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21 Apr 2008 : Column 1704W—continued
Suicide: South Yorkshire
Jeff Ennis: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many people (a) under and (b) over 21 years of age committed suicide in (i) Barnsley, (ii) Doncaster and (iii) South Yorkshire in each of the last five years for which figures are available. [199354]
Edward Miliband: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 21 April 2008:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many people (a) under and (b) over 21 years of age committed suicide in (i) Barnsley, (ii) Doncaster and (iii) South Yorkshire in each of the last five years for which figures are available. (199354)
The table attached provides the number of deaths where suicide was the underlying cause of death for persons aged (a) under 21 and (b) 21 years and over, in (i) Barnsley metropolitan district, (ii) Doncaster metropolitan district and (iii) South Yorkshire county, for 2002 to 2006 (the latest year available).
Unemployment: Inverness
Danny Alexander: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (1) how many workless households in Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey constituency there were in each year since 1997; [200090]
(2) how many children were living in workless households in Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey constituency in each year since 1997; [200118]
Edward Miliband: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 21 April 2008:
As national Statistician I have been asked to reply to your two parliamentary questions. The first asks how many workless households in Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey constituency there were in each year since 1997 [200090]. The second asks how many children were living in workless households in Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey constituency in each year since 1997 [200118].
Estimates are provided from the labour Force Survey (LFS). There is currently no annual household dataset, so the figures are given for the April-June quarter to be consistent with those published in the ‘Work and worklessness among household first Release’ (see web link http://www.statistics.gov.uk/pdfdir/work0807.pdf). The boundaries for parliamentary constituencies in Scotland were redrawn in 2005, and data is only available for 2006 and 2007 using the LFS household datasets.
There were approximately 1,000 workless households in Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey constituency in 2006 and 2007. Estimates for the number of children (aged under 16) living in these workless households are disclosive and cannot be released under confidentiality rules.
A workless household is a household that includes at least one person of working-age (a woman aged 16 to 59 or a man aged 16 to 64) where no one aged 16 or over is in employment.
The LFS is a sample survey covering over 52,000 households in the United Kingdom in each three month period. As with any sample survey, estimates from the Labour Force Survey are subject to a margin of uncertainty.
United Kingdom Statistics Authority: Finance
Hugh Bayley: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how the budget of the UK Statistics Authority is determined. [199277]
Phil Hope: In the 2007 Budget the Government announced a funding settlement of £1.2 billion over five years for the new Statistics Authority. The settlement applies to the years 2007-08 to 2011-12, providing planning and funding certainty for the development of the new Authority and the effective discharge of its remit from the establishment of the new system on 1 April 2008.
In order to reinforce the new Statistics Authority’s statutory independence, the Government set funding for the Authority outside the normal Government spending review process.
Within this funding settlement, it will be for the Authority to decide on spending allocations for the Authority’s functions, the census, new statistical initiatives and the Office for National Statistics.
Zurich Financial Services
David T.C. Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how much the Cabinet Office paid to Zurich Financial Services in each year since 1997; and what the purpose of the payment was in each case. [199609]
Phil Hope: The Cabinet Office paid to Zurich Financial Services the following amounts:
| Financial year | £ |
Information prior to 1999-2000 is not held. There have been no payments since 2000-01. Details of the purpose of the payments can be obtained only at disproportionate costs.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Arms Trade
James Duddridge: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what estimate his Department has made of the number of small arms which were imported into the UK and immediately re-exported in each of the last three years; and what assessment he has made of the (a) destination and (b) end use of such arms. [200041]
Meg Munn: Cumulative records of small arms imported and immediately re-exported are not maintained. It is therefore not possible to say how many small arms entered the UK and were then immediately re-exported. Information on licences issued for the export of small arms has been published in the Government's quarterly and annual reports on strategic export controls, which can be found on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's website at:
Licenses for arms exports are considered on a case by case basis and rigorously assessed against the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licencing Criteria (“The Code of Conduct”). This takes into account conditions and circumstances in the country of destination and the end use of such arms.
There is a limited number of exemptions or variations to this rule. For example, in the case of export of small arms by an individual when Part IV, Article 11 (8) or (9) of the Export of Goods, Transfer of Technology and Provision of Technical Assistance (Control) Order 2003, as amended, applies. In such cases an export licence may not be required if the criteria set out in the order can be met. Similarly, an individual could make use of the Open General Export Licence (Accompanied Personal Effects: Sporting Firearms) if they meet the criteria set out in that licence. In cases where the criteria for these exemptions are not met an export licence, assessed against “The Code of Conduct” as described above, will be required.
Ballistic Missile Defence
Mr. Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on what dates and with whom in the US Administration he has discussed talks between Russia and the US on deployment of the US Ballistic Missile Defence programme. [197910]
David Miliband: The UK continues to discuss ballistic missile defence issues with the US Administration, on a number of levels. It is not the practice of the Government to make public details of all discussions with foreign governments. We are, however, kept well informed of discussions between the US and Russia on the deployment of US missile defence assets and we welcome the continued constructive engagement by both sides in the debate.
Bombs
Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans he has for (a) UK representation and (b) a negotiating mandate at the forthcoming conference on an international treaty on cluster munitions in Dublin in April 2008; what the UK’s policy is on (i) cluster munitions and (ii) a treaty reducing or banning their deployment; and if he will make a statement. [198113]
Dr. Howells:
At the Dublin Diplomatic Conference (19-30 May) John Duncan, our Ambassador for Multilateral Arms Control and Disarmament and Permanent Representative to the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, will lead the UK delegation,
which will include Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Ministry of Defence and Department for International Development officials.
The Government recognises the humanitarian concerns raised by cluster munitions. Our policy is therefore to work to achieve legally binding instruments within both the Oslo Process and the UN framework, the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, that will prohibit the use, production and stockpiling of those cluster munitions which cause unacceptable harm to civilians. The mandate of the UK delegation in Dublin will reflect that objective. We want a strong treaty that will have the widest possible support from the start, particularly from the major users and producers, and thereby achieve the greatest practical humanitarian effect.
China: Human Rights
Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many individual cases of human rights abuses by China he raised with his Chinese counterpart in each of the last five years. [197615]
Meg Munn: We regularly raise individual cases of human rights abuses with the Chinese government, both bilaterally and through the EU. My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary raised three priority cases with the Chinese Foreign Minister during his visit to China in February. We also handed over a list of 42 individual cases of concern at the most recent round of the UK-China Human Rights Dialogue, which took place in Beijing just prior to this visit, at the end of January. We are unable to detail how many individual cases my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has raised over the last five years without incurring disproportionate cost.
Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on how many occasions he has raised the issue of human rights abuses with his Chinese counterpart in the last five years. [197616]
Meg Munn: We regularly raise human rights concerns with the Chinese Government. My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has been in regular contact with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi over the last two weeks to register concern for the situation in Tibet. He also raised a number of issues, including ratification of the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights and media freedom, with the Chinese Foreign Minister during his visit to China in February 2008. We are unable to detail how many times my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has raised human rights concerns with Chinese counterparts over the last five years without incurring disproportionate cost.
Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the human rights situation in China. [197618]
Meg Munn:
We regularly monitor the human rights situation in China. We use the annual UK-China Human Rights Dialogue to discuss our priority concerns in detail and to gain up to date information,
including on individual cases. We also regularly raise our concerns and request information from the Chinese government both bilaterally and through the EU. Our assessment of China’s human rights record for 2007 is included in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s (FCO) Annual Human Rights Report, published on 25 March 2008, available on the FCO website at:
China: Olympic Games
Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has received on a boycott of (a) all and (b) part of the Olympic Games in 2008; and if he will make a statement. [197617]
Meg Munn: We are aware of calls to boycott the 2008 Olympic Games. The Government do not support a boycott of any part of the Olympics. We shall continue working with China to make the Olympics a success.
Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he plans to take in respect of the Beijing Olympic Games in the event of worsening political violence in China. [198127]
Meg Munn [holding answer 3 April 2008]: We monitor political developments in China closely, and we will continue to make clear to the Chinese government where we have concerns, as we have done in respect of recent violence in Tibet. We have made clear, however, that we do not support a boycott of any part of the 2008 Olympics. We are determined to continue working with China to make the Olympics a success, as part of China's re-engagement with the world.
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