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Planning Gain Supplement
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate the Government has made of the annual revenue to be raised from planning gain supplement. [70705]
John Healey: I have been asked to reply.
The amount of revenue from a planning-gain supplement (PGS) will depend on final decisions on its rate and scope. PGS will be set at a modest rate to help finance additional infrastructure whilst preserving incentives to bring land forward for development.
Power Stations
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what plans she has to exclude power stations from rateable value growth targets as part of the end of year one review of the local authority business growth incentive scheme. [70973]
Mr. Woolas: The Local Authority Business Growth Incentive scheme's (LABGI) end of year one review is considering feedback received following the scheme's first year in operation (2005-06) including consideration of power stations. The review's conclusions will have implications for the details of the scheme in years' two and three, and Ministers will be announcing their conclusions in due course.
Regional Centres of Excellence
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the cost has been of the regional centres of excellence. [70728]
Mr. Woolas: Since 2004-05, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, the predecessor to the Department for Communities and Local Government, has provided direct funding of the order of £30.8 million to the regional centres of excellence (RCEs).
Scotland
Departmental Expenditure
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much was spent on advertising by his Department in each of the last three years. [70625]
Departmental Staff
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what percentage of his private office staff are (a) male, (b) female and (c) disabled. [69107]
David Cairns: Some 67 per cent. of staff in private office are male and 33 per cent. are female; in the interests of privacy, we do not publish the figures on disabled staff where these are less than five.
Home Working
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many people in his Department have been enabled to work from home in each of the last three years; and if he will make a statement. [67988]
David Cairns: All the staff in the Scotland Office are on loan from the Scottish Executive or the Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA). Although no staff in the Scotland Office have formally worked from home in the last three years, both the Scottish Executive and the DCA are committed to achieving a work-life balance for all staff.
Ministerial Visits (Accommodation)
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland on how many occasions (a) civil servants and (b) special advisers in his Department have stayed overnight in (i) five star, (ii) four star and (iii) three star hotels in each of the last three years. [69101]
David Cairns: The Scotland Office does not hold this information.
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what the total cost was of overnight accommodation for (a) civil servants and (b) special advisers in his Department staying overnight in (i) mainland Great Britain, (ii) Northern Ireland, (iii) the Republic of Ireland and (iv) other countries in each of the last three years. [69102]
David Cairns: The Scotland Office does not hold this information in the form requested.
Public Consultations
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many public consultations his Department undertook in the last 12 months; and what the cost was (a) in total and (b) of each consultation. [70623]
David Cairns: The Scotland Office has undertaken no public consultations in the last year.
Racial Abuse
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many complaints of racial abuse have been (a) investigated and (b) upheld in his Department in each of the last five years. [70626]
David Cairns: There have been no complaints of racial abuse in the last five years.
Staff Surveys
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many staff surveys have been conducted in his Department in each of the last three years. [70627]
David Cairns: Over the last three years, staff in the Scotland Office have been able to participate in two staff surveys by the Department for Constitutional Affairs and three staff surveys by the Scottish Executive.
Unspent Budget
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much of the budget for his Department remained unspent in the 2005-06 financial year. [70622]
David Cairns: It is estimated that the Scotland Office will underspend its provision for 2005-06 by £0.59 million.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Advertising
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much was spent on advertising by her Department in each of the last three years. [70536]
Margaret Beckett: The total spent on advertising in each of the last three years was:
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Air Miles
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many free air miles have been accrued by senior civil servants in her Department on official business in each of the last three years; and how they were used. [70540]
Margaret Beckett: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) does not record the number of air miles earned by members of its staff travelling on official business.
The FCO follows Cabinet Office rules, which do not permit staff to use air miles, which they have accumulated through official travel, for personal journeys. We encourage staff to make use of these air miles to reduce the cost of future official travel. If they are unable to do so, and the air miles are transferable, they may pass them to their resource manager to use for official travel by others. If the air miles are not transferable, staff may donate them to a charity of the travel operator's choice.
Basra
Mr. Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment she has made of progress in implementing the agreement to restart cooperation with the local government in Basra in Iraq since 12 March 2006; and if she will make a statement. [65730]
Margaret Beckett: We have been working hard since my hon. Friend the Minister of State for the Middle East, Kim Howells, visited Iraq in March to secure a resumption of co-operation with the Basra Provincial Council. This was finally achieved on 7 May, when the Chairman of the Council announced a formal end to the boycott he and his colleagues had earlier imposed. This welcome development opens the way to restoration of full co-operation between us and the Basra local authorities.
Departmental Credit Cards
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what facility is available for senior civil servants in her Department to use credit cards supplied by the Department. [70539]
Margaret Beckett: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) issues a corporate credit card to UK-based staff for use on official travel. The card may be used in the UK and overseas to pay for items such as hotel accommodation, rail tickets and taxi fares. Officers travelling overseas may also use the card to withdraw foreign currency, up to a limit of £325 per week.
The corporate credit cards are issued to UK-based staff who travel regularly and are not restricted only to senior civil servants. Each officer holding a card is given guidance on its use and their attention is drawn to what may and may not be purchased with the card. At present, there are nearly 600 UK-based card holders, who made over 2,500 individual transactions in the first quarter of 2006.
Some overseas posts also issue their own corporate credit cards, in line with guidance issued by Finance Directorate. These cards are issued locally and, although Finance Directorate are aware of the posts that have issued cards, the Directorate does not hold information about the cardholders, or how frequently they are used. Finance Directorate guidance is that cards are issued to officers according to need, rather than according to grade.
Iran
Alistair Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations she has made (a) unilaterally and (b) through the EU to the Iranian government in response to reports of renewed persecution of those of the Baha’i faith in Iran; and what representations she has received on the matter. [70885]
Dr. Howells: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary and I are seriously concerned at the situation faced by the Baha’i community in Iran. Recent reports that Iran's Supreme Leader has instructed the Iranian authorities and armed forces to identify Baha’is and monitor their activities are deeply disturbing. We expect Iran to uphold freedom of religion and belief in accordance with its international obligations under Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
Ministers and officials have pressed the Iranian authorities on many occasions to take action to address the intimidation and discrimination suffered by Iranian Baha’is. At our suggestion, the EU conveyed its serious concern to the Iranian authorities on 31 January and again on11 April. On 10 April, EU Foreign Ministers underlined their
“continued concerns about the human rights situation in Iran, in particular regarding the situation of Baha’is”
We have also taken action at the UN. All EU countries co-sponsored a UN General Assembly resolution on human rights in Iran in December last year. This expressed serious concern at, inter alia,
“the escalation and increased frequency of discrimination and other human rights violations against the Baha’i, including cases of arbitrary arrest and detention, the denial of freedom of religion or of publicly carrying out communal affairs, the disregard of property rights, the destruction of sites of religious importance, the suspension of social, educational and community-related activities and the denial of access to higher education, employment, pensions, adequate housing and other benefits”.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has received several representations from the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of the UK on this issue.
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment she has made of (a) the likelihood of and (b) the time scale for Iran developing nuclear weapons. [70929]
Dr. Howells: The Iranian Government have stated on a number of occasions that it does not wish to develop nuclear weapons. However, Iran’s documented record of deception over the last two decades gives serious grounds for concern about the real intentions of its nuclear programme. There is documented evidence that Iran used a clandestine international procurement network. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has also reported that Iran has in its possession a document describing the procedures for the reduction of UF6 to uranium metal in small quantities, and the casting of enriched and depleted uranium metal into hemispheres, related to the fabrication of nuclear weapon components. The IAEA has indicated that the existence of this document is a matter of concern. Information has also been made available to the IAEA concerning possible Iranian work on the design of a missile re-entry vehicle which could have a military nuclear dimension. Iran has refused to discuss this information with the IAEA.
IAEA Director General, Dr. el-Baradei, in his report on 2 September 2005 noted that after
“two and a half years of intensive inspections and investigation, Iran’s full transparency is essential and long-overdue”.
The IAEA is still unable to conclude that there are no undeclared nuclear materials or activities in Iran. At a press conference in Algeria, on 17 February, my right hon. Friend the then Foreign Secretary (Mr. Straw) said:
“There are strong suspicions internationally that Iran may be seeking to use its nuclear programme in order to develop a nuclear weapons capability.... but we do not have absolute proof”.
Estimates of the time Iran might require to develop a nuclear weapon vary, depending on assumptions made.
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment she has made of Iran's threat to withdraw from all or part of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. [71459]
Dr. Howells: Iran's leaders have said on a number of occasions in recent weeks that Iran might consider withdrawing from the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT) in certain circumstances. For example, President Ahmadinejad said on 24 April,
‘working in the framework of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and the (International Atomic Energy) agency (IAEA) is our concrete policy, but if we see that they are violating our rights, or they don’t want to accept (our rights), well, we will revise’.
On 7 May, 160 Majlis deputies issued a statement saying that if the United Nations Security Council adopted a Resolution on Iran under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, the Majlis would oblige the Iranian government to consider withdrawing from the NPT.
Such comments are hard to reconcile with President Ahmadinejad’s claim at the UN General Assembly in September 2005 that “continued interaction and technical and legal co-operation with the IAEA will be the centrepiece of our nuclear policy”, and with the commitment of Iran’s Ambassador to the IAEA in August 2005 that Iran would “never” leave the NPT. They have presumably been made to influence Security Council deliberations presently under way. As the IAEA Board and the Security Council have made clear, Iran needs to build confidence that its nuclear programme is for exclusively peaceful purposes, including by reinstating a full suspension of all enrichment-related and reprocessing activity and increasing transparency with the IAEA. Threats to withdraw from the NPT have the opposite effect, undermining international confidence still further.
Mr. Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations she has made to Iran concerning the filling of the post of Iranian ambassador to London. [71495]
Dr. Howells: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has made no such representations.
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