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Oman

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he next plans to visit Oman. [64822]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has no plans to visit Oman.

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Zimbabwe

Mr. Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps are being taken to protect the interests of United Kingdom nationals engaged in legal action in Zimbabwe. [65244]

Mr. MacShane: Our consular staff in Harare will provide support and assistance where they properly can, but in all such cases, as elsewhere in the world, British citizens are advised to seek local legal advice on how best to pursue their case.

Iraq

Mrs. Mahon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the medicines and medical equipment that are on the dual use list of banned imports to Iraq. [65558]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: There is no list of banned imports to Iraq. The Goods Review List, introduced by UN resolution 1409, contains dual-use items whose export to Iraq is subject to UN Security Council approval. It is not a denial list. Before approving Goods Review Listed items for export, the UN Sanctions Committee, drawing on expert advice from the UN Monitoring Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) and the IAEA, will decide whether the military risk of allowing the Iraqi regime to have the listed items outweighs their humanitarian benefits. The Goods Review List is a publicly accessible document, the contents of which are available on the UN website at www.un.org/Departments/ oip/index.html.

Mrs. Mahon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if the United Nations organisations in Iraq are present on the same basis as they routinely operate in countries where there is a non- military UN presence. [65557]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: United Nations organisations are present in Iraq in support of the UN's Oil for Food humanitarian programme. FAO, UNICEF, UNDP and WHO also operate country programmes, as they do elsewhere.

Mrs. Mahon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the purpose for which each United Nations-related organisation is present in Iraq. [65556]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: United Nations-related organisations are present in Iraq for the following purposes:

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Support to the UN Oil for Food programme:


FAO, UNICEF, UNDP and WHO also operate country programmes, the funding and activities of which are separate from the work these agencies do under the Oil for Food programme.

UNIKOM:

Monitoring the demilitarized zone along the Iraq- Kuwait border.

British Nationals (Prisoners)

Mr. Pope: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on when it is Her Majesty's Government's policy to support officially a plea for clemency on compassionate grounds from a British national imprisoned overseas. [67699]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: Decisions on whether to support an application for clemency are taken at ministerial level. When considering an application for clemency on compassionate grounds, Ministers will, as a general rule, mirror the policy applied by the UK prison services when considering applications for early release on compassionate grounds submitted by prisoners in the UK. Each application for support will be considered on its merits on a case- by-case basis.

Ministers would not normally support a plea for clemency on compassionate grounds if a Prisoner Transfer Agreement exists between the UK and the sentencing state and a transfer to the UK could be completed within a reasonable time frame. In such circumstances, any request for early or temporary release on compassionate grounds could then be made to the appropriate UK prison authority.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Public Appointments

Keith Vaz: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list the public appointments he has made since 7 June 2001. [66365]

Mr. McNulty: Since 7 June last year Ministers have made the following appointments or re-appointments to the non-departmental public bodies currently sponsored by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.

Title First nameSurnameRoleNDPB
MsGillRichardsonMemberAdvisory Panel on Standards in the Planning Inspectorate
MsHazelDuffyMemberAdvisory Panel on Standards in the Planning Inspectorate
Mr.TimothyCornerMemberAdvisory Panel on Standards in the Planning Inspectorate
Mr.MichaelWatsonMemberAdvisory Panel on Standards in the Planning Inspectorate
MsJudithCursonMemberAudit Commission
Mr.JohnBowenMemberAudit Commission
Mr.RoyHoyleMemberAudit Commission
Mr.AnthonyPriorMemberBuilding Regulations Advisory Committee
Mr.MichaelFinnChairBuilding Regulations Advisory Committee
MsMayCassarMemberBuilding Regulations Advisory Committee
Mr.DavidHollidayMemberBuilding Regulations Advisory Committee
Mr.PeterWarburtonMemberBuilding Regulations Advisory Committee
Mr.MatthewSmithMemberBuilding Regulations Advisory Committee
MsJanetYoungMemberBuilding Regulations Advisory Committee
Mr.ThiruMoolanMemberBuilding Regulations Advisory Committee
MsClareWrightMemberBuilding Regulations Advisory Committee
MsLynneSullivanMemberBuilding Regulations Advisory Committee
Rev.DavidHazlehurstMemberCommunity Forum
Mrs.GeorginaHoldsworthMemberCommunity Forum
MsAllisonTrimbleMemberCommunity Forum
MsBarbaraWillis-BrownMemberCommunity Forum
Mrs.CamilleAde-JohnMemberCommunity Forum
Mr.JoeMontgomeryChairCommunity Forum
Rev.GrahamBrownleeMemberCommunity Forum
Mr.EdwardCoxMemberCommunity Forum
Mrs.CarolDickinsonMemberCommunity Forum
Mrs.JeanetteWorthingtonMemberCommunity Forum
MsLauraMoynahamMemberCommunity Forum
Mr.GrahamBellMemberCommunity Forum
Mrs.LorraineCavanaghMemberCommunity Forum
Mr.ZualfqarHussainMemberCommunity Forum
MsJessSteeleMemberCommunity Forum
Mr.RichardKempMemberCommunity Forum
Mr.WaheedSaleemMemberCommunity Forum
Dr.MohammedAliMemberCommunity Forum
Mr.MohammedMalikMemberCommunity Forum
Mrs.ElizabethLadimejiMemberCommunity Forum
Mrs.MaureenLambertMemberCommunity Forum
MrsMargaretFordChairEnglish Partnerships
Mrs.JanetPutmanMemberHousing Action Trust Castle Vale
Mr.RonnyRossMemberHousing Action Trust Liverpool
Mr.JohnPetittMemberHousing Action Trust Liverpool
MsYvonneHutchinsonMemberHousing Corporation
Mr.AndrewWincklerMemberHousing Corporation
MsGeraldineHukaMemberHousing Corporation
MsCorinneSwainMemberProperty Advisory Group
Mr.RogerGroomMemberProperty Advisory Group
Mrs.HazelWilliamsonMemberProperty Advisory Group
Mr.RonaldSpinneyMemberProperty Advisory Group
MissWendyShillamMemberProperty Advisory Group
Mr.SimonKirkhamMemberProperty Advisory Group
Mr.GeoffFreemanLawyer ChairRent Assessment Panel Northern
Mr.RobertWilsonLawyer ChairRent Assessment Panel Southern

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Mayoral Management

Mr. Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether local authorities must first obtain the consent of their electorate by a referendum before they proceed to a mayoral management system. [65996]

Mr. Raynsford: The Local Government Act 2000 specifies three models of executive arrangements, two of which involve a directly elected mayor. The Act, together with regulations made under it, provides that if a local authority proposes to move to or from either of the mayoral models, they must first obtain the consent of their local electorate in a referendum.

Elected Mayors

Mr. Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister which authorities have indicated that they wish to proceed to elected mayors. [65995]

Mr. Raynsford: To date, 28 local authorities have held referendums under the Local Government Act 2000 on whether or not to adopt executive arrangements that

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involve a directly elected mayor. Eleven of these referendums produced a result in favour of a system with an elected mayor. Of these, seven (Doncaster, Hartlepool, Lewisham, Middlesbrough, Newham, North Tyneside, and Watford) held their first mayoral election on 2 May this year, and the remaining four (Bedford, Hackney, Mansfield, and Stoke-on-Trent) will hold their first mayoral election on 17 October 2002. Corby borough council have also recently advised us that they will be holding a mayoral referendum later this year, following receipt of a valid local petition.


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