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Kashmir

Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the relations between India and Pakistan, with particular reference to Kashmir. [175618]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: I welcome the recent public statements by the new Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh confirming their commitment to strengthen, widen and deepen India's bilateral relations, and to continue the peace process with Pakistan. The Pakistani government has also reaffirmed publicly their continued commitment to improving relations with India and the peace process. We hope the Indian and Pakistani governments will continue to build confidence through peaceful engagement including through early rescheduling of the postponed talks on nuclear Confidence Building Measures and the Muzaffarabad-Srinagar bus link. We hope that they will not be diverted by the terrorist acts of those seeking to undermine the process, such as the appalling attack on the Indian Border Security Forces that left 30 dead on 23 May. We hope that this process will, in time, lead to the resolution of all their outstanding differences, including over Kashmir.

Kongra-Gel

Mr. Caton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the evidential basis was for the decision to add Kongra-Gel to the EU list of terrorist organisations. [175946]

Mr. MacShane: The European Union decision to freeze the assets of Kadek and Kongra-Gel was based on agreement among member states that Kadek and Kongra-Gel met the criteria (contained in Common Position CFSP/931/2001). This decision was reached having reviewed evidence which demonstrated that there was sufficient continuity between the PKK, Kadek and Kongra-Gel to consider it to be the same organisation and that it remained involved in terrorism.

Leaflet Production (Costs)

Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the (a) design costs, (b) production costs, (c) distribution costs and (d) total numbers produced of the leaflet, 'Cambridge and the European Union: what's in it for us?', and all similar publications. [175640]

Mr. MacShane: The leaflet 'Cambridge and the European Union: what's in it for us?' cost £195 to design and £542 for its print-run of 6,000. Similar leaflets were produced for Nottingham, Lincoln, Edinburgh,
 
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Dundee and Liverpool. Total costs for all six leaflets were £1,370 for design and £2,833 for production. 6,000 copies of each were produced. Distribution costs in each case were under £50 per leaflet.

Overseas Employment

Alistair Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many UK citizens he estimates are working overseas. [175820]

Mr. Mullin: We estimate there are some 15.5 million British nationals living abroad, but only a fraction of these have registered with British consulates.

Portable Electrical Equipment

Mr. Flight: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how often since 1997 (a) his Department and (b) its associated public sector organisations have undergone portable appliance testing of IT equipment; and what the cost of portable appliance testing was in each year since 1997. [176571]

Mr. Rammell: Portable Appliance Testing (PAT) for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in the UK is subcontracted to Mitie Maintenance Ltd. No separate record is kept of the testing of IT equipment.

Mitie have recorded that they last did a full PAT test on all equipment in the FCO Main Building (King Charles Street), and 1 Carlton Gardens in 2001; and in the Old Admiralty Building in 2002. Costs for this testing are not available.

A full PAT test on all equipment at the FCO site at Hanslope Park was conducted in 2003 and cost £38,000.

The British Council similarly does not keep a breakdown of PAT testing by particular types of equipment. However, testing has been undertaken on all equipment on an annual basis in British Council offices in London for the last three years. The costs for each full test were:

	£
2001–02	8,788
2002–03	9,053
2003–04	8,007

The last full portable appliance testing in British Council offices at Bridgewater House, Manchester was in 2002–03. The cost was £4,406.25.

The last full portable appliance testing in British Council offices in Edinburgh was in 2003–04. The cost was £709.99.

Details of portable appliance testing in other British Council offices in the UK are not collated centrally at present.

The BBC World Service test all IT equipment before use and replaces it on a three yearly cycle. The cost of testing per appliance is £7 per item, and the annual total cost of this testing is about £11,000.

Wilton Park tests all equipment annually. It does not record the cost of testing IT equipment separately. The cost in 2003–04 was £2,200.
 
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Sudan

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with his colleagues in the European Union in the past month regarding military intervention in Darfur, Sudan. [176035]

Mr. Mullin: The situation in Darfur was discussed at the EU General Affairs and External Relations Council on 26 April and 17 May. It has also been discussed by the Political and Security Committee, the Africa Working Group and the Africa, Caribbean and Pacific Working Group.

The EU is seized of the need to respond to the humanitarian crisis, and is considering how it can provide political, technical and financial support to the African Union-led Cease-fire Commission in Darfur. There has been no discussion of military intervention.

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the Government of Sudan on the continuing detention of students, with specific reference to the Nyala area. [176117]

Mr. Mullin: We are very concerned about the reported arrests and harassment of students and others in Nyala, Darfur. Our embassy in Khartoum raised the continued detention of people in Darfur with the Head of the Sudanese Advisory Council for Human Rights on 26 May. We will continue to monitor the situation closely.

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the Government of Sudan on the sentences to death of (a) Ali Salih Ahmed and (b) Adam Abdel Rahman Ishag. [176118]

Mr. Mullin: On 26 May our embassy in Khartoum raised the cases of Ali Salih Ahmed and Adam Abdel Rahman Ishag, who were sentenced to death in Nyala, Darfur on 31 March, with the Head of the Sudanese Advisory Council for Human Rights. We will continue to follow their cases closely.

UK Personnel

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has received alleging that UK personnel are involved in providing training in interrogation techniques in Colombia, some of which may be inappropriate; and if he will make a statement. [173237]

Mr. Rammell: No direct representations have been received. We are aware of allegations made in a publication by the British NGO, Justice for Colombia, to this effect. There is no substance to the allegations.

Visas

Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many spouses from (a) India, (b) Pakistan and (c) elsewhere were given entry clearance to come to the UK in the latest year for which figures are available, broken down by gender. [176281]

 
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Mr. Mullin: The information requested is as follows.
Spouses granted entry clearance, FY 2003–04

Country	Male	Female
India	1,067	2,550
Pakistan	3,398	4,523
Elsewhere	6,925	14,643

The table gives the figures, broken down by gender, for the number of spouses granted entry clearance at our diplomatic posts overseas in India, Pakistan and all other visa issuing Posts during the financial year, 1 April 2003 to 31 March 2004.

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