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Correspondence

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the target time will be in 2002–03 for (a) Ministers to reply to letters from hon. Members and (b) officials in his Department to reply to letters received directly from members of the public. [44947]

Dr. John Reid: The target time in 2002–03 for Ministers to reply to letters from hon. Members is 10 working days.

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The target time in 2002–03 for officials in his Department to reply to letters received directly from members of the public is 15 working days, except in the Compensation Agency where it is 10 working days.

Energy Costs

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on energy costs incurred by his Department in each of the last 10 years. [42445]

Dr. John Reid: Financial information for the years prior to 1996–97 is not readily available.

Details of the Department's (including its agencies, but excluding NDPBs) total expenditure on energy costs for the last six years are:

Year£
1996–973,156,147
1997–982,981,720
1998–992,616,093
1999–20002,684,527
2000–012,762,408
2001–02(5)2,762,408

(5) To end February 2002. Total year estimate £2,259,857


Special Advisers

Mr. Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many special advisers there were in his Department; and what their salaries were in each of the last five years. [46940]

Dr. John Reid: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 10 April 2002, Official Report, column 11W.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Entry Clearance

David Winnick: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on how many occasions in the last two years applications for visitors' entry clearances have been given on the basis of the constituency hon. Members where the sponsor resides giving their word that the person would leave the UK at the end of the time permitted. [48798]

Mr. Bradshaw: We do not keep records of the reasons behind the issue of entry clearance; it is granted where the applicant meets the requirements of the immigration rules.

Nuclear Materials Transportation

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has received on the Hazards of Nuclear Materials Transported from Europe to Japan by (a) CARICOM, (b) the Rio Group and (c) the Pacific Island Forum in the last 12 months. [49494]

Mr. Bradshaw: The Secretary of State received a representation from CARICOM on the movement of nuclear waste through the Caribbean sea while at the UK-Caribbean Forum in Guyana (3–5 April 2002). The Rio Group Heads of State and Government expressed their concern about the risks related to the transit of

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radioactive materials in the Santiago Declaration of 17 August 2001. We have not received a representation on this from the Pacific Island Forum.

Gibraltar

Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when a decision will be made on offering the people of Gibraltar a referendum on their future; who will write the referendum question; in what way the UK Government will be bound by the decision of Gibraltarians; what the UK Government policy will be on a referendum for the people of Gibraltar; if he will publish the full text of the Anglo-Spanish accord on the issue of Gibraltar; and whether the referendum question will be put before Parliament for approval before it is put to the people of Gibraltar. [47964]

Peter Hain: No decisions have been made on the timing or modalities of any referendum other than because it could trigger primary legislation in the UK. HMG will expect to oversee the organisation and timing of any such referendum in consultation with the Government of Gibraltar. The Government have also made clear that any proposals affecting the sovereignty of Gibraltar will be put to the people of Gibraltar and implemented only if they approve them.

Israel

Mr. Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) pursuant to his answer of 11 March 2002, Official Report, column 689W, to the hon. Member for Glasgow, Kelvin (Mr. Galloway), what changes have been made to the evaluation of end-use undertakings issued by the Israeli Government with reference to Israel's assurances on 29 November 2000 on the use of UK originated equipment and systems; and if he will make a statement; [46418]

Mr. Straw: The written reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow, Kelvin (Mr. Galloway) on 11 March 2002, Official Report, column 689W, informed Parliament of information that had come to light about UK-supplied equipment licensed for export under a previous Administration and a different export control regime being used in the occupied territories. I undertook to inform my hon. Friend and the House of the response from the Israeli Government to our request for an explanation.

Following parallel action taken in London—on 12 March—and by our embassy in Tel Aviv—on 13 March—the Israeli Foreign Ministry formally responded on 26 March.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry has said that the assurances given on 29 November 2000 were in good faith, and offered an explanation based on operational need about the use of the armoured personnel carriers in the occupied territories. They did not however accept that this was a breach of the assurances given and they have not committed to stop using the armoured personnel

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carriers in the occupied territories. In the light of this response we will (a) continue to assess export licence applications for the proposed export of controlled goods to Israel on a case-by-case basis against the consolidated EU and national arms export licensing criteria; but (b) in so doing, we will no longer take the Israeli assurances given on 29 November 2000 into account.

We also have questions about other possible breaches of the assurances with regard to equipment supplied under previous Administrations, which we are taking up with the Israeli authorities. I will report the results of our inquiries to the House once they are complete.

Linda Perham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what changes have been made to the advice given to travellers to Israel since the outbreak of recent fighting; and what further changes to this advice are planned. [49040]

Mr. Bradshaw: All travel advice notices are kept under constant review and updated to reflect the latest security situation.

Since the most recent invasion of the occupied territories on 28–29 March, the travel advice for Israel and the Palestinian Authority has been updated twice to reflect the developments in the security situation and the risks to British nationals in Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

Our key message


On 4 April the travel advice was updated to state that Ramallah and Bethlehem had been declared closed military zones by the Israeli army. This meant that no one can travel in or out. British nationals in the west bank and Gaza were advised to leave when the situation permitted.

Iraq

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what evidence Her Majesty's Government have that Iraq (a) has provided and (b) is planning to provide (i) information and (ii) materials for weapons of mass destruction to the al-Qaeda network. [49484]

Mr. Bradshaw: As we have previously made clear, we have no evidence of links between the Iraqi regime and al-Qaeda. But we are keeping an open mind about Iraqi connections to al-Qaeda and are investigating all reports of links.

Zimbabwe

Mr. Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what actions his Department has taken in relation to Zimbabwe since the inauguration of Robert Mugabe as President in March. [48786]

Mr. Straw: EU Foreign Ministers will consider further action on Zimbabwe at the General Affairs Council in Luxembourg on 15 April. I will give a substantive reply after the meeting. We also have been in close touch with the Commonwealth Secretariat and individual members of the Commonwealth. The right hon. Member will be aware

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that, following the election, the Commonwealth "Troika" decided upon the suspension of Zimbabwe from the Councils of the Commonwealth.

Mr. Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the leaders of countries bordering Zimbabwe since the elections in that country last month; and what the results of those talks were. [48785]

Mr. Straw: Ministers and officials continue to be in close touch with key countries in the region and with other international partners about the situation in Zimbabwe.

Mr. Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) if he will list those individuals who have had sanctions imposed on them by the European Union and the United States as a result of political violence and intimidation in Zimbabwe; [48790]

Mr. Straw: On 18 February 2002 the European Union imposed a travel ban (and assets freeze) on the following 20 senior members of the Government of Zimbabwe:


None of the above mentioned Zimbabweans have attempted to visit the European Union since imposition of the travel ban on 18 February.

We have no access to records of other EU member states. All were entitled to visit the UK prior to 18 February, as Zimbabweans are not required to obtain visas to travel to the UK. No consolidated record will be available for any such visits.

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Mr. Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports his Department has received concerning (a) food shortages, (b) politically motivated murders, (c) suppression of the media and (d) political intimidation and oppression in Zimbabwe since the elections. [48787]

Mr. Straw: We and the Department for International Development receive regular reports from a variety of governmental, non-governmental, media and other sources.

(a) Food shortages—UNDP's Humanitarian Assistance and Recovery Programme is providing supplementary feeding to 558,000 people in Zimbabwe. In addition, the Department for International Development is providing supplementary feeding to 300,000 people.

(b) Politically motivated murders—at least 10 opposition supporters, mostly election monitors, are reported to have been killed since the election and many more to have been injured.

(c) Media suppression—the Access to Information Act requires Zimbabwean journalists to be licensed by the Zimbabwean Government, and effectively bans foreign journalists. A report for the Daily Telegraph (a Zimbabwean national) was detained, and subsequently released, over the Easter weekend.

(c) Political intimidation and oppression—see (b) and (c) above.

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