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Departmental Televisions

Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many television sets are in operation in the Department (a) in total, (b) in Minister's private offices and (c) in each office building in the Department; and how many television licences are held by the Department. [62794]

Mr. Straw: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) does not categorise expenditure down to this level of detail in its accounts. In addition, the FCO delegates budgets for such equipment to individual internal departments and does not therefore hold a centralised record of such purchases. The information requested for the whole of the Department, including our posts abroad, could therefore be provided only at disproportionate cost.

For Private Offices, a total of 15 televisions are held, including seven in my suite of offices, including those of the special advisers and security attachment. There are two in each of the other Private Offices.
 
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The Television Licensing Agency have advised my officials that, where a Government Department uses televisions for business purposes, they are exempt from the need for a television licence. Where televisions are used for recreational purposes, they need a single licence for each site at which they are located. The FCO therefore holds two television licences, one for the site at Hanslope Park and one for the main building site in King Charles Street.

Diplomatic Posts

Mr. Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs why the British embassy in Antananarivo, Madagascar was closed in August 2005; and if he will make a statement. [62360]

Ian Pearson: I refer the hon. Member to the statement given by my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary on 15 December 2004, Official Report, columns 137–140WS), covering the closure of several embassies and high commissions, including that of the British embassy in Madagascar.

Diplomatic Staff (Spain)

Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many (a) diplomatic staff and (b) locally engaged staff are based in (i) Alicante, (ii) Barcelona, (iii) Bilbao, (iv) Ibiza, (v) Las Palmas, (vi) Malaga, (vii) Palma, (viii)Seville and (ix) Tenerife. [62641]

Mr. Straw [holding answer 30 March 2006]: Numbers employed at posts can fluctuate. The average number of diplomatic and locally engaged staff employed by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office at each of the posts requested, in the current financial year is as follows:

Post	UK based staff	Locally engaged staff
Alicante	0	6.3
Barcelona	2	16.7
Bilbao	0	6
Ibiza	0	3.4
Las Palmas	0	7
Malaga	0	9
Palma	0	7
Seville	0	2
Tenerife	0	5

EU Constitution

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what parts of the draft EU constitution the Government support. [62742]

Mr. Douglas Alexander: The Government made clear their support for the draft constitutional treaty in the Inter-Governmental Conference in 2004. The Government's focus is now on delivering the policy priorities agreed at the Hampton Court summit.

Gibraltar

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress has been made in talks with Spain and Gibraltar regarding the Gibraltar constitution. [62974]

 
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Mr. Douglas Alexander: I refer the hon. Member to my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary's statement to the House on 27 March 2006, Official Report, columns 44–46WS. His Joint Statement with the Chief Minister and his letter to the Spanish Foreign Minister are both available in the Library of the House.

Guide to the European Union

Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the total cost was of (a) producing and (b) distributing the revised Guide to the European Union. [63649]

Mr. Douglas Alexander: The 2005–06 budget allocation for producing and distributing the Guide is £80,000. Final costings will be available following launch and distribution.

Hamas

Mr. Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions (a) British and (b) EU officials have had with representatives of Hamas since January 2006. [62219]

Mr. Straw: There have been no contacts between UK officials and Hamas since January 2006. We are not aware of any EU contacts with Hamas since January 2006.

HMS Sussex

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with (a) Spain and (b) Gibraltar concerning the treasures of HMS Sussex. [62973]

Mr. Douglas Alexander: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has not held any discussions with either Spain or Gibraltar about The Sussex.

Holy See

Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 16 March 2006, Official Report, column 2462W, about the Holy See, if he will place in the Library (a) a copy of the internal review of the embassy in 2005 and (b) copies of correspondence between his Department and the Holy See about the relocation of the British embassy; and if he will make a statement. [62683]

Mr. Douglas Alexander: The internal review of the embassy referred to by the hon. Member is an internal document produced to help formulate and develop policy decisions. As such, it would not be appropriate to place a copy in the Library of the House.

The correspondence requested by the hon. Member constitute a confidential exchange between two Governments. As such, it would be inappropriate to place copies in the Library of the House.

Honours

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the individuals who are not UK citizens who, since May
 
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2005, have been awarded honours, indicating in each case the (a) date of announcement, (b) honour in question and (c) reason for the award. [63154]

Mr. Straw: Yes. As the information requested is lengthy, it has been placed in the Library of the House.

As honorary awards, i.e. to citizens of countries where Her Majesty the Queen is not Head of State, are not formally announced, the date of the Queen's formal approval of such awards has been given.

Iraq

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many detainees in Iraq have been (a) charged and (b) tried and convicted of offences connected to the insurgency. [61851]

Dr. Howells: This is a matter for the Iraqi judicial authorities. We are making inquiries with the Central Criminal Court of Iraq. My officials will write to the hon. Member once we have received a reply.

Isle of Man/Overseas Territories

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps the Government are taking to attract businesses to (a) the Isle of Man and (b) UK Overseas Territories. [62975]

Mr. Douglas Alexander: Economic and business development in the Overseas Territories (OTs) and the Crown Dependencies, including the Isle of Man, is the responsibility of the Governments of the Territories and the Crown Dependencies. Most of the OTs and also the Crown Dependencies have agencies that are responsible for inward investment promotion.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has an Economic Adviser, based in its Overseas Territories Department and a Regional Financial Services Adviser based in the Caribbean. Both offer general economic and financial services development advice to all the OTs. The FCO also has an Overseas Territories Programme Fund. Part of this fund is used to support the economic diversification of the OTs, and in recent years has funded telecommunications liberalisation initiatives and small business development.

The Isle of Man is not part of the UK and is responsible for its own trade/export promotion.

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