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Sudan

Rev. Martin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans he has to encourage the Government of Sudan to promote human rights for all its citizens. [15855]

Mr. Bradshaw: We remain concerned about the human rights of all in Sudan and we regularly urge all sides in the civil war to respect and promote human rights and fundamental freedoms. The promotion of human rights remains one of our priorities in Sudan and our Embassy in Khartoum is in constant touch with the Government of Sudan. We make representations about our human rights concerns both bilaterally and with our EU colleagues through the renewed EU/Sudan dialogue. The dialogue provides a forum for strong criticism of the Sudanese Government, and allows for a co-ordinated EU assessment of the human rights situation. We also work with our EU colleagues in the UN fora to keep our concerns on the international agenda. For example, the EU sponsored a resolution on Sudan at this year's UN Commission on Human Rights.

Entry Clearance

Mr. Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the case of Mrs. Nawani, Bombay, case reference AP/01/05/158. [16043]

Mr. Bradshaw: I understand that the Joint Entry Clearance Unit wrote to my hon. Friend on 9 November.

British Dependent Territories

Mr. Chidgey: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer of 14 November 2001, Official Report, column 744W, if he will list the British Dependent Territories whose citizens (a) already enjoy the grant of British citizenship, (b) qualify to enjoy the grant of British citizenship and also enjoy the rights to reside and work in the United Kingdom and (c) do not qualify for the grant of British citizenship; and what the population of each of the British Dependent Overseas Territories is. [16750]

Mr. Bradshaw: British Dependent Territories citizens (BDTCs) of the Falkland Islands (pop. 2,200) have already been granted British citizenship, and those of Gibraltar (pop. 27,200) have the right to apply for British citizenship. The British Overseas Territories Bill will not affect the position of Falkland Islanders. It will make automatic the grant of British citizenship to BDTCs from Gibraltar.

The Bill will confer British citizenship on all other BDTCs except those who owe their status solely to their connection with the Sovereign Base Areas on Cyprus. Apart from the Falkland Islands and Gibraltar, the qualifying Territories are Anguilla (pop. 11,900), Bermuda (pop. 61,500) British Antarctic Territory (no permanent population), British Indian Ocean Territory (no permanent population), British Virgin Islands

21 Nov 2001 : Column: 340W

(pop. 19,100), Cayman Islands (pop. 36,600), Montserrat (pop. 4,500), Pitcairn Islands (pop. 54), South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (no permanent population), St. Helena and Dependencies (pop. 6,400), Turks and Caicos Islands (pop. 20,000). All those who become British citizens under the provisions of the Bill will enjoy the rights of abode and employment in the United Kingdom which flow from British citizenship.

All population figures taken from the 1999 White Paper "Partnership for Progress and Prosperity".

Trade Liberalisation

Mr. Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what work has been undertaken by Government officials with the LOTIS Committee and the LOTIS Group on NGO objections to the liberalisation of trade in services. [15653]

Nigel Griffiths: I have been asked to reply.

The LOTIS Committee of International Financial Services, London, an independent private sector body, earlier this year produced a public response to NGO concerns about liberalisation of trade in services and the WTO General Agreement on Trade in Services. Government officials, in their capacity as invited observers, offered the Committee comments, as they have to other NGOs on their work on this and other issues.

PRIME MINISTER

Performance and Innovation Unit

Mr. Michael Jabez Foster: To ask the Prime Minister what additional projects are planned for the Performance and Innovation Unit; and if he will make a statement. [17163]

The Prime Minister: The Performance and Innovation Unit will be working with DEFRA and other Departments to review the Government's strategy for waste. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs will be the Sponsor Minister. The study will commence in December this year and report in the summer of 2002.

Public Appointments

Mr. Collins: To ask the Prime Minister how many appointments to public bodies he has made (a) between 1 May 1997 and 7 June 2001 and (b) since 7 June 2001; and how many are in his gift. [15478]

The Prime Minister: Information about numbers of ministerial appointments to public bodies is included in the Cabinet Office's annual report, "Public Bodies". Copies of this are in the Library of the House and the report is published on the Cabinet Office's internet website. The next edition of "Public Bodies" which will include numbers of appointments at 31 March 2001, will be published around the end of the year.

Between 1 May 1997 and 7 June 2001 I made 249 appointments, including re-appointments, to public bodies. Since 7 June 2001 I have made 12 appointments, including re-appointments, to public bodies.

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There are approximately 315 appointments within the Prime Minister's gift to public bodies.

Chemical Weapons

Ms Walley: To ask the Prime Minister what representations he has made to (a) India, (b) Russia, (c) South Korea and (d) the USA on reducing their declared stockpiles of chemical weapons. [16688]

The Prime Minister: The Chemical Weapons Convention requires states which have declared possession of chemical weapons to submit plans on ratification for the total destruction of their stockpiles, by 29 April 2007, in accordance with Article 3 of the convention. These plans are subject to review and approval by the Executive Council of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), of which the UK is a member. The UK takes every opportunity, both through the OPCW Executive Council and on a bilateral basis, to maintain pressure on the declared possessors to meet their CW destruction obligations.

Lord Birt and Lord Levy

Norman Baker: To ask the Prime Minister what steps he intends to take to improve the public accountability of (a) Lord Birt and (b) Lord Levy; if he will take steps to enable them to answer parliamentary questions in relation to their duties; and if he will make a statement. [15887]

The Prime Minister: For details of Lord Birt's role, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Worthing, West (Peter Bottomley) on 25 October 2001, Official Report, columns 313–14W. For details of Lord Levy's role, I refer the hon. Member to the answer my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Stockport (Ms Coffey) on 9 July 2001, Official Report, column 350W. Both advisers are accountable to Ministers who are accountable to Parliament. I have no plans to change this practice.

Delivery Unit

Mrs. Brooke: To ask the Prime Minister if he will list the targets selected from current departmental public service agreements which are being monitored by the Delivery Unit in (a) health, (b) education, (c) transport and (d) law and order, stating in each case (i) relevant performance measures and (ii) the date by which the target is to be met. [15136]

The Prime Minister: The Delivery Unit works closely with HMT to help Departments deliver PSAs on crime, health, education and transport which are already in the public domain.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

British-Irish Council

Mr. Lazarowicz: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many meetings of the British-Irish Council there have been since December 1999, broken down by meeting format; and what subjects were discussed at each meeting. [14525]

21 Nov 2001 : Column: 342W

The Deputy Prime Minister: British-Irish Council meetings have taken placed on the following occasions:


The inaugural summit adopted an initial list of issues which would be suitable for the council to work together. These were provided on 12 January 2000, Official Report, columns 200–01W.

The meeting of Environment Ministers on 2 October 2000 discussed ways in which the administrations could work together on environmental issues. The council considered the conclusions of the OSPAR Regional Quality Status Report on the Celtic Seas and reviewed the arrangements already in place for inter-governmental action to follow up those conclusions.

The meeting of Transport Ministers on 19 December 2000 had a wide-ranging discussion covering various aspects of transport. The council identified a list of transport issues where members of the council could share their knowledge and experience, including public-private partnerships, the size and pattern of future transport demand, the development of sustainable transport policies, and programmes to improve road and rail safety. The on-going review of the implementation of the Transport Trans European Network was also identified as an area where they could work together. They also considered practical measures which could be taken to increase co-operation in relation to the road transport industry.

Officials' meetings

The officials' meetings dealt with the substantive business in relevant sectoral areas for forthcoming ministerial meetings including drafting papers and pursuing individual work topics. In addition senior officials form all of the Administrations have met from time to time to discuss British-Irish Council progress and procedures.

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