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EU Committees

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many meetings of the (a) Joint Committee (EEC-Andora), (b) EC-Armenia Co-operation Committee and (c) Joint Committee (EEC-Estonia) have taken place during the UK presidency of the EU; who was presiding over each meeting; what other UK representatives were present; what provisions were made for representation of the devolved governments; and if he will make a statement. [39036]

Mr. Douglas Alexander: The first ever EC-Andorra Joint Committee meeting was held on 25 November this year, chaired by the European Commission. No UK representatives were present.

There have been no meetings of the Co-operation Committee with Armenia during the UK presidency and the EEC-Estonia Joint Committee no longer exists.

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many meetings of the (a) Joint Committee (EC-Romania) and (b) Joint Committee (EEC-Bulgaria) have taken place during the UK presidency of the EU; who presided over each meeting; which other UK representatives were present; what provisions were made for representation of the devolved governments; and if he will make a statement. [39037]

Mr. Douglas Alexander: There are no Joint Committees as such, but there are EU-Association Committees for both Bulgaria and Romania. One meeting of the EU-Romania Association Committee has taken place under the UK presidency, on 15 July in Bucharest. This was chaired by the European Commission. A representative of the UK presidency was present as an observer. The EU-Bulgaria Association Committee has not met under our presidency. No provision was made for representation of the devolved governments at these meetings.

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many meetings of the (a) EC-Kazakhstan Co-operation Committee, (b) EC-Azerbaijan Co-operation Committee and (c) EC-Kyrgyzstan Co-operation Committee have taken place during the UK presidency of the EU; who presided over each meeting; which other UK representatives were present; what provisions were made for representation of the devolved governments; and if he will make a statement. [39042]

 
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Mr. Douglas Alexander: During the UK presidency, there were no meetings of the Co-operation Committees with Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan.

A Co-operation Committee with Kyrgyzstan took place on 27 September in Brussels. Mr. Kurt Juul, European Commission, led the EU delegation. Mr.Kadyrbek Sarbaev, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, led the Kyrgyzstan delegation. For the Presidency, Mr.Simon Smith, Director Russia, South Caucasus and Central Asia at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, attended. No provision was made for representation of the devolved administrations at this meeting.

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many meetings of the (a) EC-Uzbekistan Co-operation Committee, (b) Joint Committee (EEC-Turkey) and (c) Joint Committee (EC-Albania) have taken place during the UK presidency of the EU; who presided over each meeting; which other UK representatives were present; what provisions were made for representation of the devolved governments; and if he will make a statement. [39043]

Mr. Douglas Alexander: There were no meetings of the Co-operation Committee with Uzbekistan during the UK Presidency.

One meeting of the EC-Turkey Customs Union Joint Committee was held in Ankara on 13 December. The delegations were led by a Director-General from the European Commission and a Director-General from the Turkish Under-secretariat for Foreign Trade. British embassy officials in Ankara attended the meeting as observers.

There were no Joint Committee (EC-Albania) meetings held during the UK Presidency.

No provision was made for representation of the devolved administrations at these meetings.

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many meetings of the (a) Committee on financial and technical assistance and economic cooperation with developing countries in Asia and Latin America, (b) Committee on the development and consolidation of democracy and the rule of law and on the respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms and (c) Joint Committee (EEC-Mongolia) have taken place during the UK presidency of the EU; who presided over each meeting; which other UK representatives were present; what provisions were made for representation of the devolved governments; and if he will make a statement. [39048]

Mr. Douglas Alexander: The Asia/Latin America Committee met four times during the UK Presidency, in July, September, October and November. The EU Committee on Human Rights and Democracy met once, in October. All these meetings were chaired by senior officials from the European Commission, with attendance by officials from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Department for International Development. No provision was made for representation of the devolved administrations at these meetings.
 
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There have been no meetings of the EC/Mongolia Joint Committee during the UK Presidency.

Foreign Decorations

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for New Forest, East (Dr. Lewis) of 8 December 2005, Official Report, column 1558W, on foreign decorations, what the outcome of the Committee's considerations was. [39263]

Mr. Straw: The Committee on the Grant of Honours, Decorations and Medals' recommendations will be presented to the Queen shortly. An announcement about the Pingat Jasa Malaysia will be made as quickly as possible.

Immigration

Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many applications to the UK visas section in Islamabad by persons seeking (a) work permits and (b) visas to come to the UK to take up employment in the restaurant trade have been (i)granted and (ii) refused in each of the last five years;and how many of those refused were granted an appeal. [38363]

Dr. Howells: It is not currently possible to break down UKvisas statistics on work permit applications by the type of work permit the applicant holds. There are various types of work permit and schemes, of which the Sectors Based Scheme (SBS) is one. The SBS was introduced in May 2003. However, the total number of work permit holder applications received, issued and refused by the visa section in Islamabad in each of the last five years is given as follows. The figures refer to applications for all types of work permit.

	Received	Issued	Refused
2000	512	474	38
2001–02	863	768	95
2002–03	1,197	1,079	118
2003–04	3,997	2,969	1,028
2004–05	4,496	2,442	2,054

Source:
UKvisas published statistics (www.ukvisas.gov.uk). Please note that prior to financial year 2001–02, statistics were published by calendar year.

All applicants for entry clearance as a work permit holder are granted the right of appeal, providing the work permit is valid and the applicant meets any age requirements.

Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) what assessment is made of the knowledge of the restaurant trade of persons seeking (a) work permits and (b) visas from the UK visa section in Islamabad to travel to the UK to take up employment in that trade; [38364]

(2) what assessment is made by the UK visas section in Islamabad of the requirement of sponsoring persons in the UK restaurant trade to employ people with knowledge of Asian cuisine when considering applications by those seeking (a) work permits and (b) visas. [38365]

 
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Dr. Howells: People who wanted to come to the UK to work in the restaurant trade had to acquire an immigration employment document (a form of work permit) under the Sectors Based Scheme (SBS). The SBS allowed workers from outside the European Economic Area (EEA) to take up low skill jobs within certain industry sectors for up to 12 months in the UK. On 31 July 2005, the Home Office announced the closure of the hospitality sector of the scheme, which encompasses the restaurant trade.

All work permit schemes are administered by Work Permits UK (WP (UK)), a division of the Home Office, and they decide all work permit applications by assessing the application against certain criteria of the labour market. For example, WP (UK) will check that the job exists, has been adequately advertised locally and within the EEA and that the proposed job complies with UK labour law and the national minimum wage. As the SBS is for low skill jobs, there is no requirement to employ people with extensive knowledge of a trade. An employer needs only to be aware that a potential employee has a basic understanding of the job they have been offered.

Once an immigration employment document has been issued under the SBS, the holder should apply for entry clearance. An Entry Clearance Officer (ECO) at one of our visa sections must assess this application against the requirements of paragraph 135 (I) of the Immigration Rules, which are available at www.indhomeoffice.gov.uk.

ECOs are not asked to assess an applicant's job skills, although they should defer an application and consult WP (UK) if there are obvious doubts about the applicant's physical and/or professional ability to undertake the employment specified and the applicant is unable to give a satisfactory explanation.

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