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21 Jan 2008 : Column 1606W—continued
Serious Organised Crime Agency
Stabilisation Unit (parent organisation—Department for International Development)
The Treasury Solicitor.
World War II: Prisoners of War
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what information his Department holds on the amount of compensation paid by the German Government for British prisoners of war of the Second World War. [180278]
Derek Twigg: No money has been paid by the German authorities specifically to provide compensation for former British prisoners of war (POWs).
In 1964, the then Federal Republic of Germany paid £1 million to the British Government to provide compensation for victims of Nazi persecution. The scheme focused on survivors of Nazi Concentration Camps. Servicemen held as ordinary POWs and civilian internees held in non-concentration camps were excluded. In the late-1990s, a fund totalling some £3.3 billion was set up by the German Government and industry to make payments to those civilians who were forced labourers. Again, service personnel held as POWs were excluded.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Capita
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what meetings (a) he, (b) Ministers in his Department and (c) officials have held with (i) directors and (ii) senior executives of (A) Capita Group plc and (B) its subsidiaries since 1 January 2001; what the (1) location and (2) duration of each meeting was; whether a record of each meeting was kept; and if he will make a statement. [180706]
David Miliband: Ministers and civil servants meet many people as part of the process of policy development and advice. It is not the usual practice of Government to disclose details of such meetings.
Colombia: Human Rights
Mike Wood: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent reports he has received on alleged murders of civilians and breaches of human rights by soldiers of the Colombian Army, in particular the High Mountain Battalions. [180117]
Dr. Howells: I am concerned at continuing allegations of some Colombian policemen and army personnel being involved in abuses. I have raised these concerns with the Colombian Government, including when I visited Colombia in November 2007. However, it is clear that illegal armed groups and terrorist organisations such as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia are responsible for the majority of abuses in Colombia, as acknowledged in the 2006 report of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Colombia.
Helping the Government and civil society in Colombia to protect and promote the basic human rights of all Colombians is a priority for this Government. A large part of our bilateral assistance programme, including with the Colombian armed forces, is focused on human rights. I am satisfied that no UK assistance is being used to commit human rights abuses, directly or indirectly. We have received no evidence to suggest that this is the case.
Departmental Databases
Mrs. Villiers:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what requirements his Department and its agencies place on
contractors in relation to the audit of personal data and IT equipment. [176624]
Meg Munn: The only substantial contracts the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has for the processing of personal data are with two commercial partners responsible for the collection and administration of visa applications from foreign nationals wishing to travel to the UK. Both contracts contain clauses committing the partner to conformity with ISO27001, the international standard relating to the security of data systems, requiring auditable processes, and to compliance with the provisions of the Data Protection Act. The contracts also provide for surprise audits of partner premises by UKvisas. More generally, FCO model contracts contain specific clauses obliging the contractor to abide by the provisions of the Data Protection Act and empowering the FCO to ensure compliance.
Departmental Equality
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much has been spent by his Department (a) in total and (b) on staff costs on promoting equality and diversity in each of the last three years for which figures are available; and how many people are employed by his Department for this purpose. [173839]
Meg Munn: The information requested by the hon. Member is as follows:
| Total expenditure on diversity | |
| £ | |
| (1) Of which £118,110.82 on training. (2) Training only. | |
2007-08 is the first year for which the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has a dedicated diversity budget for initiatives outside of training.
2007-08 is the first year, in the past three, where there have been dedicated officials working solely on promoting equality and diversity. The total cost of the staff working on equality and diversity issues in 2007-08 is £267,382.00 per annum.
The FCO has one full-time employee promoting equality and diversity who is assisted, on a temporary basis, by the equivalent of 3.9 full-time staff.
Departmental Internet
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 13 December 2007, Official Report, column 828W, on Departmental Internet, how many times each individual blog has been visited since it was established. [179635]
Meg Munn: The statistics available to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office for the blogging platform since its launch are for the site as a whole and not for individual blogs. Since the launch, on 26 September 2007, there have been 181,959 visits to the blogging platform, of which there were 554,259 individual page views.
Departmental Marketing
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what products featuring departmental or Government branding were procured by (a) his Department and (b) its agencies in each of the last five years. [179791]
Meg Munn: This information is not held centrally and it would incur disproportionate cost to collate.
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many posters or displays there are in the offices of his Department and its agencies displaying the names and photographs of Ministers; and what the cost has been of producing such posters or displays in the last five years. [179844]
Meg Munn: The information requested by the hon. Member is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Ministerial Policy Advisors
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether any of his Department’s special advisers also work for organisations outside his Department. [178480]
David Miliband: Special advisers are appointed under terms and conditions set out in the “Model Contract” and “Code of Conduct for Special Advisers”, copies of which are in the Library of the House.
Derek Pasquill: Official Secrets
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the classification of any of the documents disclosed by Mr. Derek Pasquill has been amended since the submission to the police of the Department’s considered assessment of the damage caused to international relations under Section 3 of the Official Secrets Act 1989 by Mr. Pasquill’s disclosures. [180408]
Meg Munn: None of the classifications have been changed.
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether Ministers approved, before it was presented to the police, the witness statement by his Department setting out its considered assessment of the damage caused to international relations under Section 3 of the Official Secrets Act 1989 by Mr. Derek Pasquill’s disclosures. [180422]
Meg Munn: The witness statement was given by a senior Foreign and Commonwealth Office official on behalf of the Department. Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Ministers were briefed on its contents.
Mr. Lidington:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will place in the Library copies of those documents the disclosure of
which formed the basis of the prosecution of Mr. Derek Pasquill for breaches of the Official Secrets Act 1989. [180423]
Meg Munn: These documents have remained in the public domain since they were first disclosed.
Diplomatic Service: EU Nationals
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs under what circumstances British embassies provide services to citizens of EU member states who lack diplomatic representation in a particular country; and if he will make a statement. [179685]
Meg Munn: Under article 20 of the treaty establishing the European Community, every citizen of the EU, in the territory of a third country in which the member state of which he or she is a national does not have diplomatic or consular representation, is entitled to protection by the diplomatic or consular authorities of any member state, on the same conditions as the nationals of that state. In some countries there are local arrangements between the missions of EU member states whereby each provides consular assistance to the nationals of a number of unrepresented states.
Disclosure of Information
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many documents disclosed without authorisation by Mr. Derek Pasquill formed the basis for his prosecution for breaches of the Official Secrets Act 1989. [180315]
Meg Munn: The Crown Prosecution Service brought charges under the Official Secrets Act 1989 on six of the documents disclosed by Mr. Pasquill.
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment his Department has made of whether the public disclosure now of (a) all or (b) some of the documents first disclosed by Mr. Derek Pasquill and which formed the basis of his prosecution for breaches of the Official Secrets Act 1989 would harm international relations. [180316]
Meg Munn: The documents have remained in the public domain since they were first disclosed. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office provided a witness statement to the police, in December 2006, setting out its considered assessment of the damage caused, by the disclosures. We have made no subsequent damage assessment.
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will place in the Library a copy of the witness statement to the police by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office setting out the Government’s assessment of the damage caused under section 3 of the Official Secrets Act 1989 to international relations by Mr. Derek Pasquill’s disclosures. [180317]
Meg Munn: The Witness Statement is a police document, produced as part of a criminal investigation, which the Foreign and Commonwealth Office is therefore not at liberty to disclose.
European Directorate
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many staff work in his Department’s European Directorate; what the cost of such staff was in 2006-07; and what each Directorate member’s responsibilities are. [176050]
Mr. Jim Murphy: The following table charts the number of Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials working in the European Union Directorate for 2006-07 and for 2005-06 for comparison. The staff numbers and costs are average figures.
| 2005-06 | 2006-07 | |||
| Staff numbers | Cost (£ million) | Staff numbers | Cost (£ million) | |
It would incur disproportionate cost to provide the right hon. Member with details of each individual’s responsibilities in the directorate.
Humanitarian Aid: Medals
Mr. Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will bring forward proposals to create a humanitarian service medal or similar recognition for British civilians operating on behalf of the Government in hostile environments. [180618]
Meg Munn: A humanitarian service medal, to reward British civilians working for international organisations overseas, is currently under consideration by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Ministry of Defence and Cabinet Office.
Indonesia: Export Credit Guarantees
Willie Rennie: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what communications he has had with the Indonesian Government on its outstanding debts to the UK Export Credits Guarantee Department in the last six months. [180327]
Meg Munn: Over the last six months, our embassy officials have on several occasions discussed the rescheduling of some elements of Indonesian debts to the Export Credits Guarantee Department with the relevant Indonesian authorities.
The Government of Indonesia owes the Export Credits Guarantee Department about £507 million plus US$400 million. These debts have been rescheduled in the Paris Club along with those of other Paris Club creditors. In addition to rescheduling Indonesia’s debts through the Paris Club, the UK has also provided Indonesia with direct aid. In 2006-07, the
Department for International Development provided £60 million to Indonesia to help it meet the Millennium Development Goals. This money was used for a range of poverty reducing programmes, including improving maternal health, tackling HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis, and for support to forestry.
Industrial Disputes
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether it is the policy of Ministers in his Department to cross embassy staff picket lines in cases of industrial disputes. [180176]
David Miliband: In the event of an industrial dispute, as at all other times, Ministers act in accordance with their duties under the Ministerial Code.
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