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Staff Secondment
Mr. Spring: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if any of his Department's staff are seconded to the Cabinet Office or the Prime Minister's Office to work on European issues. [132979]
Mr. Hain: One member of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office is on loan to the Cabinet Office working exclusively on European issues. In addition, there are five members of Foreign and Commonwealth staff seconded to the Prime Minister's office who in part cover European issues.
Conflict Prevention
Mr. Spring: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much of the funding for conflict prevention in each of the next three years is (a) additional money provided as a result of the Comprehensive Spending Review and (b) taken from existing budgets. [132875]
Mr. Hain: The Spending Review 2000 settlement for conflict prevention is:
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Of the indicative resources for peacekeeping for both sub-Saharan Africa and the Rest of the World, in the event of underspends, up to 10 per cent. can be used for programme expenditure.
Unforeseen peacekeeping operations or unexpected increases in assessed contributions for international peacekeeping will be met in the first instance by re-prioritising within the pool. If this proves insufficient, the pool will have access to the DEL Reserve.UN arrears of £30 million due to the UK for UNPROFOR which would be returned to the Treasury Consolidated Fund, will be retained by the conflict prevention pools. This amount is not included in the table.
Mr. Spring: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how he proposes to measure his PSA target of reducing the number of people whose lives are affected by violent conflict where the United Kingdom make a significant contribution to conflict prevention and management, as set out in the Comprehensive Spending Review. [132978]
Mr. Hain: The Government have set themselves a target for the period beginning next financial year to improve the effectiveness of the UK contribution to conflict prevention and management, as demonstrated, inter alia, by the number of people whose lives are affected by violent conflict, where the UK can make a significant impact. We will be working with DFID, MOD and other relevant Government Departments in the autumn to identify priority activities to address this overall objective, verifiable indicators for each activity, and current baselines against which progress can be measured.
European Issues (Funding)
Mr. Spring: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how he proposes to spend the additional resources being provided for his Department's activity on European issues, as announced in the Comprehensive Spending Review; how many new staff he proposes to employ; and what their remit will be. [132981]
Mr. Hain: Europe is one of the Foreign Secretary's key policy priorities, as reflected in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's Public Service Agreement. The details of the allocation of extra resources to activity on Europe will be decided in the autumn within the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's annual internal budgeting round.
Reports
Mr. Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the reports submitted to his Department, by bodies that were created
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after May 1997 and that include significant and plural membership from outside the Civil Service, stating in each case the body writing the report, the date the report was submitted, how many recommendations were made, the number of those recommendations that have been implemented to date and the number of recommendations that have been rejected; and if he will make a statement. [133566]
Mr. Robin Cook: I refer the hon. Member to the central list of information published on 11 January 2000 and the updated list published yesterday, 27 July 2000.
Kuwaiti Nationals
Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Iraqi Government concerning the whereabouts of missing Kuwaiti nationals following Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. [133430]
Mr. Hain: The UK has consistently called on Iraq to end the suffering of the relatives of the 605 Kuwaitis and others missing since the Gulf War. The UK plays an active role in the Tripartite Commission process, chaired by the International Committee of the Red Cross, which seeks to account for the whereabouts of the missing. The process has been hampered, however, by continued Iraqi obstruction and since early 1999 Iraq has refused to attend Commission meetings. At the latest Consultation Meeting in Geneva on 21 June 2000, the UK delegation stress the urgent need for Iraq to return to the process. The UK has also sought to give added impetus to the process through Security Council resolution 1284 which provided for a high-level UN co-ordinator on this issue. I offered our full support to Mr. Yuli Vorontsov, who has taken up this post, which he called on me on 29 June.
Yugoslav Football Team
Mrs. Mahon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs under what criteria the Sanctions Committee on Yugoslavia stopped payments to the Yugoslav football team after Euro 2000. [133451]
Mr. Hain: The UN Sanctions Committee on Yugoslavia, established by Security Council resolution 1160 (1998), has responsibilities only in relation to the measures imposed by that resolution--an embargo on the sale or supply of arms and related material to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the arming and training for terrorist activities there. It has not considered any requests regarding payments to the Yugoslav football team.
There is a Management Committee for EU financial sanctions in relation to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. This Management Committee has not considered any requests for payments to the Yugoslav football team.
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TRADE AND INDUSTRY
New Deal
Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) how many employees of his Department and its agencies have been recruited from the New Deal; and what percentage of total staff this represents; [129140]
- (2) how many employees of his Department and its agencies have been recruited from the New Deal; and what percentage this represents of total staff. [129099]
Dr. Howells: I refer the hon. Member to the pursuant answer given today by my right hon. Friend the Minister of State, Cabinet Office to my hon. Friend the Member for Bradford, North (Mr. Rooney).
The number of New Dealers within my Department and its Executive Agencies as at 1 April 2000 represents 0.3 per cent. of total staff.
Trawlermen
Mr. Salmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when the Government will make a decision on granting compensation to former distant water trawlermen; and if he will make a statement. [130549]
Mr. Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he will make an announcement about the compensation scheme for those distant water trawlermen who lost their jobs with the closure of Icelandic fishing. [132304]
Shona McIsaac: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if the Government will provide compensation for former fishermen who lost their livelihoods following the settlement of the Cod Wars with Iceland in the 1970s. [132249]
Mrs. Humble: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he will publish a response to the claim for compensation from former distant water trawlermen. [132476]
Mr. Doran: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if the Government will provide compensation for former distant water trawlermen who lost their livelihoods following the settlement of the cod wars with Iceland in the 1970s. [133787]
Mr. Byers [holding answer 17 July 2000]: The Government recognise that the former Icelandic distant water trawlermen suffered an injustice. Many lost their jobs through the settlement of the 'Cod Wars' by the then Government and received little or no help. Given the exceptional circumstances in which they lacked basic employment protection we intend to remedy this by establishing a new scheme of compensation to be administered by my Department's Redundancy Payment Service.
Further details of the scheme and when and where claim forms will be available are to be announced before it is formally opened on 2 October.
Any former Icelandic distant water trawlermen who left the industry between 1974 and 1979 and had two years' continuous service, not necessarily with the same employer, will be entitled to claim under the new scheme. Surviving dependants will also be entitled to claim in
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cases where former fishermen who would have been eligible are now deceased. Once the scheme is opened, a period of around two years will be allowed for claims to be submitted.
Eligible claimants will receive £1,000 per year at sea, subject to a maximum of £20,000.
Sums received by former distant water trawlermen under ex-gratia redundancy payments arrangements operated by the Government between 1993 and 1995 will be offset against payments under the new scheme.
Mr. Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many trawlermen were made redundant in (a) 1974, (b) 1975 and (c) 1976 when British fishing boats stopped fishing as a result of withdrawal of British boats from Icelandic waters. [132818]
Mr. Byers [holding answer 27 July 2000]: Precise statistics are not available.
Mr. Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what compensation proposals for trawlermen who lost their livelihood when British boats stopped fishing in Icelandic waters were put to his Department by the British Fishermen's Association. [132821]
Mr. Byers [holding answer 27 July 2000]: The British Fishermen's Association has proposed that compensation payments made to former Icelandic water trawlermen should be calculated on the basis of £1,000 for each year at sea with a maximum of 20 years' service taken into account; that any amounts paid to claimants under the ex-gratia redundancy payment arrangements operated by the Government between 1993 and 1995 should be offset; that the next of kin should be eligible to claim in any case where a former trawlerman is now deceased; and that there should be an independent review where any claims are disallowed.
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