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28 Oct 2009 : Column 380W—continued
Departmental Postal Services
Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which companies are under contract to his Department to provide mail services; and when each such contract expires. [296088]
Chris Bryant: Foreign and Commonwealth Office Services has a logistics contract that covers diplomatic mail services with DHL Global Forwarding (UK) Ltd. Their current contract expires on 1 October 2010.
Departmental Telephone Services
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many helplines his Department operates; and how much his Department has received from the operation of such helplines in each of the last three years. [294980]
Chris Bryant: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) operates a travel advice telephone information line and does not receive any financial gain from this service.
In addition, in a consular crisis overseas the FCO can release an emergency telephone number for members of the public to use to report the possible involvement of friends or relatives. The FCO does not charge for this service.
Embassies
Mr. Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which consulates he has visited in the last six months. [296229]
Chris Bryant: The Cabinet Office produces an annual list of overseas travel by Ministers. A list of all overseas visits undertaken by Ministers costing £500 or more during the period 1 April 2008 to 31 March 2009 was published in July and copies of the list have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses. Travel undertaken by Ministers in the last six months will be included in next year's list.
Horn of Africa: EU
Mr. Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 14 September 2009, Official Report, column 2172, on the Horn of Africa: United Nations, what the outcome was of the European Union discussions in September on the appointment of a Special Envoy to the Horn of Africa. [293765]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: A final decision has not been made on the appointment of an EU special representative to the Horn of Africa, but the issue was discussed briefly within the wider Somalia context at EU working group level on several occasions in September 2009. EU member states continue to endorse the conclusions from the General Affairs and External Relations Council of July 2009 and the possible appointment of a special representative continues to be viewed positively.
Turks and Caicos Islands: Politics and Government
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how soon he expects good governance to be achieved in the Turks and Caicos Islands; and what steps he is taking to support this. [294941]
Chris Bryant
[holding answer 26 October 2009]: A UK-funded governance adviser has been involved in a major review and restructuring of the Turks and Caicos Islands' public service. Work is underway to strengthen a number of areas of public sector delivery including establishing the right balance between ministries and
independent public boards to conduct the Government's business, and identifying technical expertise necessary to make the administration fit for purpose. The Government have also funded the National School of Government to provide Senior Leader Development training.
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what measures his Department has put in place to ensure sound financial management in the Turks and Caicos Islands following the publication of Sir Robin Auld's final report on alleged corruption in that country. [294942]
Chris Bryant [holding answer 26 October 2009]: A range of UK-funded advisers have been appointed, including an economist, an auditor and two public financial management experts. They have worked with Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) public servants to carry out a full review of the TCI Government's finances. Measures have been put in place to limit public expenditure, increase revenue and bring the Islands' debt under control. These have been included in a new budget which also reflects the restructuring of the public service. The rationale behind the new budget is to provide breathing space for the introduction of the more fundamental reforms needed to ensure transparency, accountability and sustainability in the management of public finances.
Uganda: Armed Conflict
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent reports he has received on the districts where troops of the Lords Resistance Army are operating. [292519]
Chris Bryant: According to reports that we have recently received, the Lords Resistance Army's main areas of activity are in Southern Sudan (mostly in Western Equatoria State), the Democratic Republic of Congo (the Haut-Uele in the Orientale province) and the Central African Republic (Haut-Mbomou prefecture).
United Nations: Festivals and Special Occasions
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what events in (a) the United Kingdom and (b) overseas territories took place on 24 October 2009 to celebrate United Nations Day. [295663]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) is not informed of all events commemorating UN day across the UK or in the Overseas Territories. However, to mark UN Day 2009, my noble Friend Baroness Kinnock, FCO Minister for the UN, will host a reception for members of the UN Association-UK's young professionals network at the FCO on 28 October 2009. The reception will give young professionals from across the vocational spectrum the opportunity to hear about the ways in which the UK supports the work of the UN. Baroness Kinnock has also paid tribute to the UN and its staff by posting a message on the FCO website.
UN Association-UK have marked UN Day through a range of activities. These included fundraising events to support the UN's humanitarian work, UN flag-raising ceremonies, conferences and speaker events, as well as
the launch of its annual lobby of Parliament which aims to promote dialogue between voters and MPs on UN issues. Other events across the country include, UN 'flag day' collections (London and the South East of England), Celebration of UN Day and the International Year of Astronomy (Northern Ireland), UN Day talk on Israel and Palestine (Warwick), UN Day service (Shropshire) and UN Day ceremony (Harpenden).
Home Department
62 South Eaton Place
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 14 July 2009, Official Report, column 310W, on 62 South Eaton Place, how many viewings of 62 South Eaton Place there have been since the property was placed on the market. [294362]
Mr. Woolas: There have been 78 viewings since 62 South Eaton Place was placed on the market.
Alcoholic Drinks: Crime
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many drink banning orders had been made on the latest date for which figures are available. [294425]
Alan Johnson: Drinking banning orders (DBOs) on application were commenced on 31 August 2009. Official statistics for 2009 are planned for publication in autumn 2010.
Animal Experiments: Primates
Ms Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many procedures carried out on animals in Scotland in 2008 under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 involved (a) New World primates and (b) Old World primates; and what the primary purposes of those procedures were. [295693]
Meg Hillier: The total number of scientific procedures started using New World Primates in Scotland in 2008 was 37, of which the primary purpose was fundamental biological research for 29 procedures and applied studies-human medicine or dentistry for eight procedures. The number of scientific procedures started using Old World Primates was 1,277, for all of which the primary purpose was applied studies-human medicine or dentistry.
Antisocial Behaviour Orders: Bassetlaw
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many antisocial behaviour orders have been issued on application from (a) the police force and (b) registered social landlords in Bassetlaw constituency. [296285]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The information requested is not available centrally.
Information collected centrally by the Ministry of Justice on the number of antisocial behaviour orders (ASBOs) issued is not broken down by individual applicant and not available below criminal justice system (CJS) area level.
The total number of ASBO issued on application in the Nottinghamshire CJS area from 1 April 1999 to 31 December 2007 (latest available) is 158.
Crime: West Yorkshire
John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many incidents of (a) alcohol- and (b) drug-related crime were recorded in (i) Leeds West constituency, (ii) Leeds City and (iii) West Yorkshire in each year since 2005. [295361]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The data requested on incidents are not collected centrally. However, the British Crime Survey provides figures for violent incidents where the victim believes the offender was under the influence of alcohol or drugs. This information is provided in the following table.
| Violent incidents where the victim believed the offender(s) to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs, 1995 to 2008-09 | ||||||||||||
| Percentages and numbers (thousand)-BCS | ||||||||||||
| Statistically significant change | ||||||||||||
| Offender(s) perceived to be under the influence of:( 1) | 1995 | 1997 | 2001-02 | 2002-03 | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 | 1995 to 2008-09 | 2007-08 to 2008-09 |
| (1 )Questions asked only if the victim was able to say something about the offender(s), and if there was more than one offender, victims were asked if any of the offenders were perceived to be under the influence. Questions were not asked if any offender(s) were perceived to be under school age. (2) 'All violence' includes wounding, assault with minor injury, assault without injury and robbery. See section 5 of volume 2 for more information. Note s : For an explanation of year-labels see 'Conventions used in figures and tables' at the start of this volume. Taken from table 3.16 at the following link: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs09/hosb1109chap3.xls | ||||||||||||
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