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Tax Changes

Mr. Andrew Mitchell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will place in the Library an estimate of the impact on the level of income of a transfer of all changes in the total level of taxation since 1997 to income tax, broken down by households with annual incomes of up to (a) £30,000, (b) £50,000, (c) £75,000 and (d) above £75,000. [127059]

Dawn Primarolo: There are many ways in which income tax increments or decrements equivalent to changes in current receipts since 1997 could be represented. These include raising or lowering one or more of the income tax allowances, increasing or reducing one or more of the tax rates or the size of an income band to which that rate applies and introducing new lower or higher rate bands or allowances. The impact on households with very different annual incomes would very much depend on which approach was adopted.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Business Rating System

Brian White: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what progress has been made in the review of the business rating system as it applies to communications infrastructure. [126021]

Mr. Timms: I have been asked to reply.

Representatives from industry, DTI, ODPM, Oftel and the Valuation Office Agency have met. The Department will now set in motion procedures to appoint a person or persons to carry out further analysis.

Environmental Impact Appraisals

Mr. Horam: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many of the Department's policies have been screened for their environmental impact since June 2001; how many environmental appraisals have been conducted,

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and on what policy issues; and what information has been published about these screenings and appraisals. [124708]

Keith Hill: All Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's policies are screened for their impacts in a range of areas, including environmental impacts.

The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has to date published no free-standing environmental appraisals of its policies.

Sunderland Football Club

Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister which Minister will determine the appeal by Sunderland Football Club against the refusal by the local planning authority to permit development of its training centre. [127087]

Keith Hill: Sunderland Association Football Club have applied for planning permission for an indoor training barn, student hostel, groundsman's store and perimeter fencing at Whitburn Moor, Cleadon. My right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister has recovered for his own determination four related appeals made by Sunderland AFC against refusal of planning permission and one further application for planning permission which was called-in by my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister to be considered at the same time as the appeals.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Afghanistan

Mr. Caton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the ethnic make-up is of the new Afghan National Army. [127135]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: We do not receive detailed breakdowns of personnel who have passed through the US-led Afghan National Army training programme. But indications from earlier this year were that about half of those trained were Tajiks, around a quarter Pashtuns and the remainder split fairly evenly between Uzbeks and Hazaras.

Mr. Caton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is being done to promote the rights of (a) women and (b) children in the new constitution of Afghanistan. [127136]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: The Afghan Constitutional Commission was convened on 25 April. Its 35 members (including 7 women) are tasked with providing a draft constitution, overseeing preparations for a Constitutional Loya Jirga later this year which will adopt it, and ensuring that the public are informed of—and involved in—the process. The UK has given £500,000 to support a UN-led process of popular consultation to ensure that as many Afghans as possible are able to engage in public debate. The Commission has also met with the Ministry for Women's Affairs, a number of women's NGOs, the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission and other civil society groups to discuss how to incorporate women's and children's rights into the draft constitution.

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Mr. Caton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what action is being taken to reduce the level of violence in Afghanistan. [127137]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: Coalition operations against extremist elements in Afghanistan are ongoing, especially in the south. The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) continues to help maintain security in Kabul. Four Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs) have deployed to regional centres to help extend the authority of central government, improve the security environment and facilitate reconstruction. These include the UK PRT in Mazar-e Sharif, which is helping to reduce tensions between rival regional commanders. Efforts to establish a new, multi-ethnic Afghan National Army and reform the police are continuing. The UK is helping train Afghan NCOs and developing a police crime scene investigation capability.

British Exports

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the occasions since 1997 when Ministers from his Department have accompanied British firms on visits overseas to promote export marketing and sales, indicating the name of the Minister and the country visited in each case. [128407]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: Information on such visits is not recorded centrally in the form requested and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Burma

Mr. Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the (a) Governments of (i) Thailand, (ii) China, (iii) Japan and (iv) Vietnam and (b) the United Nations regarding the arrest and detention of Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. [126764]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: We take advantage of regular bilateral and multilateral contacts with all Asian nations, including Thailand, China, Japan and Vietnam to press for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, national reconciliation and an improvement in Burma's human rights record. From my discussions at the Asia-Europe (ASEM) Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Bali in July it was clear that Burma's international isolation is growing. We are also in discussion with the appropriate bodies of the UN on how to take these matters forward.

Child Protection

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what action is being taken by the Government to protect (a) child workers, (b) sexually exploited children and (c) child victims of trafficking in (i) Africa, (ii) Asia, (iii) the Pacific, (iv) Latin America, (v) the Caribbean and (vi) the Middle East. [128394]

Mr. Rammell: The Government are committed to the promotion and protection of child rights worldwide. We urge all countries to ratify and implement the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), which sets the standard for guaranteeing children's rights and contains specific provisions on child labour, trafficking and protection from sexual abuse. The FCO's Human

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Rights Project Fund is currently funding over £450,000 worth of practical projects with local NGOs to tackle these and other child rights issues. Details are available at www.fco.gov.uk/humanrights.

In addition, the Department for International Development provides substantial financial and technical assistance to the International Labour Organisation's (ILO) International Programme for the Elimination of Child Labour. This campaign aims to achieve universal ratification and implementation of ILO Conventions 138 on Minimum Age for Employment and 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labour, which include trafficking and prostitution.

China

Mr. Dhanda: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had and intends to have with the Chinese Government regarding (a) the occupation of and (b) human rights abuses in Tibet. [128186]

Mr. Rammell: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary raised our concerns about Tibet with Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing on 25 June and my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister discussed Tibet with the Chinese leadership during his recent visit to China.

We remain concerned about the human rights situation in Tibet and continue to urge China to enter into dialogue with the Dalai Lama's representatives. We have welcomed the recent visits to China by representatives of the Dalai Lama.

Defence Exports

Mr. Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to his answer of 14 July 2003, Official Report, columns 47–48W, how many meetings were attended by his Department's Ministers to promote the export of British defence equipment with officials from (a) Chile, (b) India, (c) Singapore, (d) Czech Republic, (e) Slovakia and (f) Tanzania in (i) 2002 and (ii) 2003; what equipment was discussed; and if he will make a statement. [127657]

Mr. Straw: Many of the occasions during which Ministers discuss UK-origin defence equipment with representatives of foreign governments do not form part of formal meetings. It is not therefore possible to provide figures about the number of meetings concerned. Disclosure of the types of equipment concerned may infringe on commercial confidentiality or provide sensitive information on the defence procurement strategies of foreign countries. I am withholding this information under exemptions 1 and 13 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.

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