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Annual Report

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much producing his Department's latest Annual Report cost; how many copies were printed; how many copies of it were sold at its cover price; to whom copies of the report have been provided free of charge; and how many copies were provided free of charge. [90882]

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Mr. Straw: Production of the 2002 Foreign and Commonwealth Office Departmental Report cost approximately £11,000, which covered design, photography, indexing and proof-reading expenses. Other costs of printing and publication are met by the publishers, The Stationery Office Ltd. (TSO), and do not fall to government. TSO charged the FCO £23,923 for supplying 1,403 copies for distribution to Foreign Office Posts abroad and internal Foreign Office Departments. TSO makes its own commercial decisions on how many further copies to print for sale. To date TSO have sold 351 copies. In London, about 20 copies of the report were provided free of charge to journalists and foreign Embassies. Others accessed the electronic version of the report available on the FCO website. We do not hold information centrally about copies distributed free of charge by Posts.

Cuba Detainees

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations, including requests to meet with clients, he has had from the legal representatives of United Kingdom citizens detained in Cuba by the United States as suspected members of the Al-Qaeda terrorist group; what representations he has made to his United States counterparts in respect of the application of due legal process to these detainees; what information he has collated on the nature of the charges they face; and if he will make a statement on the compatibility of the conditions under which they are being held with human rights commitments entered into by the United States. [90237]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: We have received representations by the legal representatives and families of the detainees. My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has spoken to the US Secretary of State several times about this issue, most recently on 5 January. Ministers and officials have raised it on numerous occasions with the US Government.

We continue to encourage the US to move forward with the process of determining the future of the British detainees. We have made our position clear that if they are charged they must have a fair trial. We understand that none have been charged. The US has given assurances that the detainees are being treated humanely and consistently with the principles of the Geneva Conventions. British officials have visited Guantanamo Bay to check on the welfare of the British nationals. I refer my hon. Friend to my Written Ministerial Statement of 11 December 2002, col. 17WS and the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for the City of Chester (Christine Russell) on 13 June 2002, Official Report, column 1402W.

Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the United States concerning the British prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay. [91117]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has discussed the issue of the British Detainees at Guantanamo Bay with the US authorities, most recently on 5 January, when he spoke to the US Secretary of State, Colin Powell.

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Departmental Staff

Mr. Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the distribution of his Department's wholetime equivalent staff was, including the staff in agencies and other bodies reporting to him, in each Government office region and nation of the UK (a) in 1996 and (b) at the most recent available period. [90472]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given him by my hon. Friend the Minister of State, Cabinet Office (Mr. Alexander) on 15 January Official Report, column 609W.

Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many full-time equivalent staff are employed in (a) the Department and (b) each of the agencies it sponsors; and what the figures were for 1997. [90674]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by my hon. Friend the Minister of State, Cabinet Office (Mr. Alexander) on 16 January 2003, Official Report, column 697W.

Elections (Pakistan)

Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether British Government representatives observed the recent Pakistani elections (a) as part of the EU observer team and (b) independently; and whether his policy is on the EU team's criticism of the Pakistani Government's offering financial aid to those political parties it favours. [89586]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: We welcomed the holding of multi-party elections in Pakistan. Although there were no formal UK observers, four qualified UK professionals were part of the EU Elections Observation Mission. In addition, we funded 50 per cent. of the costs of the Commonwealth Election Observation Mission which itself had a qualified UK professional as its security advisor. Our high commission in Islamabad also closely monitored developments. We have studied the report of the EU observers with care. The report underlines the need for a concerted effort by the new Government, all political parties and civil society to ensure the establishment of a sustainable form of democratic, civilian rule in Pakistan. We will remain engaged with the Pakistani authorities on this and other key issues.

Global Partners Agreement

Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what monies were pledged by the G8, broken down by country, as part of the Global Partners Agreement, known as ten plus ten plus ten; how much has been spent or advanced by each country; what impediments there are to the expenditure and disposition of the global amount; and if he will make a statement. [90690]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: Money pledged so far to the G8 'Global Partnership Against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction' is as follows (in currency of pledge).

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Canada: Cdn $l billion
France: Euro750 million
Germany: Euro1.5 billion
Italy: $l billion
Japan: $200 million
Russia: $2 billion
US: $10 billion
UK: up to $750 million

Some countries have begun disbursing money to the Russian Federation and related projects, in particular the US under the Co-operative Threat Reduction initiative. The UK does not have details of expenditure to date by other G8 countries. Many countries are not able to disburse a substantial portion of the funds until there is agreement on a legal framework known as the Multilateral Nuclear Environmental Programme for the Russian Federation (MNEPR).

The UK has only been able to disburse around £20 million to date, and the continuing absence of either a multilateral or a bilateral agreement constitutes a substantial impediment to expenditure in a number of areas. Once we have the agreements in place we will be able to spend project money very quickly. In the interim, the UK continues to provide assistance to former Soviet Union countries in a number of areas, including safe storage of nuclear submarine fuel and site characterisation work in NW Russia, nuclear safety assistance to Kazakhstan, and measures to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons expertise from closed nuclear cities in Russia. In addition, the UK is working with other members of the G8 to establish a multilateral instrument to oversee the disposition of Russian weapons-grade plutonium.

The Government are firmly committed to the Global Partnership and believes the need for co-ordinated non-proliferation work has never been greater.

Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the details and purpose of the Global Partners Agreement known as ten plus ten plus ten reached between the G8 and the Russia Federation in Canada in 2002. [90691]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: On June 27 2002, leaders at the G8 Summit at Kananaskis, Canada, announced the 'Global Partnership Against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction'. The details and purpose of the Partnership were set out as follows:

"The attacks of September 11 demonstrated that terrorists are prepared to use any means to cause terror and inflict appalling casualties on innocent people. We commit ourselves to prevent terrorists, or those that harbour them, from acquiring or developing nuclear, chemical, radiological and biological weapons; missiles; and related materials, equipment and technology. We call on all countries to join us in adopting the set of non-proliferation principles we have announced today.

"In a major initiative to implement those principles, we have also decided today to launch a new G8 Global Partnership against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction. Under this initiative, we will support specific co-operation projects, initially in Russia, to address non-proliferation, disarmament, counter-terrorism and nuclear safety issues. Among our priority concerns are the destruction of chemical weapons, the dismantlement of decommissioned nuclear submarines, the disposition of fissile materials and the employment of former

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weapons scientists. We will commit to raise up to $20 billion to support such projects over the next ten years. We will review progress on this Global Partnership at our next Summit in 2003."

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