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Reserve Forces
Mr. Pound: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement about the future of the Territorial Auxiliary and Volunteer Reserve Associations. [81951]
Mr. Spellar:
The future structure of the Territorial Auxiliary and Volunteer Reserve Associations (TAVRAs) has been the subject of a joint study involving the TAVRAs themselves and the Ministry of Defence. I have accepted the joint recommendation of the Commander in Chief Land Command and Chairman of the Council of TAVRAs, to set in hand new arrangements to ensure that the areas of responsibility of TAVRAs in England are aligned to those of Government office regions. Arrangements in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will be unchanged. As a result, there will be a reduction in the number of Associations from the present 14 to 13. This reduction will be achieved by the amalgamation of the South East and Eastern Wessex Associations to form a new Association covering the counties of Kent, Sussex, Surrey, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, Berkshire, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire. Responsibility for carrying out the Eastern Wessex Association's current functions in Dorset will transfer to the Western Wessex Association. This robust and coherent structure recognises the essential tri-Service nature of the TAVRAs, who provide an essential link between the community and the Armed Forces, whilst the changes to the financial
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arrangements that accompany it will promote a closer working partnership between the TAVRAs who administer the volunteer estate, and the Army's regional command structure, which will command Territorial Army units themselves.
The TAVRAs are established under the Reserve Forces Act of 1996, and these changes will be presented to the House in due course; we expect them to be complete by April 2002.
Mr. Viggers:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will set up a co-ordinating committee to oversee liaison between the National Health Service and Defence Medical Services. [80309]
Mr. Doug Henderson:
Following the announcement by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence on 14 December 1998, Official Report, column 329, National Health Service representatives have been appointed to the two new senior management boards to ensure effective liaison between the Defence Medical Services and the National Health Service.
Crowd Recognition Devices
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what measures he is taking to restrict exports of crowd recognition devices for identifying individuals at rallies to countries identified as having limited human rights. [81041]
Mr. Tony Lloyd:
The Government do not control the export of crowd recognition devices for identifying individuals at rallies or other such events. If the hon. Member believes there is sufficient justification for the Government to consider the introduction of such a control, we would look at these arguments without prejudice to any decision.
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Mr. Matthew Taylor:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer of 2 March 1999, Official Report, column 684, how many times Ministers in his Department met their counterparts in the US Administration between 1 January 1998 and 1 June 1998, indicating the dates and locations of each meeting, the Ministers involved and the name of the US counterpart. [80817]
Mr. Tony Lloyd:
Foreign Office Ministers have frequent contact with members of the US Administration in the United States, in the UK and elsewhere overseas.
The Foreign Secretary visited Washington from 15-16 January 1998 and had formal meetings with Madeleine Albright, US Secretary of State, who was accompanied by Tom Pickering (Under Secretary for Political Affairs), Stuart Eizenstat (Under Secretary for Economics, Business and Agricultural Affairs), James Rubin (State Department Spokesman), Marc Grossman (Assistant Secretary for European and Canadian Affairs), Donald Bandler (Senior Director for European Affairs at the National Security Council), Anthony Wayne (Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for European and Canadian Affairs), David Welch (Senior Deputy Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs); he also had talks with Sandy Berger, Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs. No other FCO Ministers visited the United States between 1 January 1998 and 1 June 1998.
As stated in my previous answer, the information the hon. Member requires on meetings which have taken place between FCO Ministers and their approximate US counterparts in the UK and third countries is not held centrally, and to obtain it would incur disproportionate costs.
Dr. Tonge:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he had with the Secretary of State for International Development concerning the reception of refugees in Macedonia, Montenegro and Albania, before NATO's offensive on Yugoslavia. [80763]
Mr. Tony Lloyd:
Foreign Office Ministers and officials have remained in close contact with the Department for International Development and other Government Departments since the crisis in Kosovo began last year.
Mr. Maclean:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on his Department's policy on a future role for the International Criminal Court in Kosovo following cessation of hostilities. [81250]
Mr. Tony Lloyd:
The International Criminal Court will not have jurisdiction over events occurring prior to its establishment. However, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) is mandated to prosecute those responsible for serious violations of
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humanitarian law throughout the territory of the former Yugoslavia. We are doing all we can to assist the Tribunal with its investigations. It will be important that its staff are given full access to Kosovo once the military action is over so that they may conduct a thorough investigation into the atrocities that are allegedly occurring there.
Mr. Maclean:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the report by the UN Observer Mission in Sierra Leone concerning alleged civil rights abuses by the Economic Community of West Africa States Monitoring Group; and what representations he has made on the report. [81242]
Mr. Tony Lloyd:
We fully support the efforts made by ECOMOG to protect the civilian population of Sierra Leone from rebel atrocities. Nevertheless, we view with concern any reports of abuses by ECOMOG forces, including those reported by the United Nations Observer Mission in Sierra Leone. We have made our views clear on this to ECOMOG and to the Government of Sierra Leone. The abuses described by UNOMSIL, and any other such reports, should be fully investigated.
We welcome the Nigerian Government's public commitment that ECOMOG will continue to operate in accordance with international humanitarian law and that it will take disciplinary measures against any offenders.
On 13 April 1999, Official Report, column 35, I gave details of the further assistance which we are providing to support ECOMOG's efforts to protect the people and the democratically elected Government of Sierra Leone. We have secured assurances from ECOMOG that this equipment will be used only in accordance with internationally acceptable human rights standards and humanitarian law. We have made it clear to ECOMOG that our support is conditional on ECOMOG and the Government of Sierra Leone respecting human rights.
Mr. Mitchell:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer of 31 March 1999, Official Report, column 692, on the Western European Union, on which dates the French and Greek Governments deposited instruments of ratification of the Treaty of Amsterdam; and on which day it will come into force. [81443]
Ms Quin:
The Greek and French Governments deposited their instruments of ratification on 23 and 30 March 1999 respectively.
The Treaty of Amsterdam will enter into force on 1 May 1999.
Mr. Llew Smith:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment has been made of the proposals put forward by (a) South Africa, (b) Egypt, (c) Belgium, Germany, Italy, Netherlands and Norway, collectively, (d) Canada and (e) Group of 21 to the United Nations current Conference on Disarmament, in respect of nuclear disarmament; what support has been given by Britain to each proposal; and
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what proposals on nuclear disarmament have been submitted to the United Nations current Conference on Disarmament by the United Kingdom. [81569]
Mr. Tony Lloyd:
The highest priority for the Conference on Disarmament (CD) in 1999 is that negotiations on a fissile material cut-off treaty should begin in earnest. We therefore wish to see the re-establishment of the Ad Hoc Committee set up in 1998 for this purpose. Such a treaty is the internationally agreed next step towards nuclear disarmament.
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