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Parental Leave

Ms Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list those European countries which (a) pay and (b) do not pay people on parental leave, indicating the methods used for making such payments. [83558]

Mr. Byers: From the information that we hold, it appears that some form of state payment is provided in Italy, Sweden, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany and Luxembourg during parental leave, subject to each Member State's qualifying conditions.

There does not appear to be any universal provision for payment in Spain, Portugal, Greece, Ireland or the Netherlands.

SCOTLAND

Scottish Parliament (Facilities)

Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what (a) reciprocal and (b) other arrangements have been made for hon. Members to use facilities at the Scottish Parliament. [83240]

Mr. McLeish: MSPs themselves will wish to consider the nature of their relationship with Westminster MPs. It will be a matter for the Scottish Parliament itself to decide on what arrangements it would be appropriate to make for hon. Members to use facilities at the Scottish Parliament.

Open Government

Dr. David Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many applications for information he received under the Open Government Code of Practice on Access to Government Information in the last parliamentary session; and how many of these applications were granted. [83112]

Mr. Dewar: This information is collected for monitoring purposes on a calendar year basis. Information for 1997 was published in the Open Government Code of Practice on Access to Government Information 1997

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Report. In 1998 my Department (including non- departmental public bodies covered by the Code) received 263 applications for information made under the Code and granted 255 of them.

From 1 July, this will be a matter for the Scottish Parliament.

Public Record Office

Sir Brian Mawhinney: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many linear metres of storage space at the Public Record Office for Scotland are (a) occupied by records and (b) vacant. [83753]

Mr. McLeish: The National Archives of Scotland has 69,492.94 metres of available shelf space, of which 57,618.48 are currently occupied.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Environmental Appraisal

Mr. Truswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what environmental appraisals of policy his Department has (a) completed, (b) started and (c) planned. [79632]

Mr. Robin Cook: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Minister for the Environment, Transport and the Regions on 13 April 1999, Official Report, column 66.

EU-ACP Ministerial Meeting

Mr. Maclean: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will publish the agenda for the forthcoming EU-ACP Ministerial Meeting of 6 May. [83279]

Ms Quin: The last EU-ACP Ministerial Meeting took place in Dakar in February and the next will take place on 29-30 July in Brussels. A separate ACP-EU Council between these negotiating sessions was provisionally envisaged for May, but in the event no need for it arose. No agenda has yet been fixed for the next meeting.

China and Tibet

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Ruislip-Northwood (Mr. Wilkinson) of 26 April 1999, Official Report, column 36, on China and Tibet, if he will list those areas on which a dialogue-based approach has made limited progress; and if he will make a statement on how he intends to press China to take further action. [83557]

Mr. Robin Cook: Since the UK/China human rights dialogue was established in September 1997, and the EU/China human rights dialogue resumed in October 1997, China has taken several positive steps which will bring about its closer co-operation with UN human rights mechanisms. These include signature of the international covenants on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and Civil and Political Rights, and agreement to report to the Un under those covenants in respect of Hong Kong. It has received visits by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the UN Working Group on Arbitrary

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Detention, as well as allowing a visit to Tibet by EU Troika Ambassadors. It has also extended an invitation to visit to the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture. We have been able to discuss issues of serious concern including the death penalty, religion, Tibet and individual cases in the dialogues; China has also begun to collaborate with the UK and EU on human rights co-operation programmes. We shall press for further concrete steps through these continuing dialogues, as well as forthcoming bilateral and EU high level meetings with China.

Subsidiarity

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on how many occasions he has blocked a Commission proposal at the Council of Ministers on the ground of subsidiarity. [83474]

Ms Quin: Subsidiarity is one of numerous factors taken into account when legislation is discussed in the Council of Ministers. It is not possible to say how often it has been the principal factor in UK opposition to a Commission proposal.

Cambodia

Mr. Mullin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what position Her Majesty's Government took on Cambodia at the recent United Nations Commission on Human Rights meeting in Geneva; and if he will make a statement. [83374]

Mr. Robin Cook: We see the UNCHR as an important opportunity to press the Cambodian Government to improve its human rights record. This year we co-sponsored a successful resolution on Cambodia which called for proper investigation into extra-judicial killings, an end to impunity, and for Khmer Rouge leaders to be brought to justice. We will continue to press for full respect for human rights in Cambodia, both through diplomatic pressure and practical assistance.

Sudan

Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent information he has received from the United States Government concerning the missile attack last year on the pharmaceutical plant in Khartoum. [83468]

Mr. Robin Cook: It is established practice under Section 1(c) of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information not to disclose or discuss information received in confidence from foreign governments.

Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received from Sudan concerning the attack on Akoc in Troc County, Bhar-el-Ghazal, Southern Sudan on 26 February. [83084]

Mr. Robin Cook [holding answer 6 May 1999]: We have had a number of reports of an attack on Akoc by murahileen. Reporting by NGOs on the ground talked of over 40 killed and nearly 900 abducted.

Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress has been made in re-establishing an embassy in Khartoum. [83085]

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Mr. Robin Cook [holding answer 6 May 1999]: As I made clear at the time of the withdrawal of staff, we hope the necessary conditions will be re-established for a return to normal relations with Sudan. We have been in regular contact with the Sudanese authorities and discussions continue.

Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the letter from Lady Bingham of Cornhill to the Minister of State, the right hon. Member for Leeds, Central (Mr. Fatchett), what assistance he has given to the Sudanese Red Crescent (a) emergency vaccine campaign against meningitis and (b) malaria eradication programme. [83354]

Mr. Robin Cook: Support for Red Cross activities, as for all humanitarian responses in Sudan, is a matter for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Development.

Entry Clearance Visas

Mr. Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what was the average length of time of an interview for an entry clearance visa in (a) Bombay, (b) New Delhi, (c) Calcutta, (d) Islamabad, (e) Dhaka and (f) Karachi in the last year for which figures are available. [83560]

Mr. Robin Cook: Applications are dealt with on the basis of a triage system which separates them into 4 tiers. The tiers are:

(A) Non-settlement
Tier 1: Straightforward applications received over the counter, by post, or from an agent, resulting in immediate issue or mandatory refusal. ECOs may ask one or two questions if necessary to clear up minor points.
Tier 2: Secondary examination of less straightforward applications that are likely to result in an issue.
Tier 3: For cases likely to result in refusal. A full interview is required.
(B) Settlement
Tier 4: This is the category under which all settlement cases are dealt with. Interviews can result in issue, refusal, referral (to the Home Office for a decision) or deferral (for additional information to be obtained).

The average length of interviews at the posts listed is as follows (figures, in minutes, are for 1998):

Post	Tier 1	Tier 2	Tier 3	Tier 4
Bombay	2.00	9.00	30.00	50.00
New Delhi	2.02	5.33	28.46	57.54
Calcutta	3.00	10.00	29.75	39.17
Islamabad	3.85	10.50	35.65	39.71
Dhaka	2.80	8.07	32.87	58.11
Karachi	1.59	4.28	26.50	43.00

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