To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission (1) what representations he has received on provision of travel and accommodation expenses for schools and other educational institutions visiting Parliament; (137449)

An analysis of educational visits arranged through the Parliamentary Education Service in 2005-06 showed that 64 per cent. of schools were from London and the south east regions. New recording systems are currently being investigated that will allow the Education Service to provide regional breakdowns of visitors from the start of the next academic year in September 2007.

Several Members have made representations that funding should be found to provide subsidies to encourage schools to visit Westminster as part of the Administration Committee's recent inquiry into visitor facilities at Parliament. As part of its evidence to the inquiry, the Education Service commissioned research with teachers to find out what obstacles might prevent schools from visiting Parliament. 46 per cent. of those teachers who indicated that they were unlikely to visit gave as their reason that the journey would be too expensive. The Committee recommended in its report, Improving Facilities for Educational Visitors to Parliament¹, that the House of Commons Commission, working closely with the appropriate bodies in the House of Lords, should consider the case for subsidising school visits to Westminster from more remote constituencies. The Group on Information for the Public will be presenting proposals for consideration by the Commission later in the year.

¹ HC 434 2006-07.

To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission if he will place in the Library the response to the consultations held with trade unions in respect of the proposals detailed in the Parliament (Joint Departments) Bill to set up joint departments of the Houses of Parliament and the subsequent transfer of staff; and if he will make a statement. (137123)

The trade unions gave evidence to the Cummins review of 2003-04 which led to the proposal for a Joint Parliamentary ICT Department and have been involved in both formal and informal consultation at each subsequent stage. Consultation has taken place through the House of Commons Whitley Committee structure and also through an informal working group in which officials of both Houses and trade union representatives have taken part. Normally such exchanges would be treated as part of discussions carried out in confidence between the management and the unions. Since, however, these consultations relate to the subject of a Bill currently before the House, it was been agreed with the trade union side that copies of the formal letters exchanged to date should be placed in the House of Commons Library.

To ask the hon. Member for Gosport, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission if he will make a statement on progress by the Electoral Commission with its investigation into donations by Fifth Avenue Partners. (137192)

I refer my hon. Friend to my answer to him of 15 January 2007, Official Report, column 791W. The Electoral Commission informs me that it does not intend to make any decision in relation to donations made to the Liberal Democrats by Fifth Avenue Partners Ltd. until it has received confirmation from both the police and the Crown Prosecution Service that legal proceedings would not be prejudiced by it doing so.

To ask the hon. Member for Gosport, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission pursuant to the answer of 23 February 2007, Official Report, column 982W, on elections: fraud, on what date the Electoral Commission started working with the Crown Prosecution Service to collate data. (137059)

The Electoral Commission informs me that it began discussions with the Crown Prosecution Service on electoral malpractice in 2002, in the context of the Commission’s review of the absent voting system in Great Britain. The Commission has continued to discuss the collation of data relating to allegations of electoral malpractice since then.

To ask the hon. Member for Gosport, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission if he will place in the Library a copy of the Electoral Commission's analysis of the Crown Prosecution Service files on alleged offences under electoral legislation, redacting any sensitive information where appropriate. (137194)

I refer my hon. Friend to my answer to him on this subject of 27 March 2007, Official Report, column 1481W. The Electoral Commission informs me that the material was placed in the Library of the House on 28 March.

To ask the hon. Member for Gosport, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission if he will place in the Library a copy of the research and findings commissioned by the Electoral Commission from the British Market Research Bureau on perceptions of local elections. (137193)

The Electoral Commission informs me that it has placed in the Library a copy of the 2006 local elections and electoral pilot schemes report produced by the British Market Research Bureau. This material is also available on the Commission’s website at:

http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/files/dms/BMRB FINALREPRTJUNE2006_23028-17200_E_N_S_W_.pdf.

To ask the hon. Member for Gosport, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission what guidance the Commission has given local authority returning officers on the definition of a second residence for the purposes of being able to vote in elections at an address other than a primary home. (137191)

The Electoral Commission advises me that it is for the Electoral Registration Officer to decide, in the light of relevant circumstances, whether an applicant is eligible for inclusion on the electoral register through residence at an address in the electoral area concerned. The Commission informs me that its guidance to Electoral Registration Officers reflects the relevant statutory provisions, but does not include any specific advice on the definition of an eligible second residence for the purpose of electoral registration.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what average length of time she expects it to take to prepare a home information pack. (136387)

The length of time it takes to complete a home information pack will vary from area to area as there are wide variations in the time it takes to get searches done in different local authorities. However, the search itself does have to be gathered before marketing can begin.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps she plans to take to reduce the gap between the cost of housing and the level of incomes in North Yorkshire. (136719)

Government recognise the problem of housing affordability in North Yorkshire and other communities across the country. Central to addressing this is to ensure supply of housing responds far better to need than it has in the past. That is why the Government have set a challenging ambition to increase the supply of additional homes in England to at least 200,000 per annum by 2016.

The draft Regional Spatial Strategy for Yorkshire and the Humber foresees raising current planned levels of building in North Yorkshire from 2,500 to 3,000 homes per annum, with a target of at least 40 per cent. affordable housing. An examination in public, led by an independent panel has just concluded on this draft. The panel has presented the draft to the Secretary of State, who will publish any ‘Proposed Changes’ for consultation in the summer.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 8 February 2007, Official Report, column 1159W, on the Supporting People programme, when she expects to publish the report on housing-related support through the Supporting People programme. (136528)

Work to finalise this report is ongoing, and the report will be published when this has been completed, in the near future.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects to publish the results of the attitudes to noise from aircraft sources in England study commissioned by his Department in November 2001 into attitudes to noise from civil aircraft sources in England. (136874)

Provisional findings have been submitted to the Department and are now being subjected to peer review by independent experts. This review is not yet complete, but I anticipate that the results of this study will be available in the summer.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what representations he has received on the requirement to reverse around a corner in the Driving Standards Authority driving test. (137016)

The reversing manoeuvre has been a requirement of the driving test since its inception in 1935. The only representations on this topic recorded are questions about the fault analysis and how candidates have failed on test.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate his Department has made of the number of additional passengers using Heathrow airport resulting from the increase from 480,000 movements per year to 720,000 per year. (137166)

The Future of Air Transport Progress Report December 2006 suggested that a third runway at Heathrow airport could support up to 720,000 movements a year, or 128 million passengers per year. This would imply an additional 61 million passengers per year compared to 2006 (471,000 movements, 67 million passengers).

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport on what date the national concessionary fares scheme will commence. (135983)

In the 2006 Budget the Chancellor announced that from April 2008 people aged 60 and over, and disabled people, would be able to travel free on all off-peak local bus services anywhere in England. The Concessionary Bus Travel Bill which provides for the national concession is now before Parliament.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what information his Department collects on railway (a) passenger and (b) freight journeys in other EU countries for benchmarking UK performance; and what EU-wide targets are relevant to railway usage. (136600)

The Department for Transport does not separately collect information from other EU countries but makes use of a wide range of external sources, including the International Railway Union (UIC).

In addition the UK is taking a leading role in the European Commission's Rail Market Monitoring working group, which is collating statistics relating to the EU's national railways.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions he has had with the Chief Executive of Network Rail on litter on the track and railway land; and if he will make a statement. (136702)

None. Responsibility for the clearance of litter from the operational infrastructure is an operational matter for Network Rail. Network Rail has its own operational arrangements and policies relating to clearance, consistent with current legislation.

The hon. Member should contact Network Rail’s Chief Executive at the following address, should he require further information on this subject.

John Armitt

Chief Executive

Network Rail

40 Melton Street

London NW1 2EE

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport which train services in the last 12 months were the most heavily loaded on (a) the east coast main line, (b) the west coast main line and (c) the trans-Pennine line according to the most recent passenger census. (131751)

I understand from train operators concerned that, based on the most recent passenger counts undertaken by the train operators, the most heavily loaded services on each route requested are as follows:

East coast main line—the 7.14 am Royston to Kings Cross service, operated by First Capital Connect.

West coast main line—the 7.34 am Bletchley to Euston service, operated by Silverlink.

Trans-Pennine routes—the 6.49 am Manchester Victoria to Leeds via Rochdale service, operated by Northern Rail.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what change there has been in the number of rail passenger journeys since 1997. (136596)

The number of rail passenger journeys has grown by 35 per cent. since 1996-97. In 2003-04 for the first time since 1961, over one billion rail journeys were made, and the number of rail journeys increased further in 2004-05 and 2005-06.

Statistics on rail usage are published by the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) in the National Rail Trends quarterly publication, which is available in the House Library or from their website:

www.rail-reg.gov.uk.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether his targets for railway punctuality and reliability have been met. (136597)

The March 2006 target of 85 per cent. punctuality and reliability was met with performance reaching 86 per cent. by that date. I am now building on this success and a new target for March 2008 of 89.4 per cent. punctuality and reliability has been set. Punctuality on the passenger railway over the past year has averaged 88 per cent.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many buildings are owned by his Department; and what the value is of each. (135042)

The Northern Ireland Office, excluding its agencies and NDPBs, owns 29 buildings. The following table lists the buildings and their values.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many dogs were reported stolen in each police district command unit area in Northern Ireland in (a) each of the past 12 months and (b) each of the previous three years, broken down by breed; how many of the dogs were recovered; how many people have been prosecuted for this crime over the same period; and what sentence was imposed in each case where no legal proceedings are outstanding. (136805)

The PSNI have advised that this information is not available in the form requested and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Prime Minister when (a) he has and (b) his officials have met (i) Prince Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud since 1 January 2006; and if he will make a statement. (136899)

It is not the practice of the Government to make public details of all discussions with foreign Governments.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans he has to legislate to remove restrictions on the use of imperial measures; and whether he will issue revised guidance on prosecution to trading standards officers following the implementation of the revised policy outlined in the EU Trade and Industry Commissioner's recent statement on weights and measures. (137414)

The Government have no such plans. Supplementary indications in non-metric units are currently permitted under section 8 of the Weights and Measures Act 1985. The European Commission has outlined its intention to propose the continued authorisation of such indications for an indefinite period beyond 2009.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether following the implementation of the revised policy outlined in the EU Trade and Industry Commissioner's recent statement on weights and measures it will become legal to sell (a) loose bananas by the pound, (b) timber in feet and inches, (c) fabric in yards, (d) beer in pints and (e) petrol in gallons in the UK. (137415)

The European Commission has indicated it will propose an extension of the authorisation to use supplementary indications without further time limit beyond 2009. This will allow the present position of dual labelling in both metric and non-metric units to continue indefinitely. No changes are proposed to the primary units of measurement currently authorised for each of the purposes listed above.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to the answer of 22 February 2007, Official Report, column 894W, on post offices, on what date his Department will (a) complete its analysis of responses to the Post Office network consultation and (b) publish its response to the consultation. (137426)

The Government have given consideration to the responses to the Post Office network consultation and expect to publish their response shortly.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps her Department is taking to implement the policy in the Heritage Protection for the 21st Century White Paper to clarify and strengthen protections for World Heritage Sites; and if she will make a statement. (137488)

DCMS is working with the Department for Communities and Local Government to prepare a joint planning circular which will provide updated policy guidance on the level of protection and management required for World Heritage Sites as announced in the White Paper Heritage Protection for the 21st Century.

We also intend to consult on a draft amendment to the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order 1995 to include World Heritage Sites as Article 1(5) land, thereby putting World Heritage Sites on the same footing as other protected areas such as conservation areas, National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, where permitted development rights are more restricted.

We plan to issue these proposals for consultation in Summer 2007.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps her Department is taking to comply with the recommendations of UNESCO's Mission to London on the protection of World Heritage sites. (137489)

My Department has worked closely with key stakeholders with an interest in both Westminster and the Tower of London World Heritage Sites to respond to the findings of the World Heritage Centre/ICOMOS mission to London. A full report will be made to the World Heritage Committee ahead of their meeting on 23 June.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions her Department has held with the Greater London Authority on its policy on (a) the development of tall buildings in London and (b) the impact of such buildings on areas in London with World Heritage Site status. (137490)

My Department has had continuing discussions with all the stakeholders on the impact of development on the Westminster and Tower of London World Heritage Sites, including the Greater London Authority.

Mayoral policy on tall buildings is set out in the London Plan which was published in February 2004. There are no proposals to change this policy in the Further Alterations to the London Plan which are currently under consideration. The Mayor is aiming to publish the London View Management Framework shortly. This document will set out his detailed approach to consideration of development that may impact on a number of London’s key views including World Heritage sites.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many staff funded by the public purse in her Department are classified as people without posts. (137669)

In the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, there are no staff funded by the public purse who are classified as people without posts.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when she expects to publish the results of the review of the guidance related to the Licensing Act 2003. (136900)

The public consultation on draft revised Guidance closed on 11 April this year. We intend to issue the final revised Guidance in June.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what plans the Government have to mark the Queen's Diamond Jubilee in 2012. (137506)

Currently, there are no plans to celebrate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee in 2012.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many complaints she has received regarding television quizzes on Channel 5. (136599)

The Department has received no complaints regarding television quizzes specifically on Channel 5. We have received 25 representations about premium rate telephone competitions covering all television channels. Formal complaints are a matter for the independent regulators, Ofcom and ICSTIS.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how much time he expects to spend exercising his ministerial functions between 10 May and 27 June; (137563)

As ever, the Chancellor will continue to exercise his duties in full.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what powers are available to enforce (a) UN and (b) EU sanctions on export of goods with military applications to Sudan; what reports he has received of the export of such goods by (i) Dallex Trade and (ii) Land Rover to Sudan; and if he will make a statement. (136815)

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is the enforcement authority for export licensing controls on military goods. An exporter attempting to export military goods from the UK to any destination without a valid export licence is committing an offence under Section 68 of the Customs and Excise Management Act (CEMA) 1979. The provisions of CEMA provide HMRC officers with wide ranging enforcement powers to investigate offences and to seize unlicensed goods. Should an investigation reveal sufficient evidence of an offence then the case will be referred to the Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office (RCPO). The RCPO will then consider whether to commence criminal proceedings.

EU and UN arms embargoes prohibit the export of military goods to Sudan. Military goods are defined as all goods listed in Part 1 of Schedule 1 to the Export of Goods, Transfer of Technology and Provision of Technical Assistance (Control) Order 2003. Non-military goods which may have a military application are not subject to export licensing controls and therefore HMRC enforcement powers do not apply.

Section 18 of the Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005 provides that HMRC may not disclose information held in connection with a function of HMRC unless there is lawful authority. HMRC is therefore unable to disclose information in relation to specific campaigns.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the operation of the IT system at the General Registry Office for England and Wales; and if he will make a statement. (137126)

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Registrar General, who has been asked to reply.

Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 16 May 2007:

As National Statistician and Registrar General for England and Wales, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking what assessment has been made of the operation of the IT system at the General Registry Office for England and Wales. (137126)

A number of IT systems are operating at the General Register Office (GRO), the most recent of which was introduced in March 2007 to enable the registration of births, deaths and stillbirths in local registration offices. Despite extensive testing and piloting, the new system encountered difficulties when implemented country-wide, although in some areas it has worked well. Local authorities have therefore been given the option of using the new system or reverting to the previous system, which remains available.

The public will be able to register events as normal in all areas. The new system is currently in use in just over half of the registration districts in England and Wales. It will be reintroduced in other areas as soon as possible but subject to further stringent testing to ensure it will work as intended.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many EU member states have transposed the Market in Financial Instruments Directive into national legislation; and if he will make a statement. (136412)

[holding answer 9 May 2007]: As I said in my answer of 16 April 2007, Official Report, columns 405-6W, the Commission currently reports that the UK, Ireland and Rumania have notified their transposition of both MiFID Directives. Lithuania has reported it has transposed the Level 1 MiFID Directive.

This clearly leaves the majority of member states still to complete transposition. Timely implementation of MiFID is essential if firms are to have opportunity to prepare for launch in November and I have written to Commissioner McCreevy on this very subject urging him to maintain the pressure on member states.

The Commission has asked all member states to confirm when they will complete transposition of the two MiFID directives and this information is available at:

http://ec.europa.eu/internalmarket/securities/isd/mifid_ implementation_en.htm.

By the end of the summer, the majority of countries plan to have completed transposition.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what (a) Smith Institute and (b) SI Events Ltd events have been booked for No. 11 Downing street in (i) July and (ii) August 2007. (136987)

The Smith Institute asked in 1997 to use the facility for seminars on a once a month basis and sometimes, when they are conducting a series of seminars, on a more regular basis. Ministers agreed to that request.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what matters he discussed with President Bush on his recent visit to Washington DC. (133368)

The Chancellor of the Exchequer met President Bush on 13 April 2007. I refer the hon. Member to the Chancellor’s interviews and statement given at the end of the IMFC meeting in Washington on 14 April.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people were tasked with processing new business VAT number applications in (a) England, (b) Scotland and (c) Wales and Northern Ireland in each of the last 12 months, broken down by grade. (136795)

At 30 April 2007 the National Registration Service had in the region of 316 staff employed in the processing of VAT registration applications.

Figures are not available on a monthly basis as the deployment of staff across the service and between work streams changes frequently to deal with changes in work priorities and volumes. HMRC do not record separate figures for England, Scotland, Wales and N. Ireland.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the average length of time taken was to process new business VAT number applications in (a) England, (b) Scotland and (c) Wales and Northern Ireland in each of the last 12 months. (136796)

The average time taken to process an application for VAT registration for the following months was:

HM Revenue and Customs do not record separate figures for England, Scotland Wales and N. Ireland.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many new businesses in (a) England, (b) Scotland and (c) Wales and Northern Ireland applied for VAT numbers in each of the last 12 months. (136797)

The following number of businesses applied for VAT registration in the UK:

HM Revenue and Customs do not record separate figures for England, Scotland, Wales and N. Ireland.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many farmers in Lancashire are owed (a) all and (b) part of single farm payments. (136959)

Detailed analysis of all the payments made under the Single Payment scheme is not yet available. Once the remaining scheme payments have been completed, a decision will be taken on the level of detail that will be published.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will make a statement on the changes to eligibility for common land in the Single Farm Payment scheme. (137034)

[holding answer 15 May 2007]: There have not been any changes in the eligibility rules relating to common land under the Single Payment scheme. However, a number of industry representatives have raised issues in relation to how those rules are applied in practice and these will be considered further with those concerned.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what percentage of paper used (a) for photocopying and (b) in printed publications by his Department was from recycled sources in each of the last three years. (134045)

From information held centrally, the figures are as follows:

DEFRA’s sustainable procurement policy is to adhere to the highest standards of recycled paper. DEFRA currently buys paper that contains 75 per cent. recycled fibre for coated paper used in publications and for office paper (copier) and publications using uncoated paper there is a target 100 per cent. recycled fibre.

The only exceptions to these standards are where recycled paper is not available for a specific process e.g. security paper. Meeting the targets owes much to the fact that a considerable proportion of DEFRA’s printed publications are commissioned from a single central business unit using a centrally negotiated contract for recycled paper.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what estimate he has made of the number of gangmasters in (a) Cambridgeshire, (b) Norfolk and (c) Lincolnshire; (136238)

As of 4 May 2007, there were 57 gangmasters in Cambridgeshire, 37 in Norfolk, and 146 in Lincolnshire. This includes registered gangmasters and those in the process of applying for licences.

The Gangmasters (Licensing) Act 2004 protects workers from exploitation and reduces illegal activity. The Gangmasters Licensing Authority (GLA) was set up to curb the exploitation of workers in the agriculture, horticulture, shellfish gathering and associated processing and packaging industries. It is now illegal to supply workers to the agriculture, food processing and packaging, and shellfish gathering sectors without a GLA licence.

The GLA enforces the criminal offences in the Act on behalf of DEFRA by:

(i) Investigating criminal offences under the Act and identifying Labour Providers and Labour Users operating illegally

(ii) Engaging other government departments in joint investigative activity of mutual benefit to tackle illegal activity by Labour Providers

(iii) Providing a visible presence to deter, disrupt, or displace illegal activity.

Any person employed in the UK is entitled to be paid at least the appropriate minimum wage rate set out in minimum wage legislation. This includes all foreign nationals legally entitled to work in the United Kingdom. If a worker considers they might have been underpaid, they should contact the relevant minimum wage enforcement authority who will arrange for the matter to be investigated.

In addition, compliance with minimum wage legislation represents one of the licence conditions that a gangmaster must meet in order to obtain a gangmaster’s licence. Gangmasters who fail to meet this requirement will have their licences revoked by the GLA.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the total expenditure was from inception to termination on (a) the Catalyst Project and (b) the Phoenix IT Project; and what the projected cost was on the launch of each project. (133535)

The total expenditure from inception to termination on (a) the Catalyst Project and (b) the Phoenix IT Project, was as follows.

(a) £12.6 million. This included costs of a large pilot and of preparing for the wider programme, which was not rolled out. The initial funding bid for an Electronic Document and Records Management project (SR2002) was £14.7 million.

At the point at which the pilot was launched the estimate for the pilot and initial rollout was £13.6 million.

Following a pilot of the Catalyst project, aimed at developing a central repository of electronic information for the whole of DEFRA, it was decided not to proceed to full roll out because the business benefits no longer demonstrated good value for money and Catalyst alone could not sufficiently meet DEFRA’s long term information and knowledge management requirements.

The Catalyst system is still maintaining the documents and records deposited by pilot users and the lessons from the project have been built into a new approach to information and records management now being rolled out across DEFRA.

(b) £4.0 million. The estimated costs at commencement of the project was £2.6 million.

The Phoenix project suffered a series of delays and cost increases. It reached a point where continued investment could not be justified relative to other priorities and so had to be cancelled.

However, the project resulted in completed work on a number of key functional documents, particularly the System Requirements Specification, Logical Data Model, and Functional Use Cases, which were agreed by the stakeholders and base-lined.

These together with the other completed documents in the Project library provide all of the information necessary to support the definition of a future technical solution within Animal Health’s Business Reform Programme.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much revenue was generated from issuing the licences for the growing of poppies in each of the last three years; and how many hectares of land were used for the purpose in each year. (136643)

[holding answer 14 May 2007]: The Home Office issue permission letters, free of charge, to growers of poppies (Papaver Somniferum) who meet specified criteria.

The cultivation area of poppies was approximately 1,978 hectares in 2004, 1,650 hectares in 2005 and 774 hectares in 2006.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what account he took of the size of the budget for the draft Rural Development Programme for England 2007 to 2013 in deciding on the inclusion of measures relating to animal health and welfare in the draft Programme. (136422)

The Rural Development Regulation (Council Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005), offers a broad menu of measures which member states can choose from. With finite resources, we have to target funding on those measures which best meet our policy priorities while delivering value for money. In England, we have decided to focus the programme on environmental outcomes, in particular by maintaining our commitment to environmental stewardship.

A number of the measures we are including in the programme will be capable of supporting animal health and welfare objectives, such as those targeting training and knowledge transfer.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether the England Implementation Group was asked to comment on the draft Rural Development Programme for England 2007-13 prior to its publication on 13 April. (136423)

The draft Rural Development Programme for England 2007-13 has been published for public consultation, together with an environmental report on the programme’s likely overall impact, as part of the Strategic Environmental Assessment process. The England Implementation Group was not consulted prior to the launch of this consultation on 13 April. It will remain open until 5 July and we look forward to any response the group makes.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many heavy lambs were imported into the UK in each month of the last two years. (136266)

The following table gives the number of live lambs recorded as imported into the UK from March 2005 to February 2007 (the most recent two years available). In this period no trade was recorded from March 2005 to October 2006. Note, it is not possible to identify different weight groups of lambs.

Please note these figures are obtained using VAT records and will exclude some EU trade for businesses which are below the VAT threshold. As a result, actual trade levels may be higher than those given.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when he expects (a) to finalise and (b) to publish his Department’s policy on wild boar management. (137138)

[holding answer 15 May 2007]: DEFRA has already consulted on this issue. Based on all the available evidence regarding the impacts of feral wild boar, work is currently underway on a detailed risk assessment to help inform the final policy.

It is intended that a policy decision will be made towards the end of 2007 which will be published as soon as practicable.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what (a) instructions are issued to staff in his Department and (b) technical procedures are in place to shut down computers at night. (136101)

The Scotland Office shares an information technology system with the Scottish Executive, which is responsible for the development, administration and maintenance of the system. The Executive has adopted an environmental policy aimed at improving its environmental performance and reducing the environmental impacts of its own activities and operations.

As part of this initiative, staff are instructed to shut down their PC when not in use or when they intend to be away from their desk for more than 30 minutes. They are also asked to switch off the monitor each time their PC is powered down; this is because it still uses energy even with the base unit switched off.

In addition, IT security procedures for the IT infrastructure, including all corporate servers and workstations, ensure that they are protected by approved screensaver software which locks the PC from user access after 10 minutes of inactivity and requires secure log-on identification by the user before reactivating.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much was spent on hospitality by his Department in the financial year 2006-07. (133263)

Hospitality expenditure in the financial year 2006-07 for the Scotland Office and the Offices of the Advocate-General for Scotland amounted to £23,410.69.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many people took sick leave for stress in his Office in the last 12 months; and what percentage of the total staff number this represents. (135466)

No staff took sick leave for stress in the last 12 months.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what discussions he has had with the First Minister on the impact of fluctuations in oil prices on the Scottish economy. (135986)

My right hon. Friend holds regular meetings with the First Minister, including discussions on the oil industry. While oil is a commodity whose price is determined at global level and is subject to regular fluctuations, we are actively engaged on issues that the Government can influence. These include employment opportunities within the sector and the competitive fiscal regime which the UK oil and gas industry benefits from.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps his Department is taking to improve food production rates in sub-Saharan Africa; and what steps have been taken to improve the (a) development of irrigation systems and (b) replenishment of soil through fertilizers. (137097)

DFID is supporting an increase in food production and productivity in Africa in two main ways.

Firstly, we are providing financial support to Africa's own efforts to increase agricultural productivity through our support to the African Union's New Partnership for Africa's Development initiative, the Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Plan (CAADP), and through direct support to governments and partners to help poor farmers. Programmes include improving access to agricultural inputs, and transferring new technologies and skills to farmers to help them produce more. We will double to £80 million per year our expenditure on agricultural, fisheries and forestry research by 2010. About two thirds of this will benefit Africa directly.

Secondly, we are helping keep small-scale farmers productive after shocks like drought. With support from DFID, African governments are able to provide small, timely transfers of adequate amounts of cash, food or agricultural inputs. For example, in Ethiopia we have provided over £70 million to the Productive Safety Net Programme—giving 7.2 million people cash and food transfers.

The Commission for Africa recommended that donors should support a doubling of irrigated area by 2015. Irrigation is also an important element of the first pillar of CAADP. DFID is a strong supporter of CAADP and has provided £5 million to speed up its implementation by African governments. DFID is also one of the main supporters of the Nile Basin Initiative, which is an African-led regional process for sustainable management of the Nile, including for irrigation.

DFID recognizes the need to increase fertilizer use in many African countries so as to replenish the soils and improve food production in combination with complementary measures, such as improved seed varieties, irrigation and soil conservation. Improving fertilizer access is one component of CAADP. DFID co-funded an Africa Fertilizer Summit in July 2006. Over the past five years, DFID has committed around £50 million to finance fertilizer-related programmes in Africa, which were executed through non-governmental organisations, government ministries and the UN. In Malawi, for example, DFID has provided support to help small-scale farmers acquire fertilizer. A recent evaluation has shown that the fertilizer and seed subsidy programmes in Malawi have led to additional maize production of 300,000 to 400,000 tonnes and 600,000 to 700,000 tonnes in 2005-06 and 2006-07 respectively, after taking into account better than average rainfalls. The value of the additional maize production in 2006-07 amounts to about $200 million based on import parity prices, about 9 per cent. of 2006 GDP.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps his Department is taking to help improve the (a) energy and (b) telecommunications infrastructure of impoverished countries in Africa, with particular reference to (i) power cables and (ii) fibre-optic cables for internet usage. (137107)

The Commission for Africa highlighted poor infrastructure as a critical barrier to accelerating growth and reducing poverty. In response to this, DFID took a lead in establishing the Infrastructure Consortium for Africa in 2005. This brings together donors and African institutions to address critical constraints and increase investment in Africa's infrastructure. In 2006 Consortium members committed $7.7 billion to African infrastructure. The power sector is a particular priority—both to increase generation capacity and power transmission cable systems for greater regional connectivity. DFID provides no direct funding of power cables, for which finance is available from development banks such as the World Bank and African development banks. DFID has, however, provided $150,000 for preparation of the East African Submarine Cable System project. This fibre optic cable will link eastern and southern Africa to the international fibre optic system and will support high speed and high quality internet connections.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps his Department is taking to reduce pathogens in the water supply of impoverished countries. (137106)

DFID provides funds for water resource management, water supply and sanitation programmes either directly to developing country governments or through NGOs or UN agencies such as UNICEF. DFID spent £242 million in this area in 2005-06. We ensure that the water provided by us (multilaterally and bilaterally) meets approved national water quality guidelines or those of the World Health Organisation (WHO). Improving sanitation is a particularly effective way of reducing the number of pathogens in water sources and is usually included as a component of water supply programmes. More specifically, DFID has supported the preparation of WHO's water safety plans that take a comprehensive risk assessment and management approach to each step in the provision of water from the source of the water to the consumer. We have piloted these plans in India, Bangladesh, Kyrgyz Republic and Uganda.

We are increasing our expenditure on water: in Africa this will reach £95 million per year by 2007-08 and double to £200 million per year by 2010-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much aid was given to the Palestinian Authority to spend on education in the latest period for which figures are available; and what steps his Department takes to ensure that aid given to the Palestinian Authority is not spent on educational text books that promote violence and terrorism. (136836)

Since the formation of the Hamas government in March 2006, the UK and other members of the EU have not provided support through the Palestinian Authority (PA). Instead, in order to help meet the basic needs of the Palestinian people, the European Union established a Temporary International Mechanism (TIM) in June 2006. Since then the UK has committed £15 million and the European Community around £140 million to the TIM. Other donors have also contributed. The TIM is providing almost £10 million for educational materials to schools in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. This does not include textbooks. It has also provided over £45 million in allowances for 37,000 school and university staff.

Before the January 2006 election, the US Consulate General in Jerusalem reported that it was content with the efforts being made by the Palestinian Ministry of Education to ensure that its curriculum promoted peace and tolerance. Since then, both textbooks and the examined content of courses have not changed. We have no evidence that the Hamas government or the subsequent National Unity Government have put pressure on schools to promote violence or terrorism.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much was spent on hospitality by his Department in the financial year 2006-07. (133260)

The estimated spend on hospitality for the Department of Work and Pensions for 2006-07 is £188,000.

Any expenditure on hospitality is made in accordance with published departmental guidance on financial procedures and propriety, based on principles set out in Government Accounting and the Treasury handbook on Propriety and Regularity.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the health and safety performance of Sonae (UK) Ltd following the change in management in October 2002. (134531)

The health and safety performance of Sonae (UK) Ltd. has improved following the change in management in October 2002. Since then, there have been no incidents leading to prosecution by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and no enforcement notices have been served by HSE. Inspectors who have visited the site since the end of 2002 have been confident that the company have made good progress in managing health and safety.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people who have already received payments from the Financial Assistance Scheme will be eligible for increased payments following the new higher cap on assistance payments; and whether any increase will be paid retrospectively. (135130)

20 people who have already received payments from the Financial Assistance Scheme will be eligible for increased payments following the proposed new higher caps on assistance payments. Increases will apply retrospectively and arrears will be paid back to when the member's entitlement began.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people have received (a) 80 per cent., (b) 65 per cent. and (c) 50 per cent. of their expected core pension under the financial assistance scheme; and if he will make a statement. (135272)

As at 27 April 2007, 204 members are receiving 80 per cent of their expected core pension under the financial assistance scheme (FAS) and a further 931 members are receiving initial payments topping up to the 60 per cent. level of their expected core pensions.

Under the current scheme no members are receiving 65 per cent. or 50 per cent. of their expected core pension because members for whom this is applicable will not become eligible for those payments before 15 May 2011 and 15 May 2015 respectively. Our announcement of increased funding for FAS will ensure that by then all will receive 80 per cent.

Payments commence at age 65, except in special circumstances where early access to payments can be applied for by scheme trustees for terminally ill qualifying members or to the survivor of a qualifying member. FAS can only consider making annual payments when a scheme has completed the winding up process.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many lone parents (a) were claiming income support and (b) have been claiming income support for more than five years in May 1997. (137419)

As at May 1997, there were 1,014,200 lone parents in receipt of income support. Of those, 328,000 had been in receipt of the benefit for five years or more.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in Rotherham received assistance from the New Deal in each year since 1997. (137562)

The available information is in the following table.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the written statement of 28 March 2007, Official Report, columns 113-14WS, (1) how many of the estimated number of people with pension losses are (a) at or above age 65, (b) aged 63 to 64, (c) aged 60 to 62, (d) aged 57 to 59, (e) aged 54 to 56, (f) aged 51 to 53, (g) aged 48 to 50, (h) aged 45 to 47, (i) aged 42 to 44, (j) aged 39 to 41 and (k) aged under 39 years; (135132)

The information in the following tables show a breakdown of the estimated number of individuals who have suffered pension losses by age and the number of years away from scheme retirement age. This is based on their age as at May 2004.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the written statement of 28 March 2007, Official Report, columns 113-14WS, on occupational pensions, (1) what estimate he has made of the cost of compensation from the extended Financial Assistance Scheme in (a) cash terms and (b) net present value terms for those who are (i) at or above age 65 years, (ii) aged 63 to 64 years, (iii) aged 60 to 62 years, (iv) aged 57 to 59 years, (v) aged 54 to 56 years, (vi) aged 51 to 53 years, (vii) aged 48 to 50 years, (viii) aged 45 to 47 years, (ix) aged 42 to 44 years, (x) aged 39 to 41 years and (xi) aged under 39 years if Pensions Protection Fund (PPF) level benefits were paid and PPF eligibility criteria were applied; (135134)

The information is not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) whether students pursuing the new business, administration and finance diploma will be able to gain qualifications in accounting as part of that diploma; (136895)

[holding answers 15 May 2007]: The new diplomas in business, administration and finance are being designed to give young people first hand experience and insight into the world of work and a broad based understanding of one or more sectors of employment preparing them to make informed choices of career or further study. They are not designed to provide full occupational competency in accountancy as NVQs are.

The Diploma Development Partnership is working closely with the Association of Accounting Technicians and other relevant professional bodies as it designs the diploma.

Within the mandatory part of the diplomas is an accounting topic that will provide a foundation in accounting for all learners. Learners who wish to progress to become a chartered accountant, or those who simply want more experience in this area, will be able to supplement their mandatory subjects with appropriate choices from the range of options within the diploma. This suite is currently being defined but it is likely to include elements from the existing range of accounting qualifications.

Young people who gain a diploma in business, administration and finance will be able to enter accountancy and other industries, direct from school or college or progress to higher education.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children were adopted in (a) Tamworth constituency, (b) Staffordshire, (c) the West Midlands and (d) England in each of the last five years. (128339)

The number of adoption orders made for all children by courts in England and Wales for the period 1 January 2001-31 December 2005 (latest figures available) are:

A breakdown of these figures on a geographical basis could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Statistical information on the total number of adoptions is included in the statistics series ‘Marriage, divorce and adoptions’, volume FM2, published by the Office of National Statistics. A copy of this publication is available in the House of Commons Library and on the National Statistics’ website at:

www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_population/FM2no32/FM2_32.pdf

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many apprenticeships were started in each of the last 20 years. (133357)

[holding answer 23 April 2007]: Figures for those participating in apprenticeships funded by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) derive from the Individual Learner Record (ILR). Comparable figures are only available since 2000/01 when the ILR was collated nationally and consistently for the first time by the LSC. The following table shows the number of starts on Advanced Apprenticeships and Apprenticeships since 2000/01.

The average number of apprentices actually in learning in 2005/06 was 254,000, an increase from 75,000 in learning in 1997.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps have been taken to implement the recommendations in the National Audit Office report of December 2006 on Sure Start children’s centres. (137218)

The National Audit Office’s report on Sure Start Children’s Centres contained a number of recommendations for the Department for Education and Skills (DfES), for local authorities and their partners, and for children’s centres themselves to improve the financial management of children’s services. The Public Accounts Committee took evidence from senior officials from DfES in January 2007 and we await their conclusions. We will be issuing guidance very shortly which contains the principles of good governance for children’s centres and extended services and includes details of children’s centres advisory boards which will support effective financial management and performance monitoring. In the summer we plan further guidance to accompany details of the additional funding for children’s centres, resulting from our Comprehensive Spending Review, to help local authorities ensure that resources are effectively targeted, fairly distributed according to need, and achieve value for money.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment he has made of the effect of issuing precise practice guidance to children’s centres; and if he will make a statement. (137219)

The revised Sure Start Children’s Centres Practice Guidance, issued last November, is for children’s centre managers and practitioners, local authorities, primary care trusts and other delivery partners. It emphasises best practice in how to deliver services and tailor support to meet the individual needs of all young children and their parents, wherever they live, and contains examples of good practice. Many of the principles in the guidance are not new; they have been part of the Sure Start approach from the beginning. We want to see them consistently applied so that no parents or children miss out on the advantages that Sure Start Children’s Centres can bring and good practice becomes common practice in all children’s centres. The Together for Children consortium is working with local authorities to support effective networks that draw on evidence based practice and encourage shared learning and knowledge. It is too early to assess the impact of this guidance but it is being monitored through the children’s centres performance management framework and future evaluation work.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what progress the Together for Children partnership has made in supporting and challenging local authority practice on children’s centres; and if he will make a statement. (137221)

Together for Children is working with local authorities to help build their capacity to plan, commission and project manage the roll-out of sustainable high quality children’s centres. Support plans are being implemented with the agreement of all 150 local authorities, with the level and type of support tailored to their individual needs. There are currently 1,266 designated children’s centres, and we are on track to meet our target of delivering 2,500 centres by 2008.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many Youth Opportunity Card pilot schemes are running; and what evaluation has taken place of the effectiveness of the schemes to date. (137335)

In February we announced we would not be proceeding with the Youth Opportunity Card pilots, because the private sector could not offer a delivery solution at a satisfactory level of certainty and the potential costs meant that value for money could not be assured.

Since then, we have been working with the nine local authority pilot areas to develop alternative ways of empowering individual disadvantaged young people to take part in positive activities of their choice. We hope to come forward with proposals shortly.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to the answer of 19 February 2007, Official Report, column 434W, on Departments: training, when he expects to write to the hon. Member for South Holland and The Deepings with the information referred; and if he will place a copy of the information in the Library. (133097)

The Department offers a range of corporate skills development including formal off the job training, e-learning and access to a range of learning and coaching materials from our learning and development function. All these are linked to the Professional Skills for Government agenda and our business and improvement objectives.

The Department has also placed great emphasis on good people management. Provision includes line manager coaching and supporting individuals while learning on the job. This is recognised as the most effective way to learn, apply, and develop skills and knowledge. In addition, our provision supports IiP where we have trained internal HP assessors.

The list of internal formal off the job courses available is as follows:

Leadership Programme

Policy Development Skills

Relationship Management

Strategic Thinking

Programme and Project Management

Contract Management

Financial Management

People Management

Drafting and Writing Skills

A copy of the information has been placed in the House Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what consultations he has undertaken since the publication of the Leitch Report with (a) the Open University, (b) Birkbeck College and (c) other institutions on strategies to increase the proportion of those in work who engage in part-time study. (135984)

Representatives from all higher education institutions (HEIs) have been invited to participate fully in the programme of national and regional events designed to build consensus around the Leitch challenges. Ministers and officials informally exchange views with a wide range of HEIs on developing HE-level skills within the workforce.

Developing new models of HE that are flexible, relevant and responsive to the needs of employers and learners already in the workforce is at the core of the Department's employer engagement strategy. The Higher Education Funding Council for England has been tasked by the Secretary of State with delivering an additional 5,000 student places co-funded by employers in the financial year 2008-09, with further growth of at least 5,000 places year-on-year for the following two years. These three years will represent a crucial testing ground for exploring how best to increase the proportion of those in the workforce who engage in higher-level study, many of whom will wish to learn on a part-time basis.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps he has taken since the publication of the Leitch Report (a) to increase the number of employees who have access to part-time study in order to gain appropriate qualifications and (b) to engage the support of employers in increasing the access of employees to part-time education. (135985)

The Leitch Review was published on 5 December 2006 and was welcomed in broad terms by the Chancellor on 6 December. The formal response will be published by the Department, on behalf of the Government, this summer.

Since the publication of Lord Leitch’s report the Government have continued to promote their new Train to Gain service to encourage employers to train their people with free training available for the low skilled. As a result 135,860 employees from 36,270 employers are now in learning through part-time, flexibly delivered training.

The Government have already announced the Skills Pledge, another key Leitch recommendation that builds on the model developed in Wales. It will encourage employers to voluntarily commit to train their low skilled employees whether through part-time learning or otherwise. Thus far, 21 Central Government Departments, employing more than 500,000 civil servants, as well as several major employers have already given their commitment to it.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps he is taking to ensure that local authorities are passing the funds allocated for the nursery education grant directly to frontline providers. (137214)

The Government invest £3 billion per year through the Dedicated Schools Grant into funding the free early education entitlement. This provides sufficient funding for the delivery of a universal free early learning entitlement for all children regardless of their parents’ income or ability to pay. Local authorities have discretion over the use they make of funding from the Dedicated Schools Grant including the rates at which they fund early education in all types of setting. The 2006 code of practice clearly encourages them to fund early years provision equitably across settings in accordance with local circumstances.

In December 2006 I wrote to local authority chief executives asking them to reassure themselves that providers delivering the free early education entitlement are funded appropriately.

The Schools, Early Years and 14-16 Funding consultation which ends on 1 June sets out a number of proposals for changes to the way the early years funding system operates.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what representations he has received on the possibility of funding for the nursery education grant passing directly from the Government to the provider. (137217)

We conducted a full public consultation on the 2006 code of practice, to which 585 responses were received, the majority from providers. None of those who responded made representation for funding for the free early education entitlement to be paid from the Government directly to the provider, nor have there been representations on this issue since the code came into force.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills which (a) central Government and (b) local government public sector employers with more than 1,000 staff will (i) be participating and (ii) not be participating in the Skills Pledge announced by his Department. (135930)

[holding answer 8 May 2007]: The Leitch review was published on 5 December 2006 and was welcomed in broad terms by the Chancellor on 6 December. The formal response will be published by the Department, on behalf of the Government, this summer.

The Skills Pledge, which will be formally launched this summer, is intended to be a specific voluntary commitment by employers that they will support and enable every eligible employee in their workforce to gain basic skills and a first full level 2 qualification.

As a signal that the public sector was prepared to demonstrate its commitment to the Leitch ambition, Permanent Secretaries of 14 Departments gave their commitment to signing a Skills Pledge on 18th April. Since then other Departments have also made a commitment. The Departments thus far committed are:

Cabinet Office;

Department for Constitutional Affairs; Department for Education and Skills;

Department of Health;

Department for Transport;

Department of Trade and Industry;

Department for Work and Pensions;

Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs;

Her Majesty's Treasury;

Home Office;

Ministry of Defence;

Foreign and Commonwealth Office;

Government Communications Headquarters;

Department for International Development;

Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs;

Department for Culture, Media and Sport;

Department of Communities and Local Government;

Crown Prosecution Service; Office for National Statistics.

In total more than 500,000 civil servants are now covered by a Skills Pledge. Government Skills, the sector skills council for central Government are working with Departments on turning the commitment into action plans. At this stage no Department is expected not to participate.

The Department is working with local authorities and other public sector representatives on how the Skills Pledge can be best delivered for their employees. To date, no commitments have been made, though local authorities and other public sector bodies have made a significant contribution to the basic skills agenda. We will be looking to build on that work for the Skills Pledge through the well-established network of basic skills champions in the public sector.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills when he expects to answer question 115982 on children of asylum seekers, tabled by the hon. Member for Hornsey and Wood Green on 11 January. (130601)

A response was issued to the hon. Member on 15 May 2007, Official Report, column 707W.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions she has had with the Government of Uzbekistan on Uzbek nationals supporting Taliban forces in Afghanistan. (137101)

Through our diplomatic contacts with the Uzbek authorities, the Government are aware that the Government of Uzbekistan are neither supportive of nor otherwise engaged in the reported activities of those Uzbek nationals in Afghanistan to which the hon. Member refers.

We remain interested in principle in closer co-operation with Uzbekistan aimed at promoting regional stability, including in Afghanistan, as part of a wider dialogue with the Uzbek Government encompassing a range of interests, including our concerns over human rights.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations she is making to the government of Burma on the targeting of civilians in Karen State. (137116)

We have repeatedly condemned the Burmese army’s attacks on civilians in Karen State.

I have raised the human rights situation regularly with the Burmese regime and other Governments in the region. On 16 June 2006, I called in the Burmese Ambassador and on 5 July 2006 I wrote to the Burmese Foreign Minister, highlighting our many concerns. On 18 September 2006, I raised the serious human rights situation with Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) Ambassadors, including the Burmese Ambassador, and on 4 December 2006 with the ASEAN Secretary-General. I have also raised Burma with the Governments of China, India, Japan, Thailand, Malaysia and South Korea. I have discussed the human rights abuses taking place in Burma with Juan Mendez, the UN Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide. I discussed Burma in detail with Ibrahim Gambari, the UN Under-Secretary General for Political Affairs, on 15 November 2006, following his visit to the country. Most recently, I raised the human rights situation in Burma in my address to the Human Rights Council in Geneva on 13 March and at the EU/ASEAN Ministerial Meeting in Nuremberg on 15 March, in the presence of the Burmese Deputy Foreign Minister. In addition, our Ambassador in Rangoon regularly raises human rights with the regime, most recently when he met the Burmese Ministers for Planning and Immigration and the Burmese Deputy Foreign Minister on 5 January.

On 23 April the EU Council of Ministers called for the Burmese regime to end the military campaign against civilians in conflict areas.

We shall continue to take every opportunity to raise our concerns about all human rights violations in Burma.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps she is taking in the UN Security Council to ensure the protection of civilians and relief workers in Burma, in accordance with the Security Council’s responsibility to protect. (137118)

We highlighted the impact on civilians of the Burmese Government’s campaign against insurgents during the UN Security Council debate on Protection of Civilians on 4 December 2006.

We supported the US-led efforts to have Burma added to the UN Security Council agenda in September 2006 and co-sponsored with the US a UN Security Council Resolution on Burma. This was put to the vote on 12 January. Three states voted against and as such the resolution was not adopted.

Burma remains on the UN Security Council agenda. We support the UN’s efforts, including the good offices mission of the UN Secretary-General, to promote peace and national reconciliation in Burma. We will continue to work closely with the UN and with partners to ensure that this effort is sustained.

I have repeatedly raised my concerns about human rights issues with international partners and directly with the Burmese Government. I shall continue to do so.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions she has had with the Government of Estonia on that country’s relations with Russia. (136964)

The Estonian Foreign Minister briefed my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary and other EU Foreign Ministers on Estonia’s relations with Russia at the EU General Affairs and External Relations Council on 14 May. Our Ambassador in Tallinn has held more detailed discussions with the Estonian Government on relations with Russia.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions she has held with EU partners on relations between Russia and Estonia; and if she will make a statement. (136967)

The Estonian Foreign Minister briefed my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary and other EU Foreign Ministers on Estonia’s relations with Russia at the EU General Affairs and External Relations Council on 14 May. There have also been several debates within the EU and other organisations following the recent dispute over the relocation of a war memorial in Tallinn. We recognise the right of the Estonian government to relocate war memorials and war graves and see this as an internal matter for Estonia. We do not see rhetoric from others, designed to exacerbate the situation, as helpful.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what (a) her Department’s and (b) EU policy is on funding non-governmental organisations in other democratic countries which campaign actively against those countries’ Governments’ policies; and if she will make a statement. (132404)

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) is committed to promoting democratic values and principles, including a vibrant civil society.

We recognise the vital role civil society plays in promoting human rights, democracy and good governance. We value the expertise which many non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working to implement human rights possess and therefore work with them to encourage governments, including democratic ones, to meet international human rights standards.

The FCO has a range of programme funds which aim to support its work on human rights. The merits of all funding requests are considered on a case by case basis. Further information can be found on the FCO website at:

http://www.fco.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagename=OpenMarket/Xcelerate/ShowPage&c=Page&cid=1007029394988.

The EU has a human rights and democracy programme, the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR). NGOs are eligible to bid for project funding. Information on the activities and actions of EIDHR is accessible at:

http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/projects/eidhr/index_en.htm.

To be able to provide the information required by my hon. Friend a more specific request is required. I have asked my hon. Friend to write to me with specific details of his interest in this issue and I will respond to him.