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6 Jul 2005 : Column 486W—continued

Moldova

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make it his policy to facilitate a British Council presence in Moldova. [9434]

Mr. Straw: The British Council currently covers Moldova from its office in Romania, from where, among other things, it manages scholarship programmes for Moldavians, conducts English language testing and arranges arts events for Moldova in conjunction with the British embassy. In addition the Council has a library close to the Moldovan border which serves around 500 Moldovan students.

If a British Council presence in Moldova became desirable, taking into account demand, resources and competing pressures, the Foreign and Commonwealth office would assist as appropriate.

Morocco

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will intercede in the cases of the Saharawi activists held in Moroccan jails. [9769]

Dr. Howells: We are aware of recent reports regarding the arrest and subsequent detention of Saharawi activists following demonstrations in Western Sahara. In our capacity as EU President, the UK will discuss this issue with EU partners and agree appropriate action.

Organisation for the Prevention of Chemical Weapons

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 22 June 2005, Official Report, column 1081W, what assessment he has made of the reasons that damages were awarded to the former Director General of the Organisation for the Prevention of Chemical Weapons, other than for loss of earnings. [9642]

 
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Dr. Howells: Following the original judgment of the International Labour Organisation Administrative Tribunal (ILOAT) and the subsequent review of the level of damages awarded, requested by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) with the support of States Party, which resulted in a reduced award to Mr. Bustani for material damages, the UK and other States Party accepted the judgment and supported OPCW's payment of the award, since ILOAT judgments are final.

Palestine

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the postponement of Palestinian elections. [9853]

Dr. Howells: We support the efforts of Palestinian President Abbas to ensure that a credible election system is in place, and encourage the Palestinian Authority to complete the implementation of the remaining recommendations from the European Commission's Observation Mission. That said, we hope that the elections will take place as soon as possible with minimum slippage from the original time frame. We look forward to free, fair and credible Palestinian elections.

Shell

Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will meet representatives of overseas community organisations to discuss concerns about the social and environmental consequences of Shell's operations in (a) Nigeria, (b) South Africa, (c) the Philippines, (d) Brazil and (e) Russia. [9182]

Ian Pearson: There are no plans for my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary to meet any such overseas representatives. Questions about Shell's operations in other countries are for the company to answer.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is however in regular contact with Shell and other energy companies across all aspects of their corporate performance, including corporate social responsibility. This includes the UN Global Compact, the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative and the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights.

UN Convention Against Corruption

Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when the UK expects to ratify the United Nations Convention Against Corruption. [9243]

Ian Pearson: The Government hope to be in a position to ratify the UN Convention against Corruption by the end of this year.

United Nations

Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many members of the United Nations are full or partial democracies; and how many there were (a) 10 years ago and (b) 20 years ago. [9894]

 
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Dr. Howells: There is no commonly agreed, objective means of measuring whether a country is a full or partial democracy. However, certain NGOs, such as Freedom House, and academic institutions, such as the University of Maryland, assess annually the performance of countries against a range of indicators, which together provide some measure of how well a country's democracy is functioning. We draw on these and other resources to assess trends and estimate that from 1975 to 2005, the number of democracies in the world has increased from around 40 to over 140. These countries are not all full democracies, but exhibit at least some characteristics of a democracy. We welcome this trend.

Visa Applications

Mike Gapes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many visit visa applications made in July 2004 have yet to be finally concluded, including appeal proceedings; and if he will make a statement. [9670]

Dr. Howells: UKvisas hold no statistics on the number of visit visa applications made in July 2004 that have yet to be concluded because of an outstanding appeal.

Mike Gapes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the length of time taken by the British high commission, Islamabad to process a visa application from the time the application is received by Gerry's/FedEx until the person receives a visa or a refusal. [9447]

Dr. Howells: Gerry's/FedEx aims to deliver visa applications submitted to their offices to the visa section of the British high commission, Islamabad on the following day.

Once in receipt of the applications, the British high commission in Islamabad aims to decide all straightforward non-settlement visa applications within seven working days and all straightforward settlement applications within 12 weeks of receiving the application there.

CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

Administration of Estates (Small Payments) Act

Mr. Vaizey: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs if she will raise the current threshold of £5,000, set under the Administration of Estates (Small Payments) Act 1965, for the repayment of investments to personal representatives of the deceased without a grant of probate. [9680]

Bridget Prentice: Currently, there are no plans to raise the threshold.

Asylum Seekers (Legal Aid)

Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs if she will make a statement on the review which the Legal Service Commission has announced on legal aid services provided to asylum seekers. [9757]

 
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Bridget Prentice: In most areas of the country there are an adequate number of suppliers and the LSC acts to ensure that any local gaps in supply are addressed as quickly as possible. The LSC is undertaking a needs analysis exercise to further match supply to demand. Since the changes were introduced, the number of firms and organisations undertaking this work has fallen, but during 2004–05 the net reduction was less than 10 per cent. This is in the context of a significant fall in asylum numbers from a peak of over 84,000 to 32,000 in 2004–05.

Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what plans her Department has to evaluate the new funding arrangements for legal aid services on asylum and immigration issues which came into effect in April 2004. [9758]

Bridget Prentice: There is now sufficient information available to commence an analysis of the impact of the changes made to the asylum and immigration legal aid arrangements in April 2004. DCA officials will be working with the Legal Services Commission (LSC), Home Office and the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal to look at the impact on the asylum and immigration system as a whole. The operation of the new cost controls was subject to a review involving key stakeholders from the legal professions in July 2004.

David Davis: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the cost was of legal aid for asylum and immigration cases in each year since 1997. [9593]

Bridget Prentice: The legal aid expenditure ¹ for asylum and immigration cases in each year since 1997 are as follows:

	£ million
1996–97	26.1
1997–98	35.2
1998–99	53.3
1999–2000	61.4
2000–01	81.1
2001–02	129.4
2002–03	176.2
2003–04	203.0

⁽²⁶⁾It is now practice to quote expenditure/budgets in resource terms. However, since the question covers years prior to the adoption of resource accounting the answer has been given in cash terms for the purpose of continuity.

Before April 2003 there was no separate, specific budget set for expenditure on immigration and asylum matters. In co-operation with the Home Office, we set up a Single Asylum Fund (SAF) to improve overall control of immigration spend. The figures given above for expenditure in that year form part of the SAF budget.

David Davis: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the cost was of legal aid for asylum and immigration cases in each year since 1997. [9593]

 
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Bridget Prentice: The legal aid expenditure ¹ for asylum and immigration cases in each year since 1997 are as follows:

	£ million
1996–97	26.1
1997–98	35.2
1998–99	53.3
1999–2000	61.4
2000–01	81.1
2001–02	129.4
2002–03	176.2
2003–04	203.0

⁽²⁷⁾It is now practice to quote expenditure/budgets in resource terms. However, since the question covers years prior to the adoption of resource accounting the answer has been given in cash terms for the purpose of continuity.

Before April 2003 there was no separate, specific budget set for expenditure on immigration and asylum matters. In co-operation with the Home Office, we set up a Single Asylum Fund (SAF) to improve overall control of immigration spend. The figures given above for expenditure in that year form part of the SAF budget.

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