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Correspondence

Mr. Winnick: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions when the hon. Member for Walsall, North will receive a reply to his letter of 26 February regarding a constituent, Ref. P/BH/005818/01. [157457]

Ms Beverley Hughes: Due to an administrative error in the ministerial correspondence unit, there was a delay in processing the original letter and enclosures.

I understand that my hon. Friend has now received a response from the unit explaining that as the issues raised cover a pending planning application, the correspondence has been transferred to the Planning Inspectorate and a direct reply will be sent by the Chief Executive of the Planning Inspectorate shortly.

Foot and Mouth

Mr. Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions for what reasons the borough of Macclesfield is not included in the list of rural local authorities to which the emergency business rate relief scheme will be applied as a result of foot and mouth disease. [157496]

Mr. Meacher: The borough of Macclesfield is not an authority which meets the criteria of rurality used for the targeting of this scheme.

Mr. Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions when he intends to review the list of rural local authorities to which the emergency rate relief scheme is applicable due to the outbreak of foot and mouth disease; and if he will make a statement. [157498]

Mr. Meacher: I will keep the operation of the scheme under review in the light of the representations made to me.

Witney-Oxford Railway

Mr. Woodward: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what assessment his Department has made of the impact of the proposed reopening of the Witney to Oxford railway line. [157120]

Mr. Hill: Neither the Department nor the Strategic Rail Authority have made any such assessment.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Diego Garcia

Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make an estimate of the number of British subjects born in Diego Garcia who are still alive. [157504]

Mr. Battle: It is not practicable for HMG to make a realistic estimate of the number of such British Dependent Territories citizens as we do not know where they are nor do we have any means of knowing how many may have died over the past 30 years or so.

Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will discuss with the United States Government the numbers of (a) Filipinos,

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(b) Mauritians and (c) Ilois being employed by contractors on the Diego Garcia air-base; and what steps he is taking to rectify imbalances in the numbers of different nationalities employed. [157501]

Mr. Battle: Under our arrangements with the United States Government it is agreed that the United States authorities and their contractors will use workers recruited in Mauritius and the Seychelles to the maximum extent practicable. In recruiting workers there should be no discrimination between qualified Ilois workers and equally qualified other Mauritian workers.

Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Governor of Mauritius about the placement of anti-personnel mines in (a) Diego Garcia and (b) on 65 islands in the Chagos Archipelago designed to keep out Ilois people wishing to return to see ancestral graves. [157502]

Mr. Battle: There are no anti-personnel landmines on Diego Garcia or any of the other islands in the Chagos Archipelago.

I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Minister for Europe on 6 March 2000, Official Report, column 504W.

Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking to include Diego Garcia in the feasibility study in exercise of his Department's obligations to balance the needs of those who were born in Diego Garcia with the interests of the British-American defence forces. [157500]

Mr. Battle: Access to Diego Garcia is restricted in accordance with our treaty obligations with the United States and hence Diego Garcia is not included in the scope of the feasibility studies being conducted.

Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps are being taken to estimate the economic losses suffered by Diego Garcia as a result of the closure by the Government of the plantations in 1971; and what steps will be taken to restore economic activity, indicating (a) the estimated consumption of coconuts by the residents of Diego Garcia, (b) the appropriate price thereof and (c) what funds can be raised from this source to restore facilities on the islands for the benefit of residents. [157574]

Mr. Battle: The establishments of defence facilities necessarily entailed the closure of the commercial coconut plantations in Diego Garcia. There is no prospect of the resinstatement of these plantations in the forseeable future.

National Missile Defence

Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the Government's discussions with the United States on the potential use of the islands (a) in the Chagos Archipelago and (b) in Diego Garcia for facilities for the US National Missile Defence. [157503]

Mr. Battle: We have had no discussions with the United States regarding the potential use of the Chagos Archipelago, including Diego Garcia, for facilities for National Missile Defence.

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Chagos Archipelago

Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress has been made in the consideration of facilitating a temporary visit by the Ilois to the Chagos Archipelago, following the granting of permission to return there. [157517]

Mr. Battle: The question of a temporary visit to the territory for the Ilois has been discussed with their representatives who have undertaken to put forward proposals for consideration.

Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what action he is taking to encourage British subjects born in the Chagos Archipelago to co-operate with the Americans on Diego Garcia to establish areas of common interest. [157499]

Mr. Battle: I understand that representatives of a group of Ilois are in contact with the United States Government.

Overseas Territories

Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on proposals to grant British citizenship to citizens of overseas territories. [157637]

Mr. Battle: As announced to Parliament by the Secretary of State in March 1999, we are committed to introducing legislation to give British citizenship to all British Dependent Territories citizens in the Overseas Territories. We will make parliamentary time available to introduce this legislation as soon as is practicable. Preparatory work to agree the principles of such a Bill along with drafting Instructions for Parliamentary Counsel has been completed.

Cayman Islands

Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations the UK has made in support of lifting OECD blacklisting from the Cayman Islands prior to the review of the blacklist in June. [157638]

Mr. Battle: The UK takes seriously its duty to represent the Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies internationally. We take equally seriously efforts by the Financial Action Task Force--of which we are a leading member--to combat money laundering. Over the last year, we have therefore sought at all times to ensure that the FATF's information about the Cayman Islands is accurate and complete and that the Cayman Islands are treated on exactly the same basis as all the other jurisdictions examined by the FATF. We have also helped and encouraged the Cayman Islands authorities to make the necessary changes to their system in order to meet international standards in this area. It would be inappropriate to seek special treatment for the Cayman Islands from the FATF, but we will continue to ensure that the Cayman Islands are treated fairly and objectively when decisions are made.

Kyoto Treaty

Mr. Denzil Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when the Government plan to ratify the Kyoto treaty. [157140]

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Mr. Battle: The UK aims to ratify the Kyoto Protocol in 2002, along with other EU member states.

Sierra Leone

Mr. Spring: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if the Head of News Department saw a copy of the Foreign Affairs Committee's Second report of Session 1998-99 on Sierra Leone before its publication. [156824]

Mr. Robin Cook [holding answer 3 April 2001]: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Spelthorne (Mr. Wilshire) on 16 March 2001, Official Report, column 775W, and to the evidence my officials gave to the Standards and Privileges Committee, whose report was published on 30 March 1999.

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