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Sudan

30. Mr. Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what areas of the Sudan are out-of-bounds to humanitarian organisations; and if he will make a statement. [69608]

Mr. MacShane: Humanitarian access is difficult to many areas of Sudan where conflict exists. The Government of Sudan and the SPLM have committed themselves to facilitating humanitarian access to all regions of Sudan and there is no formal ban on access to any area.

International Criminal Court

31. John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he is having with his counterparts in the USA about the International Criminal Court. [69609]

Mr. MacShane: We are in regular contact with the US Administration in respect of this issue. Officials have made several approaches, both bilaterally and in conjunction with EU partners, encouraging the US to ratify the Rome Statute. And we have repeatedly made clear that, while we understand US concerns that the Court might bring malicious or politically-motivated charges against US personnel, we do not share them. The Statute of the Court contains safeguards against this. Most recently, and in connection with the renewal of the UN Security Council mandate in respect of peacekeepers in Bosnia (UNMIBH), my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs has had a number of conversations with his US counterpart. The outcome was Resolution 1422, unanimously adopted on 12 July 2002, which respects the Statute of the Court and allows the US to continue to participate in UN peacekeeping operations.

Gibraltar

32. Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will cease further talks with Spain about the future of Gibraltar. [69610]

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Peter Hain: I refer the hon. Member to the statement made in the House by my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary on 12 July 2002, Official Report, column 1165.

Mr. Francois: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs in what way the infrastructure of Gibraltar would improve under the proposed sharing of sovereignty of Gibraltar between Britain and Spain. [71166]

Peter Hain: I refer the hon. Member to the statement made in the House by my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary on 12 July 2002, Official Report, column 1166.

Mr. Francois: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what conditions were set by the Government of Gibraltar in order for the Chief Minister of Gibraltar to participate in the talks. [71164]

Peter Hain: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Coventry, South (Mr. Cunningham) on 27 February 2002, Official Report, column 1307W.

Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many people in Gibraltar have indicated to him they would wish to take Spanish nationality. [71596]

Peter Hain: As my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary said in the House on 12 July 2002, Official Report, column 1166, we are in broad agreement with Spain on many of the principles that should underpin a lasting settlement to the Gibraltar dispute, including that Gibraltarians should retain the right to British nationality and gain in addition the right to Spanish nationality as well if they so choose.

Organisation of African Unity

33. Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the recent talks between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo at the OAU summit in South Africa. [69611]

Mr. MacShane: The conflict in the Great Lakes region must be resolved through negotiations between the parties. We therefore welcome the recent talks in Durban between the Presidents of Rwanda and the DRC. We are encouraged by the decision to hold follow-up talks between senior officials on 18 July in South Africa. We welcome the role that the Government of South Africa, and in particular, President Mbeki, continue to play in trying to help resolve this long-standing conflict.

Cyprus

34. Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the progress of Cyprus towards accession to the European Union. [69612]

Peter Hain: Cyprus has made good progress in its EU accession negotiations, having opened 30 of the 31 negotiating chapters and provisionally closed 28. At Seville, the European Council set out its intention of concluding negotiations with Cyprus along with nine other countries by the end of this year, provided progress

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is maintained, and also reiterated that the Helsinki conclusions formed the basis of the EU's position in respect of the accession of Cyprus.

Developing Countries

36. Dr. Naysmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the European Union's role with respect to supporting trade with, and increasing aid to, developing countries. [69614]

Peter Hain: We continue to push hard for an EU market more open to developing countries, especially the poorest, and for EU member states to join us in hugely increasing their aid budgets.

Official Photographers

Mr. Collins: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on how many occasions during the last 12 months an official photographer has accompanied (a) him and (b) other Ministers in his Department on official visits (i) overseas and (ii) within the UK; what (A) travel expenses, (B) costs of equipment and processing, (C) staff payment and (D) other costs were incurred on each occasion; what publications official photographs have appeared in during the last 12 months and what terms and conditions were attached to the publication of such photographs; and whether photographs taken on official visits are available for use in non- governmental literature. [62832]

Mr. MacShane: The FCO does not employ an official photographer. However, photographs, from a variety of sources, including those taken by Ministers and members of staff of the FCO's work are posted on the FCO website or are used in publications.

Asylum Seekers

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many asylum seekers have entered a United Kingdom overseas mission in China in each year since 1997; what their nationality was; how many were granted asylum; and if he will make a statement. [62909]

Mr. MacShane: We have not received any applications for asylum in any of our missions in China since 1997.

Open Source Software

Brian White: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what his policy is towards using open source software; and what percentage is used in his Department. [69317]

Mr. MacShane: The FCO awards software contracts on a value for money basis and is prepared to consider open source software solutions alongside proprietary ones in IT procurements. We have no figures available on FCO usage of open source software.

The FCO's use of OSS will follow the Government policy once it is published this summer. The draft policy can be viewed at: http://www.govtalk.gov.uk/rfc/rfc–document.asp?docnum=429.

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Consultation

Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the public consultations undertaken by his Department since 1997, indicating for each consultation (a) if copies were available online, (b) if copies were available in print, (c) the date the time period given for responses opened and (d) the date the time period given for responses closed. [69806]

Mr. MacShane: A list of consultations undertaken by the FCO since 1997 is as follows:

Panel 2000 (future role of the FCO)
(a) yes
(b) yes
(c) 10 September 1998
(d) 15 November 1998
Ascension Island
(a) yes
(b) yes
(c) 22 April 1999
(d) 30 June 1999
International Criminal Court: consultation on draft legislation
(a) yes
(b) yes
(c) 1 August 2000
(d) 12 October 2000
Private military companies: options for regulation
(a) yes
(b) yes
(c) 12 February 2002
(d) 12 August 2002
Strengthening the biological and toxin weapons convention
(a) yes
(b) yes
(c) 29 April 2002
(d) 13 September 2002.

Dr. Iddon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) how long his Department allowed for consultation of each consultation document it published in 2001 in (a) electronic and (b) printed form; [70453]

(2) whether consultation documents published by his Department in 2001 carried the consultation criteria as recommended in the Cabinet Office Code of Practice on Written Consultations; [70454]

(3) in what format his Department has published the results of its 2001 written consultations; [70455]

(4) how many consultation documents published in 2001 in (a) electronic and (b) printed form his Department has monitored and evaluated in accordance with the Cabinet Office Code of Practice on Written Consultations; [70456]

(5) how many complaints his Department has received about its 2001 consultations in (a) electronic and (b) printed form; [70457]

(6) which consultation documents published by his Department in 2001 were not made available as paper copies. [70458]

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Mr. MacShane: The FCO produced no consultation documents in 2001.

Dr. Iddon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether his Department has a designated consultation co-ordinator in accordance with the Cabinet Office Code of Practice on Written Consultations. [70459]

Mr. MacShane: Yes.

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