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Serbia
Sir Sydney Chapman:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 19 July 1999, Official Report, column 427, if he will make a statement on the progress of the Joint Task Force set up by the UN Environment Programme and the UN Commission on Human Settlements on the environmental effects of the conflict in Kosovo. [95810]
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Mr. Hoon:
The joint UN Environment Programme/UN Commission on Human Settlements Balkans Task Force issued its report "The Kosovo Conflict: Consequences for the Environment" on 5 October 1999. A copy of the report will be placed in the Library of the House.
Mrs. Ewing:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the number and running costs of (a) Royal Navy shore stations, (b) Army core headquarters and (c) RAF bases in (i) the South East of England, (ii) England, (iii) Scotland, (iv) Wales and (v) Northern Ireland. [95277]
Mr. Spellar:
I will write to the hon. Member and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House.
Mr. Keetch:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many personnel are (a) on secondment from UK armed forces serving with foreign armed services and (b) from abroad serving with UK armed forces, specifying their ranks and to which service they belong; and if he will make a statement. [95931]
Mr. Spellar:
I will write to the hon. Member and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House.
Mr. Mackinlay:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many requests there have been to his Department for placement of officials from Central, East European and CIS states as twins of his officials; how many such officials have been accepted as twins; and from which countries (a) those who were accepted and (b) those who were not accepted came. [94001]
Mr. Spellar:
I refer my hon. Friend to the answer which the Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, my hon. Friend the Member for Leicester, East (Mr. Vaz) gave on 25 October 1999, Official Report, columns 739-40.
Mr. Keetch:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will provide a breakdown of the £594m of new efficiency improvements achieved in 1998-99, indicating where the savings were made; and if he will make a statement. [95551]
Mr. Spellar:
I refer the hon. Member to the letter sent on 27 July by the then Secretary of State, Lord Robertson, to the hon. Member for Salisbury (Mr. Key), a copy of which was placed in the Library of the House. That letter provides a breakdown of the £594 million of new efficiency improvements in 1998-99, £89 million more than the target of £505 million.
Both service and civilian personnel made this achievement across all parts of my Department by seeking out genuine efficiencies. The extra efficiency gains have been retained by the defence budget and have contributed
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to funding other defence priorities. This further demonstrates the MOD's commitment to improving our capability and performance.
Joan Ruddock:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what preparations her Department is making for input into the EU position for the next meeting of the Biosafety Protocol; and if she will make a statement. [94826]
Clare Short:
My Department has been closely involved in the UK contribution to the EU position for the next meeting of the Biosafety Protocol to ensure that it takes account of developing country concerns.
Dr. Tonge:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what progress has been made on debt relief for Rwanda; and if she will make a statement on the Rwanda Trust Fund. [95237]
Clare Short:
Rwanda's external debt burden is heavy. At the end of 1998, Rwanda's debt stock was around US$1.2 billion, equivalent to 59 per cent. of GDP.
Multilateral creditors account for over 80 per cent. of Rwanda's external debt stock. A Multilateral Debt Trust Fund was established in 1998 to service Rwanda's debts to the International Development Association, the African Development Bank and the International Fund for Agricultural Development over the period 1999-2001, using funds pooled by bilateral donors. The UK contributed £10.6 million to this Fund in 1999, as part of the disbursement of the £30 million of flexible assistance committed in the Development Partnership Understanding signed by the two Governments in April 1999. The Fund is expected to be adequately financed through to the end of 2000. The UK will keep under review whether a further UK contribution to the Multilateral Debt Fund might be appropriate.
We strongly support the agreement at the 1999 Annual Meetings of the IMF and World Bank to revise the framework for debt relief for heavily indebted poor countries (HIPC), and to link it to poverty reduction much more strongly. For Rwanda, the revisions mean additional debt relief, provided that it continues to pursue sound policies, and a start to this relief three years earlier than under the original HIPC framework. Rwanda's Decision Point, when it will start to receive its HIPC debt relief, is likely to be in the next year or so. The UK will press for the maximum reduction in multilateral debt servicing in the early years, consistent with Rwanda being able to spend the savings effectively on programmes to reduce poverty.
In July 1998, agreement was reached between Paris Club official bilateral creditors (Austria, Canada, France, Japan, the Netherlands and the United States) and Rwanda on a debt rescheduling on Naples terms. All the relevant bilateral agreements with Paris Club creditors have now been signed.
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Dr. Tonge:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement on the use of the money earmarked by her Department for Aids vaccine research. [95285]
Clare Short:
We are providing £14.2 million over 5 years to support the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) in developing an AIDS vaccine which is safe, effective and affordable for the developing world. This supplements our work with the Medical Research Council and the European Commission. IAVI are harnessing public and private human and financial resources to accelerate testing of a number of promising candidate AIDS vaccines suitable to market to developing countries within 10-15 years.
Dr. Tonge:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent reports she has received regarding food supplies in Bahr el Ghazal, Southern Sudan. [95236]
Clare Short:
Latest reports show that food supplies in Bahr el Ghazal are relatively good this year and certainly much better than in 1998. The bulk of supplies consumed in the region are from local production but a top-up of food aid continues at a rate of between 3,000 and 4,000 metric tonnes per month. Although food aid deliveries are below planning figures, the low observed rates of malnutrition confirm improvements over the last year.
The UN Annual Needs Assessment for Sudan, which is being carried out by FAO and WFP, is presently under way. We await its results with interest.
Mr. Mackinlay:
To ask the Prime Minister what papers were passed during the past 10 years on the authority of (a) the Foreign Secretary, or (b) other Ministers, to Professor Christopher Andrew relating to Oleg Gordievsky, (i) in connection with his defection and (ii) in relation to other matters; and if he will make a statement. [94705]
The Prime Minister
[holding answer 19 October 1999]: No such papers have been passed during this Government. I am not accountable for what happened under previous Governments.
Mr. Bercow:
To ask the Prime Minister on how many occasions member states of the European Union (a) have invoked and (b) have threatened to invoke the Luxembourg Compromise. [95306]
The Prime Minister:
There is no central record of the number of times member states have invoked or threatened to invoke the Luxembourg Compromise. We are not aware of any formal invocation since this Government took office.
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Mr. Mackinlay:
To ask the Prime Minister (1) when Michael John Smith (prison number PR 3345) will receive a substantive reply to his letter of 10 January 1997 to the Secretary of the Security Commission; and what was the reason for the delay; [96168]
The Prime Minister:
Mr. Smith last wrote on 3 August 1999 requesting a substantive reply to his letter of 10 January 1997. An acknowledgement was sent on 13 August by the current Secretary of the Security Commission also apologising for any earlier delays. A substantive response, approved by the Chairman of the Security Commission, was sent on 13 October 1999. This pointed out that the questions raised in Mr. Smith's letter of 10 January 1997 relating to the Security Commission Inquiry had already been dealt with in correspondence from the then Secretary of the Security Commission dated 20 December 1996 and in the Report of the Security Commission on Mr. Smith's case published in July 1995.
(2) why undertakings contained in the letter of 7 January 1998 from the Secretary of the Civil Service Commission to Michael John Smith (prison number 3345) were not fulfilled. [96167]
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