House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 20 Jul 1999 (pt 15)

Cyprus

31. Sir Sydney Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will report progress on initiatives to re-unite the island of Cyprus. [90488]

Ms Quin: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave earlier in the House today to my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Erdington (Mr. Corbett), Official Report, column 966.

UK/US Treaties

35. Mr. Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the existing bilateral treaties between the United Kingdom and the United States of America. [90492]

Mr. Tony Lloyd: There are currently over 500 bilateral treaties with the United States, covering a wide range of subjects. One of the earliest is entitled, "Provisional Articles of Peace with the United States of America", which was signed in Paris on 30 November 1782. The most recent treaty is the "Agreement between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland on behalf of the Turks and Caicos Islands and the Government of the United States of America relating to investment incentives", which was signed in Washington on 20 April 1999. Bilateral treaties cover a diverse range of subjects including the final suppression of the African slave trade, visas, the carriage of ammunition, the use of military facilities on Ascension Island and drug trafficking.

Western Sahara

Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans he has to meet (a) the Government of Morocco and (b) the POLISARIO to discuss the implementation of the UN Peace Plan for a Referendum in Western Sahara. [90439]

Mr. Hoon: I have no immediate plans to meet with either the Government of Morocco or the Polisario. However, FCO officials regularly meet with both sides to discuss the way forward in the Western Sahara.

Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps the Government intend to take to secure the implementation of the UN Peace Plan for a Referendum in Western Sahara. [90437]

Mr. Hoon: We fully support the UN's efforts to hold a referendum in the Western Sahara. We keep pressure on both parties to adhere to the UN Secretary-General's deadlines both bilaterally and at the UN.

Departmental Services

Mr. Swinney: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what arrangements he has made for the provision of (i) IT support, (ii) stationery and (iii) hospitality services for his Department; and what percentage of each is contracted from outside bodies. [90569]

20 Jul 1999 : Column: 504

Mr. Hoon [holding answer 13 July 1999]: FCO provision for IT support, stationery and hospitality for the Financial Year 1999-2000 is as follows:

IT support

£2.12 million, which provides 24 hour IT support and network management to more than 280 overseas missions and to the FCO Departments. Contract expenditure amounts to £1.12 million or 53 per cent. The remainder covers internal costs.

Stationery

£1.7 million. All stationery budgets at home and overseas are devolved. A centrally negotiated call-off contract is used. All stationery is contracted out.

Hospitality ¹

£2.286 million. All catering services are contracted out though wine and equipment are provided from the Government Hospitality cellar. All overseas Hospitality Budgets are devolved to Posts. No figures are held centrally.

¹ This figure includes the expenditure by the Government Hospitality Fund which provides for State Visits, Guests of Government and functions for all Government Departments.

Yugoslavia

Mr. Maples: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress is being made in freezing the assets of members of the Milosevic regime; and if he will make a statement. [91240]

Mr. Tony Lloyd: EC Regulation 1294/99 concerning a freeze of funds and a ban on investment in relation to the FRY was adopted on 15 June and came into force on 19 June. The Bank of England issued a notice to banks and other institutions on 22 June giving details of the Regulation. Corresponding UK Regulations came into force on 25 June. All accounts identified as belonging to individuals and companies covered by the Regulation have been blocked.

In addition, the Government have acted upon a request from the International Criminal Tribunal on the Former Yugoslavia to freeze the assets of Milosevic and four associates in respect of whom warrants and orders of arrest were issued on 24 May.

Departmental Vehicles

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list for (a) his Department and (b) associated bodies listed in the National Asset Register, how many vehicles are currently (i) owned and (ii) leased; if he will indicate their (1) fuel types and (2) engine cubic capacities; how many of the vehicles due for replacement by (A) his Department and (B) associated bodies listed in the National Asset Register will be replaced in (x) 1999-2000, (y) 2000-1 and (z) 2001-2 by vehicles using (a1) petrol, (b2) diesel, (c3) natural gas, (d4) electric batteries and (e5) other; and how much his Department plans to spend in each year on vehicle replacements. [90691]

Mr. Hoon [holding answer 19 July 1999]: 1. The FCO and associated bodies have the following owned and leased vehicles; details of the fuel type and engine capacity are included where they are known.

2. The FCO has 1,288 vehicles overseas, of which 29 are leased.

20 Jul 1999 : Column: 505

3. 543 vehicles use petrol and 362 use diesel; the remainder are unknown as more detailed information about vehicles purchased by FCO Posts overseas is not available. In each case, the type of fuel chosen will depend on the type of vehicle required and the availability of fuel types in each country at the time of purchase. Specific details of engine cubic capacity are not known in full, but is on average 2.5 or 3.5 litres.

4. Planning for the replacement of vehicles has now been devolved to Commands. It is disproportionate in the time available to produce the information for the purchase of vehicles for overseas Missions.

5. The FCO's home fleet has 45 vehicles in total, of which 32 are diesel, the remainder is petrol. The replacement programme for the next three years is as follows: 1999-2000, four vehicles; 2000-01 and 2000-02 will be dependent upon budgetary allocation.

6. The home fleet will replace two vehicles with duel fuel and will consider this further when a decision to purchase another vehicle is made.

Public Bodies

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the non- departmental public bodies in existence on 1 May 1997 that (a) have been disbanded, indicating when they were disbanded, (b) will be disbanded in the next 12 months, (c) have had their functions transferred to (i) another non-departmental public body and (ii) a democratically elected body, (d) have been renamed but continue to perform a similar role and (e) have been unchanged; if he will indicate in (c)(ii) the relevant successor body; what new non-departmental public bodies have been established since 1 May 1997; and how many non-departmental public bodies his Department currently is responsible for. [90680]

Mr. Hoon [holding answer 19 July 1999]: (a) None.

(b) The FCO is considering with the Commonwealth Institute a plan for the Institute to become a company limited by guarantee, while remaining a charity. Both sides are working to an early resolution of outstanding issues.

(c) (i) None.

(c) (ii) None.

(d) None.

(e) The FCO is responsible for 12 non-departmental public bodies. These are:

Executive NDPBs

Commonwealth Institute

British Association for Central and Eastern Europe

Marshall Aid Commemoration Commission

British Council

Britain-Russia Centre

Great Britain-China Centre

Westminster Foundation for Democracy

Advisory NDPBs

Wilton Park Academic Council Government Hospitality Fund Advisory Committee for the Purchase of Wine Diplomatic Service Appeals Board

20 Jul 1999 : Column: 506

Tribunals

Foreign Compensation Commission

Intelligence Service Tribunal.

The Government are committed to keeping the number of NDPBs to a minimum and to ensuring that those which remain are open, accountable and effective.

Ambassadors for British Business

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the (i) agenda and (ii) purpose of the ambassadors for British Business meeting with Ministers in July 1998; who attended; what documentation was available; what briefing material was provided; and if he will list those occasions (a) when the ambassadors have met in an official capacity and (b) where they have reported back, with an estimate of the total trade agreements reached consequentially. [91840]

Mr. Hoon: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary met 12 ambassadors for British Business in July 1998. The aim was to review progress and consider how the scheme could be developed, to hear the views of the Business ambassadors on promoting Britain's image overseas and to underline that the scheme should be used to boost inward investment as well as British business overseas. There was no formal agenda. No briefing material or documentation was provided for the Business ambassadors for the meeting.

There is no requirement for the ambassadors for British Business to submit reports following their overseas engagements. The ambassadors for British Business are not involved in negotiating trade agreements.

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list those Ambassadors for British Business who also serve on other Government working groups, broken down by group. [91848]

Mr. Hoon: The information that is readily available is as follows:

Sir David John

FCO Panel 2000

Member of Board of British Trade International

Lord Marshall of Knightsbridge

FCO Panel 2000

Government Task Force on the Industrial Use of Energy

Sir Iain Vallance

Scottish Business Forum

Board of Scottish Enterprise

Lord Paul

FCO Panel 2000