HC Deb 01 May 1996 vol 276 cc541-2W
Mr. Merchant

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will publish figures recording the number of parking fines incurred by diplomatic missions in London during 1995. [26740]

Sir Nicholas Bonsor

During 1995, the London diplomatic missions incurred a total of 1,586 unpaid parking fines, which is less than half the 1994 figure of 3,613. In February this year, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office wrote to all diplomatic missions to give them the opportunity to pay off all outstanding parking tickets, or appeal to have the ticket cancelled. Since then, payments totalling £11,600 have been received. The biggest offender is the Nigerian mission, which has appeared at or near the top of the list for the third year running. The attached table shows only missions which have 11 or more fines outstanding.

Unpaid parking fines
Position Diplomatic mission 1995 1994
1 Nigeria 117 118
2 India 83 79
3 Ghana 66 76
4 Sudan 45 56
5 Malaysia 32 37
6 Philippines 31 19
7 Romania 27 30
8 Burma 26 7
9 Lesotho 22 14
9 Oman 22 63
9 Pakistan 22 61
12 Egypt 20 50
12 Greece 20 32
12 Qatar 20 353
12 Thailand 20 32
16 Algeria 19 24
16 Bangladesh 19 49
18 Uganda 18 24
19 Turkey 17 27
Unpaid parking fines
Position Diplomatic mission 1995 1994
20 Cyprus 16 29
20 Jordan 16 52
22 Iran 15 12
22 Russian Federation 15 31
22 Zimbabwe 15 21
25 Tanzania 14 28
25 Albania 14 1
25 USA 14 22
28 Azerbaijan 13 5
28 Cameroon 13 20
30 Israel 12 33
30 Poland 12 35
32 Brazil 11 10
32 Ivory Coast 11 40
32 Hungary 11 49
32 Zaire 11 18
859 1,557

Mr. Merchant

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many serious offences were allegedly committed in 1995 by persons entitled to diplomatic immunity; and how many foreign diplomats or members of their families were withdrawn from their posts in Britain in the past year as a result of alleged offences. [26741]

Sir Nicholas Bonsor

Twenty-eight alleged serious offences by persons entitled to diplomatic immunity were drawn to the attention of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1995. "Serious offences" are defined in accordance with the report to the Foreign Affairs Committee "The Abuse of Diplomatic Immunities and Privileges (1985)" as offences which fall into the category which in certain circumstances attract a maximum penalty of six months' imprisonment or more: the majority involved drinking and driving and shoplifting.

Five diplomats or members of their families were withdrawn at our request from post in Britain as a result of alleged offences, compared with six the previous year.

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