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British Detainees (Cuba)

26. Mr. Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the situation of the British Taliban and al-Qaeda suspects held at Guantanamo Bay. [45541]

Mr. Bradshaw: We remain in close touch with the US Government about the British detainees in Guantanamo Bay, their status, the legal procedure to which they might be subject and their welfare.

In response to our approaches, the US Government have given us the assurance that they would treat all UK detainees humanely and consistently with the principles of the Geneva Convention.

EU Enlargement

30. David Cairns: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assistance is being provided by the UK to the candidate counties for EU membership. [45545]

Peter Hain: Over the last decade we have contributed £350 million through the "Know How Fund" to provide technical assistance to the central European candidate countries. We now have "Action Plans" with all 13 candidates with a total budget of £1.8 million in the last financial year. The plans bring together the UK's practical assistance to the candidates across a range of activities involving other Whitehall Departments.

Since 1998, the UK has won involvement in over 100 Twinning projects, whereby experts are seconded as long-term Pre-Accession Advisers to candidate countries' ministries. This is the third highest number of any member state. The UK was the first member state to win involvement in projects in all 12 negotiating countries.

36. Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the enlargement of the European Union. [45551]

Peter Hain: Enlargement negotiations are progressing steadily and are on course to meet the timetable agreed at Gothenburg and confirmed at Laeken—to end negotiations in 2002 with the best-prepared countries, so that they can take part in the European Parliament elections in 2004.

Currently 10 of the 12 countries in negotiations have opened 29 chapters. Slovenia has closed 26 chapters, Cyprus, Hungary, Estonia, Czech Republic and Lithuania have all closed 24, Slovakia and Latvia have both closed 23, Poland has closed 22 and Malta has closed 21. Bulgaria has opened 27 chapters and closed 14 while Romania has opened 22 and closed nine.

Nice Treaty

37. Sir Teddy Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on recent discussions he has had with his EU colleagues on the ratification of the Nice treaty. [45552]

Peter Hain: The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs meets his European counterparts regularly. These meetings discuss a range of subjects including the ratification of the treaty of Nice.

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The Bill to enable the UK to ratify the treaty of Nice received Royal Assent on 26 February, and the Government will lodge the instrument of ratification in Rome in the coming months.

China (Human Rights)

38. Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations he has made to the Government of China in relation to their record on human rights. [45553]

Mr. MacShane: We regularly raise concerns about the human rights situation in China, including through the six-monthly UK-China Human Rights Dialogue. My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary raised human rights concerns with the Chinese Foreign Minister during his visit to the UK on 16–19 January.

Myanmar

40. Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement about the situation in Myanmar. [45555]

Mr. Bradshaw: In recent weeks there has been an EU Troika delegation visit to Burma and EU action over forced labour in Burma at the International Labour Organisation. The EU is preparing a resolution on Burma for adoption at the United Nations Commission on Human Rights and the UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy to Burma will visit Burma 22–24 April.

I remain gravely concerned about the overall situation in Burma. Although there has been some very modest political progress there in the past 16 months, we need to see early evidence of substantive change if confidence in the political process in Burma is to be maintained.

Iran

6. Mr. Lyons: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the United States Administration about Iran. [45521]

Mr. Bradshaw: Iran was among the wide range of issues discussed during my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary's visit to Washington on 31 January and 1 February. He also discussed Iran in a telephone conversation with the US Secretary of State in March.

Departmental Underspend

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the (a) capital and (b) revenue underspend in his Department is expected to be in the financial year 2001–02. [47799]

Mr. MacShane [holding answer 10 April 2002]: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office estimated out-turn figures for 2001–02 will be published in the Budget Report on 17 April 2002.

Overtime

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what his policy is on overtime payments for staff in his Department. [49127]

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Mr. Bradshaw: All staff below the Senior Management Structure (equivalent to Senior Civil Service Staff) qualify for overtime or time off in lieu if they are required to work more than their conditioned hours at times of exceptional pressure. We do not encourage staff to work long hours but aim to reward them fairly when they do. All overtime must be approved in advance. Diplomatic Service staff serving overseas are not paid overtime but may be given time off in lieu when they work excessive hours, at management discretion.

Departmental Report

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when the 2002 Departmental report will be published. [49583]

Mr. MacShane: The FCO's 2002 Departmental Report is due to be published in spring 2002. The date will be announced shortly.

Laos

Mr. Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what actions he is taking to improve the conditions of religious minorities in Laos; and if he will make a statement. [48849]

Mr. Bradshaw: Contacts between British Ministers and officials and their Lao counterparts are limited. But we raise concerns about human rights in Laos, including the conditions of religious minorities, when such meetings take place. When the Lao Deputy Foreign Minister visited the UK in June 2001 the FCO's Asia-Pacific Director told him that the treatment of Lao Christians was a matter of particular concern in the UK. There is no DFID country programme for Laos. But DIFD and the FCO provide some funding aimed at improving the overall quality of life of the Lao people, including religious minorities.

Japan

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of Japan's capability for building nuclear weapons. [49265]

Mr. Bradshaw: Japan is a designated member of the IAEA Board of Governors and is thus recognised as being one of the nations most advanced in civil nuclear technology and applications. Japan is a member of the treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, as a non-nuclear weapon state, and it is thus treaty-bound not to pursue nuclear weapons programmes. Japan's constitution prohibits the development and use of nuclear weapons. It is active in the fields of nuclear non-proliferation and nuclear disarmament.

COREPER

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what mechanisms he uses for providing advanced notice to hon. Members of agenda items for COREPER meetings. [49491]

Peter Hain: Provisional agendas for COREPER meetings are posted on the Council of the European Union website http://register.consilium.eu.int.

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Smart Card Technology

Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the use of smart card technology in his Department and in the areas for which it is responsible; and what discussions he has had with private companies about the use of smart card technology within his Department. [50479]

Mr. MacShane: Smart card technology is not in use within the FCO at home or overseas. This is a technology being tracked for potential business benefit within the FCO, and informal discussions have been held with a number of technology companies.

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