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Written Answers to Questions
Monday 17 May 1999
INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Albania
Mr. Key: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what is the budget for her Department's office in Tirana, Albania; how many staff are in post and at what grades; who is the budget holder in Tirana and what is his authorised level of expenditure; what is the role of the Crown Agents; and if she will make a statement. [84125]
Clare Short: Monthly running costs for the DFID Tirana office are £75,000 (inclusive of staffing, rent and utilities). There are currently 10 British recruited and one locally recruited members of staff: the head of office, specialists in camp planning and development, logistics, health, NGO liaison, and an administrator. The head of office holds an initial budget of £1 million for projects with delegated authority of up to £100,000. The Crown Agents are providing, under contract to DFID, the emergency logistics team who are managing the office. Crown Agents may also be used for procurement and other services.
FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS
Schengen
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer of 4 May 1999, Official Report, columns 340-41, if the letter from the Dutch Government of 16 July 1997 on the Amsterdam treaty negotiations was referred to during Council discussions on the Home Secretary's proposal to join elements of the Schengen system. [83963]
MEPs' Interests
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will place (a) the Register of MEPs' interests and (b) the guidelines for MEPs registering interests in the Library. [83942]
Ms Quin: The register of MEPs' interests is held by the European Parliament in Brussels and Strasbourg where it is available for inspection by the public.
The guidelines for MEPs registering interests are contained in Annex 1 of the European Parliament's Rules of Procedure, copies of which are available
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from the European Parliament or on the Internet (www.europarl.eu.int).
Mr. Bercow:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the pre-conflict Kosovan ethnic mix in (a) percentage and (b) numerical terms; and what measures he is planning to guarantee the security of non-Albanians in post-conflict Kosovo. [83926]
Mr. Tony Lloyd:
Definitive statistics for Kosovo's pre-March 1999 ethnic make-up do not exist. On the available information, we estimate that Albanians represented between 70 per cent. and 90 per cent. of Kosovo's pre-March 1999 population (approximately 1.6 million). The remainder of the population consisted of Serbs and Montenegrins (perhaps 150,000), Muslims (up to 100,000), and Turks, Romanies and a group known as 'Egyptians' (probably less than 50,000).
Our aim is a post-conflict administration of Kosovo that safeguards the security of all its people, irrespective of ethnic origin. That can be achieved only by means of a strong international military presence with a NATO core.
Joan Ruddock:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what (a) progress has been made and (b) issues remain unresolved in the negotiations concerning a protocol to the Biological and Toxic Weapons Conventions. [84210]
Mr. Tony Lloyd:
Since 1995 an Ad Hoc Group of States Parties has been meeting in Geneva to consider measures to strengthen the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention. The United Kingdom is responsible for the key sessions on compliance measures and is playing a leading role in the negotiations. The Ad Hoc Group has made considerable progress and is now working on the text of a draft Protocol to the Convention. 1999 has already seen a significant intensification of this work with a total of 16 weeks available for the negotiations, the largest ever number. Much detailed work remains to be done, primarily on the technical aspects of the Protocol, but the UK, together with its EU partners, believes that an effective package of measures can be agreed during 2000. As an indication of the priority the UK attaches to its early and successful completion, we have offered to host the signing ceremony of the Protocol in London.
Ms Perham:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if a country may be admitted to the European Union without becoming a signatory to the European Union code of conduct on arms sales. [84257]
Mr. Tony Lloyd:
In practice we would expect all EU member states to adhere in full to the Code of Conduct, including through participation in the information exchange and consultation mechanism established in the operative provisions of the Code.
The Associated countries of Central and Eastern Europe, the Associated country Cyprus, and Iceland and
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Norway have already aligned themselves with the criteria and the principles contained in the EU Code on Arms Exports.
Mr. Stringer:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many visa applicants in 1998 were turned away from the Islamabad High Commission by the pre-sift process before their formal application had been considered. [84327]
Mr. Tony Lloyd:
I refer my hon Friend to the reply I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Slough (Fiona Mactaggart) on 26 April 1999, Official Report, columns 32-33.
Sir Teddy Taylor:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent contact there has been with the Government of Sudan about the bombing by the USA of the factory in Khartoum; and if he will make a statement. [84227]
Mr. Robin Cook:
We have been in regular contact with the Government of Sudan since the withdrawal of staff from Khartoum last August. Discussions have covered a whole range of issues, including Al Shifa. We are hopeful of a return to normal relations with the Sudan.
Sir Teddy Taylor:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if it remains the policy of Her Majesty's Government to support the action of the USA in bombing the factory in Khartoum, Sudan; and if he will make a statement. [84226]
Mr. Robin Cook:
My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister gave his support to the US action last August as action against international terrorists. As Her Majesty's Government have said on many occasions since, the US told us at the time of the strike on Al Shifa that they had compelling evidence that the plant was being used for the production of chemical weapons materials.
Mr. Tyrie:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to his answer of 31 March 1999, Official Report, column 709, on Special Advisers, if he will give the total travel cost of each occasion when a Special Adviser travelled abroad in an official capacity since 2 May 1997 and the place visited. [82434]
Dr. Jack Cunningham:
For the period 2 May 1997 to 31 March 1999, Special Advisers in this Department accompanied me or my predecessor overseas in an official capacity on six occasions to the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Italy. The cost of this travel was £19,091. In addition, the UK anti-drugs co-ordinator and his deputy have travelled overseas in an official capacity
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on eight occasions to the USA, Canada, Austria, Czech Republic, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. The cost of this travel was £18,178. All travel complied with the requirements of the Ministerial Code and the Civil Service Management Code.
Mr. Keetch:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what recent guidance has been given to colleges of further education concerning the attendance of members of the governing body; and if he will make a statement. [R] [84385]
Mr. Mudie:
Further Education Corporations are required by their instrument of government to hold meetings at least once in each term. They may remove any governor from office who fails to attend meetings over a period of six months without their permission. The Further Education Funding Council will be issuing comprehensive new guidance for governors later this year.
Mr. Jim Cunningham:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what steps the Government are taking to improve the effectiveness of measures aimed at reducing the level of long-term unemployment among the over 25-year-olds in Coventry. [83972]
Mr. Andrew Smith:
Building on the New Deal for people aged 25 and over, which was introduced in June 1998 and gave those who had been unemployed for at least two years new subsidised employment and training opportunities, we introduced pilot schemes in 28 areas of Great Britain in November 1998. These have been designed to allow local partnerships more flexibility to try innovative ways of helping this age group back into work. One of these pilots is operating in Coventry, and is using a collaborative approach to delivering services through a range of partner organisations including the local city council. We are supporting their initiatives in helping long-term unemployed people find work, and will be evaluating this and the other pilots to see what works best and how help can be delivered most effectively in future for the benefit of unemployed adults in Coventry and elsewhere.
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