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Forced Labour
Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations he has made to the Governments of (a) Bangladesh, (b) India and (c) Pakistan regarding forced labour in their countries. [24271]
Mr. Bradshaw: We continue to raise human rights concerns, including bonded and forced labour, with the Bangladesh, Pakistan and Indian authorities. We remind the authorities of the need to uphold the basic rights of all people, particularly the poor and disadvantaged who are most vulnerable to forced/bonded labour. We welcome the three countries' ratification of International Labour Organisation (ILO) conventions which encourage equal pay among men and women. We also welcome Bangladesh's and Pakistan's ratification of ILO conventions that protect the labour rights of children.
President Mugabe
Mr. Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to his Spanish counterpart over President Mugabe's recent medical treatment in that country. [24927]
Mr. Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information he has received on the meetings between President Mugabe and the Spanish Government during the President's recent trip to Spain. [24925]
Mr. Bradshaw: The Spanish Government have told us that there were no meetings between the Spanish Government and President Mugabe during his recent trip to Spain.
Iraq
Mr. Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the suspected activities at the Salman Pak training camp in Iraq. [24941]
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Mr. Bradshaw: The Salman Pak "camp" is a group of facilities close to Baghdad. We are aware of press reports that claim Salman Pak is used as a terrorist training camp. We take these reports seriously, however, there is currently no direct evidence linking al-Qaeda to Salman Pak.
Sierra Leone
Mr. Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the situation in Sierra Leone and the progress of the British military mission. [24972]
Mr. Bradshaw: The Government's strategy towards Sierra Leone was set out in the Foreign Secretary's statement to the House on 6 June 2000. The effectiveness of that strategy has been demonstrated by the progress we have made towards peace and stability in Sierra Leone.
Since the beginning of 2001, over 40,000 former combatants have disarmed. They are now being reintegrated into society. A new, more effective and accountable Sierra Leone army, trained by UK forces, is deploying with civil administrators throughout the country. This has signalled the visible restoration of Government authority. Supported by the international community, the Government of Sierra Leone are preparing to hold elections in May 2002.
The situation in Sierra Leone will, however, continue to be fragile, at least until ordinary Sierra Leoneans are able to enjoy the benefits of peace. The Government of Sierra Leone need rapidly to mobilise substantial additional resources to rehabilitate the country's devastated communities, institutions and economy. As Sierra Leone's largest bilateral donor, the UK will continue to help the Government of Sierra Leone through a wide-ranging programme of assistance.
As my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence indicated in a written statement to the House on 18 December, our military training and assistance programme continues to make good progress towards its goal of developing professional, accountable and effective Sierra Leone armed forces, better able to protect the security and integrity of Sierra Leone. The people of Sierra Leone are increasingly confident of the new Sierra Leone armed forces. We will, through the International Military Advisory and Training Team, continue to work to raise the standard and develop the capacity of the Sierra Leone armed forces.
DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER
Non-departmental Public Bodies
Chris Ruane: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many NDPBs there were in the United Kingdom in 2001; and how many (a) paid and (b) unpaid quango appointees there were. [25118]
Mr. Leslie: Information on advisory and executive non-departmental public bodies, tribunals and other public bodies is published in the annual Cabinet Office publication "Public Bodies". This includes the location of the bodies concerned, their terms of reference, expenditure, appointments and remuneration. The next
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edition of Public Bodies will be published shortly, and a copy will be placed in the Library of the House in the usual way.
Civil Service Management Code
Bob Russell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister which Minister has responsibility for the Civil Service Management Code. [25011]
Mr. Leslie: The Civil Service Management Code is issued under the authority of the Civil Service Order in Council 1995 under which the Minister for the Civil Service has the power to make regulations and give instructions for the management of the Home Civil Service. This includes the power to prescribe the conditions of service of civil servants. The Prime Minister, as Minister for the Civil Service, delegates this power through Lord MacDonald of Tradeston to me.
Inter-Ministerial Group on Ageing
Ms Atherton: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many times the Inter-Ministerial Group on Ageing has met in this Session of Parliament. [23099]
Mr. McCartney: I have been asked to reply.
Under paragraph 2 of Part II of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information, information about Cabinet Committee business is not released.
TRANSPORT, LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND
THE REGIONS
Departmental Consultants
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, pursuant to his answer of 22 November 2001, Official Report, column 390W, on consultants, if he will list for each of the consultants and advisers named (a) the length of their contract including start and finish dates, (b) whether they were appointed after open competition, (c) the job specification for their contract, (d) the cost to his Department of their contract, (e) other contracts which they have with his Department and (f) other contracts held with other Government Departments. [19781]
Mr. Byers: For (a), (b) and (c), the information requested is as follows:
This contract, which related to rail passenger demand profiles and lasted for one month in July 2001, was let by the Association of Train Operating Companies.
(a) Four years three months from January 1998 to March 2002
(c) Advice on the Channel Tunnel Concession Agreement
This contract, which relates to insurance advice on the Channel Tunnel Rail Link, was let by Schroder Salomon Smith Barney.
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Arthur Andersen
(a) On-going from September 2001
(c) Accountancy advice on matters relating to Railtrack
This contract, which related to Eurostar passenger and revenue forecasts and lasted for 15 months from February 2000 to May 2001, was let by Mott Parsons Gibb.
(a) Two years from October 1999 to October 2001
(c) Legal advice on the Transport Bill
(c) Legal advice on the Channel Tunnel Rail Link, extended to advice on matters relating to Railtrack in August 2001
This contract, which concerns accountancy advice on the Channel Tunnel Rail Link, was let by Schroder Salomon Smith Barney.
(a) Six weeks from August to October 2001
(c) Accountancy advice on matters relating to Railtrack and (as a contingency in the event of the Secretary of State refusing Railtrack plc's request for additional funding and of a railway administration order being made) on administration matters generally.
(a) Call-off contract on-going from October 1999
(c) Advice on rail pension issues
(c) Accountancy and taxation advice on the implementation of rail privatisation; currently advising on post-privatisation, residual taxation matters
(a) Six weeks from August to September 2001
(c) Multi-modal freight forecasts
(c) Management consultancy advice on matters relating to Railtrack
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(c) Project representatives for the Channel Tunnel Rail Link
This contract, which concerns economic advice, was let by Mercers Management Consulting.
(c) Development of a national rail model
(c) Updating of 1997 rail ticket sales data profiles
This contract, which concerned a Freightliner grant application, finished in August 2000.
(a) Six years from April 1997 to March 2003
(c) Trade mark services in connection with the "double arrows" logo
(a) Call-off contract; advice from June to October 2001
(c) Advice on senior recruitment
(c) Financial advice on the Channel Tunnel Rail Link
(c) Financial advice on matters relating to Railtrack
(c) Provision of an extract of 2000 rail ticket sales data
United Kingdom Accreditation Service
(a) One year from November 2001 to October 2002
(c) Development of an assessment regime for applicants for appointment as notified bodies for the High Speed Rail Interoperability Directive (Council Directive 96/48/EC).
For individual consultants and advisers, the information requested under (d) is commercially confidential but, for all of them together, just over £10 million has been spent in the last twelve months.
Information on (e) and (f) is not recorded centrally.
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