| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
2 Mar 2009 : Column 1240W—continued
Departmental Surveys
Mr. Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will place in the Library a copy of the Cultural Audit commissioned by his Department. [258207]
David Miliband: A copy of the Cultural Audit will be placed in the Library of the House.
Departmental Telephone Services
Mr. Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what use (a) his Department and (b) service providers under contract to his Department made of (i) 0844 and 0845 telephone numbers and (ii) revenue-sharing telephone numbers for calls from members of the public; for which services such numbers are used; what prefixes are used for revenue-sharing numbers; how much revenue has accrued from revenue-sharing numbers in each of the last five years; what consideration his Department has given to introducing 03-prefixed telephone numbers for calls to all such services; and if he will make a statement. [247342]
Gillian Merron: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has a Travel Advice line (0845 850 28290). The line offers an alternative method for accessing the same travel advice available on the FCO website. In the last six months, 2,642,989 people accessed FCO Travel Advice from the website, 52,251 used the Travel Advice phone line. Calls are charged at the standard rate from a British Telecom line (up to 5p/m) and the FCO receives no financial benefit from the arrangement. We are committed to providing the best possible service to British nationals seeking advice on living and travelling abroad and as part of this ongoing process the introduction of an 03 number will be considered as part of this year’s Review of Consular Services.
UKVisas became part of the UK Border Agency International on 1 April 2008. Until that time, UKVisas was part of the FCO. UKVisas did maintain a live 0870 public inquiry line, but this service is not now operational and is unlikely to be used in the future.
Departmental Training
Mr. Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs with reference to the Answer of 26 November 2008, Official Report, column 1794W, what the (a) duration and (b) cost was of the training he received; and which organisations supplied the training. [245793]
Caroline Flint: Since June 2007, £6,700 has been spent on training for my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary on the presentation of foreign policy issues, and £85 on IT training.
Diplomatic Service
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many embassy and consular staff of each grade work in posts in (a) Germany, (b) France, (c) Russia, (d) China, (e) India, (f) Brazil and (g) the US. [255374]
Gillian Merron: The total number of UK civil servants currently serving at posts in these countries are as follows:
| Number | |
We are unable, for data protection reasons, to break the figures down by grade.
European Parliament
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many times he has visited the European Parliament on official business in the last 12 months. [259538]
Gillian Merron: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has visited the EU Parliament on official business once in the last 12 months, on 8 October 2008.
Falkland Islands: Air Routes
Mr. Illsley: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the economic effect on the Falkland Islands of recent increases in the cost of fares on the Falkland Islands airbridge; and if he will make a statement. [257811]
Caroline Flint: The South Atlantic Air-bridge contributes to the social and economic development of the South Atlantic Overseas Territories through providing a link to Britain and the outside world, contributing to tourism, the movement of freight, and facilitating business opportunities. The Ministry of Defence has not raised the cost of fares on the South Atlantic Air-bridge since August 2008, which was in response to the global increase in the price of oil.
Gaza: Diplomatic Service
Mr. Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of reports from UNRWA Commissioner-General Karen Abu-Zayd that Israel has stopped UN staff based in Gaza from using the diplomatic pouch; and if he will make a statement. [244763]
Bill Rammell: The UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) informs us that it has suspended the diplomatic bag in and out of Gaza since mid-November 2008 after incidents in early November when officials carrying the bag were turned back from Gaza. UNRWA is following up with the Israeli authorities and has not requested our assistance.
Group of Twenty: London Summit
Mr. Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many unique visitors the website www.londonsummit.gov.uk has received. [258931]
Caroline Flint: The London Summit website received 74,922 unique visitors between 29 January 2009, the day the site went live, and 23 February 2009, the day before this response was prepared.
Guantanamo Bay: Detainees
Mr. Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on what dates the US authorities acceded to his request to return Guantanamo Bay detainee Mr. Binyam Mohamed to the UK; and what form the communication of this decision took. [256380]
David Miliband: Over the last 18 months we have worked long and hard to secure Mr. Binyam Mohamed’s release from Guantanamo Bay and return to the UK. After Military Commission charges against Mr. Mohamed were dropped in October 2008, we held a series of positive discussions with the US on the principle of his return.
President Obama’s Executive Order of 22 January 2009 required a case-by-case assessment of all those detained at Guantanamo Bay. The new US Administration agreed to our request that Mr. Mohamed’s case should be treated as a priority in this process. We concluded a written transfer arrangement for Mr. Mohamed’s release and return on 20 February 2009, leading to his return to the UK on 23 February 2009.
Mr. Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on what date Mr. Binyam Mohamed is expected to return to the UK. [256448]
David Miliband: Mr. Binyam Mohamed returned to the UK on 23 February 2009 following his release from Guantanamo Bay.
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the policy of the Government is in respect of the cases of (a) Shaker Aamer, (b) Ahmed Belbacha and (c) Farhi Saeed bin Mohammed currently detained at Guantanamo Bay. [259026]
Bill Rammell: In order to support efforts to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility, the UK has sought the release and return of five individuals who had been legally resident in the UK prior to their detention.
As a result of our representations, Mr. Abdennour Sameur, Mr. Jamil el Banna, Mr. Omar Deghayes and Mr. Binyam Mohamed have been returned to the UK.
The US have so far declined to agree Mr. Shaker Aamer's return but we have made clear that our request for his release and return stands, should their position change.
We are not seeking the release and return to the UK of Mr. Ahmed Belbacha, who we do not believe was here lawfully, or Mr. Farhi Saeed bin Mohammed, who we have no record of being in the UK.
Hezbollah and Hamas
Mr. Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what official contacts there have been in the last four weeks between the Government and (a) Hezbollah and (b) Hamas. [254721]
Bill Rammell [holding answer 9 February 2009]: On 9 January 2009, our ambassador in Beirut attended a meeting of British parliamentarians with the Lebanese Foreign Affairs Committee. Representatives of all main political parties in Lebanon were present, including one MP from Hezbollah's political wing. During this meeting, our ambassador stressed the importance of all sides respecting the terms of UN Security Council Resolution 1701 which established the terms of the cessation of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah in August 2006.
We do not believe it is productive to talk to Hamas directly. The Arab League has mandated Egypt to communicate with Hamas. We are in regular contact with both the Arab League and Egypt. Turkey, Syria, Qatar and others are also speaking to Hamas. The UK strongly supports intra-Palestinian reconciliation behind President Abbas which is the key for peace, stability and development.
Homecoming Scotland
David Mundell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what support his Department (a) has given and (b) plans to give to the Homecoming Scotland 2009 initiative. [257762]
Gillian Merron: Following a request from my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland (Mr. Murphy), the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has taken the following steps:
Details of the initiative were published automatically on all FCO English language post websites (approx 150 countries).
We asked Scotland’s 10 priority-country FCO websites to create a ‘feature box’ on their homepage. An example is on
Further website publicity for this initiative will be provided during the course of the year.
Iran: Baha'i Faith
Mr. Carmichael:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received on the arrest and charge of seven members
of the Baha’i leadership in Iran on 11 February 2009; and if he will make a statement. [258481]
Caroline Flint: We have received several worrying reports confirming that the seven leading members of the Iranian Baha’i community have been charged with spying for Israel, “insulting religious sanctities” and “propaganda against the Islamic Republic”—charges which could carry the death penalty. We are concerned about the conditions under which they are being detained and that they have been systematically refused access to their lawyer. Reports suggest that the seven individuals are due to face trial in the coming weeks.
We are monitoring the situation closely and have called for Iran to allow independent observation of the judicial proceedings and to reconsider the charges brought against these individuals.
Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make representations to the Iranian authorities to allow independent observers to be present at any trial of the seven members of the Baha’i leadership in Iran charged on 11 February 2009. [258482]
Caroline Flint: We have called repeatedly for the Iranian government to release the seven leading members of the Iranian Baha’i community. Having been held for so long without due process, we are concerned that they may not receive a fair trial now that they have been formally charged.
My hon. Friend, the Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Bill Rammell, issued a statement on 16 February 2009, which was backed by an EU statement on 17 February 2009, expressing our concern and calling for the Iranian government to ensure that their trial is fair and to allow independent observation of the judicial proceedings. The statement may be found at:
We urge Iran to respect and protect its religious minorities and free all prisoners held due to their faith or religious practice.
Iraq: Peacekeeping Operations
Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which members of the pre-March 2003 Iraqi government have been detained by coalition forces or the Iraqi government since that time; for what period each was detained; whether each is still detained; and when charges were brought against each such detainee. [257964]
Bill Rammell: The following table shows the details requested by my hon. Friend:
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |