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Private Finance Initiative

Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many private finance initiative and public private partnership contracts with his Department have been won by subsidiaries of Halliburton in each year from 1997; what the terms were of each contract; and if he will make a statement. [205081]

Fiona Mactaggart : From the best information available, the Department has no such contracts.

Sex Abuse (Historical Cases)

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many and what percentage of historical sex abuse cases reviewed by the Criminal
 
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Cases Review Commission have been referred to the Court of Appeal due to (a) new evidence and (b) exceptional circumstances. [207325]

Paul Goggins: The Criminal Cases Review Commission has referred two cases of historical sex abuse to the Court of Appeal. There was new evidence in either of these cases. No such cases have been referred to the Court of Appeal because of exceptional circumstances.

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many cases of historical sex abuse the Criminal Cases Review Commission have reviewed; and how many they are reviewing. [207327]

Paul Goggins: The Criminal Cases Review Commission has completed 15 reviews of historical sex abuse cases. It has eight under review at the moment and six waiting to be reviewed.

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the Criminal Cases Review Commission has established a database on historical sex abuse cases in order to identify generic patterns. [207451]

Paul Goggins: The Criminal Cases Review Commission has established a database on historical sex abuse cases but does not consider that it has sufficient cases with which to identify generic patterns.

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what changes the Criminal Cases Review Commission has suggested to police procedures in the light of its review of historic sex abuse cases. [207452]

Paul Goggins: The Criminal Cases Review Commission has not suggested any changes to police procedures in the light of its review of historic sex abuse cases.

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the results of the co-operation between the Historical Abuse Appeal Panel and the Criminal Cases Review Commission. [207453]

Paul Goggins: There have been several meetings between representatives of the Commission and the Historical Abuse Appeal Panel. Relevant issues have been discussed and a protocol between the two organisations has been drafted.

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many and what percentage of interviews with adult witnesses in historical sex abuse cases were recorded in each of the last 10 years. [207460]

Ms Blears: The information requested is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Stolen Property

Mr. George Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the property belonging to his Department that has (a) been stolen and (b) been reported lost in each year since 1997, broken down by type of article. [206363]

 
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Fiona Mactaggart: There has been only one loss of £28.67 reported since 2001. Due to the low value of the item lost, this incident was not reported to the Police.

UK Citizenship

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether, under plans from his Department, all applicants for UK citizenship will have to prove that they can speak English regardless of how long they have lived in the UK. [207742]

Mr. Browne: The requirement that all those applying for naturalisation should provide evidence of language skills at or above, English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) Entry 3 came into force on 28 July 2004.

The requirement applies equally to all applicants irrespective of the time they have been resident in the UK. There is discretion to waive the requirement where it would be unreasonable to expect the applicant to fulfil it because of age or physical or mental condition.

Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act

Vera Baird: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will publish the results of the monitoring project on the effectiveness of limitations on cross examination about previous sexual history under section 41 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999. [207523]

Paul Goggins [holding answer 12 January 2005]: We intend publishing a report on the evaluation of these provisions in late spring.

PRIME MINISTER

Appointments Commission

Mr. Donaldson: To ask the Prime Minister what plans he has to seek further appointments by the House of Lords Appointments Commission; and if he will make a statement. [208376]

The Prime Minister: The Appointments Commission continues to consider nominations and I propose to ask them for further recommendations shortly.

Constitutional Treaty

John Cryer: To ask the Prime Minister what discussions he has had with the Electoral Commission regarding the proposed referendum on the Constitutional Treaty for the European Union. [208539]

The Prime Minister: None.

E-mails

Norman Baker: To ask the Prime Minister how many e-mails have been permanently deleted by his Office in each month since July 2004. [208723]

The Prime Minister: For these purposes my office is part of the Cabinet Office. I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Minster for the Cabinet Office (Mr. Miliband) today.
 
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Engagements

Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his engagements for February. [207981]

The Prime Minister: My official spokesman announces my future engagements as appropriate.

Global Warming (United States)

Harry Cohen: To ask the Prime Minister what progress he has made in his representations to the US Administration regarding that country's engagement in efforts to effectively tackle global warming; and if he will make a statement. [208736]

The Prime Minister: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Ealing, Southall (Mr. Khabra) at Prime Minister's questions on 17 November 2004, Official Report, column 1350.

Iraq

Alan Simpson: To ask the Prime Minister pursuant to the oral answer of 8 December 2004, Official Report, column 1167, what the basis was for his claim that the United Nations appointed the interim Government in Iraq; and under what legal provision this appointment was made. [208378]

The Prime Minister: The Iraqi Interim Government (IIG), as outlined in the Transitional Administrative Law (TAL), was appointed by Mr. Lakhdar Brahimi (the then UN Secretary-General's special adviser on Iraq) after thorough consultations with Iraqis representing all Iraq's ethnic and sectarian groups and with the Coalition Provisional Authority. UN Resolution 1546 endorses the formation of the IIG, and its assumption of full responsibility and authority for Iraq following the transfer of authority in June. A national conference was held in August to elect an Advisory Council to oversee the performance of the IIG, whose structures and powers were enshrined in an annexe to the TAL.

Glenda Jackson: To ask the Prime Minister if he will commission an independent inquiry into the number of Iraqis (a) killed and (b) injured since March 2003. [208969]

Mr. Kilfoyle: To ask the Prime Minister if he will establish a comprehensive and independent inquiry into the number of Iraqi casualties since the invasion of March 2003. [209457]

The Prime Minister: I refer my hon. Friends to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Orkney and Shetland (Mr. Carmichael) at Prime Minister's questions on 8 December 2004, Official Report, columns 1166–67.

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