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25 Jun 2008 : Column 368W—continued
Nutrition
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) when he plans the Nutrition Action Plan Delivery Board to publish its final report; whether an interim progress report will be (a) written and (b) published; and if he will make a statement; [212196]
(2) what work the Nutrition Action Plan Delivery Board plans to undertake in (a) 2009 and (b) 2010. [212197]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: It is envisaged that the final report from the Nutrition Action Plan Delivery Board (NAPDB) on progress made against implementing the Nutrition Action Plan will be published at the end of 2008. An interim progress report from the NAPDB will be published in the summer.
The Department will review whether to extend the NAPDB's existence beyond December 2008 upon consideration of their end of year report and any implications from that report.
Rampton Hospital
Dr. Vis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much compensation staff at Rampton Special hospital have received from patients following prosecutions in the last five years. [211358]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The information requested is not held centrally. My hon. Friend may wish to approach the chief executive of the Nottinghamshire Healthcare National Health Service Trust who might be able to provide some of this information.
Dr. Vis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many staff are trained in restorative justice and conflict resolution techniques at Rampton Special hospital. [211359]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: Information is not held centrally on numbers of staff in national health service high security hospitals trained in restorative justice.
Information on the number of staff undergoing conflict resolution training at Rampton High Security hospital is not available centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. The number of staff reported as having undergone conflict resolution training from April 2004 to December 2007 at the Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust, which includes Rampton High Security hospital, was 2,960.
Source: NHS Security Management Service
Suicide
Mrs. Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will take account of the suicide strategies in Scotland and Northern Ireland in (a) assessments of and (b) revisions to England's National Suicide Strategy. [211484]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: As part of our ongoing assessment of the National Suicide Prevention Strategy for England we will continue to take into account emerging evidence from international suicide prevention strategies including those in the United Kingdom.
In addition, the five nations representing England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales and the Republic of Ireland have established a suicide prevention strategies coordinating group to share information, research and evidence on suicide prevention actions among the five nations. This group meets on a regular basis.
I refer my right hon. Friend to the reply I gave her on 4 June 2008, Official Report, column 1034W, on the plans for the future of the National Suicide Prevention Strategy for England.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Africa: Diplomatic Service
Mr. Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what estimate has been made of the annual savings to his Department from the closures of the diplomatic posts in (a) Mbabane, Swaziland, (b) Maseru, Lesotho, (c) Bamako, Mali and (d) Antananarivo, Madagascar; and if he will make a statement. [213454]
David Miliband: It is estimated the annual savings listed in the following table, at 2008-09 values, were made from the closures of diplomatic posts in:
| £ | |
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office continues to manage our overseas network to reflect changing demands and challenges, ensuring that our resources are aligned with our priorities and that the UK has a cost-effective and flexible network of overseas representation. We continue to keep UK representation in Africa under review and, where necessary, to make adjustments in individual countries to meet our operational needs.
Colombia: Capital Punishment
Colin Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received of the number of civilians extra-judicially executed by Colombian security forces in the last 12 months. [212860]
Dr. Howells [holding answer 20 June 2008]: The annual report of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on Colombia for 2008 (A/HRC/39) details the persistence of extrajudicial executions attributed to members of the Colombian security forces, especially by members of the army. It also notes the Colombian Government’s attempts to tackle this by strengthening control mechanisms, the political will of senior personnel to adopt measures to prevent, investigate and punish those responsible and new directives issued by the Colombian Ministry of Defence.
I have outlined the Government’s strong concern about extrajudicial killings to the Colombian Minister of Defence on a number of occasions and raised the subject with the Colombian President at the EU-Latin America and Caribbean summit in Lima in May 2008. We are matching this advocacy with practical help. The UK has been very active and influential in promoting human rights training and adherence in the Colombian armed forces and police. Further work in this area, funded by the UK Conflict Prevention Pool, will include helping the Colombian Government to eradicate extrajudicial killings and other human rights abuses and, equally importantly, to bring the perpetrators of these crimes to justice.
Departmental Buildings
Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the value of the property held by (a) his Department and (b) associated public bodies was at the most recent date for which figures are available. [212888]
Meg Munn: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and British Council 2006-07 annual resource accounts include the latest published valuations for the Estate of £1.27 billion and £85.6 million respectively; With the exception of the British Council, no other associated body (Executive Agency or Non-Departmental Public Body) holds property; FCO Services are co-located with the FCO, and Wilton Park is leased.
Ethiopia: Eritrea
Mr. Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations the Government have made to Ethiopia to accept the ruling of the Eritrea-Ethiopian Boundary Commission; and if he will make a statement. [212773]
Meg Munn: The UK’s policy towards the Ethiopia-Eritrea border dispute is based on three principles: to avoid any return to war; for the border to be demarcated; and for the parties to normalise their relations. Ethiopia and Eritrea should agree a way forward to allow demarcation to proceed and for a normalisation process to begin, as set out in the Algiers Agreements of June 2000 and December 2000, signed by Ethiopia and Eritrea.
We have set out this policy to both Ethiopia and Eritrea, including in November 2007 when my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary met with Ethiopian Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin and when my noble Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Baroness Vadera, and our ambassador in Addis Ababa met Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. My noble Friend the Minister for Africa, Lord Malloch-Brown, also conveyed these points to Eritrean Foreign Minister Osman Saleh in November 2007 and to Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles in January in Addis Ababa. Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials continually reiterate these messages to both the Ethiopian and Eritrean ambassadors to London and to their interlocutors in the Governments of Ethiopia and Eritrea in Addis Ababa and Asmara respectively.
We will continue to pursue the aforementioned policy with our international partners, including through the UN Security Council (UNSC). In this regard, we fully support UNSC Resolution 1798, adopted unanimously on 30 January and the UNSC’s Presidential Statement of 30 April. We expect the parties to implement fully all the provisions of these, including those relating to demarcation of the border. We support all efforts of the UN with the parties, to which UK efforts are closely aligned.
Mr. Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the effects of recent clashes along the Dijibouti-Eritrea border on the Ethiopian-Eritrean conflict; and if he will make a statement. [212774]
Meg Munn: We supported the UN Security Council Presidential Statement of 12 June in condemning Eritrea’s incursion and urging both sides to show maximum restraint.
The clashes along the Djibouti-Eritrea border contribute to the instability in the Horn of Africa sub-region, although we have yet to see any direct effects of these clashes on the Ethiopian-Eritrean border situation.
Mr. Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps the Government are taking with their international partners to ensure that the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea is fully deployed; and if he will make a statement. [212776]
Meg Munn: The UN Mission to Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) relocated from Eritrea on 19 May due to fuel restrictions placed on UNMEE in Eritrea by the Eritrean government. The UN Security Council (UNSC) had previously reiterated its condemnation of Eritrean action in a Presidential Statement dated 30 April.
The future of UNMEE and a UN presence in Ethiopia and Eritrea is next scheduled to be discussed in the UNSC on 23 June.
Mr. Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the Government support the proposal in the UN Secretary General’s report to the Security Council (S/2008/226) of a small observer mission to be deployed to the Ethiopia-Eritrea border area to defuse tensions between the armed forces of the two countries. [212906]
Meg Munn: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave today to parliamentary written question 212773, which lays out the Government’s policy towards the Ethiopia-Eritrea border.
We support all UN efforts to bring a resolution to this dispute. The effectiveness of any small observer mission deployed to the Ethiopia-Eritrean border to defuse tensions between the armed forces of the two countries would depend on the degree of co-operation from both parties.
Mr. Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the UK supports the proposal of a UN Special Envoy for Ethiopia and Eritrea; and if he will make a statement. [212907]
Meg Munn: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave today to parliamentary written question 212773, which lays out the UK Government’s policy towards the Ethiopia-Eritrea border.
We support all UN efforts to bring a resolution to this dispute. The effectiveness of a UN Special Envoy for Ethiopia and Eritrea would depend on the degree of co-operation from both parties. The Government of Eritrea have, at times in the past, refused to meet with UN Special Envoys.
Iran: Israel
Mr. Quentin Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the implications for UK policy of President Ahmadinejad's remarks that celebrating Israel's 60th anniversary was like celebrating the birthday of a dead person. [212976]
Mr. Jim Murphy: The UK considers that President Ahmadinejad’s recent comments are yet another example of his unacceptable and uncivilised approach to Israel which can only damage international confidence in Iran’s willingness to act as a respectable member of the international community. The Government have consistently condemned the Iranian President’s inflammatory comments about the State of Israel and his offensive statements about the Holocaust.
Most recently on 9 May 2008 the EU presidency, with strong UK support, issued a statement condemning in the strongest possible terms the recent anti-Israeli comments made by the President of Iran. It called on President Ahmadinejad to stop hostile rhetoric and refrain from all threats to other states.
Mr. Quentin Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the implications for UK policy of President Ahmadinejad's comments at the World Food Summit that Israel is a false regime destined to disappear. [212977]
Mr. Jim Murphy: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to him today (parliamentary written question 212976).
Iran: Nuclear Power
Mr. Quentin Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of Russia's involvement in developing the Bushehr nuclear reactor in Iran. [212939]
Dr. Howells: In 1976 the Shah of Iran contracted with a German company to build two nuclear power reactors at Bushehr. Before the first was completed, the Iranian Revolution of 1979 overthrew the Shah and led to the creation of the Islamic Republic of Iran. For many years construction was halted. After the Iran/Iraq War, Russia agreed in 1995 to fit one of their VVER-1000 power reactors into the original reactor building. This reactor, Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant-1, is now nearing completion. The Russians have secured a contract with Iran to supply the first 10 years worth of fresh fuel for the reactor and are willing to supply fuel for its lifetime. The Iranian authorities announced that the first shipment of low-enriched uranium from Russia was delivered to Bushehr on 17 December 2007.
Mr. Quentin Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the Iranian response to UN Security Council Resolution 1803. [212941]
Dr. Howells:
There has been no formal response from Iran to UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1803. The 3 June deadline in UNSCR 1803 for Iran to
comply with the Security Council's demands has now passed. Iran has not suspended its enrichment-related activities, or granted the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) the greater access it seeks, as the IAEA Director General's latest report made clear. A generous engagement package was delivered to Tehran by Javier Solana and five E3+3 Political Directors on 14 June. We hope for a rapid, positive response. If this is not forthcoming, we will push forward on new, tougher sanctions, including a new UNSCR.
Mr. Quentin Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the state of the Iranian nuclear programme. [212974]
Mr. Jim Murphy: Dr Mohammad El Baradei, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), reported on 26 May that Iran had failed to suspend enrichment-related activities, had made no progress on the transparency measures the UN Security Council (UNSC) and IAEA have long called for and had failed to answer the IAEA's questions relating to studies with a possible military dimension. Dr El Baradei said that these studies were a "matter of serious concern". On 8 April, Iranian President Ahmadinejad announced that Iran would increase the number of centrifuges from 3,000 to 6,000. Dr El Baradei has criticised this development. The Government agree with him that it is essential that Iran suspends its enrichment-related activities in accordance with its obligations to the UNSC. Unless Iran does so, the international community will have no confidence that Iran's nuclear programme is of an entirely civilian nature. We have called on Iran to provide answers to the IAEA's questions immediately. There is no justification for further delay.
Mr. Quentin Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what his latest assessment is of the threat posed to regional security by Iran’s nuclear programme. [212975]
Dr. Howells: Iran’s nuclear programme, which continues in breach of four UN Security Council Resolutions, threatens the stability of the region. By continuing with an enrichment programme for which we can see no apparent civilian purpose and in the face of clear international concern, Iran is doing little to address the serious lack of confidence in its assertions that its intentions are exclusively peaceful—a fact that the International Atomic Energy Agency continues to say it cannot verify. We have a close and ongoing dialogue with our regional allies on the issue and will be working with them in the coming months to increase the pressure on Iran to comply with its international obligations.
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