§ Mr. Colemanasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the scholarships, bursaries, grants and training schemes operated by the Council of Europe for which United Kingdom nationals are eligible; and how many United Kingdom nationals have benefited from each such scheme in each of the previous three years, indicating what proportion of the total take-up each share represents.
§ Mr. RentonIt has not been possible to obtain the information requested in the time available. As soon as I have the information I shall write to the hon. Member.
§ Mr. Colemanasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he will seek an increase in the resources of the directorate of press and information of the Council of Europe.
§ Mr. RentonNo.
§ Mr. Colemanasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the proportion attributable to the United Kingdom of the annual budget of the directorate of press and information of the Council of Europe; and what sum this represents in (a) the current financial year and (b) the preceding financial year.
§ Mr. RentonThe United Kingdom proportion is 16.73 per cent. In 1986 this represents £344,438; in 1985 it was £337,800.
§ Mr. Colemanasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) what steps he has taken to assess the value for money given by the work of the directorate of press and information of the Council of Europe; and if he will make a statement;
(2) what assessment he has made of the current public impact of the work of the directorate of press and information of the Council of Europe.
§ Mr. RentonNo such assessment has been undertaken.
281W
§ Mr. Colemanasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many of Her Majesty's Government's officials are currently members of Council of Europe committees and working parties.
§ Mr. RentonThe information requested is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
§ Mr. Colemanasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he will make it his policy to make a regular quarterly report to Parliament of the activities of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe and of the role played by the United Kingdom in the organisation during the preceding three months.
§ Mr. RentonNo. A copy of the report presented by the chairman of the Committee of Ministers to each session of the Parliamentary Assembly is placed in the Library of the House.
§ Mr. Colemanasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he will place in the Library a comprehensive summary of the proceedings of the ordinary part-session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe held in Strasbourg from 27 to 31 January.
§ Mr. RentonThe summary of the proceedings on 27–29 January prepared by the Council of Europe secretariat is aready available in the Library. The summary of the proceedings on 30–31 January is expected to arrive shortly.
§ Mr. Colemanasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what were the principal subjects debated, texts adopted, and other decisions taken at the ordinary part-session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe held in Strasbourg from 27 to 31 January; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. RentonThe subjects debated and texts adopted were as follows:
- European Social Charter (Recommendation 1022)
- Youth Unemployment (Recommendation 1023)
- European Response to Terrorism (Recommendation 1024)
- The Situation of Palestinian Refugees (Recommendation 1025)
- Amendment of Articles 14 and 25 of the Council of Europe (Recommendation 1026 and 1027)
- Scientific Exchanges between Europe and Japan (Recommendation 1028)
- European Scientific and technological cooperation (Recommendation 1029)
- Monetary cooperation between Europe and Latin America (Recommendation 1030)
Resolutions were also adopted on equality between women and men, the Africa food crisis, Europe's agro food industry and European integration, 30th and 31st annual reports of the European conference of Ministers of Transport.
§ Mr. Colemanasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how he monitors the proceedings of ordinary part-sessions of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. RentonThe proceedings of these sessions are monitored from the record of the proceedings prepared by the Council of Europe secretariat which is received by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
§ Mr. Colemanasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps Her Majesty's 282W Government is taking to improve public awareness in the United Kingdom of the work of both organs of the Council of Europe.
§ Mr. RentonNone. Publicity in the United Kingdom for the work of the Council of Europe is one of the functions of the Council's directorate of press and information.
§ Mr. Colemanasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is seeking through the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe to improve public awareness of the work of both organs of the Council of Europe.
§ Mr. RentonI currently have no plans to seek such steps.
§ Mr. Colemanasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the existing means of informing (a) Parliament and (b) the public of the deliberations, decisions and other activities of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe and of the Secretariat General; and if he proposes to seek any change in this machinery.
§ Mr. RentonDocumentation recording the deliberations, decisions and other activities of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe and of the Secretariat General is available in the Library.
It is one of the functions of the directorate of press and information to inform the public of these matters. It is not proposed to seek any changes in the existing arrangements.
§ Mr. Colemanasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the existing means of informing (a) Parliament and (b) the public of the deliberations, decisions and other activities of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe; and if he proposes to seek any change in this machinery.
§ Mr. RentonDocumentation on the deliberations, decisions and other activities of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe is available in the Library. It is one of the functions of the directorate of press and information to inform the public of these proceedings. It is not proposed to seek any changes in the existing arrangements.