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9 Mar 2010 : Column 249W—continued
Youth Custody: Manpower
Mr. Burrowes: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many (a) governors, (b) officers and (c) other staff in the youth secure estate are of each ethnic group. [321305]
Maria Eagle: Information on the ethnic group of staff in the youth secure estate is contained in the following table. The information refers to staff directly employed by the National Offender Management Service and staff at Ashfield and Parc young offender institutions (YOI), which are operated by private contractors. Where a YOI is not entirely dedicated to holding young people (15 to 17-year-olds) it is not possible to disaggregate the staffing and the entire staffing of the YOI has been included in the answer. Obtaining information on non-employed staff engaged in the young people's estate is not possible without incurring disproportionate cost.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Colombia: Human Rights
Lembit Öpik: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the outcome was of his Department's discussions with the Colombian Government on the situation of members of the Nukak tribe camped near San Jose; and if he will make a statement. [320830]
Chris Bryant: We have not had any discussions with the Colombian Government about the Nukak Maku tribe.
Departmental ICT
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information technology projects initiated by (a) his Department and (b) its agencies were cancelled prior to completion in the last 12 months; and what the cost of each such project was to the public purse. [320426]
Chris Bryant: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has not cancelled any significant information technology projects during the past five years. To provide more detailed information on small individual projects, including from across our network of posts, would incur disproportionate cost.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office does not maintain centrally details of information technology projects for its agencies. This information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Public Expenditure
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 22 February 2010, Official Report, column 214W, on departmental public expenditure, whether he expects there to be a shortfall between the estimated savings to be made by his Department and its agencies in 2010-11 and the estimated loss to his Department's budget for that year arising from exchange rate movements. [320808]
Chris Bryant
[holding answer 5 March 2010]: I am confident that on the basis of the measures my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced in his written statement to the House of 10 February 2010,
Official Report, column 53WS, including those additional elements of streamlining and cost-saving mentioned there which have yet to be finalised, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office will be able to continue to deliver a world-class and comprehensive diplomatic service for the UK within its departmental expenditure limit.
EU Countries: Overseas Workers
Mr. Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what estimate he has made of the number of UK engineering construction workers working under contract in other EU member states in each of the last five years. [320923]
Chris Bryant: This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Israel: Courts Martial
Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received of the number of Palestinian children being held by the Israeli authorities and facing trial in a military court. [320777]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: According to Defence for Children International, as of January 2010, there are currently 318 Palestinian children in Israeli detention.
The UK continues to make its position clear to both the Israelis and the Palestinians on a wide range of human rights issues. This includes not only social and economic rights but also the security and treatment of detainees, including juveniles.
Kazakhstan: Politics and Government
Mr. Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps the Government are taking to monitor the progress of the Government of Kazakhstan in implementing the commitments to reform made prior to its chairmanship of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe in 2010. [320860]
Chris Bryant: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary and I have raised this issue with the Kazakhstan Foreign Minister in recent weeks. Our embassy in Astana, working closely with EU and other like-minded missions, closely evaluates political developments in Kazakhstan. Our embassy has also supported a project run by Freedom House and the Kazakhstan Coalition of non-governmental organisations to monitor independently Kazakhstan's performance against its Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) commitments, including in respect of elections, political parties, media, local self-governance, and freedoms of assembly and conscience. During the project, the Coalition provided regular briefings to others in the international community to allow wider monitoring. The commitments made by Kazakhstan prior to the chairmanship were in line with the international standards to which it had already signed up as a partner state of the OSCE. These commitments will continue to be monitored after Kazakhstan's year as chair comes to an end.
Mr. Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the progress of the Government of Kazakhstan in implementing the commitments to reform it made prior to its chairmanship of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe in 2010. [320861]
Chris Bryant: Kazakhstan has taken some limited steps forward, but there have been developments, for example in limiting media freedom, that have caused concern. We have stressed to the Kazakhs the need to live up to the obligations that relate to both its membership and chairmanship of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). On 14 January 2010, President Nazarbayev pledged to "pursue further political liberalisation". This was underlined by Kazakh Foreign Minister Saudabayev when he told my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary in January that Kazakhstan would remain committed to the founding principles of the OSCE. We look forward to that being the case. We will continue to support Kazakhstan's efforts towards meeting their OSCE commitments, and the challenges they face as chair.
Mr. Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the progress of the Government of Kazakhstan to date on the implementation of its pledge to introduce greater democracy and transparency in respect of (a) media freedom, (b) religious freedom, (c) internet law, (d) human rights and (e) legislation; and if he will make a statement. [320862]
Chris Bryant: The Kazakhs have made some progress in the field of human rights, but further improvements are needed, as they themselves have recognised. Recent positive reforms include December 2009 legislation on domestic violence and gender equality and a reduction in the number of crimes carrying the death penalty. Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are active and played a key role in developing Kazakhstan's National Human Rights Action Plan last year (the formation of which was supported by the UK). This Action Plan includes a comprehensive set of recommendations across the human rights spectrum, many with specific deadlines. But concerns remain, including in respect of arbitrary arrest and detention, the right to a fair trial and freedoms of expression, assembly and of the media, and in specific cases such as Evgeny Zhovtis and Ramazan Yesergepov. There is also scope for improvements in the legislation on elections, political parties and local government enacted in February 2009.
February 2009 legislation introduced some improvements with regard to the media situation in Kazakhstan, including abolition of the registration requirement for television and radio outlets. However, libel remains a criminal offence in Kazakhstan and related laws are used against opposition media. In December 2009, a new privacy law was passed, which media NGOs state will place further constraints on investigative journalism.
We are pleased that a restrictive law on Freedom of Conscience and Religious Organisations was rejected by Kazakhstan's Constitutional Council last year. We are concerned however that non-traditional religious
groups including Jehovah's Witnesses, evangelical Christians and the International Society for Krishna Consciousness have experienced difficulties.
The internet law, introduced in July 2009, has been strongly criticised both by the EU and by the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Representative for Freedom of the Media, Miklos Haraszti, as not being in line with international standards or OSCE commitments. We most recently encouraged the Kazakhs to bring this law into line with international standards during a meeting in London with Kazakhstan's Deputy Foreign Minister on 29 January 2010.
Kazakhstan continues to participate in the human rights dialogues established under the EU's Central Asia Strategy, which supports good governance, the rule of law and human rights and to which the UK contributes views. We encouraged Kazakhstan to co-operate closely with the UN Human Rights Council's Universal Periodic Review earlier this year and will continue to emphasise the importance of a thorough response to the recommendations raised. The UK and our international partners will continue to raise issues of concern with the Kazakh authorities and urge them to press ahead with reforms, many of which they themselves have identified as necessary.
Members: Correspondence
Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he plans to reply to the letter of 19 January 2010 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton on the Parliamentary delegation to Gaza. [319562]
David Miliband: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office did not receive my right hon. Friend's letter until 26 February 2010. We will reply to it as soon as possible.
Energy and Climate Change
Biofuels
Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what meetings he has had with representatives of the biofuels industry on the production of biofuels from used cooking oils since October 2009. [320853]
Joan Ruddock: DECC officials have had meetings with the following industry bodies where used cooking oil derived transport biofuels or bioliquids for the generation of heat and power were discussed: Four Rivers BioEnergy Inc.; North East of England Process Industry Cluster; Oil Firing Technical Association; Renewable Energy Association; and UK Sustainable Biofuels Association. Officials also attend the Department for Transport's monthly Renewable Energy Directive Stakeholder Advisory Group meetings with industry representatives where used cooking oil derived fuel is occasionally discussed.
Carbon Sequestration
Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change when he expects to announce the winner of the first carbon capture and storage demonstration scheme competition. [320316]
Joan Ruddock: The carbon capture and storage demonstration procurement is continuing in line with our plans. The next stage of the competition is to announce which bidders will be taken through to the front end engineering and design (FEED) phase. We expect to make an announcement on this shortly.
Departmental Electronic Equipment
Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many (a) laptops, (b) desktop computers, (c) computer discs, (d) printers and (e) memory sticks have been (i) lost by and (ii) stolen from his Department since its creation. [321328]
Joan Ruddock: The following items have been reported as lost or stolen from the Department since its creation:
| Number | ||
| Lost | Stolen | |
| (1) We do not hold this information centrally. | ||
Both laptops had full disc encryption installed to protect DECC information.
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