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23 Feb 2005 : Column 660W—continued
Uganda
Mr. Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions his Department has had with the government of Uganda regarding (a) military incursions into the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and (b) the illegal exploitation of natural resources from the DRC. [216916]
Mr. Mullin: We regularly discuss the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) with the Ugandan Government. I last raised the subject with President Museveni during my visit to Uganda in August. We have consistently reminded Uganda to play a constructive role in the DRC peace process, and of its obligations to respect the DRC's territorial integrity.
We are working to end the illegal exploitation of natural resources so that the DRC's mineral wealth can be used for the benefit of the Congolese people. We have urged regional governments on several occasions to do more to prevent illegal resource exploitation.
Venezuala
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the Government of Venezuela on further entrenchment of democracy in the region. [215759]
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Mr. Rammell: During my recent visit to Venezuela, I encouraged the Venezuelan Government to work for national reconciliation following the presidential recall referendum in 2004.
We continue to work with governments, NGOs and other donors on good governance issues in Venezuela and the wider region.
Further details about the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's (FCO) work in the field of promoting democracy are contained in Chapter 8 of the FCO's annual human rights report for 2004, available on the FCO website at: www.fco.gov.uk/humanrights.
CABINET OFFICE
Freedom of Information
Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what involvement he has had in co-ordinating policy across Departments in respect of the answering of requests made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. [217135]
Mr. Milburn [holding answer 21 February 2005]: The Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs and Lord Chancellor has the policy lead on the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
I am a member of the Cabinet Committee MISC 28 whose terms of reference are to
oversee the Government's strategy of Freedom of Information and the commencement of the Freedom of Information Act 2000".
Government Vehicles
Mr. Hammond: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office (1) what recent representations he has received concerning the external marking of dual fuel vehicles within the Government car fleet; [216622]
(2) what steps he is taking to ensure that dual fuel vehicles in the Government car fleet are externally marked as such for the protection of fire fighters in the event of a fire or accident involving such vehicles. [216623]
Mr. Miliband:
The responsibility for the provision of ministerial cars and drivers has been delegated under the terms of the Framework Document to the Government Car and Despatch Agency. I have asked its Chief Executive Mr. Nick Matheson to write to the hon. Member. Copies of his letter will be placed in the Library and will be printed in the Official Report.
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Letter from Nick Matheson to Mr. Philip Hammond, dated 23 February 2005:
The Minister for the Cabinet Office has asked me in my capacity as the Chief Executive responsible for the Government Car and Despatch Agency (GCDA) to reply to your Parliamentary Questions the external marking of LPG powered cars.
GCDA has received no representations about the external marking of LPG powered vehicles. There is no legal requirement for such vehicles to be externally marked and so we do not add any extra markings to our car fleet over and above those provided by the manufacturers or LPG converter companies.
Staff Training
Mr. George Osborne: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the costs of departmental (a) staff training days and (b) staff development days held away from the Department were in each year since 1997. [213789]
Mr. Miliband: The Cabinet Office is committed to providing access to training for staff and developing them to their full potential. However, it is not possible to provide information on costs of staff training days and staff development days held away from the Department since 1997, as these costs are not separately identifiable on the Department's accounting system. It cannot therefore be readily retrieved without incurring disproportionate cost.
Targets
Mr. George Osborne: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many targets have been set in each year since 1997 by the Department; and, of these, which have been (a) met, (b) nearly met, (c) not met, (d) changed and (e) dropped. [215801]
Mr. Miliband: I refer the hon. Member to the answer he received from my hon. Friend the Financial Secretary of the Treasury (Mr. Timms) on 21 February 2005, Official Report, column 75W.
WORK AND PENSIONS
Access to Work
Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the take-up of the (a) Access to Work Scheme, (b) Job Introduction Scheme and (c) New Deal for Disabled People was in each region in the latest period for which figures are available; and how many requests for early entry into (i) other New Deal programmes and (ii) Workstep were received. [214638]
Maria Eagle: The available information on the take-up of the Access to Work programme, the Job Introduction Scheme and the New Deal for Disabled People programme is in the tables.
Notes:
1.New beneficiary figures relate to people receiving Access to Work assistance for the first time, and data are for the financial year April 2003-March 2004.
2.Existing beneficiary figures relate to people who were new beneficiaries in a previous financial year and who continued to receive help in the financial year April 2003-March 2004.
3.Data provided are for the latest complete financial year.
Source:
DWP Disability and Rehabilitation Division
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Notes:
1.Information on numbers of people starting the Job Introduction Scheme is not
collected. Figures for numbers helped through the Job Introduction Scheme are based on a Job Introduction Scheme participant spending an average period of six weeks on the programme at a cost of £75 per week.
2.Expenditure figures are rounded to the nearest thousand.
3.Average numbers helped figures are rounded to the nearest five.
Source:
DWP Disability and Rehabilitation Division
Notes:
1.Data are latest available information and relates to the total number of registrations in the period October 2003 to September 2004.
2.Figures are rounded to the nearest 10 and total may not sum due to rounding.
Source:
DWP Information Directorate
There is no early entry criteria for the New Deal 50 plus programme and all entrants must have been in receipt of a relevant qualifying benefit for six months.
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People joining New Deal for Disabled People can have immediate entry as long as they are in receipt of a qualifying benefit. People joining New Deal for Partners can have immediate entry to the programme as soon as their partner makes a claim for a qualifying benefit. All single parents with a youngest child under the age of 16, who are not working, or working less than 16 hours a week, can join New Deal for Lone Parents immediately.
There are a range of eligibility criteria for entry onto the Workstep programme. However, when a person does not meet the criteria, discretionary decisions can be made to enable early entry to take place. Between 1 April 2003 and 31 March 2004, a total of 59 discretionary decision applications were received by Jobcentre Plus, of which 54 were accepted. Between 1 April 2004 and 31 December 2004, a total of 115 discretionary decision applications were received, of which 109 were accepted.
Information on early entrants to the New Deal for Young People and New Deal 25 plus programmes is in the table.
| New Deal for Young People | New Deal 25 plus | |
|---|---|---|
| Total starts | 160,660 | 95,820 |
| of which: | ||
| Early entrants | 29,590 | 20,000 |
Notes:
1.Data refer to the period October 2003-September 2004—latest available figures.
2.Figures refer to total starts and could include people who have started these programmes more than once.
Source:
New Deal Database, DWP Information Directorate
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