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4 Apr 2003 : Column 903W—continued
Commercial Confidentiality
Rob Marris: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what guidance his Department issues to civil servants on how to deal with claims from organisations that the information they provide to the Department is commercially confidential. [105556]
Mr. Rammell: Guidance to staff in British Trade International, including staff in overseas posts, emphasises the need to ensure that all information is handled carefully, and that information received from or about a British business should not be disclosed, without the latter's permission, to other firms or organisations.
Correspondence
Mr. Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he intends to reply to the letter to him dated 25 February from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Ms E. Vaswani. [106181]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary replied on 31 March to my right hon. Friend's letter on behalf of his constituent.
Ethiopia/Eritrea
John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with (a) the Ethiopian Government, (b) the Eritrean Government and (c) the United Nations on the demarcation of the boundary between Ethiopia and Eritrea. [105428]
Mr. Rammell: The UK maintains regular dialogue with the Governments of Ethiopia and Eritrea as well as the UN regarding the demarcation of the boundary between Ethiopia and Eritrea. My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary discussed this with Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi when he visited the UK in February. My noble Friend Baroness Amos discussed it
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with the Eritrean Ambassador and Head of the Political Department of the ruling party in March. Our ambassadors in Addis Ababa and Asmara have frequent contact with the governments of both countries and with Legwaila Joseph Legwaila the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General. We have made clear to both Ethiopia and Eritrea that they must respect the decisions of the Boundary Commission, in line with their commitments under the Algiers Peace Agreement.
Gibraltar
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the Government of Spain regarding commemoration of 300 years of British sovereignty in Gibraltar in 2004. [106027]
Mr. MacShane: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has had no such discussions.
Great Lakes Region
John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the leaders of the states in the Great Lakes Region on (a) violent crime and (b) small arms proliferation. [105423]
Mr. Rammell: Small arms proliferation remains a significant problem in the region. My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has had no recent discussions with the leaders of the states in the Great Lakes Region on violent crime and small arms proliferation. But the UK works extensively in Africa with Governments, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and NGOs on Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) issues. We have committed significant resources from our Global Conflict Prevention Pool for SALW to assist the Secretariat that supports the 2000 Nairobi Declaration.
Iran
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations he has received on human rights abuses in Iran. [106130]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary regularly receives a wide range of representations about the human rights situation in Iran. My right hon. Friend and I regularly raise human rights with the Iranian authorities, including with the Iranian Foreign Minister when we met on 6 February.
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he last met Iranian officials. [106129]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary and I met the Iranian Foreign Minister in London on 6 February.
Kashmir
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when Ministers
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in his Department next plan to meet their (a) Indian and (b) Pakistani opposite numbers to discuss Kashmir. [106538]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary, regularly raises our concerns in relation to Kashmir with the Governments of India and Pakistan, including during frequent telephone calls. Pakistani Foreign Minister Kasuri has accepted an invitation from the Foreign Secretary to visit London in the near future. The Foreign Secretary also hopes to meet the Indian Foreign Minister in the UK during May. Dates for these visits have yet to be confirmed.
Sudan
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what monitoring he is undertaking of the situation in Darfur, Sudan, with particular reference to (a) the number of death sentences recently carried out, (b) women's rights and (c) reform of its judiciary. [105665]
Mr. Rammell: We are monitoring developments in Darfur and are following the cases of those sentenced to death. In relation to women's rights and judicial reform our focus has not been on Darfur specifically, but we have been in contact with the Government of Sudan about the role and function of the special courts.
Our ambassador to Khartoum has requested permission to travel to Darfur and will do so as soon as possible.
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the Arab-African conflict in Darfur, Sudan. [105666]
Mr. Rammell: Historically there have been clashes between tribal groups in Darfur over access to land and water. There are also long-standing claims of insufficient development in the region. Recently the frequency of clashes has increased and Government forces have also become involved.
The British embassy in Khartoum continues to discuss the situation in Darfur with a wide range of Government and National Congress party officials, in addition to Darfur MPs and other local representatives. Our ambassador has requested permission to visit Darfur and will do so as soon as possible.
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the aerial bombardment in Rier, Sudan; and what monitoring he is undertaking of use of Antatov bombers, by the Government of Sudan. [105667]
Mr. Rammell: UN Security and the US-led Civilian Protection Monitoring Team are unaware of any recent incidents of aerial bombardment in Sudan.
On 4 February, the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army agreed an addendum to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on cessation of hostilities. The addendum aimed to strengthen the MoU which was signed at Machakos on 15 October 2002 and extended on 18 November 2002. It contains many new and welcome initiatives to build confidence between the parties and to make less likely the sorts of outbreaks of fighting which we saw in
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Western Upper Nile in January. We also welcomed the establishment of the new Verification and Monitoring Team (VMT) and have committed US$ 500,000 to support its important work.
Zimbabwe
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations he has received on human rights abuses of British citizens residing in Zimbabwe. [106133]
Mr. Rammell: The British High Commission in Harare has this year received a small number of representations from British citizens in Zimbabwe about ill treatment. Where appropriate, the British High Commission has taken the matter up with the Zimbabwean authorities. We remain ready to do so as and when necessary.
EDUCATION AND SKILLS
Educational Maintenance Allowances
Ms Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills when children in each London local authority will be eligible for educational maintenance allowances. [105969]
Margaret Hodge: The national Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) scheme will be available from September 2004 across the whole of England.
EMA is being piloted in a number of areas, 16 of which are in London. In areas such as Regent's Park and Kensington North which are not part of the pilot scheme, the first tranche of eligible students will be those who reach the compulsory school leaving age in the 2003/2004 academic year.
ICT
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much was spent on ICT (a) in total and (b) per pupil in (i) primary and (ii) secondary schools in England in 2001/02. [106193]
Mr. Charles Clarke: The total spend on ICT in schools in 2001/02 was £563 million. The average expenditure per pupil was £58 for primary schools and £88 for secondary schools.
The latest information on ICT in schools was published in Statistical Bulletin 07/02 'Survey of Information and Communications Technology in Schools 2002', which is available from the Library. An enhanced version of this with total expenditure data is on the Department's web-site www.dfes.gov.uk/statistics.
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