may also be able to help with travel documents. We can also provide information on such things as state benefits, health and education services, citizenship and employment, to inform returning UK nationals about the options available to them on return to the UK.
NORTHERN IRELAND
Closed-circuit Television
Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment he has made of change in criminal activity in Northern Ireland since the introduction of CCTV in a number of urban centres. [194786]
Mr. Spellar: There are currently 19 publicly funded town centre CCTV systems installed across Northern Ireland for the purposes of tackling crime and antisocial behaviour.
The former Police Authority for Northern Ireland who handled the allocation of funding for most of the town centre schemes in Northern Ireland, required each individual scheme to arrange an evaluation of their performance in the two years after the CCTV system became operational. All evaluations received to date indicate that in the areas where CCTV was in operation, crime was reduced or, the rate of increase was slower than other areas and the level of detection of crime increased. In some areas the level of reported crime increased as the cameras witnessed crimes not normally reported, thought this was usually combined with an increase in detection.
It is also important to point out that levels of recorded crime have fallen across Northern Ireland over the past two years. This is due to a number of factors, including improved police performance. However, I have little doubt that CCTV has also played a part in this reduction.
Explorers Programme
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what criteria he has used to assess the value for money of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment's Explorers Programme; what assessment he has made of that programme's performance; and if he will make a statement. [195543]
Mr. Spellar: The Explorers Programme was externally assessed by KPMG in December 2001. This assessment confirmed that the programme offered value for money and made a positive contribution to the Northern Ireland economy.
A wide range of criteria were used to assess the achievement of both tangible outputs reflected in growth in exports by participating companies and intangible outputs such as addressing psychological barriers to exporting.
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The programme continues to be assessed internally using the broad portfolio of measures identified and applied by KPMG and is currently meeting its targets and objectives.
The programme contributes to addressing commitments and targets contained in the Programme for Government published by the former Northern Ireland Executive, which are in turn reflected in the objectives of the Invest NI Corporate Plan 2002–05.
Health Service
Rev. Martin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much of the money raised by the introduction of water charges is planned to be spent on the Health Service. [195218]
Mr. Spellar: The self-financing arrangements for water and sewerage services to be introduced from 2006–07, or as soon as practicable thereafter, will require all customers, domestic and non-domestic, to contribute directly towards the cost of the services they receive. The charges will be used solely for the purposes of water and sewerage services. The introduction of self-financing arrangements will therefore free resources within the Northern Ireland Departmental expenditure limit for allocation to other public spending priorities, as determined within the annual public expenditure planning process.
Library Board Suspensions
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the recent suspension of officials from the (a) Belfast education and library board and (b) South Eastern education and library board following the discovery of budget deficits. [195915]
Mr. Gardiner: I have been informed by the Belfast education and library board that both its chief executive and its deputy chief finance officer are currently under precautionary suspension. I understand that the South Eastern board has suspended its chief finance officer, again as a precautionary measure.
As these suspensions are precautionary measures, it would be inappropriate for me to comment further on the specifics of each case.
Prisons
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether slopping-out is still required in any prisons in Northern Ireland. [195541]
Mr. Pearson:
Generally, daily slopping-out of cells is no longer required in any prisons in Northern Ireland. Maghaberry has in-cell sanitation and both Hydebank Wood and Magilligan operate an electronic unlock to facilitate access to toilets. Both of the latter establishments do provide plastic chamber pots, if requested, but these are for emergencies only and are seldom asked for or used.
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Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the (a) baseline certified normal accommodation, (b) in-use certified normal accommodation, (c) operational capacity, (d) useable operational capacity and (e) current population is of each prison and young offenders institution in Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement. [195542]
Mr. Pearson: The information is as follows:
Note:
The number of cells at (a) and (b) exclude Healthcare Centres and Special Supervision Units. Due to insufficient staff resources, 146 cells are currently out of use, including 58 in Mourne House, Maghaberry, which is being held as contingency accommodation. The figures shown at (e) include prisoners on temporary release.
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