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22 Jan 1996 : Column WA51
Written Answers
Monday, 22nd January 1996.
Diplomatic Service Staff: Non-executive Directorship
Lord Avebury asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will publish a table of ambassadors, ambassadors designate, and other diplomatic personnel respectively who hold directorships, giving in each case the name of the company and the date of appointment to the board; whether there has been any change in the rules governing such appointments during the last five years, and if so whether they will give details; and whether or not they will allow further appointments of diplomats or other civil service personnel to the boards of companies.
The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Baroness Chalker of Wallasey): Details of non-executive directorships held by Diplomatic Service staff are set out below.
The only change in the rules governing such appointments in the last five years was in February 1991, when government departments were empowered to indemnify individuals acting as non-executive directors against civil liability. Such appointments are kept under close review.
Treaties in Force
Lord Lester of Herne Hill asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will state the approximate total number of treaties by which the United Kingdom is bound.
Baroness Chalker of Wallasey: Our treaty records are currently being computerised. Some twelve thousand items, dating back to 1835, have now been entered. Of these, some have expired, others have been overtaken or terminated and some are amendments to earlier treaties. The information requested could therefore only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Treaties: Guidance Notes
Lord Lester of Herne Hill asked Her Majesty's Government:
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Whether they will publish the handbook of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Nationality, Treaty and Claims Department, International Agreements: Practice and Procedures—Guidance Notes, September 1992.
Baroness Chalker of Wallasey: The guidance notes were provided as a basic guide for officers in the FCO and other government departments dealing with treaty matters. There are no plans to publish the notes or to give them wider circulation.
Arrangements will be made to lay copies in the Libraries of the House.
Chechnya
Lord Hylton asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether some form of multi-national or supra-national administration is necessary for Chechnya, following the violence and destruction that has occurred there.
Baroness Chalker of Wallasey: A lasting settlement to the Chechen conflict must give the Chechen people an effective way to express their identity within the framework of the constitution of the Russian Federation. We support the efforts of the OSCE to bring about peace. But the primary responsibility for ending the conflict must rest with the federal authorities and the Chechens.
South Lebanon: Israeli Use of Banned Weapons
Lord Hylton asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they are supporting the protests made by the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) against the use by the Israeli army in South Lebanon of internationally banned shells containing steel darts, which have killed and wounded both civilians and UN soldiers.
Baroness Chalker of Wallasey: I refer the noble Lord to the Answer he received from my noble friend Lord Inglewood on 6 February 1995, at column WA 2.
European Union: Commonwealth Views and UK Policy
Lord Molloy asked Her Majesty's Government:
What weight they give to the views about the European Union expressed by the governments of Commonwealth countries.
Baroness Chalker of Wallasey: The views of governments of Commonwealth countries have played and will continue to play an important part in the Government's formulation of policy with regard to the European Union, particularly in respect of external relations.
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Saudi Arabia: Prime Minister's Message
Lord Kennet asked Her Majesty's Government:
Why the Prime Minister sent his recent message of goodwill to King Fahd through Prince Sultan, while the US President sent his message through Crown Prince Abdullah.
Baroness Chalker of Wallasey: Messages from the Prime Minister to the Head of Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are conveyed in the most appropriate fashion on each occasion.
Chinese Orphanages: UNFPA and IPPF Statements
Lord Braine of Wheatley asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will seek to obtain from the United Nations Population Fund and the International Planned Parenthood Federation any statements they have made concerning: (a) the Channel 4 documentary "The Dying Rooms", (b) the Channel 4 documentary "Return to the Dying Rooms", (c) the treatment of girl babies and disabled children in Chinese state orphanages, and whether they will place any such statements in the Library of the House.
Baroness Chalker of Wallasey: A copy of the press release by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) issued in response to the Human Rights Watch Report on Chinese orphanages Death by Default and the Channel 4 documentary "Return to the Dying Rooms", will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses. To our knowledge, UNFPA has made no other comments publicly about Chinese orphanages.
No public statements have been made by the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), since it is not involved either with provision of child care or orphanage services in China.
Arrest and Detention Powers
Lord Hylton asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they intend to remove their derogation from Article 5(3) of the European Commission on Human Rights (ECHR) (concerning the bringing of suspects before a judge); and if not, why not.
The Minister of State, Home Office (Baroness Blatch): Her Majesty's Government have no present plans to withdraw their derogation from Article 5(3) of the European Commission on Human Rights (ECHR). While paramilitary groups connected with the affairs of Northern Ireland retain their capability to resume violence at very short notice, it would be wrong to reduce the powers of arrest and detention available to the police.
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Small Fishing Boats, East Anglia
Lord Marlesford asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will list those places on the coast of the counties of Suffolk and Norfolk from which commercial fishing from open boats under 7 metres takes place, indicating the number of such boats which are licensed to operate from each place, the estimated quantity of each main type of fish caught from each place and what restrictions have been imposed on such fishing in the last 24 months.
Lord Lucas: Information about licensed fishing vessels is held by Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food fisheries districts rather than by individual locations. Some 230 vessels 7 metres and under in overall length have, as at 1 January 1996, been licensed to fish by the Ministry's fisheries office at Lowestoft, which covers the coast from Donna Nook to the Thames Estuary.
Details of landings from each place by the species of fish caught are not readily available. Information on fish landings at ports covering all vessels is set out in the Ministry's publication Statistics of Fish Landings in England, Wales and Northern Ireland by Port, Annual Figures for 1994 (copies available in the House Libraries).
Vessels 7 metres and under fish against quota allocations which are made to the 10 metre and under fleet as a whole. The following North Sea fisheries for 10 metre and under vessels were subject to closures in either 1994 or 1995:
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