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Mr. Peter Lloyd : Under the immigration rules, applications for visas by foreign nationals must be lodged with the entry clearance officer of a British diplomatic post. The application will then normally be resolved by the entry clearance officer without reference to the Home Office. However, because of the current situation in the Horn of Africa this requirement has been waived in respect of Somali refugees--mainly those in camps in Ethiopia and Djibouti--who are unable to go to a British diplomatic post to lodge a visa application. In such cases we have agreed that sponsors in the United Kingdom may present the facts of cases here so that as far as possible applications can be determined before their families need embark on the difficult and sometimes hazardous journey to collect their visas. This has generated a substantial amount of new work for the refugee unit of the immigration and nationality department and in the interests of fairness the applications are dealt with in the order in which they are received.
Citizenship Applications
Mr. Norris : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make available the income and expenditure account for the administration of citizenship applications for 1989-90.
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Mr. Waddington : I have today placed in the Library a copy of the nationality fees income and expenditure account for the 12 months ended 31 March 1990.Non-custodial Sentences
Mr. Sheerman : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the number and proportion of offences triable only on indictment which attracted non-custodial sentences in each of the last three years in which the offender was aged over 21 and had previously served a prison sentence.
Mr. John Patten [holding answer 29 October 1990] : Information for 1986 to 1988 for persons aged 21 and over given non- custodial sentences for offences triable only on indictment is given in the table.
It is not possible from the data held centrally to identify those offenders who had previously served a prison sentence.
Data for 1989 are not yet available.
K
Persons aged 21 and over given non-custodial sentences for offences
triable only on indictment 1986 to 1988
England and Wales
Year |Total |Number given |per cent.
|sentenced | non-custodial
|sentences
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
1986 |5,602 |1,182 |21
1987 |6,100 |1,165 |19
1988 |6,411 |1,354 |21
NORTHERN IRELAND
Northern Ireland (Shopping Restrictions)
150. Mr. John D. Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what information he has on restrictions on shopping in Northern Ireland presently applied by the Republic of Ireland on its citizens ; what consideration has been given to the restrictions by the European Community ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Cope : The European Court of Justice ruled on 12 June 1990 that the restriction debarring citizens of the Republic of Ireland from benefitting from travellers' allowances if they are out of the country for under 48 hours is against European Community law. The United Kingdom Government gave their support to the action of the European Commission in bringing this matter before the European Court. We have persistently urged the Republic of Ireland Government to act on the judgment and remove these restrictions and we will continue to do so.
Concessionary Bus Fares
Mr. McGrady : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what representations he has received about the introduction of concessionary bus fares for women on reaching retirement age at 60 years.
Mr. Needham : Ten such representations have been received since 1986.
The qualifying age for concessionary half-fare travel by bus and rail in Northern Ireland is 65 years for men and women. The Department of the Environment for
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Northern Ireland is precluded by the provision of the Sex Discrimination (NI) Order 1976 from making a distinction on age grounds between men and women.Opencast Mines
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) if he will list by year for the last 10 years to date the number of opencast coal site applications that have been refused by his Department ;
(2) if he will list by location the opencast coal sites currently being worked ;
(3) if he will list by year for the last 10 years to date the number of opencast coal sites that received his Department's approval.
PONI Logo
Mr. Kilfedder : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many Northern Ireland firms have so far applied successfully for permission to carry the logo PONI, made in Northern Ireland ; and if he will list them in the Official Report.
Mr. Needham : While I welcome any initiative to assist Northern Ireland companies with their marketing activities, the PONI scheme is the responsiblity of the Northern Ireland chamber of commerce and industry. The Government do not, therefore, posses the information sought.
Food Labelling
Mr. Kilfedder : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) if he will take steps to ensure that the correct country of origin is borne on a cheese product marketed by Golden Cow Dairies Ltd., Portadown, called Easi Singles ;
(2) whether he will consider taking an appropriate case to the Northern Ireland courts in order to have a legal interpretation of the term "material degree" as used in article 3(7) of EC Food Labelling directive 79/112/EEC ;
(3) whether he will make representations to the European Community about the effect of article 3(7) EC Food Labelling directive 79/112/EEC on products which, while manufactured in Southern Ireland, bear labelling with a Northern Ireland address.
Mr. Needham : No. Enforcement of European Community food labelling requirements is the responsibility of district councils in Northern Ireland.
European Community
Mr. Kilfedder : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether he will consider the setting up of a Northern Ireland centre in Brussels to represent Ulster interests to the European Commission and Community.
Mr. Cope : The Northern Ireland interest in EC issues, like the overall national interest, is upheld by the office of the United Kingdom permanent representation in Brussels which includes personnel seconded from the Northern Ireland civil service. I am, therefore, satisfied that, on matters of public policy, the appropriate arrangements are in place. There are many issues--increasingly so, with the approach of the single European market--where there may be a role for independent, non-governmental representation in the EC.
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Mr. Kilfedder : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will obtain a copy of the feasibility report produced by the University of Ulster on a Northern Ireland centre in Europe for his departmental library.
Mr. Cope : A copy of this report has recently been received.
Dyslexia
Mr. Beggs : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many pupils attending (a) primary and (b) post-primary schools suffer from dyslexia.
Mr. Needham : The term dyslexia can describe a variety of specific learning difficulties experienced by children and the information is not readily available in the form requested.
It is estimated that some 600 children currently receive assistance for literacy and numeracy problems.
Agriculture
Mr. McGrady : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what new financial assistance Her Majesty's Government will give to the agricultural industry in Northern Ireland.
Mr. Brooke : I have no plans for assistance beyond the substantial EC and other support already available.
Mr. Aidan Carroll
Mr. Harry Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what representations he has received regarding the cases of the Armagh Four ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Cope : Representations have been received from a number of politicians, churchmen and others. These have generally sought to question matters considered at the trial, including the admissibility of the men's statements of confession and the weight given by the trial judge to the evidence presented. None of the representations so far received has contained any new evidence on which the Secretary of State could justify referring the case to the Court of Appeal.
Whiterock Road Incident
Mr. Harry Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when he expects the pathologist's reports on the Whiterock road shootings to be completed and a dossier to be forwarded to the Director of Public Prosecutions ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Cope : As I told the hon. Member in a letter on 14 July, the state pathologist's report on the Whiterock road shootings was submitted to the independent Director of Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland, who is currently considering the case, in July this year.
Teacher Training
Mr. Harry Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what progress has been made towards the integration of teacher training in Northern Ireland ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Needham : The Government are committed to the principle of integrated education in Northern Ireland and
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our policy is to support the provision of such education where it clearly reflects the wishes of those directly involved. No such consensus has emerged in support of the integration of Northern Ireland's two teacher training colleges. There has, however, developed between the colleges an enhanced level of co-operation, including a joint programme for education for mutual understanding and arrangements within which every student will spend part of his or her time in joint study with contemporaries from the other college and undertake teaching practice in schools of both major traditions. The Government have sought to give every possible encouragement to those developments.In the two university departments of education, teacher training provision has always been fully integrated.
IRA Car Bombs
Mr. William Ross : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what information he has as to whether any of the persons who were forced by the IRA to drive the car bombs to their destinations on the night of 23-24 October had any connection with the security forces by past or present membership or by the nature of their work.
Mr. Cope [holding answer 29 October 1990] : It would not be appropriate for me to comment.
Local Government Finance
Mr. William Ross : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what was the total cost of collecting (a) the regional rate and (b) the local rate in Northern Ireland in each of the last five years ; and what percentage of total rates this represented in each year.
Mr. Needham [holding answer 22 October 1990] : The cost of collection cannot be disaggregated between the regional rate element and the district rate element. The following table indicates the percentage cost of collection of the total rates due.
|Total cost of | Total cost of
|collection for|collection as
|Northern |percentage of
|Ireland |total rates
|£
------------------------------------------------------------
1985-86 |3,859,177 |1.58
1986-87 |4,757,933 |1.67
1987-88 |4,921,024 |1.67
1988-89 |5,628,997 |1.76
1989-90 |5,775,164 |1.62
Mr. William Ross : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will publish a table in the Official Report to show for each of the last five years and the current year the (a) number of local government electors in each council area in Northern Ireland, (b) sum raised in each council area in those years in respect of (i) regional rates and (ii) local rates, (c) sum per elector for each of those years in respect of (j) regional rates and (k) local rates, (d) number of domestic rateable properties in each year and the number of other rateable properties in each and (e) average sum due for each (y) domestic rateable property and (z) other rateable property.
Mr. Needham [holding answer 22 October 1990] : As the information requested is lengthy, I will write to the hon. Gentleman and place copies of my letter in the Library.
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FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS
Albania
Mr. Parry : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on Her Majesty's Government's current relations with Albania.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : Our outstanding offer to establish diplomatic relations without preconditions remains on the table.
Cambodia
Mr. Battle : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he will be taking to pursue the peace plan in Cambodia and encourage all sides to agree to a ceasefire, now that the SNC has been formed ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : As a permanent member of the UN Security Council, we continue to play a full part in efforts to reach a comprehensive political settlement based on the framework unanimously endorsed by the UN General Assembly on 15 October. We have repeatedly called on all parties to the conflict to stop fighting and co-operate to the full in working out the details of such a settlement.
EC Majority Voting
Mr. Harry Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the basis of the policy of Her Majesty's Government on the principle of majority voting in the European Community Council of Ministers on environmental and energy legislation.
Mr. Garel-Jones : The voting procedure for EC environmental legislation depends on the legal base. Where the main purpose of a measure is environmental protection, it should be based on articles 130R-T of the treaty of Rome (unanimity). Where the predominant objective of a proposal containing a provision relating to the environment is to ensure the free circulation in the internal market of the goods to which it relates, it should be based on article 100A (qualified majority voting). There are no specific treaty articles on energy but, as with the environment, EC energy legislation is also adopted by unanimity or qualified majority voting according to the articles on which individual proposals are based.
Spies
Mr. Harry Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is Her Majesty's Government's policy towards permitting families of defectors or admitted spies for foreign states to join them in those states, or in a third country, if the family members express a wish to rejoin the individual defector or spy.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : All residents of the United Kingdom have the right to travel to any destination of their choice.
Nuclear Proliferation
Mr. Harry Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he has had any recent discussions with his Soviet and United States counterparts, or their ministerial or departmental
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colleagues, in regard to the jointly issued statement of 19 October on international strategies to combat nuclear proliferation.Mr. Strang : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what were the United Kingdom objections to the proposals set out in the document NPT/CONF.IV/L.3, dated 3 September, to the fourth review conference of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty by a group of 16 states ; and whether the United Kingdom tabled any suggested alternative proposals in regard to timetabling of the preparations for the next full gathering of states parties to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : The United Kingdom and many other countries took the view that it would be inappropriate for the preparatory meetings for the 1995 nuclear non-proliferation treaty conference to begin as early as September 1991 and to be mandated to discuss all substantive matters. We also thought it inappropriate for the conference to adopt resolutions on individual questions. The three depository powers of the NPT (United Kingdom, United States and USSR) tabled an alternative proposal.
Mr. Strang : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will publish in the Official Report the text of the single-sentence amendment proposed by the United Kingdom on a comprehensive nuclear test ban, to the suggested text submitted by the chairman drafting committee on paragraph 7 of the draft final declaration of the fourth review conference of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty in Geneva on 14 September.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : No ; the discussions of the committee were not public.
Mr. Strang : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if Her Majesty's Government have made any communication with the Mexican Government or the permanent representative of Mexico to the United Nations in Geneva, in response to the statements made by Ambassador Marin Bosch to the final session of the fourth review conference of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty on 15 September.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : We have made clear to the Mexican authorities our disappointment that the Mexican delegation to the non-proliferation treaty review conference could not agree to the proposal by the president of the conference for a final document.
Mr. Strang : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which diplomatic meetings the United Kingdom delegation attended outside the Palais des Nations on 14 September, as part of the process of reviewing the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : The United Kingdom delegation to the non- proliferation treaty review conference attended several informal meetings outside the conference itself.
Mr. Strang : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list those non-governmental organisations invited to attend the
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ministerial briefing and discussion on non- proliferation, verification and disarmament issues at his Department on 23 October ; and if he will make a statement on the proportion of time devoted in the meeting to each issue raised, and on the outcome of the meeting.Mr. Lennox-Boyd : Thirty-seven non-governmental organisations were invited to this background briefing. The discussions were off the record and wide ranging : it would not be possible to specify how much time was devoted to each of the many issues raised.
Foreign Affairs Council
Mr. Harry Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what matters he raised at the European Foreign Affairs Council in Luxembourg on 22-23 October.
Mr. Garel-Jones : I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs gave to the hon. Member for Newham, South (Mr. Spearing) on 24 October, c. 220.
Israel
Mr. Harry Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what matters he raised with Israeli Government ministers or officials during his recent visit to Israel.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs covered a wide range of bilateral and regional issues in his useful discussions with Israeli ministers and officials including the Gulf crisis and the Arab-Israel dispute. He specifically raised the United Nations Secretary General's mission to Israel and urged the Israeli Government to reconsider their refusal to receive this mission.
Iraq
Mr. Harry Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth affairs if he will make it his policy at the next European Foreign Affairs council meeting to raise with his German counterpart the involvement of German companies in exporting technologies and materials directly or indirectly to Iraq that could assist in the production of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : We are in regular contact with the German authorities over this issue.
Mr. Harry Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information he possesses in regard to the current activities undertaken at the military nuclear research facility at Karochooq in Iraq.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : Iraq has declared to the International Atomic Energy Agency only one nuclear research establishment, at Tuwaitha. We are unaware of the alleged nuclear research facility specified in the question.
Mr. Harry Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information he has in regard to current status of the tripartite agreement
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between Iraq, Egypt and Pakistan completed in December 1985, for the construction of a collectively sponsored experimental nuclear reactor at Al-Wadi Al-Jadid.Mr. Lennox-Boyd : We are aware of media reports in December 1985 that talks had taken place with a view to establishing co-operation in the nuclear field between Egypt, Iraq and Pakistan. We do not know of any subsequent developments.
Mr. Harry Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information he possesses concerning the current status of the agreement made between Iraq and Saudi Arabia, in March 1989, for the Saudis to finance the rebuilding of the Osiraq nuclear plant in Iraq.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : As far as we are aware, no such agreement was ever put into effect.
Mr. Harry Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he has any information in regard to the renewal of the 10-year agreement in October 1989 between Brazil and Iraq, for the provision of low enriched uranium and nuclear technology services to Iraq.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : We understand that the Brazilian authorities have denied that there is now any nuclear co-operation between Brazil and Iraq.
Disarmament
Mr. Harry Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if his Department has played any role, or offered to assist, in the distribution of the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research report (UNIDIR 90/7).
European Political Union
Mr. Harry Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the tripartite talks between the ministers of the European Foreign Affairs Council, the European Parliament in Strasbourg on 23 October concerning developments towards European political union.
Mr. Garel-Jones : I represented the United Kingdom at the meeting on the preparation of the intergovernmental conference on political union which was held on 23 October in Strasbourg. The European Parliament, Commission and member states set out their respective views on possible institutional reforms. No conclusions were drawn, but it was agreed to hold a further exchange of views at a later date.
Nuclear Proliferation
Mr. Strang : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what response was made by the United Kingdom ambassador to the United Nations, or by another United Kingdom representative or Minister, to the proposal advanced by the Soviet Deputy Foreign Minister to the United Nations General Assembly in New York, on 16 October, that the prohibition of nuclear testing was essential to stop the proliferation of strategic nuclear weapons.
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Mr. Lennox-Boyd : No response has been given by the United Kingdom permanent representative or other officials to the Soviet Deputy Foreign Minister's proposal on nuclear testing. Our position on nuclear testing is already well known.Mr. Strang : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if any nuclear tests conducted by the United Kingdom in Nevada since 1979 have been undertaken for the purposes of enhancing techniques of verification of a comprehensive nuclear test ban treaty.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : It has been the practice of successive Governments not to make public the details of nuclear test programmes.
UN International Week of Science and Peace
Mr. Strang : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if his Department has any plans to support the second United Nations International Week of Science and Peace, 5 to 11 November.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : We are not convinced about the potential value of the UN International Week of Science and Peace. We do not intend to allocate to it resources better employed elsewhere.
Antarctica
Mr. Shersby : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make it his policy to seek to negotiate a new environmental convention for the regulation of Antarctic minerals which would command all-round support.
Mr. Garel-Jones : We are committed to achieving the best possible environmental protection for Antarctica, not just from mineral exploration, but from any other source of pollution. To that end we are ready to discuss all proposals, not only new environmental convention, for improving environmental protection with a view to achieving an agreement that commands consensus by all the Antarctic treaty states.
Sea Bed Sovereignty
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reply has been sent to the Falkland Islands Government in response to the request of the legislative assembly to extend British sovereignty over large areas of seabed.
Mr. Garel-Jones : We have taken note of the Falklands Islands Legislative Council's recent resolution calling on us to extend the Falklands continental shelf and to extend the Falkland Islands interim conservation and management zone.
Legislative councillors are kept fully informed as to our views on this issue both directly and through the governor.
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