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Local Bodies

Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list those local bodies which were set up under legislation which is the responsibility of his Department since May 1997. [17590]

Mr. Bradshaw: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is not responsible for any local bodies.

Bulgaria

Mr. David: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he anticipates Bulgaria will have completed negotiations to enter the EU. [17839]

28 Nov 2001 : Column: 990W

Peter Hain: The Bulgarian Government have recently declared their intention to complete accession negotiations in 2003, with the aim of joining by the end of 2006. HMG will continue to provide advice and support to Bulgaria in order to help it accede to the EU.

UAE-Iraq (Trade)

Mr. Alan Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the United Arab Emirates-Iraq free trade agreement on 2 November; and what plans he has for the discussions on the issue to be held in Muscat in December. [18038]

Mr. Bradshaw: The UN "oil for food" programme, which enables Iraq to use the revenue from its oil sales through the UN to buy goods worth billions of dollars each year to meet the humanitarian needs of the Iraqi people and to rehabilitate Iraq's infrastructure, has led to significant growth in Iraq's trade with its neighbours. We have no objection to agreements to promote this trade to benefit the Iraqi people, provided that such agreements neither breach UN controls, for example by promoting the export from Iraq of goods other than crude oil, nor contribute to the Iraqi regime's aim to engineer the lifting of UN controls without having to meet its international obligations, particularly on disarmament.

We are not aware of any plans to discuss this issue in Muscat.

"Never Again" Leaflet

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the cost was of producing the "Never Again" leaflet; and to whom it has been distributed. [18077]

Mr. MacShane: The cost of producing the "Never Again" leaflet was £23,971. Copies have been distributed to Members of Parliament and members of the devolved legislatures, as well as to British Embassies and High Commissions for use with overseas audiences and to foreign journalists in London. The text is also available on the FCO website. Further copies in English, Arabic, Farsi, Turkish, Bengali, Hindi and Urdu are available from the Islamic Media Unit at the FCO.

Ceuta and Melilla

Mr. Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what indications he has received from the Spanish Government of its intention (a) to transfer sovereignty of Ceuta and Melilla to Morocco and (b) to arrange joint sovereignty of those territories with Morocco. [17832]

Peter Hain: None.

India

Mr. Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he next plans to visit India. [18733]

Mr. Bradshaw: The Foreign Secretary hopes to visit India next year. Dates have not yet been set.

28 Nov 2001 : Column: 991W

Departmental Expenditure Limits

Mr. Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans he has to change his (a) Department's expenditure limit and (b) administration costs limits for 2001–02. [19752]

Mr. MacShane: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office's departmental expenditure limit (DEL) will be decreased by £3,206,000 from £1,365,910,000 to £1,362,704,000 and the administration costs limit will be decreased by £960,000 from £635,558,000 to £634,598,000. Within the DEL change, the impact on resources and capital are as set out in the table.

	£000
Resources
Change	-2,416
New DEL	1,236,138
Of which:
Voted	1,067,237
Non-voted	168,901
Capital
Change	-790
New DEL	126,566
Of which:
Voted	103,066
Non-voted	23,500

The change in the resource element of the DEL arises from:

1. A reduction of £960,000 in the FCO's administration cost limit as a result of a PES (public expenditure survey) transfer to the DTI, relating to funding arrangements for British Trade International.

2. A PES transfer of £886,000 to the Cabinet Office relating to funding arrangements for the BBC Monitoring Service.

3. A PES transfer of £570,000 to DFID to reflect funding arrangements for a refurbishment project.

The change in the capital element of the DEL arises from a PES transfer of £790,000 to the DTI relating to funding arrangements for British Trade International.

The decreases are offset by inter-departmental transfers and will not impact on the planned total of public expenditure.

Zimbabwe

Mr. Win Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on evidence he has received concerning attacks on opposition MDC (Movement for Democratic Change) supporters in Zimbabwe; and what implications this has for free and fair presidential elections in 2002. [18088]

Mr. Bradshaw: The most recent reports we have of such incidents concern attacks on opposition MDC supporters by war veterans and ZANU (PF) activists in Bulawayo during the weekend of 17–18 November. MDC supporters are also reported to have retaliated. We condemn such politically motivated violence from whatever quarter, and continue to urge the Government of Zimbabwe to take immediate action to prevent further incidents which threaten to undermine the conduct of free and fair presidential elections in 2002.

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Mr. Win Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will publish evidence he has received indicating violations of human rights by Government Ministers in Zimbabwe. [18089]

Mr. Bradshaw: We have received a number of reports compiled by non-governmental organisations of alleged human rights abuses in Zimbabwe. The most recent is a report by the Human Rights Forum a copy of which has been placed in the Library of the House. We regularly raise our concern about human rights in Zimbabwe with the Government of Zimbabwe.

Tibet

Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will give details of the issues he raised with regard to Tibet during the meeting with the Chinese Vice-Foreign Minister on 30 October; and what the response of the Chinese Government was. [18879]

Mr. MacShane: At my meeting with the Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing, I made clear our concerns about the human rights situation in Tibet and urged the Chinese Government to enter into dialogue with the Dalai Lama, about the future of Tibet. The Chinese Foreign Minister took note.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

UK Atomic Energy Authority

Mr. Levitt: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will announce the outcome of the Quinquennial Review of the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority. [19568]

Mr. Wilson: The Government have now considered the recommendations made by the Review Team in its second and final report.

The report focuses primarily on arrangements for managing public sector civil nuclear liabilities on a more open, transparent, efficient and sustainable basis and on UKAEA's place within any new arrangements which might be put in place.

The conclusions we have reached are set out in the statement which the Secretary of State made to the House earlier today in which she announced the Government's intention to put a sharper focus on nuclear clean-up by setting up a new Liabilities Management Authority responsible for providing the strong strategic control and direction which is essential; developing a supply base capable of sustaining the clean-up programme over the long term; and enhancing safety and environmental performance while securing management efficiencies and best value for money. Working with the LMA, UKAEA will have a key role to play in delivering these objectives in relation to the liabilities for which it is currently responsible, building and improving on what it has achieved to date.

28 Nov 2001 : Column: 993W

In relation to UKAEA's other activities the report recommends that:

UKAEA, in conjunction with the other public sector bodies on the site, should evaluate options for the future development of Harwell as a basis for decisions on a long term strategy for the development of the site as a whole;


the UKAEA Constabulary should be established as a stand-alone force employed by a statutory Police Authority;


UKAEA should retain responsibility for managing the UK's fusion capability and for operating the JET (joint European torus) research facility at Culham under contract to the European Commission but that a Fusion Advisory Board should be established to give fusion a more distinctive identity within the UKAEA, bring a broader perspective to its thinking on fusion strategy and drive forward action on science and industry out-reach;


the Thurso pensions office should remain part of UKAEA for the foreseeable future but that options for outsourcing offering the prospect of additional work for the office should be kept under review.

The Government have accepted all these recommendations. Those relating to the development of Harwell and fusion will be implemented immediately. Legislation to create an independent Constabulary and a statutory Police Authority will be brought forward at the first available opportunity. Views will be invited in due course on the precise detail of the legislative provisions involved.

The Government believe that fusion power has the potential to make a real and valuable contribution to meeting energy needs in the medium term. We are therefore concerned to maintain and make best use of UK expertise in fusion research. To this end, responsibility for funding the UK fusion programme will be transferred to the Research Councils as a further means of encouraging integration with the wider science base and ensuring continuity in the UK's research capability in this area.

I have arranged for copies of the QQR Team's Stage 1 and Stage 2 reports to be placed in the Libraries of the House. The reports can also be accessed via the DTI website at www.dti.gov.uk.

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