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Poultry

Mr. Baker: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list those members of UKROFS who have particular expertise in poultry matters, giving in each case the applicable qualifications. [137544]

Mr. Morley [holding answer 14 November 2000]: Three members of the board of UKROFS have expertise in poultry matters. Two have no formal qualifications but the third has an Msc in Animal Production with a special interest in and experience of poultry production systems. In addition the board has available to it advice from experts within MAFF.

Pig Disease Eradication Fund

Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how much money is held by Her Majesty's Government by way of statutory levy in the Pig Disease Eradication Fund. [138413]

Ms Quin: The Meat and Livestock Commission holds a capital sum of £605,000 on behalf of the Pig Disease Eradication Fund Ltd.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Middle East

Mrs. Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made about the use of children in recent violent clashes between Israelis and Palestinians. [137208]

Mr. Hain: I deplore the fact that children have been caught up in recent violence in the Occupied Territories, which has led to tragic loss of life and casualties among children. I support the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights' recent statement that the protection of children must be an absolute priority for both parties.

Ghana

Mr. Nigel Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of preparations for the elections in Ghana in December. [137941]

Mr. Hain: The UK Government have provided assistance to Ghana's Electoral Commission to help eliminate electoral fraud. We are sending a team of thirteen observers to monitor the electoral process. It is important that the elections are held in a free and democratic manner.

Biological Weapons

Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement about the Biopreparat organisation in Russia and the manufacture of biological weapons. [137929]

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Mr. Hain: We are aware of widely-publicised accounts that Biopreparat was originally established to support the biological weapons programme of the former Soviet Union. We do not however comment on intelligence matters.

Russia is a State Party and Depositary Government of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC) and is currently involved in negotiations on a legally- binding Protocol to strengthen the Convention. The UK Believes that this Protocol will improve transparency and provide internationally agreed mechanisms with which to pursue compliance concerns.

Non-departmental Public Bodies (Scotland)

Mr. Alasdair Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the non-departmental public bodies responsible to him which have duties relating to Scotland, indicating their budget and staffing in Scotland, the number of Scottish board members and their emoluments. [137700]

Mr. Robin Cook: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office 2000 Annual Report, held in the House Library, contains a list of non-departmental public bodies sponsored by my Department which have a remit that covers the United Kingdom. Information on board members and remuneration are contained within. The remaining information is not held centrally in the form requested, but general information on expenditure and staffing is published annually in the Cabinet Office publication "Public Bodies". Copies of "Public Bodies 1999" have been placed in the Libraries of the House and "Public Bodies 2000" is due to be published next month. Information on board membership and remuneration can also be downloaded from the Cabinet Office Public Appointments Directory website www.cabinet-office.gov.uk.

Foreign Policy Centre

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the role of the Foreign Policy Centre in formulating his policy. [138181]

Mr. Robin Cook: The Foreign Office welcomes ideas from outside organisations on all areas of its work. It is established practice for Foreign Office Ministers and officials to have regular contact with policy institutes and NGOs, including the Foreign Policy Centre, and to consider their views when formulating policy. Policy institutes and NGOs can also influence policy through their contributions to a wider public debate.

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what financial support his Department gives the Foreign Policy Centre. [138182]

Mr. Robin Cook: The Foreign Policy Centre has received no money from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, nor do we have any plans to provide financial assistance.

Defence Evaluation and Research Agency

Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations his Department has received from the United States in respect of the future of DERA. [138161]

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Mr. Battle: None. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence and representatives of his Department are, however, in contact with the US Administration on this subject.

EU Council Representatives

Mr. Cash: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the functions and treaty base of the Secretary General/High Representative of the Council, and the extent to which his functions are autonomous of national Governments of the member states. [138217]

Mr. Vaz: The role and functions of the Secretary General/High Representative are set out in Article 207 of the Treaty establishing the European Community and in Articles 18 and 26 of the Treaty on European Union. Article 26 in particular provides that

The Secretary-General of the Council, High Representative for the common foreign and security policy, shall assist the Council in matters coming within the scope of the common foreign and security policy, in particular through contributing to the formulation, preparation and implementation of policy decisions, and, when appropriate and acting on behalf of the Council at the request of the Presidency, through conducting political dialogue with third parties.

It is clear from these provisions that the Secretary General/High Representative's role is to assist the Council, which remains the primary EU decision-making body for matters of external policy. It follows that the Secretary General/High Representative is answerable to the Council for all his actions in the name of the EU.

Defence Attaches

Mr. Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the total (a) direct and (b) associated costs of defence attaches will be in financial year 2000-01. [138317]

Mr. Hain: The Ministry of Defence accounts for the pay, allowances and certain other costs of defence attaches and defence advisers. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office accounts for office and residential accommodation, as well as the administration costs at overseas Posts in supporting the activities of such staff. The estimated Foreign and Commonwealth costs in 2000-01 are £14 million.

Diego Garcia

Mr. Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the extent of the exclusion zones around and above Diego Garcia; and what purpose the zones serve. [138296]

Mr. Battle: There are no exclusion zones. Diego Garcia has a three mile territorial sea, within which activities are restricted in accordance with the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and an area of controlled airspace that extends five miles out and 2,500ft upwards from the runway there.

Mr. Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what requirement there is on the US authorities to notify him of progress with their research undertaken on Diego Garcia. [138297]

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Mr. Battle: We would expect the US authorities to seek our approval before conducting any research programmes on Diego Garcia.

GCHQ (Recruitment)

Mr. HomeRobertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will publish the recruitment statistics for GCHQ in 1999; and what the same figures were in 1998. [138792]

Mr. Robin Cook: GCHQ notified the Civil Service Commissioners that, as a result of recruitment schemes run in 1999, 241 individuals have joined the Department or are awaiting completion of the application process. This compares with 187 reported for 1998 recruitment schemes. In addition, nine former members of staff were reappointed in 1999, compared with eight in 1998.

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