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AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD

Pithing Regulations

Mr. Paterson: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if the Restriction on Pithing (England) Regulations 2000 gives rise to animal welfare concerns. [139621]

Mr. Morley [holding answer 22 November 2000]: There should be no risk of an animal regaining consciousness during the slaughter process provided effective stunning is carried out and the abattoir has efficient arrangements in place for the shackling, hoisting and sticking of cattle.

Departmental Employees (New Deal)

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many people his Department employs under the New Deal for Young People. [137953]

23 Nov 2000 : Column: 273W

Mr. Morley: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office on 13 November 2000, Official Report, column 551W.

Sugar Beet Regime

Mr. Gill: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what advice he will give farmers regarding alternative crops to be grown in place of reduced sugar beet acreages resultant upon the proposed new EU sugar regime. [137605]

Ms Quin: Since no decisions have been made on the proposals and the final outcome is far from clear at the present time, it would be inappropriate to give such advice. Ultimately it is a matter for farmers themselves to decide what crops to grow in light of their individual circumstances.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Arms Exports (Israel)

Dr. Starkey: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer of 14 November 2000, Official Report, column 608W, on arms exports to Israel, when the Government first had concerns that CS gas exported from the United Kingdom had been used by the Israeli security forces against (a) Palestinians and (b) Israeli Arabs. [139231]

Mr. Hain: The Government have not approved any licences for the permanent export of CS gas to Israel. We have had concerns, since we came to office, about the Israeli Security Forces' use of CS gas solely against Palestinians and Israeli Arabs.

Dr. Starkey: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if end-use restrictions have been placed on any export licences approved by Her Majesty's Government on components and equipment exported from the United Kingdom to the Israeli armed forces since 1997 to (a) exclude their use in the Occupied Territories, (b) exclude their use in southern Lebanon and (c) restrict their use in other ways. [139229]

Mr. Hain: No such geographical restrictions have been placed on export licences to Israel. We assess all applications for export licences against the criteria and in light of the best information available at the time. We do not issue licences if we judge the equipment would be used in any way to contravene the criteria. In addition, since the recent outbreak of violence we have asked the Israeli Government for an assurance that no equipment or components licensed for export from the UK have been used against civilians in the Occupied Territories or in southern Lebanon.

Shootings (Hebron)

Dr. Starkey: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations Her Majesty's Government have made to the Israeli Government about the shooting of Hussein Mustafa, Yusef Ghenaimb, Khaled Ghenaimb and Bassem Al-Hour, near Hebron. [139504]

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Mr. Hain: The Government have repeatedly urged the Israeli Government to limit its use of force with a view to minimising casualties and contributing to de-escalation.

We remain appalled at the scale of the violence over recent weeks.

Dr. Harry Fischer

Dr. Starkey: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he has expressed his sympathies to the German Government on the death of Dr. Harry Fischer in Beit Jala. [139503]

Mr. Hain: The Foreign Secretary has seen the German Foreign Minister on several occasions within the past two weeks. They last discussed the situation in the Middle East at the General Affairs Council in Brussels on 20 November.

Elections (Gibraltar)

Mr. John D. Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when the European Court of Human Rights made its decision on voting rights in European parliamentary elections for the electors of Gibraltar; what plans the Government have to introduce measures in response to that decision before the next European Parliament election; and if he will make a statement. [139449]

Mr. Vaz: The European Court of Human Rights made its judgment on this question on 18 February 1999. We are actively seeking Gibraltar's enfranchisement in time for the next European Parliament elections in 2004.

European Court of Human Rights

Mr. John D. Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the member countries of the Council of Europe which are failing to comply with decisions of the European Court of Human Rights; and if he will make a statement on Her Majesty's Government's policy in respect of such failure to comply. [139514]

Mr. Vaz: There are no instances where member states' governments have refused to accept the judgment of the Court, although there have been significant delays in the implementation of judgments. Such delays may result from the need to amend domestic law or be attributed to difficulties in a wider political context. However, the Government expect all member states to comply fully with the Court's judgments, and we regularly make our position clear to those concerned. The Government play their part in the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe in carrying out the task of supervising the implementation of judgments and taking the necessary measures to ensure that they are implemented, and supports the principle that all cases should remain open until the committee is fully satisfied that they have been properly addressed.

Western Sahara

Ms Kingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the Africa Conflict Fund in relation to development in Western Sahara. [138112]

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Mr. Hain [holding answer 22 November 2000]: The Government's pooled fund for conflict prevention in Africa covers sub-Saharan Africa and will not extend geographically to Western Sahara. Activities beyond sub-Saharan Africa will be funded by a separate pooled budget, which will be operational from the beginning of next financial year.

Peter Bleach

Sir Teddy Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the discussions he had with the Indian Foreign Secretary on 15 November, with particular reference to the imprisonment of Peter Bleach in Calcutta. [139746]

Mr. Hain [holding answer 22 November 2000]: The Foreign Secretary and the Indian Minister for External Affairs, Jaswant Singh, discussed a wide range of issues during their talks on 15 November. The Foreign Secretary raised our concerns about Peter Bleach's case. Jaswant Singh said he would re-examine the case on his return to Delhi, and I discussed this further with Dr. Singh in New Delhi on 20 November.

UK Arms End-use

Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans his Department has to make the end-use monitoring of UK arms more stringent. [139798]

Mr. Hain: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Tewkesbury (Mr. Robertson) on 8 November 2000, Official Report, columns 282-83W.

HEALTH

NHS

Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his oral statement of 14 November 2000, Official Report, columns 805-08, on resources and priorities for the NHS, what additional revenue was received by the NHS as a result of increases in tobacco duty in the Budget. [138825]

Mr. Denham: The Budget contained new money for the National Health Service for 2000-01 and the following three years. For the NHS in England the Budget confirmed the extra £250 million from tobacco revenues and provided a further £1.4 billion new money.

Chiropodists

Angela Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he will take under the Health Act 1999 to protect the titles of chiropodist and podiatrist. [138814]

Mr. Denham: The proposals we have published for legislation to replace the Professions Supplementary to Medicine Act 1960 include provision for strengthening the protection of professional titles. It would be a matter for the new Health Professions Council to propose the specific titles to be protected.

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Mr. Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to change the status of (a) state registered and (b) non-state registered chiropodists; and if he will make a statement. [139405]

Mr. Denham [holding answer 21 November 2000]: Our published proposals for legislation to replace the Professions Supplementary to Medicine Act 1960 include provision for the registration both of practitioners who are currently state registered and those who are not.

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