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6 Jul 2005 : Column 482W—continued
Safety Cameras
Mr. Michael Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many personal injury collisions, including collisions involving fatalities, occurred at the site of each fixed speed camera in the Worcester constituency in the year (a) before and (b) after installation of each. [8971]
Dr. Ladyman: The Department does not hold or record this information on a constituency basis. The information requested will be available from the West Mercia Safety Camera Partnership. They can be contacted via their website at www.speedaware.org.uk.
Seafarers
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many UK citizens are employed as seafarers on UK registered ships, broken down by (a) officers and (b) crew. [8611]
Dr. Ladyman: We do not keep separate records of the numbers of UK seafarers by the flag state of the ship on which they are employed. The estimated numbers of UK merchant navy officer and ratings are as follows.
| 2004 | |
|---|---|
| Officers | 15,800 |
| Ratings | 9,600 |
| Total | 25,400 |
Notes:
1.Officer and ratings estimates comprise deck, engine, technical and hotel/catering grades. Cadets are excluded.
2.Estimates for 2004 are taken from UK Seafarer Statistics", published by DfT.
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many seafarer officers (a) have been trained and (b) are in training, since the introduction of the tonnage tax. [8612]
Dr. Ladyman:
A tonnage tax company is required to recruit and train one officer trainee each year for every 15 officer posts in its fleet. The approved cumulative training commitment for each year that the scheme has operated is in the following table.
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| Approved CTC | |
|---|---|
| 2000–01 | 70 |
| 2001–02 | 365 |
| 2002–03 | 762 |
| 2003–04 | 1,094 |
| 2004–05 | (25)1,275 |
(25)with one return outstanding
Tonnage Tax Scheme
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the minimum requirements are for a company to take part in the tonnage tax scheme; what the mechanisms are for checking compliance; and if he will make a statement. [8615]
Dr. Ladyman: A company can take part in tonnage tax if:
HM Revenue and Customs apply the same compliance standards to tonnage tax as they do to the rest of the tax regime.
A unique feature of the UK's tonnage tax system is the minimum training obligation, which requires each tonnage tax company to recruit and train one officer trainee each year for every 15 officer posts in its fleet. Before electing to enter tonnage tax, each company or group must first obtain approval from the Department for Transport for a Core Training Commitment (CTC) which shows how they intend to meet the minimum training obligation. Achievement of the CTC is monitored from reports submitted to DfT every four months.
WORK AND PENSIONS
Child Support Agency
David T.C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when people paying 34 per cent. of their income to the Child Support Agency for the upkeep of two children will have their contributions reduced to the 20 per cent. stipulated under new Child Support Agency guidelines; and if he will make a statement. [5234]
Mr. Plaskitt [holding answer 20 June 2005]: A new Chief Executive of the Agency has recently taken up post. He will be reporting to Ministers over the summer on proposals to improve the agency's performance.
Changes to the levels of contributions in old scheme cases as a result of conversion to the new scheme will only be made once we are sure both the system and business processes are robust.
Sign Language and Lip-speakers
Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much financial support the Government have provided for (a) sign language interpreters and (b) lip-speakers in each year since 1997. [928]
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Mrs. McGuire: This information is not held centrally.
FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS
Departmental Antiques
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the non-furniture antiques classified by his Department as an asset. [9044]
Mr. Straw: This information is not readily available without a disproportionate amount of data analysis.
European Union
Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the projected (a) gross and (b) net UK contributions to the EU budget for each year are in the period 2006 to 2013 with (i) the UK abatement calculated on the existing formula and (ii) the UK abatement calculated according to the method proposed by the Luxembourg presidency during the European Council summit. [9908]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: I have been asked to reply.
As the Prime Minister explained in his statement to the House on 20 June 2005, the final Luxembourg proposal on Own Resources tabled at the June 2005 European Council would have cost the UK an estimated €25 billion over the next Financial Perspective (2007–13). This would have been the effect on both the UK net contribution and gross contribution post abatement, in commitment terms at 2004 prices compared to the current Own Resources system. These estimates are based on Treasury calculations.
Iran
Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of reports of ballot rigging in the Iranian election; and if he will make a statement. [9267]
Dr. Howells: Senior members of the Iranian Government and election officials, as well as several of the candidates, have complained of widespread interference, including by the security forces. We have made clear our concern, which is widely shared in the EU and elsewhere. The EU has also expressed regret that a large majority of candidates, including many reformists and all the women, were excluded from the elections, making a genuine democratic choice difficult. We continue to urge the Iranian Government to allow its citizens to benefit from the full range of democratic freedoms and human rights.
Israel
Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what consideration his Department has given to providing support to the Hand in Hand Centre for Jewish and Arab Education in Israel. [9851]
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Dr. Howells: We are impressed by the proposed projects for expanding the impact of bilingual, multicultural Arab-Jewish education in Israel run by the Hand in Hand Centre for Jewish and Arab Education. We are currently considering providing support.
Middle East
Mark Lazarowicz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what estimate he has made of the cost of damage caused to projects funded by the European Union in Gaza and the West Bank as a result of actions by (a) the Israeli security services and (b) other groups active in the area. [9783]
Dr. Howells: Volume 2 of the International Development Committee report on Development Assistance and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, published in February 2004, gives the estimated figure for physical damages inflicted by Israel Defence Force attacks to EU funded development projects" as just under £25 million. This covers the period May 2001 to February 2004. We are not aware of any estimates made since February 2004.
We are not aware of any estimate being made for damage to EU funded projects caused by the actions of other groups in the area.
Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what his assessment is of the contribution of joint Jewish-Arab educational projects to peace-making between Israeli and Palestinians. [9852]
Dr. Howells: Any initiatives which encourage Israelis and Palestinians to work together as partners for peace, and encourage mutual respect and understanding, are welcome. We therefore welcome the contribution of joint Jewish-Arab educational projects to peace-making between Israelis and Palestinians.
Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what his assessment is of the threat posed by Hezbollah to the relationship between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. [9854]
Dr. Howells: Terrorist attacks by Hezbollah, and the Palestinian rejectionist groups it supports, risk disrupting relations between the Palestinian Authority and Israel and cause many innocent casualties. These groups must cease terrorist attacks forthwith.
Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what his latest assessment is of the compliance with Security Council Resolution 1559 of (a) Hezbollah and (b) Syria. [9855]
Dr. Howells: The UK supports full implementation of UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1559, including the disarmament of Hezbollah. We acknowledge that this is a complex issue and one that must be a Lebanese-led process. We stand ready to support the new Lebanese Government with the implementation of UNSCR 1559.
As required by UNSCR 1559, Syria has withdrawn its troops from Lebanon and we await the report of the UN Secretary-General's UN verification team to Lebanon to assess the presence of Syrian troops and intelligence
6 Jul 2005 : Column 486W
personnel. The UK believes that Syria can play a more positive role in the full implementation of UNSCR 1559.
Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what his assessment is of the threat posed by Hamas to the prospects for Abu Mazen fulfilling commitments on security, economic and political reform made at the London Meeting in March. [9856]
Dr. Howells: Hamas's involvement in terrorism disrupts relations between the Palestinian Authority and Israel and causes many innocent casualties. Such actions undermine Palestinian President Abbas' authority and the Palestinian Authority's ability to meet its commitments on security, and economic and political reform made at the London meeting.
The UK notes the commitment made by Hamas, and other Palestinian groups, to President Abbas in Cairo in March to adopt a conditional cease-fire until the end of 2005. The UK calls for Hamas to go further and renounce violence for good, and choose participatory politics as the only means of working towards a lasting peace in the Middle East.
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