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12 Sept 2005 : Column 2438W—continued
Opinion Surveys
Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the (a) subject matter and (b) dates were of opinion survey research undertaken by the Department and its agencies in the last 12 months; if he will place copies of the results of each survey in the Library; which companies were used in conducting the research; and how much each was paid. [14818]
Ian Pearson: Aside from informal qualitative consultations used to inform the planning of public diplomacy campaigns overseas and outreach activities within the UK, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and its agencies have centrally commissioned only one opinion research survey during this period. The details of this study are as follows:
Detail: This opinion survey aimed to benchmark attitudes towards, and associations with, the UK among educated, urban 18 to 35-year-old Indians in advance of a major public diplomacy initiative in India.
The results of this piece of research will be placed in the Library of the House.
In addition to the survey listed above, the FCO's posts overseas will occasionally commission survey research locally. However, a comprehensive list of these studies is not kept centrally, and could be compiled only over a much longer timescale, and at disproportionate cost.
Philippines
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of Statefor Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the political situation in the Philippines. [15011]
Ian Pearson: We are aware of the rapidly-changing situation in the Philippines, and monitor it closely. The current domestic political situation is an internal matter for the Philippines to resolve, in accordance with its constitutional provisions.
Raoul Wallenberg
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations the UK Government have made since 1997 to the Government of Russia about the fate of Raoul Wallenberg; and if he will make a statement. [14300]
Mr. Douglas Alexander: There is no record of the Government having made representations since 1997 to the Russian Government about the fate of Raoul Wallenberg.
Telephone Inquiries
Mr. MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what facilities his Department has to deal with telephone inquiries in (a) Welsh, (b) Scots Gaelic and (c) Irish Gaelic. [14737]
Mr. Straw: We have no such facilities.
Tibet
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the implementation of outstanding UN resolutions relating to Tibet. [14105]
Ian Pearson:
The Government accords with the three UN resolutions on Tibet, which call for respect for human rights there, by raising our concerns, including individual cases, at every suitable opportunity and at the highest level with the Chinese. We believe Tibetans should have a greater say in running their own affairs in Tibet. The best way to achieve this is through dialogue between the Chinese Government and the Dalai Lama, without preconditions.
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UN Counter-Terrorism Committee
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress has been made in implementing UN Security Council Resolution 1373; which countries have not reported to the Counter-Terrorism Committee on steps taken or planned to implement the resolution; and if he will make a statement. [13855]
Dr. Howells: Every country in the UN has reported to the Counter-Terrorism Committee at least once. Many countries, including the UK, have reported on several occasions. There have been major advances in counter-terrorism efforts since Resolution 1373 was passed in September 2001, but clearly more remains to be done. The committee has begun visits to states and has a new expert team in place to improve its efforts to monitor—and assist—states' implementation.
United Nations
Mr. Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to improve the governance of the United Nations.. [13444]
Ian Pearson [pursuant to the reply, 21 July 2005, Official Report, c. 2107W]: I regret that the answer of 21 July contained an error. The correct answer should read as follows:
In September 2005 the UN Millennium Review Summit will address recommendations on reform of the UN system put forward by the UN Secretary- General in his report In Larger Freedom: Towards Development, Security and Human Rights for All".
The Government welcome these proposals and hope to build on them at the summit. My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary, in his meetings with the UN Secretary-General, has highlighted the importance that the UK attaches to improved governance at the UN.
The UK has identified four areas of governance where we would like to see specific actions taken:
Accountability—oversight capacity within the UN must be strengthened, and its independence and authority enhanced.
Professionalism and modernisation—there must be transparent, competence based recruitment throughout the UN system and the introduction of modern human resources practices.
Efficiency—activity at the UN should be rationalised, modernised and streamlined to reduce duplication and to focus on priority areas.
Flexibility—in return for the measures mentioned above, the Secretary-General should be provided with the authority and flexibility to manage resources and to redeploy them according to need.
In addition, we want to see a Security Council that reflects today's world and the contributions of the UN's members to its objectives. The UK therefore supports the expansion of both the permanent and non-permanent membership.
Harry Cohen:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 18 July 2005, reference 10415, how much has been paid to the UK Government to date by the United Nations Compensation Committee for distribution to claimants; how much more is expected to be paid to the
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UK Government in due course for disbursement to claimants; and if he will list (a) all UK claimants who have so far received disbursements from the UK Government and the amount received by each and (b) all UK claimants who will receive disbursements in due course from the UK Government and the amount each of them will receive. [14626]
Dr. Howells: To date the United Nations Compensation Committee (UNCC) has made available the sum of US$ 296,323,049.57 to the UK Government for payment to UK claimants.
The sum of US$ 132,228,811.11 in compensation awards remains to be received by the UK Government from the UNCC for payment to UK claimants.
Nearly 5,000 UK claimants have so far received disbursements of varying amounts from the UK Government.
Approximately 50 UK claims remain to be paid in full or in part.
To release the list of all UK claimants would require permission from each individual for their information to be released, therefore it is not possible to give such a listing without incurring disproportionate cost.
Visas
Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many applications for a family visitor visa were refused by UK entry clearance officers worldwide in each month since 1 January 2004. [11662]
Dr. Howells: I would like to apologise to my hon. Friend for the delay in replying.
The information on applications for family visitors' visas that were refused world- wide since 1 January 2004, is as follows:
Figures for April 2005 to July 2005 are not yet available.
Though every effort is made to ensure that statistics are correct, the complexity of UKvisas' global business, including technical failures and inconsistencies in data means that one hundred percent accuracy cannot be guaranteed.
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