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30 Oct 2007 : Column 1065W—continued
DFID also provides funding to multilateral organisations and civil society organisations. This will also contribute to the funding of HIV and AIDS activities in sub-Saharan Africa.
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps he is taking to assist the provision to HIV/AIDS victims in sub-Saharan Africa of access to the best available treatment and drugs at affordable prices. [161425]
Mr. Thomas:
DFID is working with African governments, civil society, donors and international agencies to ensure that people living with HIV and AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa have access to affordable
treatment, as well as prevention and care services. DFID supports treatment through programmes aimed at strengthening health systems and comprehensive nationally-owned HIV/AIDS plans in several countries. Our bilateral programmes include Rwanda, where DFID provides support worth £4.25 million through non-governmental organisations towards anti-retroviral therapy, and community-based care to 2,500 HIV positive female genocide survivors and their families. And in Zimbabwe, DFID is providing £20 million over 4 years to increase by at least 50 per cent. the number of people able to access anti-retroviral therapy.
The UK also funds and supports the provision of anti-retroviral services via multilateral organisations. DFID has pledged £359 million to the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria over the 2002-08 period. DFID was one of the founding members of UNITAID, the new drugs purchase facility established in September 2006, with a €20 million annual commitment increasing to €60 million per year by 2010 subject to performance.
Work and Pensions
Departments: Ministerial Policy Advisers
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether any of his Department's special advisers has declared a conflict of interest. [160774]
Mr. Plaskitt: Special advisers are appointed under terms and conditions set out in the Model Contract for Special Advisers. Copies of the Model Contract are available in the Libraries of the House.
Departments: Official Visits
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on how many occasions he has visited each region in an official capacity in the last 12 months. [158927]
Mrs. McGuire: Since taking up post, on the 28 June 2007, the Secretary of State has visited the south east, south west, east of England, Yorkshire and the Humber and London. He has also visited Wales in a ministerial capacity, and Scotland. All ministerial travel is undertaken in accordance with the Ministerial Code.
New Deal Schemes
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what percentage of participants in each of the new deal programmes returned to out of work benefits, including those who continued to claim an out of work benefit while participating in the new deal, in each year since 1997. [159623]
Mr. Plaskitt [pursuant to the reply , 29 October 2007, Official Report, c. 762-63W]: The revised available information is in the following table.
| Percentage of new deal participants who returned to out of work benefits in each year from 1998 | ||||||
| New deal for young people | New deal 25 plus | New deal for lone parents | New deal 50 plus | New deal for disabled people | New deal for partners | |
| Notes: 1. Data refer to the year in which individuals left new deal, which may not be the same year in which they subsequently claimed a benefit. 2. Data include people who were claiming a benefit before participating on new deal who continued to claim during participation and after leaving the programme. 3. Benefits included are: incapacity benefit, income support and jobseeker's allowance. 4. Information for new deal for disabled people is only available from 2001 and from 2004 for new deal 50 plus and new deal for partners. 5. Latest complete year data are for 2006. 6. Programme start dates are: new deal for young people: January 1998; new deal 25 plus: July 1998; new deal for lone parents: October 1998; new deal for partners: April 1999; new deal 50 plus: April 2000; new deal for disabled people: July 2001. Source: Information Directorate, DWP. | ||||||
Winter Fuel Payments: Peterborough
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many claims for winter fuel payments were made in Peterborough constituency in each year since their introduction. [161874]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: Information relating to winter fuel payments for the winters of 1997-98 and 1998-99 is not available. The information from winter 1999-2000 is in the following table.
| Peterborough constituency | |
| Payments made | |
| Notes: 1. Figures rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Parliamentary constituencies are assigned by matching postcodes against the relevant ONS postcode directory. | |
Winter Fuel Payments: Walsall
Mr. Winnick: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people received the winter fuel allowance in the Walsall North constituency in (a) 2004-05 and (b) 2005-06. [161743]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: Information relating to winter fuel payments for winters 2004-05 and 2005-06 is in the following table.
| Walsall North constituency | |
| Payments made | |
| Notes: 1. Figures rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Parliamentary constituencies are assigned by matching postcodes against the relevant ONS postcode directory. Source: Information directorate 100 per cent. data. | |
Electoral Commission Committee
Accountancy
Mr. Tyrie: To ask the hon. Member for Gosport, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission when he expects copies of the Electoral Commission’s Resource Accounts for 2006-07 to be available in the Vote Office. [161792]
Peter Viggers: The Electoral Commission informs me that its Resource Accounts for 2006-07 were laid before Parliament by the Comptroller and Auditor General on 17 July 2007, and made available in the Library. They will be published by TSO (The Stationery Office), and copies placed in the Vote Office, on 1 November.
Recruitment
Mr. Tyrie: To ask the hon. Member for Gosport, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission what the costs were to public funds of the recent recruitment competition for Electoral Commissioners. [161791]
Peter Viggers: The Electoral Commission informs me that the direct cost to public funds of the recent recruitment process for four Electoral Commissioners was approximately £120,000.
House of Commons Commission
Medical Equipment
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission what resuscitation equipment is provided in each building on the parliamentary estate; and if he will make a statement. [161533]
Nick Harvey: Defibrillators are kept in the Palace of Westminster, Portcullis House, Norman Shaw North, 1 Canon Row and at 7 Millbank. A more extensive range of equipment including oxygen is kept by the practice nurse in the lower waiting hall.
Solicitor-General
Alexander Litvinenko
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Solicitor-General what representations she has received on the decision of the Crown Prosecution Service (a) to charge Andrei Lugovoi and (b) not to charge any others for the murder of Alexander Litvenenko; and if she will make a statement. [157565]
The Solicitor-General: Neither I, nor my predecessor have received any representations on the decision by the Crown Prosecution Service since its announcement.
Criminal Proceedings: Foreign Relations
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Solicitor-General what account is taken when determining whether to charge an individual with a criminal offence of the impact on international relations as a consequence of prosecution; and if she will make a statement. [157568]
The Solicitor-General: All charging decisions are taken in accordance with the Code for Crown Prosecutors. If there is enough evidence to provide a ‘realistic prospect of a conviction’ against the defendant, an assessment is then made whether a prosecution would be in the public interest. The likelihood of harm to international relations is one of the public interest factors that may affect the decision to prosecute, to the extent compatible with our international law obligations. The more serious the offence, the more likely it is that a prosecution will be needed in the public interest.
Forensic Science: Standards
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Solicitor-General what mechanisms exist to ensure consistency of decision-making within the Crown Prosecution Service on the assessment of forensic evidence; and if she will make a statement. [157569]
The Solicitor-General: All prosecution decisions are taken in accordance with the Code for Crown Prosecutors. When making the decision whether to prosecute, prosecutors must apply the two stage test contained within the Code for Crown Prosecutors. The first stage is consideration of the available evidence. For a case to proceed, there must be sufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction against the defendant on each charge he or she faces. This includes considering whether the evidence can be used in court and whether it is reliable. Prosecutors will review all the evidence, including any forensic evidence, in accordance with these principles. Only if there is sufficient evidence, will prosecutors then consider the second stage, which is whether a prosecution is required in the public interest.
Prime Minister
Departments: Assets
Mr. Hoban:
To ask the Prime Minister what office assets are planned to be sold in each financial year from 2007-08 to 2010-11; what the (a) description and
(b) book value of each such asset is; and what the expected revenue from each such sale is. [160346]
The Prime Minister: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office today.
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