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[Due to an administrative error, the following two Written Questions and Answers were printed incorrectly on 2 February. They should have appeared as follows.]
Lord Maginnis of Drumglass asked Her Majesty's Government:
On what occasions the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland has written to the Prime Minister, the Lord Chancellor or any other law officer questioning, or objecting to, the outcome of a court judgment in which her office was involved; and what the circumstances were in each case. [HL896]
The Lord President of the Council (Baroness Amos): The Police Ombudsman has advised that her office has not written to the Prime Minister, the Lord Chancellor or any other law officer questioning or objecting to the outcome of a court judgment.
Baroness Byford asked Her Majesty's Government:
How many applications to the large grants programme of the Community Fund or the "Grants for All" lottery scheme have been rejected on similar grounds to those of the Bowland and Pennine Mountain Rescue Team and the Severn Area Rescue Association. [HL996]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Culture, Media and Sport (Lord McIntosh of Haringey): The demand for lottery funding greatly exceeds supply and overall around 64 per cent of applications to the Big Lottery Fund are unsuccessful.
By way of comparison 61 per cent of applications from mountain rescue bodies and rescue associations have been unsuccessful. There are various reasons why applications are not successful. In the case of the Community Fund's large grants programme around 5 per cent of applications fall outside the programme aims. In the case of Awards for All around 23 per cent of unsuccessful applications fail because other applications are given a higher priority for the limited funds available. Reasons for having a lower priority include a higher than average annual income or the applicant having already received one or more Awards for All grants.
Lord Laird asked Her Majesty's Government:
7 Feb 2005 : Column WA78Baroness Amos: It would be inappropriate to discuss the detail of an individual personnel issue. Mr McTaggart was on secondment to Waterways Ireland. His period of secondment ended and he returned to his parent department.
Lord Alton of Liverpool asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the statement made by the British Ambassador to Sudan, on 27 April 2004, welcoming the deepening and extension of commercial and trading opportunities with the Government of Sudan, accurately represents their policy. [HL773]
The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean): We fully support comments made by our British Ambassador to Sudan at Her Majesty the Queen's birthday party on 27 April 2004.
As he made clear, the UK is committed to helping the Sudanese achieve a sustainable peace in Sudan, which will open the way for a reduction in poverty, better education and health facilities and Sudan's eventual and progressive re-integration into the international community, including commerce and trade links.
However, as the ambassador also made clear, the signing of the peace agreement is only the start of the peace process. Implementing the agreement will be hard work. We have repeatedly made clear to the Government of Sudan that we stand ready to support them in this, but full development assistance must be dependent upon substantial progress on Darfur.
Lord Astor of Hever asked Her Majesty's Government:
What recent discussions they have had with the Six Nation Contact Group regarding the status of Kosovo; and [HL970]
What progress has been made by the Government of Kosovo towards the development of democracy, good governance and human rights in Kosovo; and [HL971]
What recent representations they have received from the Government of Serbia-Montenegro regarding the forthcoming negotiations on the final status of Kosovo. [HL972]
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: Kosovo will be a key issue for the international community in 2005. The UK's objective remains to find a solution to Kosovo's final status which will reinforce regional stability and be consistent with the principle of multi-ethnicity.
7 Feb 2005 : Column WA79
The contact group will have a key role in monitoring and ensuring further progress against standards. It last met on 1 and 2 February in Pristina and further regular meetings are planned in the coming weeks and months in advance of the planned mid-2005 review of standards.
Progress has been made on strengthening democracy, good governance and human rights in Kosovo. Elections in October 2004 were free and fair, despite the disappointing Kosovo-Serb turnout. Three new ministries have been formed to deal with local government administration, communities and returns and energy and mining. Progress has also been made towards launching pilot projects on decentralisation to ensure local government is devolved down to local communities. The security situation is much improved with a reduction in ethnically motivated violent incidents in the past nine months. We welcome the new sense of purpose and commitment shown by the Kosovo Government and look forward to further progress on standards.
The UK Government have regular discussions with the Government of Serbia and Montenegro (SaM) on Kosovo. Most recently, during the visit of SaM President Svetozar Marovic and state union ministers to the UK, my right honourable friend the Prime Ministertogether with my right honourable friends the Foreign Secretary, the Secretary of State for Defence and other Ministersencouraged the Belgrade authorities to engage constructively with the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo and the Provisional Institutes of Self-Government to help ensure Kosovo's immediate and long-term stability. We emphasised that the UK will work closely with all parties to help achieve a multi-ethnic solution to Kosovo's future status.
Lord Hylton asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will raise with the European Union Commission in connection with the accession negotiations with Turkey:
(a) the constitutional limitation on the recognition of minority religions, such as the Greek Orthodox and Armenian Churches; and
(b) the case for defining and protecting ethnic and cultural minorities, such as Kurds and Circassians. [HL974]
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: Although three non-Muslim minorities (Armenians, Greeks and Jews) are recognised in the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, Turkey does not formally recognise its minority communities under its constitution. Rather, the constitution is designed to afford the same protection, in terms of civil and political rights, to all its citizensas citizens of Turkey.
7 Feb 2005 : Column WA80
There is no single European model to guarantee the protection of minority rights in a member state. Some of our European partners, including Greece and France, adopt a similar approachof non-recognition of minoritiesas does Turkey.
The UK will not, therefore, raise the need for recognition under the Turkish constitution of specific minority groups. Representatives of the Kurdish community in Turkey, including Leyla Zana, have made clear that they do not want to be recognised as a minority. We will, however, continue to urge the Turkish Government further to strengthen and protect the rights of all citizens of Turkey, including the three Lausanne minorities. We believe that any remaining concerns will be resolved during the accession negotiation process.
Lord Hylton asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will raise with the European Union Commission in connection with the accession negotiations with Turkey the use of the Kurdish language in the state education system where parents and pupils request it. [HL975]
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: The Turkish Government's programme of European Union (EU) harmonisation reforms has significantly extended the cultural rights of the Kurds in Turkey. The European Commission 2004 progress report acknowledges that "despite the progress that has been made, there are still considerable restrictions on the exercise of cultural rights, including in the areas of broadcasting and education". The UK will continue to raise with the Turkish authorities the need for these restrictions to be lifted. We regularly discuss human rights issues including minority language education with our EU partners and the European Commission, and are confident that all remaining concerns will be resolved during accession negotiations.
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