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26 Mar 2008 : Column 154W—continued
Russia: TNK-BP
Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received on the police search of TNK-BP and BP-Trading Limited in Russia in March 2008. [197095]
Mr. Jim Murphy: We are aware that on 19 and 20 March, the Russian authorities conducted searches at the Moscow offices of both TNK-BP and BP. Files and computer servers were seized, and company employees were questioned. None of them were UK nationals. We are in touch with the companies and continue to monitor the situation closely. Clearly, we expect any investigations by the Russian authorities to be conducted in full transparency and in accordance with Russian law.
Sudan: Politics and Government
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will encourage the representation of Arab militias in peace talks in Darfur. [196327]
Meg Munn [holding answer 25 March 2008]: We have made clear to the UN and African Union (AU) envoys, most recently at the international meeting they hosted in Geneva on 18 March, that we believe civil society and Arab engagement in the political process are essential for an inclusive process and a sustainable settlement.
The UK has filled five key posts in the Darfur-Darfur Dialogue and Consultation, which will be the main mechanism for civil society engagement in the political process and in longer-term reconciliation and rehabilitation in Darfur. We have also committed £1 million to support the AU and UN Joint Mediation Support Team, which is currently focused on encouraging rebel movements to unify further and agree on common platforms ahead of negotiations with the Government of Sudan.
Tibet: Politics and Government
Mr. MacDougall: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the humanitarian situation in Tibet; and if he will make a statement. [196277]
Meg Munn [holding answer 25 March 2008]: We do not have access to all the information needed to make an accurate assessment of the humanitarian situation in Tibet. However, we remain seriously concerned about the recent events in Tibet and the surrounding region and continue to closely monitor the situation. We have asked the Chinese authorities for permission for an official, from our embassy in Beijing, to visit Tibet. We have expressed our concern to Chinese authorities both in Beijing and London and have urged them to respect fully the human rights of those detained; to avoid use of excessive force in dealing with riots; and to respect freedom of expression and religion in Tibet.
Mr. MacDougall: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the political situation in Tibet; and if he will make a statement. [196278]
Meg Munn [holding answer 25 March 2008]: We remain very concerned about the situation in Tibet and surrounding areas, including reports of loss of life, use of force and damage to property. We understand an uneasy calm has returned to the streets of Lhasa. We continue to urge the Chinese to respect fully the human rights of those detained; to exercise maximum restraint in restoring public order; and to respect freedom of expression and religion in Tibet. We also call on the protesters, in Lhasa and elsewhere, to desist from further violence. My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister spoke to Chinese Premier Wen on 19 March urging the Chinese Government to address the underlying issues by re-engaging in dialogue without preconditions with the Dalai Lama and his representatives. My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary also emphasised the need for dialogue when he spoke to Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi on 21 March.
Scotland
Departmental Advertising
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland which of his Department’s initiatives have been advertised to the public in each of the last 10 years; and what the cost of each such campaign was. [192221]
David Cairns: The Scotland Office was established on 1 July 1999; the Office spent the following on advertising:
| £ | |
Most of the expenditure in 2000-01 and 2001-02 relates to electoral registration matters. Since 2001, this has been the responsibility of the Electoral Commission.
Departmental Data Protection
Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether confidential or personal information has been compromised through the loss of property from his Department since 1997. [193446]
David Cairns:
The Scotland Office was established on 1 July 1999. Except in exceptional cases, when it is in the public interest, it has been the policy of successive Governments not to comment on breaches of security. However, following the publication of the Data Handling
Procedures in Government: Interim Progress Report on 17 December 2007, Official Report, column 98WS, all Departments will cover information assurance issues in their annual reports.
Departmental Pay
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what the hourly rates of pay of all non-permanent staff working for his Department were in each of the last 12 months; and how many staff were receiving each rate in each of those months. [196443]
David Cairns: The Scotland Office does not record the information in the form requested.
Solicitor-General
Crime: Victims
Keith Vaz: To ask the Solicitor-General what arrangements have been put in place to improve the level of service given to victims of crime by the Crown Prosecution Service. [195737]
The Solicitor-General:
The Crown Prosecution Service’s (CPS) commitments to victims of crime are contained within the Prosecutors’ Pledge, which was
launched by the Attorney-General in 2005, and the Code of Practice for Victims of Crime, which was introduced in April 2006.
The CPS has made significant progress in improving victim and witness care in recent years with the introduction of initiatives such as the Direct Communication with Victims scheme, the Victim Focus Scheme and the ‘No Witness No Justice’ initiative.
Under the ‘No Witness No Justice’ initiative, the CPS, working in partnership with the police, has introduced witness care units across England and Wales. From the point of charge until the conclusion of the case, a witness care officer provides a single point of contact for the victim ensuring that information about the case and support is provided to meet the needs of individual victims and witnesses.
Prosecutions
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Solicitor-General how many cases the Crown Prosecution Service has prosecuted in the last three years; in how many instances a conviction was secured; and if she will make a statement. [196256]
The Solicitor-General: The following table shows the number of defendant cases prosecuted in each of the last three years and the number that resulted in a conviction. Convictions are also shown as a proportion of cases completed in each year:
| 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | |
The volume of cases has fallen as crime levels have reduced and as increasing numbers of lesser offences have been dealt with by way of a fixed penalty notice, rather than court proceedings. Against this background, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has achieved effective increases in conviction rates, from 81.8 per cent. in 2005 to 84.7 per cent. in 2007.
Culture, Media and Sport
Art Works: Intellectual Property
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what progress has been made in obtaining the indefinite extension of the derogation of artists’ resale rights. [191313]
Robert Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether it is his policy to obtain the indefinite extension of the derogation which limits the artists’ resale rights scheme to the work of living artists only; and if he will make a statement. [191875]
Ian Pearson: I have been asked to reply.
We are in the process of considering the evidence on the impact of artist’s resale right on the UK art market, including the derogation. We will be continuing our discussions with the Commission on this issue.
Arts: Resale Rights Scheme
Robert Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will make it his policy that artists should be required to register their names at the beginning of each year on a centrally available database if they wish to exercise their right to receive payment under the artists’ resale rights scheme; and if he will make a statement. [191874]
Ian Pearson: I have been asked to reply.
An artist’s resale rights under article 1 of Directive 2001/84/EC are inalienable and cannot be waived. It would not therefore be consistent with this Directive to make payments of resale rights dependent upon whether the artist has registered with a database.
Departmental Intranet
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the Answer of 19 February 2008, Official Report, column 1296W, on departmental intranet, what the (a) creations and (b) amendments were referred to in the Answer. [195854]
Margaret Hodge: The following table shows all changes made by staff in DCMS to pages on Wikipedia.
| Page title | Diff( 1) | Comments( 2) |
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Germany did not exist until 1870 therefore reference to ‘Germans’ amended | ||
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/* Miscellaneous trivia */ removed non-neutral characterisation | ||
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corrected first line to past tense “was a” to match past tense later in para | ||
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[[WPAES|]]Created page with ‘This article is VERY POOR in terms of failing to h wide-ranging intellectual interests and a concer...” | ||
| (1) Diff is a file comparison utility that outputs the differences between two files. The number here refers to the page change in Wikipedia. This report was created using http://wikiscanner.virgil.gr/ (2) The comments here were added by the editor making the change to the page and generated in the report referred to in 1. | ||
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