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Correspondence
Mr. Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what percentage of mail received in the last 12 months for which figures are available from right hon. and hon. Members was replied to by him within (a) up to 20 days, (b) 21 to 30 days, (c) 31 to 40 days and (d) over 40 days. [90164]
Mr. Hoon: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office to my hon. Friend the Member for Lincoln (Gillian Merron) on 11 June 1999, Official Report, columns 403-06 which sets out departmental performance against the targets set for answering correspondence from right hon. and hon. Members in the 1998 calendar year.
The percentage of mail received in the last 12 months from right hon. and hon. Members which are replied to within the timescales specified could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
East Timor
Mr. Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans are being prepared by his Department for the monitoring of the referendum on the future Government of East Timor; and if he will make a statement. [90344]
Mr. Hoon: EU member states will be sending a team of observers to the UN supervised consultation in East Timor.
Diplomatic Posts (Locally Engaged Staff)
Mrs. Gillan:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the locally engaged staff in the British Embassies or High Commissions in (a) China, (b) Brazil, (c) India, (d) Indonesia, (e) Pakistan and (f) Nigeria who are paid less than the United Kingdom national minimum wage, together with their hourly salary expressed in the Sterling equivalent. [90640]
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Mr. Tony Lloyd:
This information is not held centrally. To obtain it from the diplomatic posts concerned would involve disproportionate cost.
Mr. Corbyn:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what proposals he has to send observers from the United Kingdom to monitor the election in Guatemala in November 1999. [90345]
Mr. Tony Lloyd:
We are giving careful consideration, in consultation with other member states of the European Union, as to how we might best respond to any invitation from the appropriate Guatemalan authorities to participate in election monitoring.
Mr. Corbyn:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions have been held by staff of the British Embassy in Guatemala with political parties and human rights groups concerning the conduct of the elections due to be held in November. [90346]
Mr. Tony Lloyd:
The Ambassador and his staff are in regular contact with politicians, human rights workers and senior election officials about the forthcoming elections. These will be an important step in Guatemala's peace process and the strengthening of democratic institutions.
Mrs. Gillan:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the effect of the loss of Department for International Development contract work to the British Council on his Department's operations in developing countries. [90634]
Mr. Hoon:
The British Council continues to manage most existing DFID contracts. The lack of new contracts for which to bid will have a progressive effect on the British Council's operation in developing countries over the next few years. The FCO will be working with the British Council and DFID to achieve the most effective co-operation possible in their work in developing countries.
Dr. Marek:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if it is the Government's policy to abide by all the provisions of the Treaty of Utrecht. [90939]
Ms Quin:
The agreement signed in 1713 and known as the Treaty of Utrecht was part of a series of treaties which ended the War of the Spanish Succession. The full Treaty contained provisions relating to a wide range of areas and issues, many of which are no longer applicable.
British title to the Rock of Gibraltar is based on Article X of the Treaty. In determining title to the Rock, this remains binding under international law upon the two parties, the UK and Spain. Both parties have so conducted themselves for many years.
Mr. Mitchell:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer of
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18 June 1999, Official Report, column 255, for what reason the reports of working groups on legislative proposals are not published for scrutiny prior to decision. [88681]
Ms Quin:
Government Departments inform Parliamentary scrutiny committees of legislative proposals through the submission of Explanatory Memorandums. These outline the draft proposal, the impact on UK law and the Government's policy towards it.
The Council's Rules of Procedure state that
The Government are, however, committed to the effective parliamentary scrutiny of EU legislative proposals. Departments therefore usually aim to give the scrutiny committees as full a read-out of negotiations as possible while respecting the Council's confidentiality.
Mr. Maples:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on his efforts to find a settlement of the situation in Cyprus. [90141]
Ms Quin:
We remain determined to see a major, sustained effort this year in support of the UN Secretary- General's initiative to secure a just and lasting settlement in Cyprus.
G8 Heads of Government, in their statement of 20 June, and the UN Security Council, in its resolution 1250 of 29 June, have urged UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to invite the leaders of both Cypriot sides to enter without preconditions into comprehensive negotiations starting in the Autumn, and to commit themselves in good faith to continue to negotiate until a settlement is reached. As a G8 member and a permanent member of the UN Security Council, the UK has been closely involved in this process. The Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary confirmed to Mr. Annan, during his visit to London on 24-25 June, that he will have our full support in efforts to get negotiations underway.
Mr. Maples:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on China's human rights record since 1 July 1997. [90134]
Mr. Hoon:
Since July 1997 China has taken several positive steps which will bring about 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 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 our EU and UK/China dialogues. China has also begun to work
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with the UK and EU on human rights co-operation programmes. Through dialogue we are pressing for further positive steps, including early ratification and implementation of the international covenants, changes on the death penalty and detention regimes.
Mr. Maples:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the deadline for sending an international police task force to Kosovo; and how many of the planned international police task force have arrived to Kosovo. [90130]
Mr. Tony Lloyd:
It was agreed at the Friends of the UN Secretary-General for Kosovo meeting in New York on 30 June that the United Nations Mission in Kosovo should acquire the capacity to take over responsibility for policing from KFOR as soon as possible. As of 1 July, 2,400 police had been pledged to the United Nations, out of the total 3,110 required. The UN has already deployed an advance party of 39 police officers to Kosovo to establish a headquarters and to liaise with KFOR. It is expected that the main component of the UN Police Force will start to deploy from 17 July.
Mr. Maples:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many police officers from the UN mission in Bosnia have been deployed to Kosovo. [90131]
Mr. Tony Lloyd:
As of 7 July, 37 police officers had been transferred from the International Police Task Force in Bosnia to the UN Police Force in Kosovo. A further 40 will follow soon.
Mr. Maples:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the deadline for (a) appointing the UN Secretary General's special representative to Kosovo and (b) appointing five regional administrators to Kosovo. [90129]
Mr. Tony Lloyd:
The UN Secretary-General announced on 2 July the appointment of Bernard Kouchner as his Special Representative to head the United Nations Mission in Kosovo. He has also announced Kouchner's five deputies: Jack Covey as Principal Deputy, Dominique Vian as Deputy for Interim Civil Administration, Dennis McNamara as Deputy: Humanitarian Affairs, Daan Everts as Deputy: Institution Building and Joly Dixon as Deputy: Reconstruction.
Mr. Maples:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the UK contribution to the civil police in Kosovo. [90132]
Mr. Tony Lloyd:
The United Nations have requested 60 UK police officers for Kosovo. We have offered to provide these officers to recruit, to train and to monitor a civil police force for Kosovo. We are currently discussing with the United Nations and the OSCE what specific roles these officers might undertake.
The united Kingdom has already deployed 16 Scene of Crime experts to Kosovo to assist the International War Crimes Tribunal with their investigation of alleged atrocities there.
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"deliberations of the Council shall be covered by the obligation of professional secrecy".
This covers preparatory meetings such as COREPER and Council working groups.
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