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Gibraltar

Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) what representations he has made to the Spanish Government concerning cruise liners which have previously docked at Gibraltar being prevented from entering Spanish ports; [171965]

(2) if he will make a statement on the decision by the Spanish Government to refuse entry to the cruise liner Norwegian Dream to the port of Barcelona. [171966]

Mr. MacShane [holding answer 10 May 2004]: On the instructions of my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary, the British ambassador in Madrid delivered a message to the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday 30 April and complained again over the weekend of 1–2 May. He complained once more, to the Spanish State Secretary for Europe and the Americas, on 12 May, and to a senior Spanish official on 13 May. He expressed HMG's disappointment and surprise at the Spanish action and stressed how seriously HMG views such hindrance to legitimate business by cruise liners. HMG is in close touch with the Spanish Authorities with a view to achieving an early solution to this problem. I will also raise the issue in meetings with Spanish officials this week.
 
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Honours

Brian White: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much time his Department spent dealing with honours in the last year for which figures are available, broken down by Civil Service grade. [173039]

Mr. Straw: Five staff in my Department are employed full-time on honours work: oneD6 (Principal), twoC4 (Higher Executive Officer), oneA2 (Administrative Officer), oneA1 (Administrative Assistant).

In addition, members of the Senior Management Structure (Senior Civil Service) spend a total of approximately six to seven person-weeks in aggregate a year on honours.

Iraq

Sir Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what areas of Iraq are under the effective control of the UK. [171554]

Mr. Straw: The UK commands Multinational Division South East (MND SE) which comprises all Coalition military forces in the provinces of Basra, Muthanna, Maysan and Dhi Qar. Troops from 10 states operate in the MND SE Area of Responsibility.

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for   Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what his latest   estimate is of the amount owed by Iraq in reparations. [171982]

Mr. Rammell: The United Nations Compensation Commission has assessed 98 per cent. of the claims submitted to it for direct losses arising as a result of Iraq's illegal invasion and occupation of Kuwait in 1990. The total amount awarded so far amounts to US$ 48,170,438,256 of which US$ 18,389,089,070.86 has been paid. An amount of US$ 29,781,349,185.20 remains to be paid. Work on assessing the remaining claims is ongoing.

Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what payments his Department has made to private military companies working in Iraq. [172695]

Mr. Rammell: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office does not employ any private military companies. It does employ two private security companies to provide armed protection for its staff and assets in Iraq. Payments under these contracts to 31 March 2004 have amounted to approximately £15 million.

Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what his policy is on encouraging the development of secular political parties in Iraq; and if he will make a statement. [173008]

Mr. Rammell: We fully support the vital role of the UN in helping Iraq prepare for elections in early 2005 to a Transitional National Assembly, as requested by the Iraqi Governing Council. As part of that process, the UN are helping the Iraqis to produce a political parties law which will provide the legal basis for the activities of Iraqi political parties. This and the Transitional Administrative Law will provide the framework in which Iraqis will be free to form political parties and to
 
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compete in elections. The Department for International Development have created a Political Participation Fund for Iraq to increase the opportunities for Iraqi citizens to participate in the democratic process. It is now for the Iraqis to decide what sort of political parties they wish to develop within the legal framework being established.

Official Vehicles

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what percentage of official vehicles used by his Department are run on (a) petrol, (b) diesel, (c) liquid petroleum gas and (d) compressed natural gas. [172766]

Mr. Rammell: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) runs two distinct fleets of vehicles. The first is the home fleet run by FCO Services and managed by the Supply Chain Service Delivery Group. Vehicles are situated in London (based at King Charles Street) and at Hanslope Park. London vehicles are used to run the London Messenger and London Car Service; the Hanslope fleet is a diplomatic freight/mail delivery service covering the UK and Europe. The required breakdown of this fleet of vehicles is:

	Percentage
Total number of vehicles (London and Hanslope       combined)	36
Petrol	13
Diesel	67
LPG	20

Our vehicle replacement programme for the home fleet pays particular attention to the provision of LPG vehicles in London; this is part of our commitments under the FCO's environmental 'green issues' policy.

The second FCO vehicle fleet is that run by overseas missions in pursuit of diplomatic business, the details we have available on this fleet are as follows:

	Percentage
Total number of vehicles in the FCO Overseas Fleet	1,352
Petrol	45.8
Diesel	33.8
LPG/Hybrid	0.3
Unknown(1)	20.1

⁽¹⁾ Overseas Missions have the option to procure pool vehicles locally.

Productivity

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what action he is taking to (a) increase the productivity and (b) cut the costs of his Department and its agencies and non-departmental public bodies. [171881]

Mr. Rammell: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to him by my honourable Friend the Financial Secretary to the Treasury (Ruth Kelly) on 10 May 2004, Official Report, column 149W.
 
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Sudan

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will mount an independent investigation with the UN and EU into the   role of, and support for, the Janjaweed militias operating in the Darfur region of the Sudan, with specific reference to human rights abuses. [173488]

Mr. Mullin: The Government of Sudan has announced the creation of a national independent human rights committee to investigate alleged human rights abuses in Darfur, with particular focus on the activities of the Janjaweed armed militias. The UK's Special Representative for Sudan is currently in Sudan where he will meet with the head of this committee and senior Government officials to discuss the situation in Darfur.

We are in close contact with the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) about Darfur. We are considering the best way to take forward recommendations made following their recent mission to Sudan. We are also working to ensure that the Independent Expert, mandated by 23 April UN Commission on Human Rights decision on Sudan, is appointed as soon as possible. We and our EU partners have made clear that alleged abuses should be thoroughly investigated, and we will continue both to monitor the situation closely and to press the OHCHR to follow up effectively.

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with representatives of (a) the Sudanese Liberation Army and (b) the Justice and Equality Movement about bringing peace to Darfur, Sudan. [173784]

Mr. Mullin: Through our embassy in Khartoum we have been in regular contact with both the Sudanese Liberation Army and the Justice and Equality Movement in the run up to the ceasefire talks in Chad, during the talks, and subsequently. We are urging both groups, and the Sudanese Government, to fully implement the ceasefire agreement, and to ensure unhindered humanitarian access and the protection of civilians, in order to find a sustainable solution to the problems in Darfur in the long-term.

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