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Poland (EU Accession)

Ms Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what role Britain is playing in helping Poland to join the EU. [28916]

Peter Hain: My right hon. Friends the Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary and I have regular contact with our Polish counterparts. We are heavily involved in the Commission's Twinning programme: since 1998, we have won involvement in 23 Polish projects, covering such areas as organised crime and implementation of the CAP. Our action plan with Poland covers a range of further bilateral assistance to their accession preparations. We are doing all we can to assist Poland with her accession negotiations, as we want to see Poland ready by the end of this year to join the EU.

Iraq

Mr. Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what evidence he has been given indicating whether the al-Qaeda network has a presence in Iraq. [28894]

Mr. Bradshaw: I have seen no evidence which demonstrates that an al-Qaeda network exists in Iraq.

Mr. Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the United States Administration on extension of the war on terrorism to Iraq. [28895]

Mr. Bradshaw: We frequently discuss all aspects of Iraq policy with our US counterparts. We are not speculating about the prospects of military action beyond Afghanistan.

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Mr. Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on sanctions on Iraq; and what plans there are to end them. [28892]

Mr. Bradshaw: UN controls on Iraq, imposed after its invasion of Kuwait in 1990, have successfully contained Iraq's ability to attack its neighbours, use chemical weapons against the Iraqi people and develop weapons of mass destruction (WMD)—all of which are part of its quite recent history. UN resolution 1284, a UK initiative, continues to offer Iraq the route out of these controls, if it chooses to co-operate and meet its international obligations, particularly on the disposal of its WMD. All members of the Security Council believe that rigorous controls must however remain on the Iraqi regime while it refuses to co-operate. In the meantime, the UK continues to lead the way in refining these controls to improve the flow of goods to the Iraqi people, while maintaining control on the Iraqi regime's access to WMD/military-related items.

Environmental Appraisals

Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many officials from his Department have attended the environmental appraisal and integration into policy training course run by the Civil Service College. [29007]

Peter Hain [holding answer 21 January 2002]: No FCO officials have attended the course at the Civil Service College. We have developed our own suite of training courses covering environment, with the help of the University of Surrey Centre for Environmental Strategy. The courses provide guidance on how to integrate environment into foreign policy and FCO operations.

Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when the last occasion was on which he requested an environmental appraisal before making a policy decision. [29004]

Peter Hain [holding answer 21 January 2002]: No such request has been made.

Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what procedures his Department has to ensure environmental appraisals are undertaken prior to (a) administrative and (b) policy decisions being made. [29005]

Peter Hain [holding answer 21 January 2002]: Consultation with the relevant FCO department is required on all administrative and policy decisions with an environmental impact.

Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans his Department has to appraise the environmental implications of its Spending Review submission to the Treasury. [29006]

Peter Hain [holding answer 21 January 2002]: The FCO will submit a Sustainable Development Report to the Treasury as part of its Spending Review submission. The environmental implications of the submission will be considered in this report.

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Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many environmental appraisals have been published by his Department since 1 January 2001; and if he will list the last four. [29003]

Peter Hain [holding answer 21 January 2002]: No such appraisals have been published.

International Terrorism

Mr. Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he next expects to speak to the Indonesian authorities concerning al-Qaeda and the war on terrorism. [29292]

Mr. Straw: Regular discussions with the Indonesian authorities on a range of matters, including terrorism, continue.

Mr. Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the United States Government regarding the extension of the campaign against international terrorism; and if he will make a statement. [27678]

Mr. Straw: We regularly discuss all aspects of the campaign against terrorism with the US Government. We share the concern of all responsible governments at the existence of international terrorist networks.

Ministerial Visit (Africa)

Mr. Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which countries he will be visiting during his forthcoming visit to Africa; and if the Prime Minister will be accompanying him. [29289]

Mr. Straw: I am paying a joint visit with French Foreign Minister Vedrine on 21–23 January 2002 to the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda. The Prime Minister will not be accompanying us.

Money Laundering (African Governments)

Mr. Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent investigations he has undertaken to check that senior members of the Governments of (a) Kenya, (b) Zambia and (c) Zimbabwe and their respective families have not laundered money through (i) the City of London and (ii) Switzerland. [29118]

Peter Hain [holding answer 21 January 2002]: The UK plays a leading role in international efforts to combat money laundering and corruption. The UK co-operates with a wide range of international partners to this end.

I am withholding further information under Exemption 4(b) of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.

Turkey (EU Accession)

Mr. Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of Turkey's progress towards meeting the entry requirements for accession into the EU; and if he will make a statement. [27679]

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Mr. Straw: We welcome Turkey's recent constitutional changes as progress towards meeting the Copenhagen criteria. As the Laeken European Council in December noted, Turkey's reforms have brought forward the prospect of the opening of EU accession negotiations for Turkey. Further reforms are needed before Turkey can start negotiations with the EU. We are therefore encouraging the Turkish Government to continue their programme of political and economic reform, in line with the Accession Partnership, notably with regard to human rights.

China

Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Chinese authorities to ensure that there will be no human rights abuse in China during the preparations and hosting of the 2008 Olympics. [28716]

Mr. MacShane: We take every opportunity to press the Chinese authorities to improve their human rights record. My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary did so with the Chinese Foreign Minister, Mr. Tang Jiaxuan, on 17 January.

Civil Defence Grant

Mr. Miller: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the level of civil defence grant will be for the next financial year. [30365]

Mr. Leslie: The Government have now completed their consideration of what is necessary and affordable for emergency planning by local authorities having regard to the demands that have been placed on emergency planners in recent times. We have decided, subject to the Civil Defence (Grant) Bill completing its passage through Parliament, to maintain the total grant level at around this year's level, currently estimated at some £18.6 million. The next stage is to decide how the grant will be distributed between the eligible authorities. Consideration is currently being given to the use of a formula and we will consult local authority representatives before finalising the grant allocation mechanism.

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