| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
16 Jun 2006 : Column 1452W—continued
Wild Boar
Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what his policy is regarding the hunting of wild boar; and if he will make a statement. [75912]
David Miliband: There are no specific legal restrictions on shooting wild boar. However, the person doing the shooting must be authorised to do so on the land concerned, have an appropriate firearms certificate, and comply with other relevant firearms provisions.
Wild boar are feral animals, with general protection under the Protection of Animals Act 1911. This protects captive animals (including animals in traps) against unnecessary suffering, and the Wild Mammals (Protection) Act 1996 offers further protection against specific cruel acts, such as “impaling”, “stabbing” or “beating”.
A public consultation on future strategies for managing wild boar in England concluded on 6 January 2006. The consultation documents are available on the Defra website at: http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/wild-boar /index.htm
Responses to the consultation will help to formulate a long term management policy to be announced later this year.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Ascension Island
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much import duty has been charged on goods entering Ascension Island in each year since 1976. [75457]
Mr. Hoon: Import duty on goods entering Ascension Island has only been levied since the introduction of a system of taxation in April 2002. Since that time total duties collected in each year are as follows:
| £ | ||||
| 2002-03 | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | |
| (1) 2005-06 subject to year end adjustments. | ||||
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much export duty has been charged on goods leaving Ascension Island in each year since 1976. [75458]
Mr. Hoon: None. Ascension Island levies no export duty.
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the Answer of 9 May 2006, Official Report, column 185W, on Ascension Island, if she will place a copy of the Workmen’s Protection (Ascension) Ordinance in the Library. [75463]
Mr. Hoon: A copy of the Workmen’s Protection (Ascension) Ordinance has been placed in the Library of the House.
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many sites on Ascension Island
“no longer necessary for the purpose of the operation of the Long Range Proving Ground”,
Mr. Hoon: Two. The United States’ use of the “National Aeronautics Space Administration” site ceased in the early 1990s. Part of that site was then re-released and renamed in 1997. It was finally relinquished in March 2001.
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if she will list the acquisitions that have taken place on Ascension Island since 1976 of private property to allow rights of way to the United States Administration as permitted in Article III (Rights of Way) of the Bahamas Agreement 1956. [75466]
Mr. Hoon: There have been no acquisitions on Ascension Island since 1976 of property to allow rights of way to the United States Administration as permitted in Article III (Rights of Way) of the Bahamas Agreement 1956.
Dr. Cable:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many motor vehicles belonging to the United States Administration not used for purposes connected directly with the
establishment, maintenance or use of the Long Range Proving Ground have paid taxes or fees relating to registration or licensing for use on Ascension Island since 1976 under Article XIII (Motor Vehicle Taxes) of the Bahamas Agreement 1956. [75467]
Base Leases (United States)
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which bases leased to the United States as listed in Treaty Series No. 2 (1941) Cmd. 6259 and Treaty Series No. 65 (1950) Cmd. 8076 are still leased to the United States. [75459]
Mr. Hoon: None. In 2002 the Government and the Government of the United States terminated the 1941 Leased Bases Agreement.
Burma
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps she is taking to secure a binding resolution on Burma at the United Nations Security Council; and if she will make a statement. [78100]
Mr. McCartney: We support all action by the United Nations which will help initiate a genuine process of democratic reform in Burma. We therefore support current proposals for a substantive discussion of Burma at the United Nations Security Council which we hope will lead to a resolution.
Coalition Information Centre
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many individuals are employed in the Coalition Information Centre; and what the budget was for this unit in each year since 2001. [77726]
Dr. Howells: The Coalition Information Centre (CIC) was formed in October 2001 and later changed its title to the Government Communication and Operations Centre. The unit had nine to 10 staff for most of its existence, rising briefly to some 28 during the Iraq conflict, before being wound up in May 2003. The majority of costs were staff salaries, paid by staff members home departments. Other costs covered accommodation and infrastructure and these were absorbed by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Total budgets could be obtained only at disproportionate costs.
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions she has had with representatives of the Democratic Republic of the Congo on (a) support for victims of rape, (b) prosecution of rapists and (c) prevention of further rapes. [76826]
Mr. McCartney: The UK frequently raises with the Congolese Government our concerns about wide scale sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). In February, we and international partners formally presented President Kabila with a dossier cataloguing major abuses carried out by Congolese armed forces, including rape and sexual violence. We demanded that the perpetrators be brought to justice. A UK-drafted Resolution on DRC adopted at last year’s United Nations General Assembly made clear that the Congolese Government must act decisively to reduce sexual violence.
We are supporting humanitarian agencies in providing medical assistance to victims of sexual violence, particularly in Eastern DRC. This includes funding the construction of a new wing at a hospital in South Kivu that treats rape victims. We also support the International Committee of the Red Cross’s Gender Based Violence pilot programme. Through our local peace-building programme, we aim to tackle the underlying causes of sexual violence.
Departmental Staff
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many staff in her Department did not achieve an acceptable mark in their annual report in each of the last three years; and what percentage this represented of the total number of staff in each case. [75119]
Mr. Hoon: Under the Department’s performance improvement procedures introduced in October 2004, unacceptable performance has to be addressed as soon as it occurs rather than waiting for the appraisal cycle to complete. Central records record cases of poor performance current at the end of the appraisal year. The number of staff who did not achieve an acceptable mark in their annual report over the past three years was as follows:
| Number of staff | Percentage | |
Annual report markings for 2005-06 financial year are not yet available.
Rigorous Performance Management is one of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s management priorities. New training for all senior managers in performance management was introduced in the last year.
India
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if she will make a statement on the attack on two Christian women in Nadia Village, Madhya Pradesh, India by Hindu extremists. [78140]
Dr. Howells: We are aware of media reports of this attack. We understand from our high commission in New Delhi that the Governor of Madhya Pradesh, Dr. Balram Jhakar, met the victims and has asked the Chief Secretary and Director General of Police to send him details of the incidents and a report on action taken. The case has also been registered with the police. Our high commission in New Delhi will continue to monitor the situation.
Sudan
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what evidence there is of continuing direct help from the Government of Sudan to the Janjaweed. [76039]
Mr. McCartney: We believe that the Government of Sudan continues to have close contacts with the leaders of the so-called Janjaweed and to tolerate their activities. The UN Secretary General’s report on Darfur on 19 May this year made several references to armed tribesmen supporting the Sudan armed forces in attacks against civilians in Darfur.
Under the Darfur Peace Agreement the Government of Sudan must draw up a plan to disarm the Janjaweed and to implement it within six months. We call on them to do so.
Mr. Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps she is taking to help prevent the spread of Janjaweed attacks from Darfur into Chad. [77694]
Mr. McCartney: We are aware that Chadian rebels and Darfur militia continue to mount cross-border attacks into Eastern Chad from Darfur, which has led to the displacement of 50,000 Chadians. We are also aware of reports of Darfur rebels continuing to be supported by Chad. We are pressing the Government of Sudan to neutralise and disarm the Janjaweed and expel foreign fighters from Darfur as soon as possible, as required under the Darfur Peace Agreement. We are also pressing both Governments to fulfil their obligations under the Tripoli Agreement.
Uganda
Mr. Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps (a) the Government and (b) the international community are taking towards bringing the conflict in Uganda to an end; and if she will make a statement. [76897]
Mr. McCartney: The UK, along with other members of the international community, is strongly supportive of efforts to resolve the long-running Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) insurgency and address the humanitarian problems in northern Uganda.
The UN has an important role to play. The UK was actively involved in securing the two recent UN Security Council Resolutions, 1653 and 1663, which have condemned the activities of militias and illegal armed groups such as the LRA.
The UK is encouraging the Ugandan Government to accept the appointment of a Special Envoy on the LRA. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Development raised this with President Museveni on 16 May when they discussed the role a special envoy could play in achieving greater regional co-operation on the LRA issue.
We have welcomed the establishment by the Government of Uganda of the Joint Monitoring Committee (JMC) to improve the humanitarian situation in northern Uganda. The JMC is currently developing an action plan to take this work forward and our high commissioner in Kampala and Department for International Development Uganda are both closely involved in this.
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment she has made of the effects of the Movement Act in Uganda on (a) the February 2006 multi-party elections and (b) its implication for the Ugandan multi-party political system; and if she will make a statement. [77467]
Mr. McCartney: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply I gave him on 5 June 2006, Official Report, column 345W, and to the reply given by the former Minister for Trade my hon. Friend the Member for Leicester, East (Keith Vaz), on 6 March 2006, Official Report, column 1179W.
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what response she has received from the Uganda authorities to the written statement of 29 May 2005 regarding (a) establishment of the rules for multi-party competition and (b) separation of the organs of state from the Movement in (i) law and (ii) practice; and if she will make a statement. [77471]
Mr. McCartney: On 29 April 2005 our high commission in Kampala issued a press release which reaffirmed the elements we considered necessary to achieving a legitimate process of political and constitutional change in Uganda. These included establishment of the rules for multi-party competition and separation of the organs of state from the Movement in law and practice.
In that statement we made clear that we were concerned by several aspects of the transition, including that insufficient progress had been made towards establishing a fair basis for a multi-party system. We therefore decided then to withhold £5 million of budget support (out of a total of £40 million for the financial year).
We have not received, nor would we expect to, a formal response to our press release. We have of course maintained a high-level dialogue with the Government of Uganda on all aspects of the transition to a multi-party system in the run up to the multi-party elections in February 2006. I will arrange for a copy of the statement to be placed in the Library of the House.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |