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24 Jun 2003 : Column 706W—continued

Iran

Mr. Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on relations with Iran. [120498]

Mr. Rammell: We pursue a twin-track approach of constructive but conditional engagement with Iran. We support reform while continuing a robust dialogue on matters of concern such as human rights and weapons of mass destruction. We support the conclusion of the 16 June 2003 EU General Affairs Council that:

"progress in these matters [of concern] and strengthened dialogue and cooperation are interdependent, essential and mutually reinforcing elements of EU-Iran relations".

Iraq

Mr. Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what instructions were given by the Coalition to British troops in Iraq regarding the need to secure those sites identified by the Coalition as key in the search for weapons of mass destruction. [115514]

Mr. Hoon: I have been asked to reply.

United Kingdom Commanders in Iraq were instructed to provide support, as appropriate, to efforts to investigate sites which may be related to programmes to develop weapons of mass destruction. UK Commanders have further been instructed to secure possible chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear hazards, with the aim of making their areas of operations safe for military forces and civilians.

Phil Sawford: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking to ensure the implementation of the UN General Assembly resolution 57/232 to deploy human rights monitors in Iraq. [119714]

Mr. Rammell: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Crosby (Mrs. Curtis-Thomas) on 20 June 2003, Official Report, column 471W.

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking to ensure the implementation of UN General Assembly Resolution 57/232 to deploy human rights monitors in Iraq. [120143]

Mr. Rammell: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Crosby (Mrs. Curtis-Thomas) on 20 June 2003, Official Report, column 471W.

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Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs for what reason Mr. John Sawers has been withdrawn from Iraq; and if he will make a statement on the role to be played by Sir Jeremy Greenstock in Iraq. [120783]

Mr. Rammell: John Sawers is shortly leaving Iraq to take up a new appointment as Political Director in the FCO.

Sir Jeremy Greenstock will take up his appointment in September 2003 following the completion of his Diplomatic Service posting as Ambassador at the United Nations.

The appointment of such a senior and experienced diplomat shows the strength of our continuing commitment to Iraq.

Sir Jeremy will report to my right hon. Friends the Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary and other Ministers as necessary. His main role will be to contribute to and support the political process leading to the establishment of a representative Iraqi Government under the terms of SCR 1483. He will work closely with leading Iraqi representatives, the Coalition Provisional Authority, the UN and other representatives of the international community.

France

Mr. David Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many UK citizens employed as lorry drivers were arrested and detained in France and then subsequently released in each year since 1997. [121362]

Mr. Mullin: We keep no such statistics. To provide the information requested would incur disproportionate costs.

Palestine

Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Palestinian Authority over the indoctrination of Palestinian children into suicide bombing, through television and music broadcasts, school books, and speeches by Palestinian Authority leaders; and if he will make a statement. [119999]

Mr. Rammell: We have made clear to the Palestinian Authority the importance of preventing incitement to violence in all areas of Palestinian society, and we welcome Palestinian Prime Minister Abbas' undertaking at Aqaba to act against incitement. The NGO Israel/Palestine Centre for Research and Information has recently completed an evaluation of new Palestinian educational textbooks introduced in recent years. It concludes that there have been improvements in content, and that the new textbooks do not incite against Israel or against peace. We continue to encourage such developments, and to support both the Palestinian Authority and Israel as they implement the roadmap, which includes clear obligations on both parties to end incitement against the other. We call on leaders and opinion-formers on both sides to set the standard and exercise judgment in their public statements.

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Muslim Association of Britain

Mrs. Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received about leading members of the Muslim Association of Britain having links with Hamas. [121239]

Mr. MacShane [holding answer 23 June 2003]: We are not aware of any links between the Muslim Association of Britain and Hamas, although we keep the activities of Hamas under constant review.

Performance Targets

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the performance targets that (a) his Department, (b) its agencies and (c) non-departmental public bodies are required to meet; and if he will specify for each target (i) who sets it and (ii) who monitors achievements against it. [120808]

Mr. Rammell: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office's key performance targets are contained in its Public Service Agreements (PSA) for SR2000 (2001–04) and SR2002 (2003–06). The text of these agreements are contained in "Spending Review 2000: Public Service Agreements 2001–2004" (Cm 4808, July 2000) and "Spending Review 2002: Public Service Agreement targets 2003–2006" (Cm5571, July 2002).

Progress against the FCO's PSA targets is monitored by the FCO, using a combination of internally-generated management information, and through a series of scorecard measures agreed with HM Treasury. Annual performance is reported in the FCO's Departmental Report.

The following public bodies sponsored by the FCO have performance targets:

BBC World Service (including BBC Monitoring) (public corporation)

Targets for the BBC World Service are included in the FCO's PSAs, scorecards to the FCO's PSAs, and in the BBC World Service's annual report on output and performance measures. Targets are set by the FCO in consultation with the World Service. Progress is monitored by the FCO.

Targets for BBC Monitoring are set out in scorecards to the FCO's SDA. Additional key performance indicators/targets are set out in BBC Monitoring's corporate plan. These key performance indicators and targets are set by the FCO and other stakeholders in BBC Monitoring (Ministry of Defence, Cabinet Office and BBC World Service) in consultation with BBC Monitoring, and achievement is monitored by the stakeholders.

British Association for Central and Eastern Europe (executive non-departmental public body)

Performance targets for the British Association for Central and Eastern Europe are set out in its Corporate Plan. The Corporate Plan, proposed by the association, is agreed and monitored by its Governing Body.

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British Council (executive non-departmental public body)

The British Council's annual corporate plan summarises the British Council's key operational and financial targets for the year. Progress against its targets is monitored by the British Council and the FCO.

The Great Britain-China Centre (executive non-departmental public body)

The Great Britain-China Centre has annual objectives which are included in its corporate plan. These objectives are set and progress against them monitored by the Great Britain-China Centre board in conjunction with the FCO.

Marshall Aid Commemoration Commission (advisory non-departmental public body)

The Marshall Aid Commemoration Commission's corporate plan contains annual performance targets. The plan is approved, and progress against its targets monitored, by the FCO.

Westminster Foundation for Democracy (executive non-departmental public body)

The Westminster Foundation for Democracy's performance targets are set through a consultative process between the FCO and the Westminster Foundation for Democracy's executive and board. Progress against targets is formally monitored quarterly by the Westminster Foundation for Democracy's board, which is attended by the FCO.

Wilton Park (Executive Agency)

A target for percentage of respondents who rate Wilton Park's conference programmes highly is set out in a scorecard to the FCO's SR2000 PSA. A number of additional targets for Wilton Park are incorporated into Wilton Park's Corporate Plan and information on its performance against them is in its annual report. These additional targets are set by the FCO-led Wilton Park Departmental Board, in consultation with Wilton Park, and achievement is monitored by the Departmental Board annually.

Wilton Park Academic Council (advisory non-departmental public body)

The Wilton Park Academic Council is required to endorse Wilton Park's contribution to the promotion of understanding and the solution of global problems and it produces an annual report on its work.

Britain-Russia Centre

The Britain-Russian Centre ceased to be an FCO executive non-departmental public body on 1 April 2003.

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the Public Service Agreement targets for his Department which have been (a) revised and (b) introduced since the publication of the 2002 Departmental Report. [120870]

Mr. Rammell: The FCO agreed a new set of PSA targets for 2003–04 to 2005–06 under the 2002 Spending Review (SR2002). These targets were set out in the White Paper, "Spending Review 2002: Public Service Agreement Targets 2003–06" (Cm5571, July 2002). They came into effect in April 2003.

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The table at Appendix K (pages 183–87) in the FCO's 2003 Departmental Report shows the relationship between the FCO's SR2002 and SR2000 PSA targets.

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