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16 May 2003 : Column 492W—continued

Vacant Government Buildings

Dr. Cable: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list vacant government-owned buildings, broken down by constituency; and if he will make a statement. [113043]

Mr. Boateng: I have been asked to reply.

Information on vacant government-owned buildings is held centrally by the Office of Government Commerce. However, this information is not broken down in the format requested and could not be reconstructed by constituency without incurring disproportionate cost.

Waste Management

Dr. Whitehead: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment he has made of the effect of his policy of encouraging development on brownfield sites upon the availability of sites for waste management activities. [113182]

Mr. McNulty: Planning Policy Guidance note 10, 'Planning and Waste Management', explains how the land-use planning system can contribute to sustainable waste management. The planning system should enable adequate provision to be made for waste management facilities in appropriate locations and waste planning authorities should carefully consider the siting of waste facilities in relation to existing and, where possible, potential surrounding land-uses.

Planning authorities, when preparing their development plans, should consider the land-use requirements of the infrastructure and services needed to support their communities. They should ensure that sufficient land is identified to meet those needs.

Dr. Whitehead: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether his Department monitors the rate of refusal of planning permission for schemes concerned with waste management. [113181]

Mr. McNulty: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister does not formally monitor the refusal rates for planning applications for waste management facilities. Statistics concerning the treatment of planning applications related to "county matters" (those concerned predominantly with mineral workings and waste disposal, handled by the counties in the two tier shire authority areas and the London boroughs, metropolitan districts, unitary districts and national park authorities in other areas) are prepared on a quarterly basis. For such "county matter" applications decided in the October 2002-December 2002 quarter, the refusal rate in relation to waste disposal applications was 7 per cent., compared to 8 per cent. for all "county matter" decisions. The overall refusal rate for all planning applications has been around 12 per cent. to 13 per cent. for several years.

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FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Democratic Republic of Congo

Mr. Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports the Government have received since 1 January 2002 from (a) international governmental organisations, (b) international NGOs and (c) other sources, regarding the supply of Hawk jet spare parts to the Democratic Republic of Congo; what the content was of the reports; what action has been taken; and if he will make a statement [112328]

Mr. Straw: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office received many reports from international governmental organisations, international NGOS and other sources. To the best of our knowledge only one of these refers to the supply of Hawk jet spare parts to the Democratic Republic of Congo. This is the report of the UN Expert Panel on the Illegal Exploitation of Natural Resources in the Democratic Republic of Congo (the Panel) published on 15 October 2002. It is available on the internet at: http://www.un.org/Docs/journal/asp/ws.asp?m=S/2002/1146.

We supported and developed a new mandate for the Panel, asking them to provide evidence supporting the allegations in their report of 15 October 2002. We have asked the Panel for information about the supply of Hawk jet spare parts, but have not yet received it. We continue to repeat our requests for this information.

There is an EU arms embargo against the DRC. We condemn the sale or supply of arms to DRC, whether from a European country or otherwise, while this embargo is in place.

Zimbabwe

Mr. Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps the Government has taken to investigate the allegations that British-made spares for Hawk aircraft were shipped to the Zimbabwean Airforce in contravention of sanctions against Zimbabwe; and what the results were of the investigations. [112327]

Mr. Straw: The UN Expert Panel on the Illegal Exploitation of the Natural Resources of the Democratic Republic of Congo (the Panel) published a report on 15 October 2002. In it the Panel alleged that British made Hawk jet spare parts were supplied to Zimbabwe in contravention of EU sanctions. The UK Government takes these allegations seriously. We have ascertained: that there was no application for a licence to export these goods to Zimbabwe; and that HM Customs have no information about the export of these goods from the UK. In order to follow up this allegation, and others, we supported a new mandate for the Panel to provide the Security Council and UN member states with information supporting the Panel's allegations. The Panel has begun its work, and we have specifically asked them for information relating to the sale of British made Hawk jet spare parts to Zimbabwe. We have not yet received this information from the Panel. We are repeating our request.

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Framework Convention for Tobacco Control

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions his Department is having with (a) the World bank and (b) the German Government regarding the contents of the Framework Convention for Tobacco Control. [113111]

Mr. MacShane: There have been no regular discussions between the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the World bank about the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. However, other Whitehall Departments have had discussions with the World bank on this subject. Officials in our embassies in the EU and in the UK Permanent Representation to the EU have been in frequent contact with colleagues from other EU member states, including Germany, in an effort to secure the adoption of the text of the Convention.

Indonesia

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations have been made to the Government of Indonesia concerning human rights and a peace process in Aceh; and if he will make a statement. [113269]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: We regularly raise with the Indonesian authorities the importance of upholding and promoting human rights and religious freedom throughout the country. When my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary visited Indonesia in January he offered human rights training for a number of Indonesian Supreme Court Judges. This has now been undertaken and we are positively considering a request for further training in this area.

The EU, and other co-chairs of the Tokyo Preparatory Conference on Peace and Reconstruction in Aceh, have issued statements in the past week expressing our deep concern at the possible breakdown of the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement in Aceh, and urging both sides to resume political dialogue.

We remain convinced that a long-term solution to the Aceh problem can only be achieved through political negotiation.

Iraq

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how British forces applied the Geneva conventions covering protection of (a) hospitals and (b) cultural assets in Iraq in the period following the immediate end of hostilities. [111359]

Mr. Ingram: I have been asked to reply.

The aim of coalition forces is to create and maintain a stable and secure situation in Iraq. As soon as it was judged safe, forces were assigned to secure specific medical and cultural sites. This tasking will continue until the people of Iraq are able to assume responsibility for that security.

Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussion he has had with US counterparts about the engagement of Dyncorp to provide security operatives to Iraq. [112510]

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Mr. Mike O'Brien: None.

Mr. Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received on the whereabouts and situation of the Kuwaiti prisoners of war held captive in Iraq after the Gulf War of 1991. [113077]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: Sadly, we have no further information on the Kuwaiti missing. When information becomes available it will be made public as quickly as possible.

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will set up a facility via the British Embassy in Iraq for people to get a message about their health and safety to relatives in the UK. [113167]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: The British Office Baghdad is staffed by a small team and consequently can operate only in a limited capacity. As the situation stabilises, we would hope to increase staffing of the office and extend the range of services on offer, in line with other diplomatic missions. However, people in Iraq can send 'safe and well' messages to relatives via the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Relatives outside Iraq can send such messages via the ICRC's special website (www.familylinks.icrc.org).

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