---

13 Mar 2003 : Column 410W—continued

Commonwealth Day

Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans he has to celebrate Commonwealth Day 2003; and what total budget his Department has made available for the celebration of Commonwealth Day 2003. [101979]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary received an invitation to attend the Observance for Commonwealth Day at Westminster Abbey, but was unable to attend. A Cabinet Minister will represent the Government at the Observance. The FCO has given the Joint Commonwealth Societies' Council £10,000 towards the cost of organising the Observance for Commonwealth Day at Westminster Abbey. Our Embassies and High Commissions will also be arranging events to mark the occasion, but information about expenditure on these events is not yet available.

Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with each Commonwealth country regarding Commonwealth Day 2003. [101980]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: None. Each member country is responsible for organising its own events to mark the Day.

Cruise Missiles

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with his counterpart in the US Government about the loading of cruise missiles on to B52 bombers at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire. [102418]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: None. I refer my hon. Friend to the answers given by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence (Mr. Hoon) to the hon. Member for Lewes (Norman Baker) on 11 March, Official Report, column 183–4W.

Iraq

Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps have been taken to ensure that, in the event of UK involvement in military conflict in Iraq, prisoners and persons detained will be protected by the 1949 Geneva Convention and accommodated in facilities that meet appropriate UN standard minimum rules for the treatment of prisoners. [100889]

Mr. Hoon: I have been asked to reply.

The Government will act in conformity with the Geneva Convention and international law.

Mr. Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on US plans for US military administration in Iraq following military action. [101597]

13 Mar 2003 : Column 411W

Mr. Mike O'Brien: No decision has been made to launch military action in Iraq. If military action becomes necessary to enforce Iraq to disarm, a US-led military coalition will provide security and facilitate the provision of humanitarian relief for the Iraqi people, in accordance with international law.

Mr. Tom Clarke: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the Canadian proposals on Iraq as the basis for a resolution at the United Nations Security Council. [102535]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: All proposals on Iraq, from whatever source, have been carefully examined.

The Canadian proposal contains a number of sensible and useful suggestions, some of which have been incorporated into our current position.

Mr. Win Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the steps taken to authenticate the documentation on which the claims in the Government dossier that Iraq attempted to buy uranium from Niger were based. [102666]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: There were no claims made in the Government Dossier that Iraq had attempted to procure uranium specifically from Niger.

Mr. Win Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the costs associated with the return of the UN arms inspectors to Iraq to (a) the UN, (b) each member of the Security Council and (c) other UN members. [102668]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: Under the terms of UN Security Council resolution 1284, the UNMOVIC and IAEA inspection regimes for Iraq are funded by the diversion of resources from the Oil-For-Food programme. They are, therefore, effectively self-financing.

The United Kingdom has met some ad-hoc requests for funding for training and other logistical support for UNMOVIC and the IAEA since the establishment of the new inspection regime in March 2000. The cost of this support to date has been approximately £1.2 million.

We do not have figures relating to any financial support provided by other countries.

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the potential environmental consequences arising from military action in Iraq; and what provision he is making to minimise these. [102820]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: No decision to launch military action against Iraq has been taken.

CABINET OFFICE

Sir David Omand

Norman Baker: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office pursuant to his answer of 5 December 2002, Official Report, column 925, to the right hon. Member for West Dorset (Mr. Letwin), what functions are performed by the 724 other staff working for Sir David

13 Mar 2003 : Column 412W

Omand; how much this cost the Cabinet Office in the last year for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement. [99221]

Mr. Alexander: The 724 other staff referred to in the answer of 5 December are non-senior civil servants. In December 2002 the total salary costs of non-senior civil servants in the units that report to Sir David Omand were £2.1 million. These units are: the Intelligence and Security Secretariat; the Civil Contingencies Secretariat; the Communication Group; the Machinery of Government Secretariat; the Government Information and Communication Service; the Corporate Services Group; ministerial offices; and Sir David's private office.

PRIME MINISTER

Lord Levy

Norman Baker: To ask the Prime Minister if he will list the visits undertaken at his request by Lord Levy since 1 January, indicating in each case the purpose of the visit. [102772]

The Prime Minister: In his capacity as the Prime Minister's envoy, Lord Levy travelled to Ramallah on 23 January and to Washington on 19 February to update and exchange views on the Middle East peace process.

Norman Baker: To ask the Prime Minister what factors he takes into account when deciding that Lord Levy, in preference to a Foreign Office Minister, should undertake a foreign trip on his behalf. [102773]

The Prime Minister: I refer the hon. Member to the answer my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Stockport (Ms Coffey) on 9 July 2001, Official Report, column 350W.

Norman Baker: To ask the Prime Minister if he will list the members of the US administration Lord Levy has met while acting as his envoy. [102774]

The Prime Minister: In his capacity as the Prime Minister's envoy, Lord Levy has met a range of contacts, including Richard Armitage (Deputy Secretary of State); Bill Burns (Assistant Secretary of State, State Department); David Satterfield (Deputy Assistant Secretary, State Department); Martin Indyk, Dan Kurtzer, Aaron Miller, Rust Deming and Richard Haass (all State Department).

He has also met Elliott Abrams, Bruce Riedel and Flint Everett (National Security Council), Scooter Libby and John Hannah (Office of the Vice President), General Anthony Zinni (US Special Envoy) and Senator George Mitchell (Chairman of the Sharm el-Sheikh Fact-Finding Committee).

SOLICITOR-GENERAL

Defence of Provocation

20. Linda Gilroy : To ask the Solicitor-General if she will make a statement on the defence of provocation, with particular reference to domestic violence. [102722]

13 Mar 2003 : Column 413W

The Solicitor-General: Provocation acts as a partial defence to murder and serves to reduce the offence to manslaughter.

The Home Secretary and the Law Officers together with the Director of Public Prosecutions are currently considering whether there are grounds for a review of the law of provocation and a direction to the Sentencing Advisory Panel.

24. Mr. Kidney: To ask the Solicitor-General how many cases prosecuted by the Crown Prosecution Service involved the defence of provocation in the last year for which statistics are available. [102726]

The Solicitor-General: Currently the CPS does not record statistics on the number of cases involving the defence of provocation. However, part of the work being carried out by the Law Officers and the DPP in considering whether there are grounds for a review of the law will include monitoring exercise in which CCP's will look at all homicides in their area, particularly those involving the defence of provocation.

British Transport Police

21. Miss McIntosh: To ask the Solicitor-General how many staff were employed by the Crown Prosecution Service on cases brought by the British Transport Police in each of the last four years. [102723]

The Solicitor-General: Nearly all operational staff within the 42 areas and the headquarters of the Crown Prosecution Service are likely from time to time to handle cases submitted by the British Transport Police covering England and Wales. There is no central record of who in the CPS has, and has not, handled a British Transport Police case and it would involve a disproportionate cost to survey staff to ascertain this information.

---