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3 Mar 2005 : Column 1301W—continued

Steel Industry

Helen Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on prospects for the steel industry. [219462]

 
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Ms Hewitt: After a period of very difficult trading conditions, prospects for the UK steel industry are now good. Deliveries by UK producers increased by 9.6 per cent. over the last year. In September 2004, Corus announced that it had made a profit for the first time since the company was formed in 1999.

Tuvalu (Trojan Diallers)

Mr. Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make representations to the Government of Tuvalu concerning UK citizens facing charges from trojan diallers operating from Tuvalu. [218420]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: The Government have no plans to make representations to the Government of Tuvalu concerning UK citizens facing charges from Trojan diallers operating from Tuvalu. UK telecoms companies regularly bar access to the specific numbers dialled. The volume of complaints about Tuvalu numbers is currently declining.

MINISTER FOR WOMEN

Equal Pay

23. Miss McIntosh: To ask the Minister for Women if she will make a statement on progress towards equal pay for men and women doing the same job. [219486]

Jacqui Smith: Since 1998 the median gender pay gap has closed from 17.4 per cent. to 14.4 per cent. To close the pay gap further we set up the Women and Work Commission to investigate the causes. I look forward to their interim statement, due to be published later this month.

25. Mr. Sarwar: To ask the Minister for Women what steps the Government are taking to close the pay gap between men and women; and if she will make a statement. [219488]

Jacqui Smith: As well as setting up the Women and Work Commission, the Government have led by example with all 88 Government Departments and Agencies having conducted equal pay reviews. This is reinforced by our target of 45 per cent. of large organisations having carried out equal pay reviews by 2008.

I am pleased that the Equal Opportunities Commission in Scotland have recently launched into occupational segregation.

Commission on Equality and Human Rights

24. Mr. Lazarowicz: To ask the Minister for Women what progress is being made towards the establishment of a Commission on Equality and Human Rights. [219487]

Ms Hewitt: I am very pleased that the Government have today published a Bill to establish the Commission for Equality and Human Rights, which will play a key part in realising our vision of a fair, cohesive and prosperous society based on opportunity for all, respect for all and good relations between communities.
 
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Career Sexism

26. Mrs. Anne Campbell: To ask the Minister for Women what steps she is taking to tackle career sexism. [219489]

Ms Hewitt: I was delighted to launch a cross-Government plan to tackle career sexism at the Equal Opportunities Commission's Gender and Productivity Summit in October. Further work on tackling occupational segregation is being taken forward in the context of the Women and Work Commission, and I look forward to their interim statement, which is due to be published later this month.

PRIME MINISTER

Ministerial Visits (Expenses)

Norman Baker: To ask the Prime Minister what proportion of the costs of his visits to UK towns and cities since 1 January have been met from public funds; and what the total sum spent from public funds has been. [212342]

The Prime Minister: Since 1 January I have made official visits to 17 UK towns and cities. The cost to public funds of these visits, for which figures are available, is £13,350. The Labour Party meets any costs incurred on party political business.

I travel making the most efficient and cost-effective arrangements. My travel arrangements are in accordance with the arrangements for official travel set out in Chapter 7 of the Ministerial Code, and the accompanying guidance document, Travel by Ministers".

Royal Marriage

Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Prime Minister (1) what discussions he has had with (a) the Prime Minister of (i) Canada, (ii) New Zealand and (iii) Australia and (b) other heads of government of countries where Her Majesty the Queen is Head of State about legislating in accordance with the Statute of Westminster 1931 for His Royal Highness Prince Charles to effect a morganatic marriage; and if he will make a statement; [212387]

(2) what advice the Government have given to His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales regarding whether his proposed marriage to Mrs Camilla Parker-Bowles would constitute a morganatic marriage; [212389]

(3) what advice the Government have given to His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales regarding the basis on which Mrs Camilla Parker-Bowles would not become Queen following her proposed marriage to His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales on his accession to the throne; and if he will make a statement. [212390]

The Prime Minister: It is not the practice of the Government to make public details of all discussions with foreign Governments.

Discussions with the Royal Household are not disclosed.
 
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HOME DEPARTMENT

Asylum Seekers

Martin Linton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of Somali asylum seekers have claimed asylum (a) at an airport and (b) having travelled first through other countries in the past 24 months. [218524]

Mr. Browne [holding answer 25 February 2005]: The number of asylum applications received from nationals of Somalia, excluding dependants, was 5,090 in 2003 and 2,590 in 2004. Internal management information shows that between nine and 10 per cent. of Somali asylum applications are made at an airport.

There are no direct flights to the United Kingdom from Somalia. All those asylum applicants who claimed that they were Somali nationals and who had travelled from Somalia will therefore have travelled through other countries in order to reach the United Kingdom.

Information on asylum applications is published quarterly on the Home Office Research Development and Statistics Directorate web site at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html.

Biometric Data

Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department in what ways his proposal for biometric data on UK identity documents (a) exceeds and (b) fails to meet the standard required by the United States for non-visa entry into that country; and if he will make a statement. [218296]

Mr. Browne: The US requirements for non-visa entry currently apply only to the British passport. US legislation requires that by 26 October 2005 all countries participating in the Visa Waiver Programme must have a programme in place to include biometric identifiers into their machine readable passports that meet International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) standards.

The UK is fully engaged with the US in meeting the requirements to remain part of the visa waiver programme (VWP). The UK has established an implementation programme to enable it to begin the issue of UK biometric passports (ePassport) by 26 October 2005. The design of the ePassport meets the current set of requirements demanded by the United States for non-visa entry. It will incorporate identifiers that meet ICAO standards for biometric authentication, including a photographic image of the bearer, held digitally in the chip of the ePassport.

Crime Figures

Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the recorded crime figures published in July 2004. [214827]

Ms Blears: The recorded crime figures showed an increase of 1 per cent. in the number of crimes recorded by the police in 2003–04 compared with 2002–03. There were falls of 9 per cent. in both offences of theft of and theft from a vehicle. Domestic burglary also fell by 8 per cent.
 
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Overall violent crime rose by 12 per cent. though much of this increase is due to the impact of changes in recording and the introduction of new offences.

Police recorded crime statistics provide a good measure of trends in well-reported crimes, and are an important indicator of police workload. For the offences it covers, and the victims within its scope, the British Crime Survey gives a more complete estimate of crime in England and Wales since it covers both unreported and unrecorded crime and provides more reliable data on trends. 2003–04 BCS interviews showed a reduction of 5 per cent. compared with 2002–03 interviews.

Latest quarterly figures were published on 25 January and both recorded crime and BCS results showed crime falling. BCS interviews during the 12 months ending September 2004 found an 11 per cent. fall compared with the preceding 12 months. There was a 6 per cent. reduction in the overall level of crime recorded by the police in July to September 2004 compared with the same period in the previous year.

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) thefts, (b) burglaries, (c) robberies, (d) property crimes, (e) violent crimes and (f) all crimes there were in (i) England, (ii) north Yorkshire and (iii) City of York in each of the last 10 years according to the British Crime Survey. [217625]

Ms Blears [holding answer 23 February 2005]: Results from the British Crime Survey (BCS) on the number of incidents of crime in England and Wales are available in the Home Office Statistical Bulletin 10/04 (2004) 'Crime in England and Wales 2003–04', which is published at: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds

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