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Sudan
Mr. Faber: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list those resolutions Her Majesty's Government has (a) tabled and (b) supported in the United Nations General Assembly concerning the Government of Sudan between January 1992 and November 1997. [19597]
Mr. Fatchett: The United Kingdom has supported the following United Nations General Assembly resolutions about Sudan:
- GA RES 47/167 (18 December 1992)
- GA RES 48/201 (21 December 1993)
- GA RES 49/21 (20 December 1994)
- GA RES 50/58 (22 December 1995)
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- GA RES 47/147 (18 December 1992)
- GA RES 48/147 (20 December 1993
- GA RES 49/198 (23 December 1994)
- GA RES 50/197 (22 December 1995)
- GA RES 51/112 (12 December 1996)
- The situation of human rights in Sudan.
The United Kingdom co-sponsored all the human rights resolutions, but not those on emergency assistance.
Iraq
Mr. Winnick: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on how many occasions since the ending of the war in the Gulf the Iraqi regime has been offered the opportunity of selling oil to buy food and medicines; and if he will make a statement. [19706]
Mr. Fatchett: Iraq refused the benefits of SCRs 706 and 712. Because Iraq at first would not co-operate in implementing SCR 986 the implementation of the resolution was delayed until December 1996.
Zimbabwe
Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Government in Zimbabwe on their policy towards private farmland; and if he will make a statement. [19119]
Mr. Tony Lloyd: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Westbury (Mr. Faber) on 4 December 1997, Official Report, column 303.
Mr. Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many car park spaces are provided for his Department's (a) ministers, (b) employees and (c) visitors in (i) London and (ii) the United Kingdom. [19364]
Mr. Tony Lloyd: The following is the information:
| Ministers | Employees | Visitors | |
|---|---|---|---|
| London | 5 | 96 | 15 |
| Elsewhere in the United Kingdom | -- | 900 | 30 |
EU Projects (Funding)
Sir Richard Body: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much funding of European Union projects for 1996 operated through the actions ponctuelles. [17263]
Mrs. Liddell:
I have been asked to reply. A very small amount of the European Community Budget--less than 1 per cent. of the total--was spent on non-significant actions (including "actions ponctuelles") in 1996.
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Lockerbie
Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Prime Minister what initiatives Her Majesty's Government propose to take following the visit to Edinburgh of the delegation of the United Nations Legal Affairs Office to make inquiries on behalf of the United Nations about the Scottish legal system with a view to discussing a Lockerbie trial with Libya, the Arab League and the Organisation of African States. [19674]
The Prime Minister: We took the initiative to invite the United Nations to send legal experts to visit Scotland to witness at first hand the fairness and impartiality of Scottish justice, and to discuss the modalities of attendance at a trial in Scotland by international observers.
It remains the Government's view that Libya should comply with the United Nations Security Council Resolutions by surrendering the two accused for trial in Scotland or the United States, since any other solution will reflect quite wrongly on the quality and standards of justice in either jurisdiction.
Scottish Parliament
Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the role of the Lord Chancellor and his responsibilities as Chairman of the Cabinet Committee responsible for the future constitutional arrangements for the United Kingdom following the creation of a Scottish Parliament. [18018]
The Prime Minister: The proceedings of Cabinet Committees necessarily remain private but it will be clear that my right hon. and noble Friend, the Lord Chancellor and his Committees are doing an excellent job in delivering the Government's constitutional reform programme. That will be an on-going task until we have completed the modernisation of the political system in this country.
Social Exclusion Unit
Mr. Colman: To ask the Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the terms of reference and work programme of the Social Exclusion Unit. [20004]
The Prime Minister: I today launched the Social Exclusion Unit at Stockwell Park School Lambeth. Social exclusion is a shorthand label for what can happen when individuals or areas suffer from a combination of linked problems such as unemployment, poor skills, low incomes, poor housing, high crime environments, bad health and family breakdown. The Government have policies that are targeted at reducing all of these individually, but Government programmes have been less good at tackling the interaction between these problems or preventing them from arising in the first place.
The purpose of the unit is to help break this vicious circle and co-ordinate and improve Government action to reduce social exclusion by first improving understanding of the key characteristics of social exclusion, and the impact on it of Government policies; and, secondly, by promoting solutions, encouraging co-operation, disseminating best practice and, where necessary, making recommendations for changes in policies and machinery or delivery mechanisms. The unit will not cover issues
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which are of interest to one Department only, or duplicate work done elsewhere. It will focus on areas where it can add value and address the long-term causes of exclusion.
I have asked the Unit to focus on the following priorities in its first phase to July 1998:
In addition, in its first phase, the unit will focus on improving mechanisms for integrating the work of departments, local authorities and other agencies at national level and on the ground, so money spent on excluded groups is used more effectively and has more chance of meeting its objectives. There will be a first report to Ministers by the end of June next year. Secondly, it will feed in to the Comprehensive Spending Reviews any recommendations for redirection of priorities arising from the unit's initial work. Finally, it will draw up key indicators of social exclusion, recommending how these can be tracked to monitor the effectiveness of Government policies in reducing social exclusion and will report to ministers by the end of June.
The unit should draw on its experience with these first tasks to make recommendations on possible targets for the second half of 1998. Particular areas could include identifying key preventive interventions with children and young people; probing aspects of exclusion which disproportionately affect particular ethnic minority groups; options for improving access to services, public and private, for low income areas or individuals; and ways to encourage and focus individual and business involvement in tackling social exclusion. The unit will discuss those and other areas with interested groups before making recommendations.
The unit is part of the Economic and Domestic Affairs Secretariat in the Cabinet Office. It will report to me and work closely with the No. 10 Policy unit. It will be staffed by civil servants from other Whitehall departments and secondees from local authorities, voluntary bodies and other main agencies. It is being set up for an initial period of two years and its future will then be reviewed. The Secretaries of State for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will consider how best to tackle social exclusion, taking account of the particular needs and characteristics of their respective communities. The Social Exclusion Unit will work closely with the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish offices and the unit's findings will be made available to these departments.
I will steer the work of the unit personally and chair regular meetings with relevant Ministers to review the initiative. Policy decisions will be cleared through the appropriate Cabinet Committee, and implemented by the departments. I will report to Parliament next summer on
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the work of the unit and on the forward agenda. Any policy changes proposed will have clear targets and evaluation plans. To build on the unit's cross-departmental focus, I have nominated a network of Ministers in the Departments most affected, to draw together exclusion issues in their own departments, and to help present and guide the unit's work as follows; the Minister for Local Government and Housing, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Social Security (Mr. Bradley), the Minister for School Standards, the Minister for Public Health, the Minister without Portfolio, the Minister of State, Home Office, the Paymaster General, the Minister for Small Firms, Trade and Industry.
(a) Truancy and School Exclusion: to make a step change in the scale of truancy and exclusions from school, and to find better solutions for those who have to be excluded--with a report to Ministers by Easter.
I will chair one summit involving key interests on each of these topics, starting with one on school exclusion and truancy at Stockwell Park School this morning.
(b) Street living: reducing to as near zero as possible the numbers sleeping rough in towns and cities--with a report to Ministers by Easter.
(c) Worst estates: developing integrated and sustainable approaches to the problems of the worst housing estates, including crime, drugs, unemployment, community breakdown, bad schools, etc.--with a report by June.
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