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69W
Written Answers
26 OCTOBER 2009
Written Answers
70W
Both countries recently announced their ambassadors,
and Congolese President Kabila and Rwandan President
Kagame held their first ever bilateral summit in August.
We continue to encourage DRC and Rwanda to work
on other key areas, such as border security, trade and
the return of refugees.
Mr. Andrew Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State
for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he
is taking to ensure that, in the course of Operation
Kimia 2, MONUC is not directly or indirectly
supporting FARDC members who have been accused
of war crimes; and if he will make a statement.
[294738]
Mr. Ivan Lewis [holding answer 21 October 2009]:
The UK has stressed on various occasions to the UN
that the UN Mission in the Democratic of Congo
(DRC) (MONUC) should not provide such support,
including to operations which involve Bosco Ntadanga,
an International Criminal Court indictee. MONUC has
assured the international community that they take
every effort to avoid doing so.
The UK continues to push for implementation of this
policy. DRC President Kabila recently announced a
policy of “Zero Tolerance” for abuses, including those
committed by the security forces. We continue to urge
the DRC government to fully implement this policy.
Departmental Procurement
Mr. Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign
and Commonwealth Affairs what percentage of
procurement contracts (a) his Department and (b) its
agencies awarded to small businesses in (i) 2006-07, (ii)
2007-08, (iii) 2008-09 and (iv) 2009-10; and if he will
make a statement. [293245]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: Information on sizes of companies is
not currently recorded on our management information
system, Prism, although in accordance with the
recommendations of the Glover report we are currently
changing our processes to capture this information.
We are unable at this time to generate a report
containing information on Foreign and Commonwealth
Office contracts with small businesses which means the
information could be obtained only at disproportionate
cost.
Departmental Publicity
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for
Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) how much his
Department has spent on its (a) Know Before You Go
campaign, (b) Another Side to Paradise campaign, (c)
Don’t miss out campaign and (d) other campaigns
aimed at Britons travelling abroad co-ordinated by his
Department in each year since 2001; [295399]
(2) whether any (a) internal or (b) external studies
have been commissioned into the effectiveness of (i) his
Department’s Know Before You Go campaign and (ii)
any subsidiary campaigns since 2001. [295400]
Chris Bryant: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I
gave on 14 September 2009, Official Report, column 2172W.
The cost of the “Another Side to Paradise” campaign
was £15,000 and the cost of the “Don’t miss out campaign”
was approximately £12,000. The cost of all other campaigns
that are aimed at Britons travelling abroad could be
obtained from the Department and its 250 overseas
posts only at disproportionate cost.
Diplomatic Service: Databases
Mr. Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for
Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the
Answer of 14 July 2009, Official Report, column 334W,
on the Locate system, how many people have registered
their details online in each year since the service’s
inception. [295640]
Chris Bryant: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s
overseas online registration and crisis database, LOCATE,
does not break down registrations on a yearly basis.
However, it does record the total number of active
registrations at any one time; that is to say the number
of registered British nationals who are currently travelling,
living or working overseas. As of 22 October 2009, this
number stands at 56,661 people.
Falkland Islands: Oil
Lindsay Roy: To ask the Secretary of State for
Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans the
Government has to license areas for oil exploration
around the Falkland Islands. [293616]
Chris Bryant [holding answer 19 October 2009]:
Exploration for oil and gas continues around the Falkland
Islands and the Government continue to support this.
In April 2008, the Government approved the Falkland
Islands government’s request to resume open door licensing
for offshore oil exploration and production in five blocks.
Since then a number of companies have farmed-in with
existing licence holders in preparation for drilling
exploration wells. Exploratory drilling in the area to the
north of the Islands could begin as early as February
2010.
Libya: Embassies
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State
for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much the
Libyan diplomatic mission in the UK owes in
outstanding (a) parking fines, (b) congestion charges
and (c) business rates. [294792]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: In June 2009, when the Foreign and
Commonwealth Office’s annual written ministerial
statements on alleged abuses of diplomatic privileges
and immunities were published, the Libyan embassy
owed £2,760 in outstanding parking fines and £1,080 in
congestion charge fees. They had no outstanding arrears
for national non-domestic rates.
Overseas Territories Environment Programme
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for
Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much funding
the South Atlantic British Overseas Territories have
received from the Overseas Territories Environment
Programme for environmental management since 2005.
[293448]