16. Foreign Affairs
The Committee was nominated on 16 July 1997.
It had 12 Members and held 51 meetings.
|
| Members | Meetings attended |
|
|
Anderson, Mr Donald (Chairman) | 48 |
|
Abbott, Ms Diane | 41 |
|
Bottomley, Mrs Virginia | 38 |
|
Emery, Sir Peter | 40 |
|
Godman, Mr Norman A | 30 |
|
Heath, Mr David | 45 |
|
Illsley, Mr Eric | 37 |
|
Mackinlay, Mr Andrew | 39 |
|
Ross, Mr Ernie | 41 |
|
Rowlands, Mr Ted | 45 |
|
Stanley, Sir John | 37 |
|
Wilshire, Mr David | 26 |
|
Overall attendance: 76.3 %
Number of Members added: 0
Number of Members discharged: 0
Turnover of membership during the Session: 0
%
Staff
Committee Clerk: Dr C R M Ward (until 1.11.98) Mr
E P Silk (from 1.11.98)
Other Committee staff: Mr M P Atkins, Assistant Clerk
(Grade A3); Ms R J Challis, Senior Executive Officer (Grade 8)
(until 22.6.98); Mrs C J Oxborough, Senior Executive Officer (Grade
8) (from 22.6.98); Ms A M Allen, Secretary (Grade 12) (until 12.1.98);
Mrs S Bertasius, Secretary (Grade 12) (from 12.1.98) and Miss
A Ferreira, Senior Office Clerk (Grade 13).
Specialist Advisers during the Session
Mr Howard Gilbert
Mrs Jocelyn Statler (Chatham House Liaison)
Mrs Heather Weeks (Chatham House Liaison)
Witnesses
Oral evidence was given during the Session by the
following categories of witnesses:
Number of appearances by:-
Cabinet Ministers: 6
Other Ministers: 5 (of whom 1 was a Member of
the House of Lords)
Number of appearances by officials from, or representatives
of:-
Foreign & Commonwealth Office: 35
other departments: 1
comprising:- Ministry of Defence 1
non-departmental public bodies: 3
comprising:- BBC 3
Appearances by other witnesses: 38
Overseas Visits
Date |
Destination
|
Members |
Staff |
Purpose
|
Cost |
29-30.9.97 |
Luxembourg
|
1*
|
1
|
Meeting of FAC Chairmen of Parliaments of EU Member States, EU Applicant States and of the European Parliament
|
£1,449
|
26-28.11.97 |
Tallinn
|
1*
|
0
|
Conference on EU Enlargement organised by Estonian Parliament
|
£1,047
|
3-5.2.98 |
Paris and
Brussels
|
8
|
2
|
European Union and NATO
|
£7,760
|
9-14.3.98 |
New York and Washington
|
11
|
2
|
Inquiry into Foreign Policy and Human Rights
|
£52,096
|
31.3-4.4.98 |
Hong Kong
|
10
|
2
|
Inquiry into Hong Kong
|
£41,314
|
18-19.5.98 |
Geneva
|
7
|
1
|
Inquiry into Foreign Policy and Human Rights
|
£5,851
|
13-20.6.98 |
3 part visit: Thailand and Philippines
Qatar, Kuwait and Israel
Kenya and Uganda
|
5
3
3
|
1
1
1
|
Inquiry into Foreign Policy and Human Rights
|
£51,504
(estimate)
|
5-6.7.98 |
Vienna
|
4
|
1
|
EU Presidency |
£5,178
(estimate)
|
13-18.9.98 |
3 part visit:
Poland and Estonia
Czech Republic and Hungary
Cyprus and Slovenia
|
3
4
3
|
1
1
1
|
Inquiry into EU Enlargement
|
£23,472
(estimate)
|
28-29.9.98 |
Vienna
|
1*
|
1
|
Meeting of FAC Chairmen of Parliaments of EU Member States, EU Applicant States and of the European Parliament
|
£2,250
(estimate)
|
23-24.10.98 |
Warsaw
|
1*
|
0
|
Conference on Euro-Atlantic dialogue organised by Polish Parliament
|
£1,000
(estimate)
|
* Travel in a representative capacity
Visits to European Institutions in Brussels and
Strasbourg
Date |
Destination
|
Members |
Staff |
Purpose
|
Cost |
27-28.10.97 |
Brussels
|
1*
|
1
|
Conference on IGC organised by European Parliament
|
£736
|
30.6.-1.7.98 |
Brussels
|
1*
|
1
|
European Parliament seminar for Foreign Affairs Committee Chairmen
|
£844
|
20-21.9.98
|
Brussels |
1*
|
0
|
European Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs seminar on the Royaumont Process
|
£436
|
27-28.10.98
|
Brussels |
1*
|
1
|
Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Forum
|
£1,250
(estimate)
|
* Travel in a representative capacity
UK Visits
Date
|
Destination
|
Members
|
Staff
|
Purpose
|
Cost
|
16.12.97 |
Chinese Embassy, London
|
8
|
3
|
Briefing |
£94.90
|
Reports and Minutes of Evidence
Title |
HC No.
(1997-98)
|
Date of
publication
|
No. of
pages
|
Sale price
|
Government
reply
|
First Report: The Treaty of Amsterdam
|
305
|
27.11.97
|
67
|
£10.60
|
Not required |
Second Report: Dependent Territories Review: Interim Report
|
347
|
3.2.98
|
106
|
£13.60
|
Unnumbered Command Paper laid 14 May 1998: published as Third Special Report
|
Third Report: Hong Kong
|
710
|
7.8.98
|
104
|
£13.60
|
Cm 4156 25.11.98
|
Fourth Report: Entry Clearance Operations, with particular reference to Islamabad and New Delhi
|
515
|
7.8.98
|
129
|
£15.90
|
Cm 4151 25.11.98
|
First Special Report: Sierra Leone: Exchange of Correspondence with the Foreign Secretary
|
760
|
22.5.98 (Published in typescript on 21.5.98)
|
6
|
£2.25
|
Not required |
Second Special Report: Sierra Leone: Further Exchanges of Correspondence with the Foreign Secretary
|
852
|
25.6.98
|
9
|
£3.40
|
Not required |
Third Special Report: Government Response to the Second Report of the Committee on Dependent Territories Review: Interim Report
|
1192
|
26.11.98
|
6
|
£2.25
|
Not required |
Minutes of Evidence: Luxembourg European Council, 1.12.97
|
387-i
|
12.1.98
|
21
|
£5.50
|
Not applicable |
Minutes of Evidence: NATO Enlargement (Joint meeting with Defence Committee), 19.1.98
|
482-i
|
1.4.98
|
26
|
£8.80
|
Not applicable |
Minutes of Evidence: Iraq, 24.2.98
|
582-i
|
29.4.98
|
14
|
£4.00
|
Not applicable |
Minutes of Evidence: The Situation in Kosovo, 19.3.98
|
649-i
|
29.4.98
|
12
|
£4.00
|
Not applicable |
Minutes of Evidence: Cardiff European Council, 2.6.98
|
387-ii
|
6.7.98
|
22
|
£5.50
|
Not applicable |
Government replies to Reports for Session 1996-97: None
Divisions
Date |
Subject
|
21.5.98 |
Six, on consideration of amendments to Chairman's draft Special Report on Sierra Leone: Exchange of Correspondence with the Foreign Secretary
|
23.6.98 |
Six, on consideration of amendments to Chairman's draft Special Report on Sierra Leone: Further Exchanges of Correspondence with the Foreign Secretary and one on a motion to adjourn
|
30.6.98 |
Four, on consideration of whether to take further evidence from Foreign & Commonwealth Office on Public Expenditure
|
14.7.98 |
One, on whether the evidence session on 16 July 1998 on Public Expenditure should be taken in private
|
16.7.98 |
One, on consideration of whether a Question should be put to witnesses in the inquiry into Public Expenditure
|
30.7.98 |
One, on consideration of Chairman's draft Report on Entry Clearance Operations with particular reference to Islamabad and New Delhi
|
Debates
The following Reports were referred to on the Order Paper as being
relevant to a debate in the House:
First Special Report: Sierra Leone: Exchange of Correspondence
with the Foreign Secretary, HC 760 and Second Special Report:
Sierra Leone: Further Exchanges of Correspondence with the Foreign
Secretary, HC 852, 1997-98, were tagged as relevant to the debate
on Release of Information to Select Committees, 7.7.98
The following Minutes of Evidence were referred to on the Order
Paper as being relevant to debates in the House:
Minutes of Evidence, 4 November 1997, HC 305-i, on the Treaty
of Amsterdam, 12.11.97
Minutes of Evidence, 1 December 1997, HC 387-i, on the Luxembourg
European Council, 4.12.98
Minutes of Evidence, 5 May 1998, HC 369-vii, on Foreign Policy
and Human Rights and 14 May 1998, HC 745-i, on Public Expenditure
Plans of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, 18.5.98
Minutes of Evidence, 2 June 1998, HC 398-ii, on the Cardiff European
Council, 11.6.98
Evidence
Oral evidence was taken at 30 of the Committee's 51 meetings.
On 3 of these occasions evidence was taken partly or wholly in
private. The Committee received 282 memoranda, of which 52 came
from Government departments, 4 from executive agencies and 2 from
associated public bodies. The Committee published 118 memoranda.
Inquiry |
No. of oral evidence sessions
|
No. of memoranda received
|
No. of memoranda received from Government departments/
executive agencies/
associated public bodies
|
No. of memoranda published
|
No. of memoranda made available in the Record Office for public use and placed in the Library
|
| Treaty of Amsterdam | 2 | 15 | 5/0/0 | 7 | 0 |
| Dependent Territories Review: Interim Report | 3 | 42 | 10/0/0 | 25 | 0 |
| Foreign Policy and Human Rights* | 10 | 133 | 8/4/2 | 60 | 18 |
| Hong Kong | 1 | 33 | 5/0/0 | 10 | 3 |
| Public Expenditure | 5 | 1 | 1/0/0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sierra Leone* | 4 | 46 | 20/0/0 | 13 | 0 |
| Other | 5 | 12 | 3/0/0 | 3 | 0 |
Total |
30
|
282 |
52/4/2
|
118 |
21
|
* The Committee did not complete its inquiry on this
subject in this Session; details of memoranda are therefore incomplete.
|
