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Corporate Assets
Mrs. Ewing:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the current estimated
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value of assets relating to (a) Wilton Park Executive Agency and (b) the British Council (i) in Scotland, (ii) in the United Kingdom, (iii) overseas and (iv) in total. [99784]
Mr. Battle
[holding answer 26 November 1999]: The value of assets relating to the Wilton Park Executive Agency is £1,270,000. The current estimated values of the British Council's assets are £652,000 in Scotland, £8,170,000 in the rest of the United Kingdom (not including the figure for Scotland) and £83,633,000 overseas. The total value of the British Council's assets is £92,455,000.
Mr. Welsh:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what his estimate is of the value of (a) vehicles, (b) equipment, (c) IT, (d) corporate systems, (e) departmental systems, (f) overseas systems, (g) communications, (h) technical security equipment and (i) heritable assets in (i) Scotland, (ii) the United Kingdom, (iii) overseas and (iv) in total. [99786]
Mr. Hain
[holding answer 26 November 1999]: The FCO has no fixed assets in Scotland. Value information for the FCO's fixed assets is being developed as part of the implementation of resource accounting. This information is currently being audited. The first set of resource accounts will be published in respect of 1999-2000.
Mr. Norman:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the planned date of publication of the proposed White Paper on the forthcoming intergovernmental conference; which departments are involved in drafting it; if it will identify the issues which the Government (a) does and (b) does not want included in the agenda for the IGC; and if it will guarantee that extensions of qualified majority voting in specified areas will not be approved by the Government. [100279]
Mr. Vaz:
We intend to publish the White Paper early next year, before formal IGC negotiations begin. The paper will be drafted by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, in consultation with other Departments. It will set out our position on all major issues expected to be discussed at the intergovernmental conference, including the possible extension of qualified majority voting.
Mr. Norman:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will set out (a) the itinerary for his proposed five-day Your Britain Your Europe tour, (b) the aims of the tour, (c) the cost to the public of the tour and (d) what funds have been made available from the European Commission for the tour. [100280]
Mr. Vaz:
The aim of the Your Britain Your Europe roadshow is to promote the benefits of the UK's membership of the EU to the people of Britain.
The costs of the roadshow are estimated at £60,000, plus accommodation and travel. No funds have been made available from the European Commission for the roadshow.
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The itinerary is as follows:
Mr. Welsh:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will estimate the current value of land and property (a) in Scotland, (b) in the United Kingdom and (c) overseas allocated to his core Department, including Chevening. [99836]
Mr. Battle
[holding answer 26 November 1999]: The FCO has no land or property in Scotland. Value information for the FCO's estate in the UK and overseas is being developed as part of the implementation of resource accounting. This information is currently being audited. The first set of resource accounts will be published in respect of 1999-2000. Chevening is owned and administered by the Chevening Estate Trust. It does not form part of the FCO's estate.
Ms Walley:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what timetable he proposes for the publication of the draft legislation on the International Criminal Court. [100180]
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Mr. Hain:
Draft legislation to enable ratification of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court will be published as soon as practicable in the course of this Parliamentary session.
Ms Walley:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which interested parties will be consulted about the draft legislation on the International Criminal Court; and if he will make a statement. [100181]
Mr. Hain:
After publication of the draft legislation to ratify the International Criminal Court Statute, all Parliamentarians, organisations and individuals interested in the International Criminal Court will be given an opportunity to comment.
Mr. Pound:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the approval of an export licence for the supply of one Bedford truck to ACORD. [100909]
Mr. Hain:
Following consultations with this Department and the Ministry of Defence, the Department of Trade and Industry recently issued a licence for the export of one military rated, ex-MOD Bedford truck to ACORD, a relief organisation in the Sudan. The truck will be used to distribute seed and other humanitarian aid to help alleviate the suffering in Sudan. This decision does not affect the Government's continued support for the EU Common Position on the export of arms, munitions and military equipment to Sudan.
Mr. Blunt:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when the decision was taken to withdraw the OSCE verifiers from Kosovo in March. [98558]
Mr. Vaz:
The decision to withdraw the OSCE verifiers from Kosovo was made by the OSCE Chairman- in-Office, Norwegian Foreign Minister Knut Vollebaek, on 19 March.
Mr. Blunt:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when, and in what form, he received the application that the OSCE verifiers were unable to do their job owing to the escalating violence in Kosovo before 19 March. [98559]
Mr. Vaz:
The decision to withdraw the OSCE verifiers was made in Vienna on 19 March by the OSCE Chairman-in-Office following a full meeting of the Contact Group plus the then OSCE Troika (Austria, Poland) under the chairmanship of Norway, as Chairman-in-Office.
The decision to withdraw the OSCE verifiers was made in the light of the failed negotiations in Paris and, in particular, the deteriorating situation on the ground in Kosovo caused by the Serbian military offensive.
Mr. Blunt:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is his estimate of the number of Kosovo Serbs killed in Kosovo (a) since 11 June and (b) between 23 March and 10 June. [98567]
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Mr. Vaz:
There have been 124 reported murders of Kosovo Serbs between KFOR's deployment on 12 June and mid-October.
There are no figures available for the number of Kosovo Serbs killed in Kosovo between 23 March 1999 and 11 June 1999, ie in the period prior to KFOR's deployment.
Mr. Blunt:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is his estimate of the number of Kosovo Albanians killed in Kosovo between (a) 23 March and 10 June, (b) 1 January and 22 March and (c) since 11 June. [98568]
Mr. Vaz:
We estimate that at least 10,000 Kosovo Albanian civilians were killed between June 1998 and 12 June 1999. Of these, we estimate that around 500 were killed before 20 March 1999.
There have been 135 reported murders of Kosovo Albanians between KFOR's deployment on 12 June and mid-October.
Mr. Worthington:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress has been made on improving access to Kosovo through the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. [100326]
Mr. Vaz:
Significant delays continue to be encountered by traffic, including humanitarian aid convoys, at the major crossing point on the Kosovo/Macedonian border at Blace. The United Nations interim administration in Kosovo has set up a task force to take matters forward and negotiations continue with the Macedonian Government to relieve the bottleneck at the border.
Your Britain Your Europe: Mr. Vaz's Regional Roadshow (Monday 29 November to Friday 3 December 1999)
Monday 29 November--North East/Humberside
St. Joseph's School, Hebburn, South Tyneside
Tyneside Foyer--City Centre Youth, Newcastle upon Tyne
Nissan Motor Manufacturing (UK Limited), Sunderland
University of Hull, Hull
Tuesday 30 November--Yorkshire/North West/Paris
CORUS Engineering Steels, Rotherham
"Your Britain Your Europe" Seminar at Carlton Park Hotel, Rotherham
Granada Studios Tour, Manchester
Olympic House, Manchester Airport
Wednesday 1 December--Paris/London
British Embassy--Briefing with French/British Media
Eurostar
Waterloo Station
House of Commons
To Bristol
Thursday 2 December--South West/West Midlands
Kwik strip Eco Solutions, Bristol
Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Bristol
Bath Environment Centre, Bath
Bath Hilton Hotel--South West Regional Euro forum Meeting
Bath Spa Culture, Bath
University of Bath
Friday 3 December--Nuneaton/Leicester/Birmingham
King Edward VI College, Nuneaton
St. John's Primary School, Ladywood, Birmingham
BBC Pebble Mill (Ed Doolan Show live)
Richard Lawnhouse Retirement Home, Ladywood, Birmingham
Birmingham Chamber of Commerce Event
Leicester Mercury Building, Leicester
De Montfort University, Leicester.
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