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Sri Lanka

22. Mr. Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans he has to meet Sri Lankan Ministers involved in the peace process in Sri Lanka; and if he will make a statement. [104481]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: I met two Ministers who lead the Sri Lankan Government's negotiating team (Prof. G. L. Peiris and Milinda Moragoda) during my visit to Colombo in January and plan to meet Prof. Peiris again on 27 March. We continue to maintain regular contact with key players in the peace process. We also provide practical help, including drawing on our Northern Ireland experience, on security sector transformation and devolution, and have funded the appointment of a human rights adviser to the negotiating teams.

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Cayman Islands

Mr. Beith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 17 March 2003, Official Report, column 35WS, on the Cayman Islands, if he will set out the extent of his ministerial responsibilities in respect of the (a) appointment, (b) resignation and (c) term of office of the Attorney-General of the Cayman Islands. [104173]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: The Governor of the Cayman Islands is responsible for the appointment (which may be for a specified term) of the Attorney-General of the Cayman Islands and for dealing with any voluntary early departure. These responsibilities are conferred on the Governor by the Constitution of the Cayman Islands, which also protects the Attorney-General from removal from office except in accordance with a procedure involving an independent judicial tribunal. It is customary for the Governor to exercise these responsibilities in consultation with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Children (Interrogation)

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what guidelines are given under the International Convention on the Rights of the Child on the interrogation of children under 10 in respect of the alleged illegal activities of their parents. [103102]

Hilary Benn : I have been asked to reply.

"Provision of Therapy for Child Witnesses Prior to a Criminal Trial: Practice Guidance" was issued by the Home Office, the Crown Prosecution Service and the Department of Health in 2001 to assist child care professionals and lawyers. It refers to Article 3 of the United Nations Convention which make the best interests of the child a primary consideration and Article 12 which gives children the right to express themselves and to be heard.

Detailed guidance on planning and conducting interviews with children, including very young children, was issued to the police in 2002 (Achieving Best Evidence in Criminal Proceedings).

Neither document refers specifically to the questioning of children about the alleged activities of their parents.

Departmental Staff

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what his estimate is of the change in staff numbers within the FCO between 1999–2000 and 2003–04 (planned); where additional staff will be deployed; and if he will make a statement. [98435]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office estimates that it will have an additional 553 staff (an increase of 9 per cent.) since 1999–2000. The deployment of the additional staff will be decided after it is clear exactly what funding is available based on the need in the FCO.

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External Reports

Mr. Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list (a) the title and subject, (b) the total cost to his Department and (c) the commissioned author or organisation of each external report commissioned by his Department in each year since 1997. [103716]

Mr. Rammell: Budgets are devolved to individual Directorates within the FCO and also to posts overseas so we do not hold this information centrally. It would therefore be available only at disproportionate cost.

France

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on bilateral diplomatic relations with France. [104710]

Mr. MacShane: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Lichfield (Michael Fabricant), today in the House (PQ104466).

Gibraltar

Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the Government of Spain regarding Gibraltar; and what subjects were discussed. [104632]

Mr. MacShane: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Romford (Mr. Rosindell) on 24 February 2003, Official Report, column 250W.

India

Rob Marris: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what indication he has had from the Indian Government of when it will sign the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. [104881]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: We regularly discuss with the Indian Government the issue of their accession to the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. To date, they have given no firm indication of an intention to accede.

International Criminal Tribunal for theFormer Yugoslavia

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what measures the UK is taking in conjunction with the Serbian and Montenegrin governments and the authorities in Republica Srpska to bring Serb indictees to the war crimes tribunal in the Hague. [104332]

Mr. MacShane: The British Government strongly supports the work of the International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia (ICTY) and its efforts to bring all indictees to the War Crimes Tribunal. We work closely with our international partners and in Stabilisation Force (SFOR) and Kosovo Force (KFOR) to trace and detain indicted war crime suspects in Bosnia and Kosovo. In March 2003, the Office of the High Representative, in co-operation with SFOR, froze the assets of two individuals suspected of being part of Radovan Karadzic's support network. The UK supports this action.

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It is entirely the responsibility of the Serbian and Montenegran (SaM) authorities to transfer any indictees on their territory to the ICTY. We urge the new SaM government to fulfil their obligations in this respect and will support them in doing so.

Zoran Djindjic

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the assistance being offered to the Serbian Government in the aftermath of the assassination of Zoran Djindjic. [103936]

Mr. MacShane: HMG condemns the 12 March assassination of Zoran Djindjic and sends its condolences to his widow, his children and the people of Serbia.

Since his assassination, HMG has funded the provision of equipment to the Serbia organised crime squad. On 19 March the EU GAERC supported the accession of Serbia and Montenegro to the Council of Europe on the basis of commitments requested by the Council of Europe including co-operation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY).

Over the coming weeks, the UK and our EU and other Partners will consider what further measures could be taken to aid progress on reform, including tackling extremists, ICTY and organised crime.

PRIME MINISTER

Downing Street Staff

Mr. Laws: To ask the Prime Minister what the (a) cost and (b) staffing of the (i) No 10 Policy Directorate, (ii) European and Foreign Policy Advisers Office, (iii) No. 10 Press Office, (iv) Strategic Communications Unit, (v) Corporate Communications Division, (vi) Prime Minister's Office and (vii) Research and Information Unit were in each year from 1995–96 to 2003–04 (planned); and if he will make a statement. [99896]

The Prime Minister: The total cost of the Prime Minister's Office was as follows:

	£ million
1997–98	6.9
1998–99	8.7
1999–2000	10.4
2000–01	11.8
2001–02	13

The number of staff on the No. 10 payroll was as follows.

	Number of staff
1 April 1998	121
1 April 1999	132
1 April 2000	153
1 April 2001	175
1 April 2002	190

The No. 10 Policy Directorate was created in June 2001, following the merger of the No. 10 Private Office and the Policy Unit. At 1 April 2002, there were 27 policy advisers. The running cost for 2001–02 was £1,717,338.

The European and Foreign Policy Adviser's Office was also created in June 2001. At 1 April 2002, there were five policy advisers, and Sir David Manning and Sir Stephen Wall who also head Secretariats in the Cabinet Office. The running cost for 2001–02 was £272,838.

For the No. 10 Press Office, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 3 February 2003, Official Report, column 17W.

The Strategic Communications Unit was created in 1998. It handles longer-term communications, including the scheduling of Government announcements, and liaison with the specialist and regional media. For each year the total running costs were:

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	£
1997–98 (for 3 months)	77,633
1998–99	716,672
1999- 2000	838,421
2000–01	957,302
2001–02	565,590

The number of staff in the Unit was as follows:

	Number of staff
1 April 1998	7
1 April 1999	9
1 April 2000	6
1 April 2001	6
1 April 2002	8

The Corporate Communications Division which includes the Direct Communications Unit was created in 2001. The Division deals with my correspondence and last year dealt with over one million letters. It also works with Departments on communications from Government to the public, stakeholders and staff and runs the No. 10 website. At 1 April 2002 there were 27 members of staff. The running cost for 2001–02 was £875,128.

The Research and Information Unit was created in 1999. It provides a single information resource at No. 10, providing policy briefing, library resources and reference material for the Prime Minister and No. 10 staff. For each year the total running costs were as follows.

	£
1999–2000	255,575
2000–01	432,556
2001–02	413,472

The number of staff in the Unit on the No. 10 payroll was:

25 Mar 2003 : Column 127W

	Number of staff
1 April 1999	2
1 April 2000	5
1 April 2001	8
1 April 2002	8

Staff numbers and costs before these dates are not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

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