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29 Apr 2003 : Column 328W—continued

North Korea

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on human rights in North Korea. [110411]

Mr. Rammell: The international community is seriously concerned about reports of widespread and continued human rights violations in North Korea. The EU made its concerns in this area clear at last year's meeting of the UN Commission on Human Rights, and took the decision to table a resolution at this year's session. The resolution was adopted by a majority on 16 April.

Pakistan

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the likely effects on the Christian population of the North-West Province of Pakistan of the adoption of Sharia law. [108751]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: It is too early to make an assessment. The North-West Frontier Province has yet to consider draft legislation proposing the adoption of Sharia law in the province. This law cannot be fully enacted until approved by the federal and provincial Parliaments. Together with our EU partners, we will continue to urge Pakistan to pursue laws and practices which foster tolerance and mutual respect and to protect Christians and other religious minorities against discrimination, intimidation and attacks.

Part-time Workers

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the impact of the Part-time Workers Directive on staff in his Department. [109269]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office supports staff in their efforts to reach an appropriate work-life balance. Part-time working is one of several ways in which the FCO offers staff flexibility in

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their working patterns. In accordance with the Employment Act 2002, the FCO has recently introduced procedures to facilitate further flexible working.

We currently have 142 part-time staff—an increase of 35 per cent. over last year. All benefits—including leave, pension, overseas allowances (where appropriate)— are provided pro-rata to staff working part-time.

Public Service Agreement

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (a) how many and (b) what grades of officials are responsible for the monitoring of progress towards the public service agreement targets of his Department. [109474]

Mr. Rammell: Monitoring progress towards the Department's PSA targets is undertaken by a wide variety of staff at all levels of the organisation.

Serbia

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the situation in Serbia. [110004]

Mr. MacShane: Further to my answer of 21 March 2003, Official Report, column 125W, to my hon. Friend the Member for Leicester, East (Keith Vaz) on the assistance being offered to the Serbian Government in the aftermath of Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic's assassination on 12 March 2003, I visited Belgrade on 7 April. I met Serbian and Serbia and Montenegro leaders to discuss how best to sustain reform, notably to combat organised crime and ensure co-operation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.

In the days following the assassination, European Commissioner for External Relations Chris Patten and EU High Representative Javier Solana visited Belgrade. On 26 March the Community Assistance for Reconstruction, Development and Stabilisation (CARDS) Management Committee approved the CARDS annual action programme for SaM, including aid of Euro 229 million for Serbia, Euro 13.5 million for Montenegro and Euro 49 million for Kosovo. On 3 April 2003 Serbia and Montenegro became the 45th member of the Council of Europe. The Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly and the Committee of Ministers (PACE) will closely monitor SaM's post accession commitments, including further co-operation with the ICTY.

The Serbian Government has taken steps towards judicial, political and military reform by disbanding the 'Red Berets' Special Operations Unit (JSO) and the retirement of 35 court judges linked to Slobodan Milosevic. I welcome the Government's efforts in tackling organised crime and war criminals, building on developments this year, notably the disinterment of missing ex Serbian President Ivan Stambolic's remains, and the transfer of former Serbian President Milan Milutinovic and Serbian Radical Party Leader Vojislav Seselj to The Hague. We look forward to further developments.

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The State of Emergency imposed following Djindjic's assassination on 12 March ended on 22 April. 10,000 people from different crime gangs have been questioned and 4,500 people detained in relation to the assassination and other crimes committed before and after the fall of Slobodan Milosevic in 2000.

The EU is monitoring the implementation of post State of Emergency legislation, including terms of detention and independence of the judiciary. Within the EU and other bodies, we are discussing how to take forward closer integration with Europe in a way which maintains EU conditionality, while helping SaM and other countries of the region achieve the standards required.

Sickness Absence

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many staff in his Department were on long term sick leave in each of the last five years. [109249]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office does not keep historical records of officers who have been on long-term sick leave. We currently have 16 people on long-term sick leave (i.e. over six months).

To try to prevent long term sickness absence we notify our Occupational Health department when an officer has been sick for longer than three weeks.

We are fully committed to reducing our sickness absence and are on course to meet our 'Service Delivery Agreement' target.

Visa Staff

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the rate of (a) unpaid leave and (b) absence due to sickness was for UK Visas staff working (i) abroad and (ii) in the UK in each of the last five years. [109505]

Mr. Rammell: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office does not centrally maintain records for unpaid leave. Statistics for leaves of absence through sickness for overseas staff do not specify the section of the Post in which the officer works. Collating both sets of figures would incur disproportionate cost.

Sickness figures for UK visas staff based in the UK on a calendar year basis in line with normal government practice, are:

	Days per officer
2002	5.88
2001	9.28
2000	9.52
1999	8.39
1998	No reliable figures held

The FCO is committed to reducing sickness absence and we are on target to achieve our Service Delivery Agreement targets.

Zimbabwe

Mr. Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what his most recent

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assessment is of (a) the humanitarian and (b) human rights situation in Zimbabwe; and what measures he plans to take to address the problems identified in that assessment. [109178]

Mr. Rammell: The latest humanitarian estimate is that over 7 million Zimbabweans are currently dependent on food aid. We have provided £51 million in humanitarian assistance to Zimbabwe since September 2001. We, through the UN and non-governmental organisations, are providing supplementary food to more than 1.5 million Zimbabweans a day, mainly children, pregnant mothers, unemployed farm workers and the elderly. Prospects for the coming year are under assessment.

The human rights situation continues to deteriorate. A successful "stayaway" from work on 18 and 19 March was followed by a wave of violence, largely against the opposition party and its supporters. There were over 500 arrests, 250 people hospitalised, and one death. Scores of people were beaten and tortured while in police custody. Both the Vice-President of the MDC and the party's parliamentary speaker were arrested. The EU has condemned the violence and sponsored a resolution on Zimbabwe at the UN Commission on Human Rights.

PRIVY COUNCIL

Websites

Mr. Yeo: To ask the President of the Council if he will make a statement on the (a) cost of and (b) number of visitors to each website operated by his Department in each year since its establishment. [107600]

Dr. John Reid: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Buckingham (Mr. Bercow) on 20 March 2003, Official Report, column 910W.

Working Hours

Bob Spink: To ask the President of the Council if he will reconsult hon. Members on (a) the operation of the new working hours and (b) the demand for a debate on working hours at the end of this Session. [108472]

Dr. John Reid: I refer the hon. Member to my reply on 8 April 2003, Official Report, columns 128–29. As I said then, it will take time for the effects of the changes to be realised and to decide whether some modifications may be necessary.

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