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6 Oct 2008 : Column 219W—continued
Departmental Official Residences
James Duddridge: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what permanent residential accommodation is provided for use by civil servants in his Department; how many residential dwellings are provided; where they are located; and for what grade of civil servant they are provided. [222104]
Meg Munn: Throughout our overseas network, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has some 3,700 units of permanent residential accommodation—comprising owned, loaned, gifted and leased properties—in 220 locations worldwide for all grades of civil servants.
There are no units of permanent residential accommodation provided for civil servants in the UK.
Departmental Public Relations
James Duddridge: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much (a) his Department and (b) its agencies spent on each of the external public relations and marketing companies included in the Central Office of Information's public relations framework in each of the last 36 months. [222102]
Meg Munn: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has spent the following amounts with the external public relations and marketing companies included in the Central Office of Information's public relations framework. There has been no recorded spend by its agencies:
| £ | |
The amounts paid to Hill and Knowlton include £5,104 paid on behalf of UK Trade and Industry.
James Duddridge: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many staff from public relations or public affairs firms or consultancies have been seconded to his Department and its agencies in each of the last five years. [222207]
Meg Munn: One member of staff from a public affairs organisation is currently seconded to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO). There are no secondments involving staff to the FCO's agencies.
Figures on the number of secondments from 2002 to 2007 were not collated and cannot be obtained without incurring a disproportionate cost.
Departmental Surveillance
James Duddridge: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many applications (a) his Department and (b) its agencies have made under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 to (i) undertake directed surveillance, (ii) use covert human intelligence sources, (iii) acquire communications data and (iv) undertake intrusive surveillance in the last 24 months. [222094]
David Miliband: Figures on warrants issued by me under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 are included in the confidential annex of the annual reports of the Interception of Communications Commissioner and the Intelligence Services Commissioner, but excluded from the published reports. In his 2007 annual report, the Intelligence Services Commissioner said that he did
“not propose to disclose publicly the numbers of warrants or authorisations issued to the security and intelligence agencies because it would assist those unfriendly to the UK were they able to know the extent of the work (of those agencies) in fulfilling their function”.
The Interception of Communications Commissioner in his annual report for 2007 gave a similar explanation for non-disclosure of the number of warrants issued by me. The latest reports were laid before Parliament and copies placed in the Library of the House on 22 July.
Diego Garcia: Detainees
Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 7 May 2008, Official Report, columns 932-3W, on Diego Garcia: detainees, what reports his Department has received of allegations relating to the USS Peleliu; and what discussions he has had with his US counterpart on the matter. [222706]
Dr. Howells: We have received allegations relating to detainees being held on US naval vessels, including the USS Peleliu, from human rights non-governmental organisations. We have asked the US to clarify their position on detainees being held on ships and to verify previous assurances that detainees had never been held on ships in the territorial waters of Diego Garcia.
The US confirmed to us that no detainees have been held on ships within Diego Garcia's territorial waters since 11 September 2001. They also informed us that
they do not operate detention facilities for terrorist suspects onboard ships, although US naval vessels were used in the early days of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan to screen and temporarily hold a very small number of individuals pending their transfer to land-based detention facilities. These ships were not located within the territorial waters of Diego Garcia. We have no information to suggest that these ships were supplied from the island.
Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 7 May 2008, Official Report, columns 932-3W, on Diego Garcia: detainees, if he will place in the Library the response received to the request made to the US Secretary of State for clarification on a number of specific issues. [222707]
Dr. Howells: Further to my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary's letter to US Secretary of State Rice relating to the two renditions through Diego Garcia in 2002, the US have informed us that:
there have been no other instances in which US intelligence flights landed in the UK, our overseas territories or the Crown dependencies, with a detainee on board since 11 September 2001;
no detainees have been held on ships within Diego Garcia's territorial waters since 11 September 2001; and
no non-US service personnel have been held on Diego Garcia or within its territorial waters since 11 September 2001.
The US have also underlined their firm understanding that there will be no rendition through the UK, our overseas territories and Crown dependencies or airspace without first receiving our express permission.
Diplomatic Immunity
Mrs. Lait: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 26 June 2008, Official Report, columns 34-36WS, on diplomatic immunity (serious offences), how many of the offences indicated in the table resulted in the diplomatic representative subsequently leaving the United Kingdom in each year from 2003 to 2007. [223005]
Meg Munn: As a result of Foreign and Commonwealth Office representations, the following number of diplomats left the UK during the period 2003-07.
| Number | |
Diplomatic Service: Buildings
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what properties are (a) owned and (b) rented or leased by his Department in (i) Israel, (ii) Malta, (iii) the Holy See and (iv) Egypt; and for what purposes. [222247]
Meg Munn: For security reasons the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) does not disclose the addresses of staff residential accommodation.
The following are categories of properties owned, rented or leased by the FCO in Israel, Malta, the Holy See and Egypt.
| Office | Residence | Residential | Other( 1) | |
| Office | Residence | Residential | Other( 1) | Compound | |
| (1) Other properties include land, storage, guard houses, workshops, schools, sports facilities, clubs, swimming pools and children’s play areas. | |||||
Diplomatic Service: Parking Offences
Mrs. Lait: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 26 June 2008, Official Report, columns 32-34WS, on diplomatic missions (traffic violation fines 2007), how many fines are outstanding, broken down by diplomatic mission; and of what value in each case. [222968]
Meg Munn: The written ministerial statement of 26 June 2008, Official Report, columns 32-34WS, on outstanding parking fines incurred by diplomatic vehicles names all missions with outstanding fines of £1,000 or more. We have no plans to publish the remaining figures for those missions with outstanding fines of less than £1,000. For small missions or those missions with a small number of outstanding fines, there is some risk that diplomats or their vehicles could be individually identified. This would breach our data protection obligations under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.
EU Law
Mr. Francois: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much the UK paid in fines for non-implementation or inadequate implementation of EU directives in each year since 1997. [222318]
Mr. Jim Murphy: None. The UK has never been fined for non-implementation or inadequate implementation of EU directives.
European Union: Diplomatic Service
Mr. Francois: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many officials worked in the UK Permanent Representative to the EU in each year since 1978. [222227]
Mr. Jim Murphy: The number of UK civil servants from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), or on secondment to the FCO from other Whitehall Departments, who worked at the Office of the UK Permanent Representative to the EU on 1 April each year was:
| Number | |
Our current management information database only holds figures centrally for 2005 (when it was introduced) onwards. We could not compile figures for earlier years without incurring a disproportionate cost.
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