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Committee of Permanent Representatives: Secondment

Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many British civil servants were seconded to work full-time for the Committee of Permanent Representatives in each year between 1997 and 2006. [134810]

Mr. Hoon: The Committee of Permanent Representatives is divided into two parts. The UK is represented in COREPER I by the UK Deputy Permanent Representative to the EU and in COREPER II by the UK Permanent Representative to the EU. No UK official, nor that of any other member state, is seconded to either part of COREPER.

Cuba: Political Prisoners

Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations she has made on the judicial process in Cuba and the provision of legal representation for defendants. [134522]


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Mr. Hoon: The UK will continue to seek opportunities to raise human right issues, including judicial processes, with the Cuban authorities, despite the limited contact granted to us by the Cuban Government. On 30 April my right hon. Friend the Minister for Trade expressed concern about political prisoners and other human rights issues during a meeting with the Cuban Deputy Minister for Foreign Trade, Antonio Carricarte. In addition, officials regularly voice UK concern with their Cuban counterparts over such issues.

Departments: Disciplinary Proceedings

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many grievance procedures have been initiated in her Department in the last 12 months. [135155]

Mr. Hoon: Since 1 April 2006, 27 formal individual grievances have been submitted in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Guidance on the procedures in place for lodging grievances is available to all staff. All formal individual grievances are investigated in line with the procedures.

Departments: Internet

Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs for which Government websites she is responsible; how many visitors each received in the latest period for which figures are available; and what the cost (a) was of establishing and (b) has been of maintaining each site. [135720]

Mr. Hoon: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has responsibility for 211 FCO websites, which cost £6 million to establish in 2001 and cost £650,000 to maintain in the year 2006-07. These websites include the main FCO Website, Ukvisas website, more than 180 embassy and high commission websites and the i-UK.com portal website. These fall under the following key domains with the associated number of visitors:

Domain Visitors

www.fco.gov.uk(1)

8,255,352

www.britishembassy.gov.uk(1)

6,798,276

www.britishhighcommission.gov.uk(1)

3,025,405

www.ukvisas.gov.uk

5,326,484

www.i-uk.com(1)

613,740

www .gogapyear.com(2)

20,921

(1) Figures only available between 1 July 2006 and 30 April 2007. Monthly average taken to calculate 12 month total.
(2) Figures available between 1 September 2006 and 30 March 2007. Monthly average taken to calculate 12 month total.

These figures do not include 12 websites that have been run independently of the FCO web platform. We do not have figures for the number of visitors or cost of these sites. They are:


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Departments: Intimidation

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many complaints of bullying have been investigated in her Department in the last 12 months; and how many complaints have been upheld. [134828]

Mr. Hoon: The number of formal complaints of bullying investigated in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in the last 12 months is very small. In line with guidance issued by the Cabinet Office, the information requested can therefore not be released on grounds of confidentiality. Guidance on the procedures in place for those who have a concern related to any form of unfair discrimination, including bullying, is available to all staff.

Departments: Sexual Harassment

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many complaints of sexual harassment have been investigated in her Department in the last 12 months; and how many complaints have been upheld. [135372]

Mr. Hoon: There have been no formal complaints of sexual harassment in the last 12 months in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Guidance on the procedures in place for those who have a concern over all forms of harassment is available to all staff.

EC Law

Mr. Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many European Union Directives have been transposed into UK law in the last 12 months. [133216]

Mr. Hoon: Individual Government Departments are responsible for transposing EU Directives into UK law in their policy areas. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office does not transpose EU Directives. Transposition notes stating all the main elements of individual EU Directives that have been or will be transposed into UK law are available in the Library of the House.

EU Directives may be directly applicable, implemented by administrative means, or introduced when domestic legislation is amended for other purposes. The European Communities Act 1972 (the ECA) allows the Government to implement EU Directives either by primary legislation or by secondary legislation.

Standard Note SN/IA/2888, which is available in the Library of the House, gives information on the number of Statutory Instruments (S.I.) enacted under the ECA in each parliamentary session and the proportion of
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the total number of S.I.s this represents. Between 1998 and 2005 an average of 8.9 per cent. of S.I.s were laid in order to implement EU legislation.

Mr. Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many European Union Directives have been repealed from UK law in the last 12 months. [133217]

Mr. Hoon: House of Commons Standard Note SNIA-02888 states that 60 directives were repealed or expired in 2006. The Commission continue to make progress with their ambitious programme to simplify and reduce existing EU laws. In November 2006 they announced a further 43 simplification proposals and identified 10 pending proposals to be withdrawn. The UK continues to support the Commission’s efforts. We welcome the agreement at the Spring European Council in March to cut administrative burdens by 25 per cent. by 2012; delivering on this commitment will help boost European competitiveness and help stimulate further the Lisbon jobs and growth agenda.

A detailed progress report on better regulation is available in the Commission’s 2006 general report available at:

European Union: Communication

Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the role is of the European Union working group of national communications experts; what she expects the (a) format and (b) agenda of the next meeting of the group to be; and if she will make a statement. [133082]

Mr. Hoon: The role of the Council’s Information Working Group is to examine the information policy and communication strategy of the EU, to assess ways to increase transparency and openness of the Institutions, to provide access to documents and to promote co-operation between institutions.

The Information Working Group is composed of delegates of the 27 EU member states, representatives of the General Secretariat of the Council and representatives of the European Commission. Meeting agendas contain a list of topics and references to documents on which discussions will be held.

The Working Group on Information meets every two weeks in principle. The next meeting is scheduled for 10 May. The agenda for this meeting has not yet been circulated.

European Union: Publicity

Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the UK representation is on the Interinstitutional Group on Information; what the agenda is for its next meeting; and when it will next meet. [133543]

Mr. Hoon: The Minister for Europe of the country holding the EU presidency attends the Interinstitutional Group on Information. Officials from the incoming presidency attend as observers.


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As such, UK officials will attend the Interinstitutional Group on Information as observers six months ahead of the next UK presidency of the EU, and the UK will be represented at ministerial level when it holds the presidency.

The next meeting of the Interinstitutional Group on Information is scheduled for 22 May. The agenda for that meeting has not yet been circulated.

Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if she will list the documents produced by the Inter-institutional Group on information in each of the last 10 years. [133547]

Mr. Hoon: Requests for this information can be made to the European Commission direct. The Commission provides the Secretariat to the Inter-Institutional Group on Information.

India: Diplomatic Service

Sir Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) how much ground rent is paid annually by the Indian Government for its high commission at 9 Kensington Gardens, London; and how much was paid for the current lease on the building; [135231]

(2) when the decision was made to make rent payable on the Indian high commission at 9 Kensington Gardens, London; for what reasons it was decided to levy a rental charge on the building; and if she will make a statement. [135232]

Mr. Hoon: The Indian high commissioner’s residence, at 9 Kensington Palace Gardens, is leased by the Indian Government from the Crown Estate; the Foreign and Commonwealth Office is not involved.

Sir Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) what reports she has received of the decision of the Indian Government to charge rent to the British high commission in India at 2 Rajaji Marg, Delhi; and if she will make a statement; [135233]

(2) how much the Government are expected to pay the Indian Government in annual rent for the British high commission in India at 2 Rajaji Marg, Delhi; [135234]

(3) what representations she has made to the Indian Government on the rent payable on the British high commission in India; and if she will make a statement. [135235]

Mr. Hoon: The Government have paid rent on 2 Rajaji Marg, the high commissioner’s residence in New Delhi, since independence in 1947. At present, we are in negotiation with the Indian authorities on renewal of the lease, which we hope will be concluded shortly. I am sure the hon. Member will understand that I cannot go into precise details without jeopardising our negotiating position.


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Constitutional Affairs

Constituencies

Mr. Cash: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs when the Privy Council is expected to meet to consider the statutory instrument bringing into effect the recent Boundary Commission report on English parliamentary constituencies. [134489]

Bridget Prentice: The House of Commons has now approved the draft order, and the House of Lords is due to consider it on 17 May. The next meeting of the Privy Council is on 13 June.

Devolution

Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the formal arrangements for liaison between the UK Government and the devolved administration. [134788]

Bridget Prentice: There are strong bilateral relationships between the Scottish Executive and Welsh Assembly Government and Whitehall Departments, which are guided by principles underpinned in formal documents such as the Memorandums of Understanding between the UK Government and the devolved Administrations and supplementary concordats and devolution guidance notes, all of which are published on the Department’s website. The Scotland and Wales Offices continue to work closely across Whitehall and with the devolved Administrations to ensure that good practice is followed and policies and legislation are successfully implemented, in a way that is consistent with the respective settlements.

Work and Pensions

Child Support Agency: Genetics

Mr. Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many DNA samples have been taken by or, on behalf of, the Child Support Agency (CSA) in each year since its inception; in what circumstances and on what grounds the CSA may require someone to take a DNA test; how many DNA tests resulted in maintenance being demanded from those tested; how and by whom any DNA data obtained by the CSA are stored; for how long such data are stored; and to which other departments, agencies or authorities they may be made available. [130878]

Mr. Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.

Letter from Stephen Geraghty, dated 3 May 2007:


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