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Military Aid
Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what military aid has been provided by the UK to the 20 poorest nations, measured by GDP, in each year since 1997; and what the value of the aid was in each case. [112653]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: HMG carries out a wide range of defence activity with bilateral and multilateral partners, much of which could be described as 'military aid' or 'military assistance'. Such activity is carried out both by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Ministry of Defence, and funded from a number of sources, including the joint FCO/MOD/DfID Conflict Prevention Fund.
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Detailed records are not maintained centrally. As such the detail of the information sought, including on the value of such assistance, could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
North Korea
Mr. Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the UK's diplomatic relationship with North Korea. [114679]
Mr. Rammell: The UK established diplomatic relations with the Democratic People's Republic of North Korea (DPRK) in December 2000 and opened an Embassy in Pyongyang in July 2001. The first UK Ambassador to North Korea, David Slinn, arrived in Pyongyang on 23 November 2002. North Korea has recently opened a mission in London.
We believe it is important to remain engaged with North Korea, and we use every opportunity that our channels of communication afford to put our concerns across and urge the DPRK to comply with its international obligations. However, we have made it clear to the Government of North Korea that there can be no normal relations between our two countries until the nuclear issue is resolved, and that our bilateral relationship therefore remains under review.
Mr. Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking to establish effective bilateral relations with the Democratic People's Republic of North Korea. [114687]
Mr. Rammell: The UK established diplomatic relations with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in December 2000, and the British Embassy in Pyongyang opened on 30 July 2001. This established a channel of communication which has allowed us to address the North Korean authorities directly on issues of international concern, such as non-proliferation and human rights.
We have also conducted a number of educational projects, aimed at increasing the North Korean people's knowledge of and interaction with the outside world. These include English language training and human rights courses. We have made it clear to the North Korean government that there can be no normal relationship between our two countries until the issue of North Korea's nuclear programmes has been resolved.
Nuclear Weapons
Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the Government's policy is on the development of a new generation of tactical nuclear weapons; and under what sections of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty this work is proceeding. [114269]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The Government has no plans to develop new nuclear weapons. In line with the policy set out in the Strategic Defence Review, it is the Government's policy to maintain a minimum capability to design and produce a successor to Trident should this prove necessary.
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Drugs
Mr. Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment his Department has made of which countries are the main source of (a) opium and (b) cocaine; and if he will make a statement. [114354]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) conducts annual surveys into the level of drug production in the main source countries. These confirm that the main source of opium continues to be Afghanistan, producing around 76 per cent. of the world's supply and around 90 per cent. of the heroin which reaches the UK. The main source of cocaine is Colombia, which produces around 72 per cent. of the world's supply.
Sickness Absence
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many staff in the Department have been on long-term sick leave in each of the last two years. [115862]
Mr. Straw: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given him by my hon. Friend the Under Secretary of State (Mr. O'Brien) on 29 April 2003, Official Report, column 330W.
Slovakia
Mr. Tynan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the treatment of minorities in Slovakia; and what discussions he has had on the matter with his Slovak counterpart. [114922]
Mr. MacShane: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary met his Slovak counterpart in February 2003 and discussed the situation of minorities in Slovakia. I have discussed the issue with political leaders in Slovakia both in London and Bratislava. Our Embassy in Bratislava also follows the situation of minorities and discusses that situation with the Slovak authorities. The UK's EU Action Plan in Slovakia, which was formally launched by the Foreign Secretary in 2002, includes projects in the Roma communities.
The European Commission regularly publishes reports on Slovakia's progress towards EU accession, and runs programmes with the Roma communities as part of Slovakia's EU pre-accession programme.
Slovakia has been found to meet the Copenhagen criteria, which require a state to uphold the basic human rights of all its citizens.
Turkey
Mr. Simon Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations he has made to the Turkish authorities to ensure that they are complying with the criteria laid down in Copenhagen for EU accession; and if he will make a statement. [115038]
Mr. MacShane: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary periodically discusses a range of issues, including Turkey's progress in meeting the Copenhagen political criteria, with senior members of the Turkish
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Government. Such discussions also take place regularly at ministerial and senior official levels. The last time the Foreign Secretary met members of the Turkish Government was during the informal meeting of Foreign Ministers in Rhodes on 2 to 3 May 2003, which he and Turkish Foreign Minister Gul attended. The UK continues to support strongly Turkey's EU candidacy through projects funded by our UK-Turkey Action Plan and the FCO's Global Opportunities Fund. Turkey continues to make real progress in meeting the political criteria required to start accession negotiations.
Western Sahara
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans he has to meet representatives of the Polisario Front to commemorate the 30th anniversary of their demand for self-determination in Western Sahara. [115278]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: None. I met Lehbib Breica, the Frente Polisario representative to the UK and Ireland in December 2002.
ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS
Environmental Standards
Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many businesses in Shrewsbury and Atcham are registered with the environment standard ISO 14000. [115028]
Mr. Meacher: The Government do not themselves maintain statistics of organisations which have attained the industry standard on environmental management systems, ISO 14001. However, my Department has supported the work of a professional body, the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA), to establish a database of such organisations, which is now accessible on-line at www.emas.org.uk. The database lists six holders of the ISO 14001 standard in Shrewsbury and Atcham.
Cement Kilns
Mr. Bill O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many cement kilns are operating in the United Kingdom; and what their capacities are. [115770]
Alun Michael: There are 27 cement kilns at 17 sites in the United Kingdom with a total production capacity of 40,520 tonnes of cement per day. The following table contains the production capacities for each cement kiln.
(1) New cement kiln—commissioning scheduled to start mid 2003 and will replace existing wet kiln.
(2) Plant shutdown but not decommissioned.
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