| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
19 July 2006 : Column 490W—continued
Departmental Emissions
Chris Huhne:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent estimate she has made of the carbon emissions of her
Department; what commitment she has made to reducing such emissions; and if she will make a statement. [81059]
Mr. Hoon: In 2004-05, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s (FCO) carbon emissions from energy on the UK estate totalled 3,374 tonnes. We are committed to reducing our emissions and are taking the following actions:
we are in the process of implementing the Carbon Trust’s Carbon Management Programme to help us identify opportunities to reduce our use of energy;
we are upgrading the energy control systems at Hanslope Park, our rural site in Buckinghamshire, and in our Main Building. We have commenced a programme of replacing inefficient light fittings across the estate;
we monitor our performance against targets for energy reduction, among other environmental issues, through an externally certified Environmental Management System, in line with the Framework for Sustainable Development on the Government estate;
we apply the Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM), which includes forecast energy consumption, to new builds and major refurbishments;
we actively encourage staff and contractors to follow good practice in using energy efficiently and effectively through, for example, an Energy and Recycling Campaign in February 2006;
we are installing software on the next generation of the FCO’s global IT network, due to start roll out early in 2007, to power down workstations automatically out of hours.
In addition, the FCO is offsetting the carbon dioxide and other emissions generated by the air travel of Ministers and officials based in the UK starting with our 2004 emissions—one year ahead of the requirement of Government Departments to offset air travel by April 2006. We encourage our posts to apply good environmental management and are running a pilot project on environmental management at nine posts to determine how best we might introduce the principles of formal environmental management to our wider network.
Departmental Publications
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if she will list the Unnumbered Command Papers produced by her Department in each Session since 1976; by what means (a) hon. Members and (b) members of the public can (i) inspect and (ii) obtain copies; and if she will make a statement. [81303]
Mr. Hoon: A list of Foreign and Commonwealth Office Unnumbered Command Papers since 1992 can be obtained from the Library of the House and I will arrange for a copy of the list to be sent to the hon. Member. Previous years could be listed only at disproportionate cost.
Copies of unnumbered Command Papers from the 2001 and 2005 Parliaments are available to hon. Members via the Library of the House and to members of the public via the Public Record Office.
Diplomatic Service (School Fees)
Ian Lucas:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the policy of her Department is on the payment of school fees for the
children of staff employed in the diplomatic service abroad when those children attend (a) international schools abroad or (b) fee-paying schools in the UK. [86064]
Mr. Hoon: It is a condition of their employment that members of the diplomatic service must be prepared to serve anywhere in the world at any time during their career, sometimes at very short notice. Those with children also have a legal obligation as parents to ensure that their children receive full-time education from the age of five years. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) therefore helps staff meet these potentially conflicting obligations in two circumstances:
Children who accompany their parents on postings overseas are expected to use free state schooling if it is available locally and is of a suitable standard. At posts where no suitable schooling is available free-of-charge locally, the FCO refunds the cost of local school fees to enable children to receive the level of education to which they would be entitled in the UK.
Staff are liable to move at regular intervals, every 12-48 months, often to locations where schools offering English language education are unavailable or inadequate. Providing continuity of education can therefore pose real problems, particularly during the important examination years. The FCO therefore provides an accountable allowance to enable children to board at school in the UK, while their parents remain subject to the worldwide mobility obligation.
Dr. Laurence Jones
Alistair Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if she will take urgent steps to enable Dr. Laurence Jones to return to the UK from Australia; for what reason his retrieved passport could not be temporarily validated for travel back to the UK; for what reason his replacement passport was not issued within the initial 20-day period; and for what reason it was not issued within the subsequent two-week period of which notice was given by her Department. [86162]
Dr. Howells [holding answer 18 July 2006]: We regret the inconvenience caused to Dr. Jones and apologise for the delay to the issue of his passport, which was caused by an unfortunate administrative error. The passport was despatched to him by courier on 17 July from our high commission in Canberra. It is expected to be delivered to him in Darwin on 19 or 20 July. The passport section in our high commission in Canberra has advised Dr. Jones of this development directly. He has also been informed that we will reimburse all telephone expenses incurred by him with regard to his application.
Export Licences
Greg Mulholland:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many applications for a standard individual export licence were referred to her Department by the Export Licensing Organisation (ELO) in 2005; how many of these applications were considered by the Human Rights, Democracy and Good Governance Group; in
how many of these applications the Group initially advised against the granting of a licence; how many were the subject of written submissions from the Group; and in how many cases where an initial recommendation for refusal was issued by the Human Rights, Democracy and Good Governance Group her Department recommended to the ELO refusing that licence. [86519]
Dr. Howells: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office received 7,381 standard individual export licence applications in 2005. It is not possible to give a further breakdown of departmental assessment of applications since this information is not recorded. All applications are assessed against the Consolidated EU and National Export Licensing Criteria, including against criterion 2, which deals with human rights concerns. Should there be a clear risk that the equipment on the application is a risk to human rights in the recipient country, the licence will not be issued. Human Rights, Democracy and Governance Group are asked to advise on applications where specific human rights concerns arise. Ministerial decisions are sought for finely balanced cases.
Extradition Treaties
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs with which countries the UK has extradition treaties; how many people were extradited (a) to each country from the UK and (b) to the UK from each country in the latest year for which figures are available. [83822]
Joan Ryan: I have been asked to reply.
The Extradition Act 2003 divides the UK's extradition partners into two categories. Part 1 territories are those EU member states who, like the UK, operate the European Arrest Warrant (EAW) procedure. These are:
Austria; Belgium; Cyprus; Czech Republic; Denmark; Estonia; Finland; France; Germany; Greece; Hungary; Ireland; Italy; Latvia; Lithuania; Luxembourg; Malta; the Netherlands; Poland; Portugal; Slovakia; Slovenia; Spain; and Sweden
Part 2 territories include those Members of the Council of Europe who are not in the EU and are party to the European Convention on Extradition; Commonwealth territories; and bilateral extradition treaty partners, such as the United States. These are:
Albania; Andorra; Antigua and Barbuda; Armenia; Argentina; Australia; Azerbaijan; The Bahamas; Bangladesh; Barbados; Belize; Bolivia; Bosnia and Herzegovina; Botswana; Brazil; Brunei; Bulgaria; Canada; Chile; Colombia; Cook Islands; Croatia; Cuba; Dominica; Ecuador; El Salvador; Fiji; The Gambia; Georgia; Ghana; Grenada; Guatemala; Guyana; Haiti; Hong Kong Special Administrative Region *; Iceland; India; Iraq; Israel; Jamaica; Kenya; Kiribati; Lesotho; Liberia; Liechtenstein; the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia; Malawi; Malaysia; Maldives; Mauritius; Mexico; Moldova; Monaco; Nauru; New Zealand; Nicaragua; Nigeria; Norway; Panama; Papua New Guinea; Paraguay; Peru; Romania; Russian Federation; Saint Christopher and Nevis; Saint Lucia; Saint Vincent and the Grenadines; San Marino; Serbia and Montenegro; Seychelles; Sierra Leone; Singapore; Solomon Islands; South Africa; Sri Lanka; Swaziland; Switzerland; Tanzania; Thailand; Tonga; Trinidad and Tobago; Turkey; Tuvalu; Uganda; Ukraine; United States of America; Uruguay; Vanuatu; Western Samoa; Zambia and Zimbabwe.
In 2005, under the EAW procedure, the UK extradited 77 people to other EU member states and had 66 people returned to this country. Under part 2 of the 2003 Act, the UK extradited 62 people last year and had 11 people returned to this country.
This information is shown in the following table:
| UK extradition statistics for 2005 | ||
| Part 1 | ||
| Country | Surrendered by UK | Returned to UK |
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |