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Zimbabwe

Mr. Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent representations she has made to EU Commissioner Poul Neilson over the suspension of aid to Zimbabwe. [118055]

Clare Short: I have made no direct representations to Mr. Neilson on Zimbabwe. At the General Affairs Council on Monday 10 April the Foreign Secretary, on behalf of the Government, said we could support the initiation of consultations under the Lome Convention between the European Community and the African, Caribbean and Pacific countries on co-operation with Zimbabwe. My Department and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office remain in close touch with the European Commission in Brussels and in Harare.

Mr. Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent discussions she has had with the Zimbabwean Government concerning the future of the bilateral aid budget. [118054]

Clare Short: I have had no recent discussions with the Zimbabwean Government. Our position on development assistance has been made clear in correspondence and through our High Commissioner and development office in Harare.

Kosovo

Mr. Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will list recipient organisations and the amounts they have received from (a) British Government sources and (b) EU sources in aid related to infrastructure repair projects in Kosovo since 12 June 1999. [118251]

Clare Short: We have provided £10 million towards the cost of repairing the electricity distribution network. Our aim has been to help the local authorities and where appropriate other donors with the supply of equipment and technical advice on the electrical distribution system throughout Kosovo. We have provided £2 million to the water sector, which has included specific repairs to pumping stations. We have also supplied infrastructure equipment to allow the water companies to carry out essential repairs. In addition we have provided £250,000 for the replacement of 5,000 household water pumps through Action Against Hunger. We have also provided assistance to repair and rehabilitate the Pristina district heating system (£0.1 million).

One component of our support to UNMIK has been to provide £700,000 for the rehabilitation of Ishtok prison and £200,000 for the refurbishment of court buildings. Both these projects have been implemented by local contractors. As part of our programme of restarting

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essential services in Pristina University Hospital, we have provided £3 million to our IEU to carry out extensive repair and rehabilitation of the hospital infrastructure, services and systems.

In addition, DFID has committed up to £3 million to a programme of emergency works at Pristina International Airport to enable it to operate 24 hour civilian air operations at ICAO Category One standard. This project is being managed by Scott Wilson Kirkpatrick Ltd. and implemented by a combination of both international and local contractors. We have also funded GOAL with £300,000 to provide emergency winter shelter.

Locally our Field Office in Pristina has provided £6 million for 300 Quick Impact Projects which have included community infrastructure repair projects such as schools and health clinics, as well as help to small enterprises. These projects have been implemented by a number of different organisations including the UK military and local NGOs.

Figures for EU support could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Coal Miners (Compensation)

Mr. Rogers: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations his Department has received from (a) general practitioners and (b) health authorities in respect of the disclosure of patient records relative to coal miners' compensation claims for (i) bronchitis and (ii) emphysema/chronic respiratory disease. [118499]

Mrs. Liddell: Some GPs and hospitals have been uncertain about releasing miners' medical records because they were not clear about the legal basis on which records are being sought and their own obligations. The Department has been in close consultation with the Department of Health and the BMA to enlist the help of medical record holders to ensure prompt release of records. The Department has agreed with both these bodies a statement on the legal basis for disclosure and the operational arrangements for access and copying, including the payment of appropriate fees to the record holders. On this basis, the NHS Executive has issued guidance to NHS Trusts and Health Authorities, and the BMA has also issued guidance to GPs. Both have stressed the vital part that hospitals and GPs play in assisting the compensation process. I understand that the guidance is already helping to speed up the records collection exercise, and I very much welcome the co-operation which the medical profession is showing.

Nuclear Safety

Mr. Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will place in the Library a copy of the International Atomic Energy Agency report GOV/1998/30, dated 29 May 1998. [118525]

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Dr. Howells: The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) document GOV/1998/30 contains the text of the Protocol additional to the Agreement between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the European Atomic Energy Community and the International Atomic Energy Agency for the Application of Safeguards in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Connection with the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

A copy of the protocol was laid before the House on 31 March 1999 as Misc. No.21. Command paper 4282 refers.

Mr. Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what proposals to strengthen international nuclear safeguards Her Majesty's Government will put to the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty Conference in April. [118497]

Dr. Howells: The UK delegation will call for all States which have not yet done so to sign and bring into force safeguards agreements with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), in accordance with their obligations under Article III on the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

The UK delegation will also call for all States which have not yet done so to negotiate, sign and bring into force as soon as possible a protocol additional to their existing safeguards agreement with the IAEA. These protocols will be based on the Model Protocol agreed by the Board of Governors of the IAEA in 1997. The UK delegation will point to the Additional Protocol signed by the United Kingdom, the IAEA and the European Atomic Energy Community on 22 September 1998, and to the progress of the Nuclear Safeguards Bill [Lords], which contains the legislation necessary to allow entry into force of the Additional Protocol, as proof of our commitment to this process, which is designed to strengthen the existing safeguards regime.

Rover

Sir David Madel: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if the Task Force he has set up following the BMW decision on Rover will visit the supplier plants to Rover wherever they are in the UK; and if he will make a statement. [118204]

Mr. Alan Johnson [holding answer 7 April 2000]: The Task Force set up by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State is to assess the impact on the supplier chain, and has created a Supplier Chain Sub-Group that is lead by Grahame Broome of SMMT. The sub-group will not undertake an extensive programme of visits but is working with consultants Deloitte Touche to reach as wide a range of suppliers as possible. So far, it has devised and sent out nearly 6,700 questionnaires to businesses in Rover's supplier chain. The questionnaire is also available on an internet site and businesses are being encouraged to e-mail their responses.

More than 300 replies have been received so far and are being analysed to inform the Task Force's work on producing proposals that will support component

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manufacturers, develop their employees, strengthen their competitiveness and assist their efforts to diversify into new sectors.

Post Offices (Shropshire)

Mr. Peter Bradley: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list for each constituency in Shropshire the post office branches, indicating those which serve rural communities, which (a) closed and (b) opened (i) between 1979 to 1997 and (b) since May 1997. [118539]

Mr. Alan Johnson: I understand from the Post Office that as of October 1999, the numbers of post offices in each of the four parliamentary constituencies in Shropshire were as follows:

Post Offices	Numbers
Shropshire North	44
Shrewsbury and Atcham	42
Ludlow	45
The Wrekin	25

The Post Office does not hold historical data by constituency for the numbers of post offices which have closed or opened, nor do they hold details by constituency of rural post offices.

Trade Unions

Mr. Alan W. Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what is the minimum membership of a trade union before it can be registered with the Certification Office for Trade Unions and Employer Associations. [118742]

Mr. Alan Johnson [holding answer 10 April 2000]: There is no explicit minimum set by statute. The statutory definition of a trade union is given in section 1 of the Treaty Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992. The Certification Officer has to be satisfied that an organisation meets this definition before listing it as a trade union.

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