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Written Answers
Thursday, 1 April 2004.
Council of Europe and ECHR:UK Contribution to Budget
Lord Bowness asked Her Majesty's Government:
- For each of the financial years from 1980–81 to 2003–04, what was:
(a) the total amount of the United Kingdom's contributions to the budget of the Council of Europe;
(b) the percentage of this contribution which is attributable to the budget of the European Court of Human Rights; and
(c) the amount of the United Kingdom's contribution to the budget of the Court.[HL2029]
The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean): The total amount of the United Kingdom's contributions to the budget of the Council of Europe from 1999 and the percentage and amount of this contribution which is attributable to the budget of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) is as follows:
The total amount of the United Kingdom's contributions to the budget of the Council of Europe from 1980 to 1998 are as follows:
Lord Hylton asked Her Majesty's Government:
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: The Philippines ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) on 21 August 1990. The convention requires states parties to submit an initial report two years after their ratification comes into force and then every five years thereafter. The Philippines submitted the initial report to the Committee on the Rights of the Child, which monitors implementation of the CRC, in 1993 but have not submitted the reports due in 1997 and 2002.
We will continue to encourage the Philippine Government to comply with their reporting requirements under the convention.
Lord Avebury asked Her Majesty's Government:
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: My right honourable friend the Prime Minister's discussions with Colonel Qadhafi focused on international and regional security issues. The issues of political prisoners, the judiciary and the media in Libya were not raised. But as my right honourable friend the Foreign Secretary made clear during his meeting with the Libyan Foreign Minister, Abdul Rahman Shalgam, during his visit to the United Kingdom on
9 to 10 February, we are concerned about Libya's human rights record in a number of areas and will be addressing these with its government. To this end a delegation from the Qadhafi Foundation Human Rights Association visited the United Kingdom at our request from 1 to 5 March.
Lord Avebury asked Her Majesty's Government:
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: We already provide humanitarian and development assistance to Somaliland and we are considering an exploratory visit over the coming months to examine other options for assistance.
Lord Berkeley asked Her Majesty's Government:
Lord Davies of Oldham: The answer to this is as follows:
Lord Lester of Herne Hill asked Her Majesty's Government:
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs (Lord Filkin): The question of whether actual damage would be caused by release of the advice of the Attorney-General and other government legal advisers about the legality of the military action against Iraq will be considered by the time the documents are due for transfer to the National Archives. This will take place before they are 30 years old, and any judgment will be made in the light of the circumstances at that time.
The Earl of Northesk asked Her Majesty's Government:
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Culture, Media and Sport (Lord McIntosh of Haringey): The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from the National Statistician, Len Cook, to the Earl of Northesk, dated 1 April 2004.
simone
The National Statistician and Registrar General for England & Wales has been asked to reply to your parliamentary question on the number of databases about individual citizens currently maintained by central government (HL2110). I am replying on his behalf.
The General Register Office (GRO), part of Office for National Statistics (ONS) is presently leading the project development stage of the Citizen Information Project (CIP). The intention is to explore the possibility of developing a high-quality central population register which would hold core contact details for members of the public and which could be accessed by other government departments who currently maintain their own separate databases. Access would be subject to rigorous conditions of confidentiality and data protection.
Our research so far has indicated that the following central government departments and agencies currently maintain large-scale databases containing details about individual citizens:
Year Total amount of UK contributions to budget of the Council of Europe Percentage of this contribution attributable to the ECtHR Total UK contribution to the budget of the ECtHR
1999 Euros 23,110,012.00 = £15,389,233.53 13.87% Euros 3,206,360.00 = £2,135,153.49
2000 Euros 24,281,623.77 = £14,535,542.51 13.33% Euros 3,236,980.00 = £1,937,731.22
2001 Euros 24,668,115.43 = £15,348,503.87 13.34% Euros 3,290,980.00 = £2,047,648.08
2002 Euros 26,094,258.29 = £16,026,445.33 13.37% Euros 3,488,130.00 = £2,142,322.81
2003 Euros 27,228,627.05 = £18,783,545.15 13.18% Euros 3,589,920.00 = £2,476,490.07
2004 Euros 28,495,592.29 = £19,239,478.96 12.86% Euros 3,664,330.00 = £2,474,059.82
Year Total amount of UK contributions to budget
of the Council of Europe (in French Francs with sterling equivalent)
1980 FF 38,560,783.74 = £4,102,909.40
1981 FF 43,438,054.23 = £3,822,561.00
1982 FF 47,506,373.40 = £4,285,567.54
1983 FF 52,170,433.20 = £4,979,710.32
1984 FF 55,996,226.02 = £4,727,215.06
1985 FF 61,213,499.63 = £5,515,375.64
1986 FF 65,101,643.27 = £6,379,324.38
1987 FF 70,883,798.73 = £7,486,749.83
1988 FF 74,850,706.59 = £7,333,128.24
1989 FF 77,625,530.06 = £7,080,231.13
1990 FF 83,284,027.07 = £8,765,724.71
1991 FF 98,816,451.00 = £9,955,815.92
1992 FF 115,686,363.00 = £11,852,139.47
1993 FF 134,778,676.00 = £16,685,691.86
1994 FF 140,397,846.20 = £16,181,018.84
1995 FF 148,426,576.70 = £18,302,576.78
1996 FF 151,259,537.80 = £18,970,995.05
1997 FF 148,781,520.30 = £16,236,674.59
1998 FF 149,945,515.21 = £15,372,562.84
Prior to 1999 the European Court of Human Rights did not exist in its present form, being only a part-time court. Figures are not available showing the United Kingdom's contributions to that part-time court.
Whether the Philippines has ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child; and, if so, whether it is up-to-date with the reports required by the convention.[HL2090]
1 Apr 2004 : Column WA176
Whether on his visit to Libya the Prime Minister will request Colonel Gaddafi to release all political prisoners, abolish the People's Court and the Special Revolutionary Courts, and introduce freedom of the media.[HL2101]
Whether they will offer technical assistance to the authorities of Somaliland in countering terrorism.[HL2102]
Which body is funding the following bridge reconstruction works: (a) Skew Bridge, Salisbury; (b) Broken Cross Bridge, on the A338 near Ford; and (c) two bridges over railway and over waterway, on the A40 west of Oxford.[HL2159]
(a) Skew Bridge is being funded by the Highways Agency (Area 2)
(b) Broken Cross Bridge is not on a trunk road so is being funded by Wiltshire County Council, the local highway authority
(c) The A40 Woolvercote and Cassington underbridges are being funded by the Highways Agency (Area 2).
Further to the Written Answer by Lord Filkin on 15 March (WA 21), what "actual damage" would be caused if the advice given by the Attorney-General and other legal advisers about the legality of the invasion of Iraq were now to be published.[HL1952]
How many databases, broken down by departments, comprising data and information about individual citizens are currently maintained and administered by central government.[HL2110]
Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority
UK Passport Service
Department of Health/National Health Service (NHS)
Department of Work and Pensions
Inland Revenue
Office of the Deputy Prime Minister
General Register Office
Office for National Statistics
Research so far has not been exhaustive and has focused on the government bodies that maintain large-scale citizen databases. There are likely to be many other government organisations that maintain databases of citizen information, although many of these databases will be smaller and will relate to more specialised government services. Some organisations may hold more than one database. It is anticipated that more information about the scale and scope of other government databases will
emerge during the development stage of the CIP. However, a comprehensive list of all databases of citizen information in government is not available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
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