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Written Answers

Monday, 20 December 2004.

Northern Ireland: Liquor Licences

Lord Laird asked Her Majesty's Government:

How many liquor licences were in use in Northern Ireland in 2003 in respect of:

(a) public houses;

(b) restaurants;

(c) hotels;

(d) clubs; and

(e) other types of premises;

and what fees were paid for those licences in 2003. [HL213]

The Lord President of the Council (Baroness Amos): The information held by the Department for Social Development in respect of liquor licences in use in Northern Ireland during 2003 is detailed below:

Premises licensed to sell alcohol	Licences in use in 2003
Public Houses	1,521
Restaurants	409
Hotels	154
Other Premises (including 388 off-licences)	472
Total	2,556

The total number of private members' clubs registered in 2003 was 554.

Licences are normally granted or renewed by the courts for the duration of a licensing period which currently runs from 1 October 2002 to 30 September 2007. For private members' clubs the registration period is 1 April 2002 to 31 March 2007.

Fees for the licensing of premises and the registration of clubs are the responsibility of the NI Court Service and details of amounts paid in 2003 are not held by the department. The schedule of current fees is available on the NI Court Service website www.courtsni.gov.uk

Afghanistan: NATO Support

Lord Astor of Hever asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they are continuing to make representations to NATO allies such as Italy and Spain on the need for all NATO members to deliver their agreed contributions of personnel and material to allied forces in Afghanistan; and what response they are receiving to such representations. [HL175]

The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean): All the agreed contributions of personnel and material pledged by NATO members to support Stage 1 of
 
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NATO's planned expansion of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) mission (to the north) have been delivered. Additional pledges covering the presidential elections in October were also fulfilled, with Spain and Italy each providing a battalion to assist with security during the election period. Other nations also provided additional resources.

NATO repeated its commitment to Afghanistan at the informal meeting of NATO Foreign Ministers in Brussels on 8-9 December. NATO has made progress implementing Stage 2 expansion of ISAF to western Afghanistan and is now aiming to accelerate this in order to provide support for the parliamentary elections scheduled for Spring 2005. Italy announced at the meeting that it will run the Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) in Herat and also the related foward support base, in co-operation with the United States and other nations. But NATO still requires further resources to complete Stage 2. We will continue our efforts to support NATO in pressing potential contributors to commit part or whole PRTs or wider force enablers.

Turkmenistan

Lord Avebury asked Her Majesty's Government:

What conditions they propose to set for any increase or renewal of European Union aid to Turkmenistan; and whether they will seek to ensure that the response of the European Union, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the United Nations and other International bodies reflect the recommendations of the OSCE Rapporteur on Turkmenistan. [HL279]

Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: European Union aid to Turkmenistan is provided through the Technical Assistance to Commonwealth of Independent States (Tacis) programme. The current Tacis programming document states that allocations to Turkmenistan will be determined by evidence of progress in democracy and human rights.

The United Kingdom has consistently worked with the European Union and other international organisations to encourage the Turkmen Government to respond to the recommendations of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Special Rapporteur. We supported the successful tabling of resolutions at the 59th and 60th sessions of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in 2003 and spring 2004 and also at the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly in 2003 and again in November 2004. These highlighted the need for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to have access to all prisoners, including those detained in connection with the attempted coup of November 2002.

Our ambassador has separately lobbied the Turkmen Foreign Minister on this issue, most recently
 
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on 24 November. He has also recently taken an opportunity to remind the Foreign Minister of the need for positive engagement with the new head of the OSCE Mission when (s)he is appointed.

We will continue to work with all interested parties for progress in democracy and human rights in Turkmenistan.

G8: African Issues

Baroness Whitaker asked Her Majesty's Government:

In relation to G8 discussions of African issues:

(a) what priority they will give to deterring corruption on the part of the private sector and governments;

(b) what objectives in this regard they propose for the G8; and

(c) how they propose the G8 should achieve them. [HL316]

Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: The Government will continue to accord a high priority to deterring and combating corruption, including in Africa. We have two priorities for next year's G8 presidency: Africa and climate change.

In that framework, we look forward to the proposals of the Commission for Africa, due in early spring next year. One of the themes that the Commission is considering is governance, including the impact of corruption.

At this year's G8 Summit, the G8 countries made, inter alia, a commitment to ratify the United Nations Convention Against Corruption, translate the words of the convention into effective actions and assist developing countries in accomplishing the convention's objectives. G8 countries have committed to implement a new partnership to detect, recover and return illicitly acquired proceeds of crime and to adhere rigorously to an updated peer review schedule under the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Anti-Bribery Convention.

We will continue our efforts to encourage all states to implement robust anti-corruption and anti-bribery measures in line with international and regional conventions.

In addition, we will continue to work with partners, including implementing governments, civil society and the private sector, to extend the implementation of the extractive industry transparency initiative (EITI) to other countries, including in Africa.

The UK is committed to reaching £l.25 billion per annum of official development assistance (ODA) to Africa by 2007–08. We are also encouraging other countries, including the G8, to reach the 0.7 per cent target of ODA as a percentage of gross national income; the UK has committed to doing so by 2013.
 
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Diplomatic Missions: Unpaid Traffic Fines

Lord Marlesford asked Her Majesty's Government:

What diplomatic missions or international organisations in the United Kingdom have members who are recorded as having failed to pay penalties for illegal parking in London during the latest 12-month period for which figures are available; and what is the number of outstanding cases of unpaid penalties in the case of each mission or organisation. [HL403]

Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: My Written Statement to the House on 9 September 2004 (Official Report, col. WS 95-97) gave details of outstanding parking and other minor traffic violation fines incurred by diplomatic missions and international organisations during 2003.

Countryside Alliance: Membership by Judiciary

Lord Chadlington asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether the Department for Constitutional Affairs has given any guidance to any members of the judiciary concerning membership of the Countryside Alliance. [HL32]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs (Baroness Ashton of Upholland): No guidance has been issued to any member of the judiciary concerning membership of the Countryside Alliance.

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