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Ebola

Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what action her Department has taken in response to the recent suspected outbreak of ebola virus in (a) the Congo and (b) Gabon. [99296]

Clare Short: My Department has been monitoring the situation in the Congo very closely and is ready to provide assistance if this is deemed appropriate. We provided £150,000 through Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) during the last ebola outbreak in the Congo in February 2002. The current death toll from the latest outbreak is 75, but WHO believes the situation is now under control. The Government of Congo has made available $68,000 to deploy medical teams, and the national authorities are being supported by a team of 10 WHO epidemiologists, medical anthropologists and social mobilisation experts. The Congolese Red Cross are working on raising public health awareness and social mobilisation and an appeal was recently launched. WHO has established isolation wards which have helped to contain the disease: most of the people who became infected have now unfortunately died. My

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Department will continue to monitor the situation in close collaboration with WHO, the Red Cross and MSF.

My Department has not received any reports that the recent ebola outbreak has spread to neighbouring Gabon. The Gabonese authorities have responded swiftly to this latest outbreak of the virus by closing the Gabon-Congo border in the north-east of the country and has sent a team of experts from the Health Ministry and the Medical Research International Centre in Franceville to the two areas, near the border with Congo, where there was an outbreak last year. Guidelines have been issued to locals asking them not to touch dead animals in the forest, or those with an unusual behaviour (primates are often carriers of the ebola virus), as well as reporting any suspected cases of ebola to the authorities.

Fair Trade Products

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what her policy is on the purchase, for departmental use, of fair trade products [99223]

Clare Short: Within my Department, Fairtrade products have been available in the staff restaurant since March 1998 and provision of these products is required by the catering contract. All coffee and tea served at official meetings carries the Fairtrade mark.

Liberia/Cote d'Ivoire

Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment she has made of the humanitarian situation on the borders of Liberia and Cote d'Ivoire; and if she will make a statement. [99297]

Clare Short: We are in contact with international agencies and NGOs in the field that are closely monitoring the situation in the Cote d'Ivoire and Liberia border area. We have provided £1 million in humanitarian assistance for Cote d'Ivoire, which is partly focused on the worst affected west of the country and on the area bordering Liberia. We continue to work closely with others in the international community to help bring about a peaceful resolution to the conflict.

Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what financial resources her Department has allocated for aid for Liberians in refugee camps on the Liberian-Cote d'Ivoire border. [99294]

Clare Short: We have provided £1 million in humanitarian assistance through international agencies and NGOs working in Cote d'Ivoire. Beneficiaries include Liberian refugees, particularly in the west of the country and near the Liberia-Cote d'Ivoire border.

Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what financial resources have been (a) allocated and (b) transferred for the provision of (i) shelter, (ii) food and (iii) water for Liberian refugees in the Cote d'Ivoire. [99298]

Clare Short: We have allocated £1 million in humanitarian assistance through international agencies and NGOs working in Cote d'Ivoire. This includes the

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provision of emergency health services, water services and food supplies to civilians, internally displaced people and refugees, including Liberian refugees, in both government and rebel controlled areas. £0.8 million has so far been transferred.

Sudan

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what reports she has received regarding the civil war in Sudan, with specific reference to the bombing campaign of the Sudanese Government in Southern Sudan; and if she will place a copy of these reports in the Library. [99306]

Clare Short: We have received a copy of the US-led Civilian Protection Monitoring Team's report into the incident at Mundri (Lui), south Sudan. A copy of the report will be placed in the Library.

World Health Organisation (Vaccinations)

Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the estimated number of vaccinations required by the World Health Organisation is; and how many vaccines have so far been (a) delivered and (b) administered in each month since January 2001. [99347]

Clare Short: National Governments rather than the World Health Organisation (WHO) or other international institutions, have responsibility for immunisation programmes in their countries. The WHO's role is in encouraging effective immunisation practise and monitoring national performance. They estimate that by 2001 some 37 million children worldwide did not receive routine immunisation for the six major vaccine preventable diseases during the first year of life.

In recognition of this, DFID are closely involved in the Global Alliance on Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI), a major international initiative to enhance access to vaccines and immunisation in developing countries. GAVI is a cooperative effort between private and public sectors with a partnership of international organisations, including WHO and UNICEF, national Governments, pharmaceutical companies, research institutions and the Gates Foundation.

Statistics on vaccines delivered and administered are included in data collected by the World Health Organisation on an annual basis from member states but not in the form the hon. Lady has requested. Further information can be found at www.who.int/vaccines-documents/GlobalSummary/ and www.unicef-org/noteworthy/sowvi

SOLICITOR-GENERAL

Defence of Provocation

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Solicitor-General what studies she has conducted into the use of the defence of provocation. [95764]

The Solicitor-General: The Attorney-General and I have been actively looking at the current operation of the law on provocation as a partial defence to murder

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and have discussed the issues with the DPP. The DPP has sought the views of Chief Crown Prosecutors as to whether recent developments in the law, in particular the decision of the House of Lords in R v Smith (Morgan) has had an effect on the prosecution of cases on the ground.

We have also had discussions with the DPP on the issue of the acceptance of pleas to manslaughter by reason of provocation and the DPP intends to issue guidance to prosecutors which emphasises that only in exceptional circumstances should the issue whether or not an offender was provoked not be put before the jury.

As Law Officers we have also considered the defence of provocation in the exercise of our power to refer a sentence to the Court of Appeal by virtue of section 36 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 on the grounds that the sentence was unduly lenient. In 2002 the Law Officers referred two cases of the manslaughter of women by their partners by reason of provocation arising out of jealousy and unfaithfulness to the Court of Appeal, arguing that the current sentencing tariff does not adequately reflect the seriousness of the offences and is out of line with levels of sentencing in other cases of homicide and serious violence. The Court of Appeal indicated that it would be inappropriate to lay down guidelines in this difficult area without the Sentencing Advisory Panel having first been involved. It is too soon to say what the outcome in this area of the law will be. In addition, the Government has given a commitment to publish a consultation paper on domestic violence in the spring.

Departmental Vehicle Fleets

Mr Donaldson: To ask the Solicitor-General what the annual rate is of the Department's and its agencies' vehicle fleets broken down, by (a) volume and percentage for each category of vehicle, (b) type of power unit and (c) type of fuel; in each of the last three years and what progress has been made in replacing vehicles on a lower emissions basis.. [96557]

The Solicitor-General [holding answer 11 February 2003]: The Ministerial cars provided to the Attorney-General and to me are provided by the Government Car Service. My own department, the Legal Secretariat to the Law Officers, owns no vehicles.

Of the other departments for which the Attorney-General is responsible, the Treasury Solicitor's Department, the Serious Fraud Office and the HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate own no vehicles.

The Crown Prosecution Service has a fleet of fifteen vehicles but information in the format requested is not available.

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