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13 Nov 2007 : Column 106W—continued
Sports: Finance
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much funding his Department has allocated to sport in each of the last 10 years. [162752]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The following table shows how much the Department for Culture, Media and Sport has allocated to Sport in each of the last 10 years, including planned figures for 2007-08.
| £ million | |
Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what progress has been made in raising £100 million from the private sector for elite sport announced in the 2006 Budget and referred to in the answer of 9 July 2007, Official Report, columns 1293-94W, on sports: finance; and if he will make a statement. [163720]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Following discussions with UK Sport, LOCOG and other stakeholders, my Department is tendering for a specialist consultancy to lead this work on our behalf.
The deadline for companies to submit a tender is 7 December, and we expect to appoint the company soon after that date.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Burma: Human Rights
Mr. David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether it is open to the UK to refer Burma to (a) the International Court of Justice and (b) another international body for persistent use of forced labour; and if he will make a statement. [164005]
Meg Munn: There are provisions in the Constitution of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) which allow a state to pursue a complaint that another state has breached an ILO convention; this could ultimately lead to proceedings in the International Court of Justice. However, the Secretariat of the ILO believe that it would be wrong to start such action now in respect of forced labour in Burma. The ILO want to see the Memorandum of Understanding, that they signed with the Burmese government on 26 February 2007, produce results. The memorandum provides that alleged victims of forced labour in Burma will have full freedom to submit complaints to the ILO Liaison Officer in Rangoon.
We support the actions of the ILO aimed at ensuring that Burma complies with its international obligations on forced labour. We are actively working with our European and international partners, as well as
through the UN and ILO, to press the regime to end the appalling human rights violations and to engage in a genuine process of national reconciliation involving all relevant parties and groups in Burma.
China: Capital Punishment
Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he and Ministers and officials from his Department have had with the Chinese government on the number of crimes punishable by death in China. [162013]
Meg Munn: We regularly urge China, both bilaterally and through the EU, to reduce the number of crimes punishable by death and to adopt transparency on death penalty statistics. The death penalty was discussed at the most recent round of the EU-China Human Rights Dialogue, held in Beijing on 17 October 2007. We also raised the death penalty at the last round of the UK-China Human Rights Dialogue, held in London on 5 February 2007.
Cuba: Overseas Aid
Dr. Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what requests have been made by the US administration for UK funding for the US Freedom Fund for Cuba; what plans his Department has to contribute to such a fund and what assessment his Department has made of the compatibility of the Freedom Fund for Cuba with Article 2 of the UN Charter and related international treaty obligations. [162365]
Meg Munn: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has received no request for UK funding for a US Freedom Fund for Cuba and, therefore, has no plans to contribute to such a fund. The US administration has not released full details of the proposed Freedom Fund and so it would be inappropriate for us to undertake an assessment of the compatibility of the fond with Article 2 of the UN Charter or other international treaty obligations.
Departmental Consultants
Mr. Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what contracts his Department has with external consultants; what the total value, including all VAT and disbursements, of these contracts are for the current financial year; how long each contract lasts; and what the forecast total value is of each contract. [163819]
Meg Munn: The information requested by the hon. Member could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Annual expenditure on external consultants is published in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s (FCO) Department’s annual reports, copies of which have been placed in the Library of the House. The two most recent annual reports also contain details of expenditure on the top five consultancy suppliers. The vast majority of work undertaken for the FCO by
consultants is associated with its major Information Communication Technology and Estate construction programmes.
I also refer the hon. Member to the reply my hon. Friend the Minister for Europe gave to the hon. Member for Fareham (Mr. Hoban) on 9 October 2007, Official Report, columns 542-43W, and the reply the then Minister for Europe my right hon. Friend the Member for Ashfield (Mr. Hoon) gave to the right hon. Member for Maidenhead (Mrs. May) on 24 May 2007, Official Report, column 1474W.
Departmental Expenditure
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs at which functions during the last year hospitality expenditure was incurred by his Department. [162797]
Meg Munn: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Minister for Europe on 18 October 2007, Official Report, column 1314W.
Further to that answer, Government Hospitality, Protocol Directorate, managed 199 official functions between November 2006 and October 2007. Of these functions, 58 were hosted by Foreign and Commonwealth Office Ministers or were funded directly by Government Hospitality on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
EU Treaties: Reform
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs for which policy areas where a common position has already been agreed at EU level the new EU Foreign Affairs representative will play a lead role following ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon. [161926]
Mr. Jim Murphy: The draft Lisbon Treaty specifies that the high representative for foreign affairs and security policy "shall ensure the implementation of the decisions adopted by the European Council and the Council" on common foreign and security policy issues. He or she would therefore have responsibility for taking forward implementation of common positions and other decisions on foreign and security policy issues where member states decide on action at the EU-level in the Council. Common positions currently in force cover a range of issues, including EU policy towards Belarus, Burma, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Iran, Ivory Coast, Somalia, Sudan and Uzbekistan.
Iraq: Overseas Workers
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the (a) location of death, (b) age at death and (c) cause of death was of the 72 British civilians who have died in Iraq since March 2003 referred to in the answer of 17 October 2007, Official Report, columns 1089-90W, on Iraq: overseas workers. [162734]
Meg Munn: The location and cause of death of the 72 British civilians that have died in Iraq since March 2003 are as follows:
| Location | Number |
We do not have the location details of the remaining five cases.
| Cause | Number |
| Note: Cause of death was not established in the three remaining cases. | |
We have no central data for the ages at time of death.
Iraq: Security Guards
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much his Department spent on private contractors providing protection services for his Department in (a) Iraq and (b) Afghanistan in each year since 2003. [162526]
Dr. Howells: The information requested by the hon. Member is as follows:
| £ | |
The information above covers contracts put in place by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in London with private security companies, and reflects the contract values concerned and not the actual spend. All of these contracts cover other Government Departments with the costs thereof being shared accordingly.
The FCO ensures that all contracts are subject to a rigorous selection process so that we obtain best value for money. Any company engaged by the FCO needs to pass through a stringent and transparent procurement process in line with public procurement guidelines and best practice.
Napoleon Gomez Urritia
Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has received on Napoleon Gomez Urritia, leader of the National Union of Mine and Metallurgical Workers of the Mexican Republic known as Los Mineros. [163932]
Meg Munn: On 7 November, my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary received a request from British trade union Community for a meeting with Mexican trade union representatives to discuss the issue of Mr. Gomez. A meeting with relevant officials has been offered.
Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Mexican government on the welfare of Napoleon Gomez Urrutia, leader of the National Union of Mine and Metallurgical Workers of the Mexican Republic known as Los Mineros. [163904]
Meg Munn: My right. hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has made no representations to the Mexican government on the welfare of Napoleon Gomez Urrutia.
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