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Europe Directorate Budget
Mr. Davidson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much of the Europe Directorate Budget for (a) materials and (b) media relations for financial year 2004–05 has been spent, broken down by category of materials; and what future materials are planned. [1210]
Mr. Douglas Alexander:
In 2004–05, approximately £425,000 was spent by the Europe Directorate on materials and media relations. From this about £150,000 was spent in preparation for the EU presidency and £270,000 on general EU communications.
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Mr. Davidson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the Europe Directorate's contracts for (a) e-communications and (b) partnership marketing will extend beyond financial year 2004–05; what work on these activities has been completed; and what work is planned. [1211]
Mr. Douglas Alexander: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office's contracts with two specialist agencies for e-communications and partnership marketing are set to continue for some of financial year 2005–06. Final decisions have not yet been made on communication activities relating to the EU constitutional treaty for financial year 2005–06.
European Constitution
Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the effect of the qualified majority voting rules set out in the treaty establishing a constitution for Europe on the UK's power to block the adoption of legislation. [1651]
Mr. Douglas Alexander: The Government do not believe the new voting arrangements in the EU constitutional treaty represent a significant change in the UK or other member states' powers to pass or block the adoption of legislation. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office's commentary on the treaty (Cm. 6459) provides a detailed analysis of the changes in voting rules which would be introduced by the EU constitutional treaty if it were to come into force. In addition, the treaty would give national parliaments a direct say in the EU's law-making procedures for the first time.
Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the procedure is by which Parliament would approve a decision to move from unanimity to qualified majority voting under the procedures in Articles III-422.1, III-234, III-269.3, Article I-55.4, Article III-210.3, I-40.7 and Article III-300.3 of the treaty establishing a constitution for Europe. [1654]
Mr. Douglas Alexander: I refer my hon. Friend to the statement my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary made to the House on the EU constitutional treaty on 6 June 2005, Official Report, columns 991–92.
Article IV-444 of the constitutional treaty provides for changes to be made to the voting requirements or legislative procedure governing the articles in Part III that provide for the council to act by unanimity in a given area or case. These changes can only be made provided that member states support any such proposal unanimously, and that national parliaments have not registered their opposition. Article IV-444 would apply in respect of the changes envisaged in Articles III-422.1, III-234, III-269.3, III-210.3, and III-300.3.
Clause 2 of the EU Bill, as introduced to the House of Commons on 24 May. Proposes a mechanism by which the UK Parliament will be able to approve or oppose any proposed change under Article IV-444. Under clause 2, the House of Lords will be given 20 days to provide an opinion on any proposal, after which the House of Commons will debate whether or not to
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approve the proposal. This mechanism is designed to ensure that the elected chamber has the final judgement on any proposal, but that the view of the House of Lords is able to inform the debate in the Commons.
The legislative procedure governing Articles 1–40.7 and 1–55.4 can only move to qualified majority voting if this is agreed unanimously by all the member states. Clause 2 does not apply to these Articles.
Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the operation of articles (a) III-422.1, (b) III-234, (c) III-269.3, (d) I-55.4, (e) III-210.3, (f) I-40.7 and (g) III-300.3 of the treaty establishing a constitution for Europe. [1655]
Mr. Douglas Alexander: I refer my hon. Friend to the statement my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary made to the House on the EU constitutional treaty on 6 June 2005, Official Report, columns 991–92.
The operation of the articles in question is explained in the commentary on the EU constitutional treaty published on 26 January (Cm. 6459).
Mr. Davidson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what budget has been set for informing the public about the EU, including the proposed EU constitutional treaty, for financial year 2005–06, broken down by category of activity. [1178]
Mr. Douglas Alexander: I refer my hon. Friend to the statement my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary made to the House on the EU constitutional treaty on 6 June 2005, Official Report, columns 991–92.
No final decisions have yet been made on general communication activities on the EU and the EU constitutional treaty for financial year 2005–6. There is a separate budget of £200,000 for financial year 2005–06 for communicating the UK presidency of the EU to the British public.
Mr. Davidson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he expects to decide whether to distribute the treaty establishing a constitution for Europe to every household in advance of the referendum on UK ratification. [1213]
Mr. Douglas Alexander: I refer my hon. Friend to the statement my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary made to the House on the EU constitutional treaty on 6 June 2005, Official Report, columns 991–92.
No final decisions have yet been made on communication activities on the EU constitutional treaty for financial year 2005–06.
Malaysia
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the human rights compliance of the (a) immigration and (b) labour policies of Malaysia. [1856]
Ian Pearson
[holding answer 8 June 2005]: Aspects of the Malaysian Government's recent efforts to curb large-scale illegal immigration, which has had a direct and negative impact on the Malaysian labour market, have given rise to potential human rights concerns. EU
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Missions in Malaysia are monitoring the situation and have supported the efforts of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) to minimise the impact of Malaysia's immigration policies on vulnerable groups. Following assurances from the Malaysian Government, EU Missions and UNHCR have agreed to delay making further representations to see if these assurances will be honoured. Conditions for refugees in detention centres remain a cause for concern, but the Malaysian Government is currently considering recommendations for improvements made by the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia. The British high commissioner in Kuala Lumpur continues to take appropriate opportunities to address human rights issues with the Malaysian Government, and will continue to monitor the situation closely.
DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER
Cleaning Machines
Sarah Teather: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many street cleaning machines were used by each London borough in the last year for which figures are available. [2466]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The Office of the Prime Minister does not hold this information.
Community Warden Schemes
Mr. Steen: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list local authorities that run a community warden scheme; how many wardens are employed by each local authority; and which local authority wardens have received accreditation from the area chief constable under powers provided by the Police Reform Act 2002. [2922]
Mr. Woolas: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has provided 142 local authorities with pilot funding for 207 neighbourhood warden schemes, a list of how many wardens this has funded is as follows. We do not hold information on how many wardens schemes are accredited under the community safety accreditation scheme.
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