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US Weapons Research

Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the recent meeting between the UK and US nuclear weapon scientists referred to as Stocktake. [118632]

Dr. Moonie: The 3 to 4 June 2003 Stocktake was the latest of a long-running series of review meetings between senior officials to discuss co-operation under the 1958 UK/US Mutual Defence Agreement and, as usual, included a short visit to the Atomic Weapons Establishment at Aldermaston.

Weapons Policy

Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the Government's policy is on (a) resuming underground nuclear tests and (b) research into weapons under five kilotons. [118398]

Mr. Ingram: We have signed, ratified and continue strongly to support the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. We have no plans to resume nuclear weapon test explosions. We are not planning any new nuclear weapons, nor are we modifying current systems to lower their yield. We maintain a research capability to ensure the safety of our existing stockpile and to support the policy set out in the Strategic Defence Review of maintaining a minimum capability to design and produce a successor to Trident should this prove necessary.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Afghanistan

Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the total value was of funding allocated to the reduction of opium poppy output in Afghanistan in each of the last three years; and what proportion came from (a) UK funds, (b) EU funds and (c) other sources. [118588]

Mr. Mike O'Brien [holding answer 10 June 2003]: The total cost of reducing drugs production cannot be clearly separated from broader development programmes, as development assistance helps to create the conditions in which viable alternatives to poppy cultivation can emerge.

The Tokyo Reconstruction Conference for Afghanistan was held in January 2002. At the conference, a total of £2.7 billion was pledged over five years for development, of which the UK pledged £200 million and the EU pledged £700 million.

There was no UK assistance in either 2000 or 2001 when the Taliban were in power. In 2002, the UK disbursed £70 million on development assistance in Afghanistan and £24 million on law enforcement. The EU spent £200 million on development assistance. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime spent £5 million on programme activity.

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Asbestos

Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the actions his Department, its agencies and non-departmental public bodies are taking to comply with the requirements of the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2002; whether he has made an estimate of the cost of compliance; and if he will make a statement. [117707]

Mr. Rammell: The FCO maintains an asbestos register, based on the HSE's recommended "Type 2" non-destructive surveys, for all buildings on its UK estate and, through its facilities managers and accredited subcontractors, inspects buildings for asbestos containing materials (ACMs). Where such materials are identified we institute Standard Operating Procedures to ensure that future operations are carried out within the requirements of the Regulations. The cost of compliance to date has been £81,500.

Overseas, we have for many years maintained registers of known or suspected ACMs on our estate identified through building works and property inspections. We intend to survey and produce management plans as prescribed by the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2002. We have recently completed pilot trials in five Eastern European Posts where workplaces and domestic accommodation were surveyed. The objective of the pilot exercise is to refine the scope of the surveys, estimate costs and develop a prioritised programme for the rest of the overseas estate.

Botswana

Ms Atherton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will take steps to encourage the diamond industry and government of Botswana to respect the human rights of the Gwi and Gana Bushmen. [118099]

Mr. Rammell: We discuss regularly with the Government of Botswana issues relating to the Basarwa (Bushmen). The Government of Botswana assure us that their policy towards the Basarwa is totally unconnected to the issue of diamond mining.

Burma

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what estimate he has made of the extent of production of illegal drugs in Burma for distribution in other countries. [117991]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: Burma is believed to be the world's number one producer and trafficker of methamphetamine and the world's second largest producer and trafficker of heroin. Although there has been some progress on counter-narcotics fronts, these drugs continue to flow over the borders with China and Thailand. Outside of these countries there is believed to be wide distribution to the US, Australia and many other countries in South East Asia. We have no evidence to suggest there is any distribution to the UK.

Council of Ministers

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on how many occasions since May 1997 the Department's vote in the Council of

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Ministers against a legislative proposal (a) was and (b) was not sufficient to achieve with other member states a blocking minority. [117215]

Mr. MacShane: There have been no EU legislative proposals concerning foreign policy since 1997.

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on how many occasions since May 1997 the Department abstained in the Council of Ministers on a legislative proposal which was passed by qualified majority voting. [117226]

Mr. MacShane: None.

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on how many occasions since May 1997 the Department has been outvoted by qualified majority voting in the Council of Ministers; and if he will list the legislation by year. [117253]

Mr. MacShane: None. There have been no EU legislative proposals concerning foreign policy since 1997. The Department has therefore not been outvoted on any such proposal since that time.

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on how many occasions since May 1997 the Department indicated dissent from a proposal in the Council of Ministers but did not register a vote or abstention. [117261]

Mr. MacShane: There have been no EU legislative proposals concerning foreign policy since 1997.

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on recent events in the Democratic Republic of Congo. [118020]

Mr. Rammell: We remain concerned by the situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), particularly the humanitarian crisis in the north-eastern Ituri region. An Interim Emergency Multinational Force (IEMF) has been mandated by UN Security Council Resolution 1484 to contribute to the stabilisation of the security conditions and the improvement of the humanitarian situation in Bunia. The UK has undertaken to participate in the IEMF.

EU Draft Constitution

Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is covered by the marine resources of the sea allocated to the exclusive competence of the EU by the draft EU constitution. [117727]

Mr. MacShane: "The conservation of marine biological resources under the Common Fisheries Policy", is allocated to the exclusive competence of the EU by the draft EU Constitutional Treaty. This concept is set out in Council Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002 of 20 December 2002 on the conservation and sustainable exploitation of fisheries resources under the Common Fisheries Policy, which provides, inter alia, for "coherent measures concerning conservation, management and exploitation of living aquatic resources."

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"Living aquatic resources" is further defined as "available and accessible living marine aquatic species, including anadromous (those that migrate up rivers from the sea to breed) and catadromous (those that migrate down rivers to the sea to breed) species during their marine life."

G8 Global Partnership

Mr. Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information the Government has collated on the numbers of (a) physical attacks against women and (b) politically motivated physical attacks (i) this year and (ii) last year in Afghanistan; and if he will make a statement. [117913]

Mr. Straw: The Government do not collate figures on the numbers of physical attacks against women, or politically motivated physical attacks, in Afghanistan. Nor have we been able to find comprehensive figures collated by other agencies or organisations. We are, however, aware of a number of incidents, including attacks on girls' schools in Afghanistan. We are also aware of a number of politically motivated attacks, including in the run up to the Emergency Loya Jirga in June 2002. We condemn all such attacks.

Security is essential to improve the quality of life for all Afghans. The UK is committed to assisting the Afghan Government to improve security throughout the country. We have pledged £52 million over three years towards security sector reform, including building a national police force. On 8 May the Secretary of State for Defence announced to Parliament that the UK will deploy a Civil-Military Provincial Reconstruction Team to Mazar-e-Sharif in July. This should help to improve security in north-western Afghanistan, and thereby facilitate security sector reform and reconstruction. We hope it will also facilitate an improvement in the human rights environment.

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