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Column 433
Written Answers to Questions
Monday 26 June 1995
FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS
Immigration Applications
Mr. Madden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) when a decision is going to be taken on the application made to the United Kingdom post in Islamabad by Mrs. Rehana Fiaz--Ref: IMM/C4236--to join her husband in the United Kingdom; and if he will make a statement; [30067]
(2) when the United Kingdom post in Islamabad requested the Home Office to make inquiries in the United Kingdom into the application for Mrs. Ifat Shaheen Hussain--Ref: IMM/C6283 to join her husband in the United Kingdom; and if he will make a statement. [30068]
Mr. Baldry: I have asked the high commission at Islamabad for details and will arrange for the hon. Member to receive a substantive reply from the migration and visa correspondence unit as soon as possible.
Mr. Winnick: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many refusal decisions and what percentage of visitors' cases he has reversed arising from representations by hon. Members since the right of appeal in such cases was discontinued. [30480]
Mr. Baldry: The information requested is not available except at disproportionate cost; but very infrequently my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs asks for cases to be reviewed or decisions reversed as a result of representations from hon. Members.
UK Legislation
Mr. Mills: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will introduce legislation to remove the United Kingdom from the jurisdiction of the European Courts. [30639]
Ministerial Visits
Mr. Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer of 21 March, Official Report, column 115 , if he will list all those occasions on which he did not give prior warning of visits to hon. Members. [30746]
Mr. Baldry: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs is not aware of any occasions since the start of the present parliamentary Session in which he has failed to give prior warning to an hon. Member whose constituency he has visited in an official capacity.
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Gibraltar
Mr. Gale: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what evidence he has evaluated to support Spanish Government assertions that illegal drugs are being transported via Gibraltar into the European Union. [30485]
Mr. David Davis: The authorities in Gibraltar have evidence that boats based in Gibraltar are being used to transport illegal drugs directly from Morocco to Spain.
Mr. Gale: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps Her Majesty's Government propose to take to ensure that Spain honours its obligations under European law and permits European Union visitors to cross from Spain into Gibraltar, and return, without unreasonable delay at customs and immigration checkpoints. [30486]
Mr. Davis: I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 7 June, Official Report , column 204 . My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs raised this matter in talks with the Spanish Foreign Minister, Senor Solana, in Madrid on 19 June.
Marine Environment Protection Treaty
Mr. Hain: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he proposes to re-ratify the
Oslo-Paris--OSPAR--treaty; if he will make a statement indicating when the United Kingdom first signed this treaty; what time has elapsed between signature and implementation; and what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for the Environment concerning the future implementation of OSPAR in connection with Shell and the Brent Spar platform. [30694]
Mr. Douglas Hogg: The United Kingdom signed the convention for the protection of the marine environment of the north-east Atlantic--the OSPAR convention--on 3 November 1992.
The Department of the Environment has been checking since then whether all relevant UK legislation is consistent with the convention before ratification can take place. This also needs to be done for the Isle of Man and the bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey. Our decisions in connection with the Brent Spar installation have been entirely consistent with the new convention.
Charter Week
Mr. Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what are the main events he is proposing for Charter Week; what is the total cost to public funds; and how many (a) civil servants and (b) other public officials will be playing a part. [30688]
Mr. Goodlad: The FCO's public service functions are mainly performed overseas. No events for Charter Week are being planned.
Crown Immunity
Mr. Foulkes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list all areas within (a) his Department, (b) agencies under his Department's control and (c) organisations for which he has ministerial
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responsibility to which Crown immunity applies; what consideration he has given to removing this; and if he will make astatement. [28654]
Mr. Goodlad [holding answer 15 June 1995]: The reference to "Crown immunity" is taken to refer to legislation which does not bind the Crown. Certain legislation is expressly applied to the Crown. In most legislation, however, particularly older legislation, there is no such express provision. In those circumstances, whether legislation applies to the Crown will depend on the implications to be drawn from the drafting and context of the legislation.
LORD CHANCELLOR'S DEPARTMENT
Visitors' Appeals
Mr. Winnick: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what is the number and percentage of visitors' appeals upheld by adjudication in the last three years prior to the appeal system in such cases being discontinued. [30481]
Mr. John M. Taylor: The information requested is as follows: