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New Deal

Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many extra staff have been employed in the further education sector to deal with the New Deal. [142283]

Mr. Wills [holding answer 12 December 2000]: This information is not collected centrally. Staff deployment is a matter for colleges as independent employers.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

British Overseas Territories

Mr. Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what issues were discussed at the last meeting of the British Overseas Territories Consultative Council; and if he will make a statement. [142471]

Mr. Battle: At the meeting of the Overseas Territories Consultative Council held in October this year, a full exchange of views took place on the relationship between the UK and the territories, and on international financial initiatives, immigration and nationality matters, internal security including police and prison services, accessible justice and sustainable development.

Mr. Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on progress on the implementation of the policies set out in the White Paper, Partnership for Progress and Prosperity. [142470]

Mr. Battle: Considerable progress has been made in key areas covered by the White Paper. Partnership between the political leaders of the territories and the Government has been strengthened by two meetings of the annual Consultative Council and visits by Baroness Scotland, Minister with responsibility for the Overseas Territories, to several territories; constitutional modernisation has been promoted in several territories with amendments already agreed for both the British Virgin Islands and Montserrat; a number of programmes to support good governance in such areas as police and prison services, disaster preparedness, and public service management have been supported, and a number of strategic environmental projects funded in all territories; capital punishment for murder and judicial corporal punishment have been abolished in all territories;

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an Order in Council to de-criminalise homosexual acts between consenting adults in private is before the Privy Council; and an independent review of the regulation of financial sectors in the Overseas Territories was published in October. Preparations for an Overseas Territories Bill granting British citizenship have reached an advanced stage.

Mr. Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he intends to introduce legislation offering British citizenship to citizens of the British Overseas Territories; and if he will make a statement. [142469]

Mr. Battle: We are fully committed to introducing legislation to give British citizenship to the people of the Overseas Territories. We will make Parliamentary time available to introduce the legislation for this measure as soon as practicable. Preparatory work has been done to agree the principles of such a Bill along with drafting instructions for Parliamentary Counsel.

Ilois People

Mr. Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what arrangements he is making to allow the return of the Ilois islanders to the British Indian Ocean Territory; and if he will make a statement. [142473]

Mr. Battle: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Blaenau Gwent (Mr. Smith) on 13 November 2000, Official Report, column 511W.

Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) if he will discuss (a) with the Government of Mauritius and (b) with the Government of the Seychelles the environmental and ecological situation in those atolls of the Chagos Archipelago and Diego Garcia before facilitating the return of Ilois to lands of ancestral graves; [142393]

(2) if he will discuss with President Clinton the carrying out of an environmental and ecological assessment of the areas of the Chagos Archipelago and Diego Garcia, which have been uninhabited for 30 years before facilitating the return of Ilois people to lands of their ancestral graves. [142392]

Mr. Battle: Environmental and ecological assessments are an integral part of the studies being undertaken into the feasibility of resettlement on the uninhabited islands of the Archipelago. We will take these factors into account most carefully before any decision is taken by the Government over resettlement by the Ilois.

Human Rights (China)

Mr. Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what position he adopted in discussions with EU colleagues at the General Affairs Council on Tuesday 4 December on the criteria for evaluation of the bilateral dialogue with China on human rights to be made public and for there to be a timetable for achieving objectives. [142136]

Mr. Battle: Following a UK initiative, the EU has been engaged in a review of its human rights dialogue with China. This process includes the setting of objectives for

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the dialogue. The 4 December General Affairs Council did not discuss the review. We expect the General Affairs Council on 29 January to do so.

Mr. Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking to obtain copies of the photographs that the Chinese authorities have shown to UK and EU officials, which the Chinese authorities maintain are of the Panchen Lama, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima. [142138]

Mr. Battle: The British Embassy in Beijing made a formal request for the photographs on 27 October. The Chinese responded on 10 November that such a request was "unreasonable".

Subsequently, I summoned the Chinese Ambassador Ma Zhengang on 29 November to express our disappointment at the reply and to repeat our request. The Ambassador agreed to convey my concerns to the authorities in Beijing.

We will again press the Chinese during the next round of the UK/China human rights dialogue to release their photographs.

Iran

Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans he has to visit Iran. [141450]

Mr. Hain: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary last met his Iranian counterpart, Dr. Kharrazi, in New York in September. He welcomed Dr. Kharrazi's invitation that the Foreign Secretary visit Iran in 2001, in the context of Iran's celebration of the Year of the Dialogue of Civilisations. No date has yet been set.

Coca Fields (Ecuador)

Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations he has received concerning the fumigation of coca fields in Ecuador with the Fusarium Oxysporum fungus. [142197]

Mr. Battle: We have received no representations.

There are some small coca plantations on Ecuador's northern border with Colombia, but the country remains principally a transit route for cocaine destined (predominantly) for the US. We are not aware of the use of Fusarium Oxysporum as a bio-control agent.

Tibet

Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the recent UK and China human rights dialogue, with special reference to Tibet. [142210]

Mr. Battle: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to my hon. Friend the Member for Stoke-on-Trent, South (Mr. Stevenson) on 7 November 2000, Official Report, column 186W.

East Timorese Refugees

Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had

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with his UN counterparts concerning the remaining East Timorese refugees in West Timor; and if he will make a statement. [142217]

Mr. Battle: We take every opportunity to discuss the situation in West Timor with the UN counterparts. My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary discussed this issue with the Indonesian Foreign Minister Shihab in the margins of the UN General Assembly in New York in September. I discussed the subject most recently with the Indonesian Foreign Minister on 12 December, in the margins of the EU-ASEAN Foreign Ministers' meeting.

We are, of course, concerned about the situation in the camps in West Timor and urge the Government of Indonesia to comply fully with the terms of the UN Security Council Resolution 1319 to disarm and disband the militia and facilitate the repatriation of those refugees who wish to return to East Timor and resettle those who wish to remain in Indonesia.

ENVIRONMENT, TRANSPORT AND THE REGIONS

Terminal Five Inquiry

Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what steps he is taking to investigate premature press leaks of confidential and market-sensitive material relating to the findings of the Terminal Five Planning Inspector's report. [142060]

Ms Beverley Hughes: While there has been some speculative media comment about the findings of the Heathrow Terminal Five Inquiry Inspector's report there is nothing to suggest that the report or its contents has been leaked. The Inspector has not yet delivered his report to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions.

Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will set out his timetable for ministerial review and decisions on the Heathrow Terminal Five planning inquiry and for reporting to Parliament on the inquiry. [142061]

Ms Beverley Hughes: The Public Inquiry into the proposed fifth terminal at Heathrow closed in March 1999. The Inquiry Inspector said he intended to deliver his report within two years of the end of the Inquiry but he hoped to improve on that. The Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions recognises the need to bring this matter to a conclusion but the report will require full and careful consideration when it is received. It is not yet possible to say when the decision will be issued.

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