House of Commons Hansard Debates for 28 Jan 1993

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Column 787

Somalia

Tanzania

Uganda

Zaire

Zimbabwe

Bolivia

Jamaica

Bangladesh

1988

Gambia

Ghana

Kenya

Malawi

Mozambique

Sudan

Tanzania

Uganda

Bangladesh

1989

Gambia

Ghana

Kenya

Malawi

Mozambique

Nigeria

Senegal

Tanzania

Uganda

Guyana

Bangladesh

1990

Gambia

Ghana

Nigeria

Tanzania

Uganda

Zambia

Jamaica

1991

Ghana

Malawi

Mozambique

Nigeria

Tanzania

Uganda

Zimbabwe

Jamaica

Nicaragua

Bangladesh

India

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Iraq

Mrs. Helen Jackson : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has received from Arab countries neighbouring Iraq about the recent bombing raids.

Mr. Douglas Hogg : We have received no formal representations from Arab countries neighbouring Iraq about the recent bombing.

Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the nuclear installations declared by Iraq to the International Atomic Energy Agency up to July 1990 and those subsequently identified by United Nations inspectors.

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Mr. Douglas Hogg [holding answer 25 January 1993] : Parts of Iraq's principal nuclear site, Tuwaitha, were declared to the IAEA before July 1990. These facilities were covered by a safeguards agreement.

Details of nuclear installations subsequently identified by United Nations inspectors are contained in the reports of inspections carried out by the IAEA under the terms of Security Council resolution 687. Copies of these reports have been placed in the Library of the House.

Japanese Labour Camp Survivors

Mr. Stott : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will support the claim of the Japanese Labour Camp Survivors Association for compensation from the Japanese Government.

Mr. Goodlad : Her Majesty's Government sympathise deeply with those who suffered so dreadfully as prisoners of war of the Japanese during the second world war. We owe a great debt of gratitude to them. However, the question of compensation was settled in the 1951 peace treaty with Japan.

Although the Government could not directly associate itself with the private attempts of groups to obtain further compensation, we would not, of course, impede or obstruct these attempts, with whose aims we sympathise.

Entry Clearance

Mr. Peter Shore : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many additional entry clearance officer posts it is planned to create in Dhaka in 1993 and 1994.

Mr. Lennox-Boyd : Entry clearance staffing at posts abroad is based on current and forecast demand for entry clearances. We review such staffing at all posts during the first quarter of each year, and in the case of larger posts such as Dhaka, at quarterly intervals thereafter.

Mr. Peter Shore : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the present waiting time for first interview for the four categories of applicants in Dhaka, Bangladesh ; and what were the waiting times for the same categories one year and two years earlier.

Mr. Lennox-Boyd : The waiting time in months for first interview waiting times at the end of 1992, 1991 and 1990 were :


     |Q1|Q2|Q3|Q4   

--------------------

1992 |3 |6 |7 |9    

1991 |3 |5 |6 |10   

1990 |2 |3 |3 |9    

Queue 1: Applicants 

with a claim to     

British citizenship,

 aged dependants    

over 70,            

compassionate       

cases;              

Queue 2: Spouses    

and dependent       

children under 18;  

Queue 3: Other      

dependants; fiance( 

e)s, others for     

settlement;         

Queue 4:            

Reapplicants.

Mr. Peter Shore : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the current entry clearance officer staffing at the British high commission in Dhaka ; and what is the full staffing complement.

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Mr. Lennox-Boyd : The ideal entry clearance officer establishment in Dhaka is 12 ; there are currently 12 in post.

Mr. Peter Shore : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many entry clearance officers in Dhaka are immigration officers on secondment from the immigration service.

Mr. Lennox-Boyd : There are currently eight immigration officers on secondment as entry clearance officers in Dhaka.

TRANSPORT

Fuel (Tax Differentials)

Mr. Barry Field : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the effect of the decision at the last Budget to widen the tax differential between diesel and other fuels on the use of (a) diesel fuel and (b) diesel vehicles.

Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : At the last Budget the duties on diesel fuel and unleaded petrol were both increased in line with inflation--4.5 per cent.--while the duty on leaded petrol was increased by an extra 3 per cent. It is too early to assess the impact of the changes in duty. However, the number and proportion of cars and light vans using diesel fuel have increased rapidly over the last 10 years and this trend is expected to continue.

Airports (Night Restrictions)

Mr. Colin Shepherd : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what review he carried out of the night restrictions which currently apply at Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted airports ; and whether he will make a statement.

Mr. MacGregor : The current night restrictions were set in 1988 for a five year period. They end this year and if the current regime is not extended or replaced there will be no night restrictions. I have therefore carried out a wide-ranging review.

I have taken the opportunity to include Stansted in the review so that local people there should have the same level of protection against aircraft noise at night as people living around the other two airports.

The proposals maintain the policy of continuing to protect local communities from excessive exposure to aircraft noise at night without imposing unnecessary restrictions on the airline industry. The aviation industry makes an important contribution to the economy of the south-east and to the United Kingdom as a whole. It is important for us to make reasonable provision for this--otherwise airlines and airports abroad will seize the business and the prosperity that goes with it. Equally, it is important that those who live around our airports should be able to enjoy a good night's sleep.

Our proposals for a new regime of night restrictions at Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted are set out in a consultation paper, issued today. The proposals seek to give more flexibility to airlines but have been designed expressly to favour movements by the quieter types.

We are asking for comments on the proposals to be with us by Friday 30 April.

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Transport and Environment Ministers

Mr. Harry Greenway : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the outcome of the joint meeting of Transport and Environment Ministers in Brussels on 25 January.

Mr. MacGregor : The United Kingdom supported calls for an early meeting of EC Ministers to consider the implications of the oil pollution incidents at La Coruna and on Shetland and took a leading part in the proceedings. The United Kingdom was represented by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland, my noble Friend the Minister for Shipping and myself.

Prior to the meeting, the United Kingdom circulated a report on the Shetland oil spill. I am placing copies of this report in the Library. In it we drew attention to the work we have set in hand following this incident, including the accident investigation by the marine accident investigation board, the inquiry under Lord Donaldson of Lymington and the ecological steering group being set up in Scotland. We called for concerted action at national, European and global levels, emphasising the importance of the international Maritime Organisation--IMO--and by flag states throughout the world if real improvements in ship safety and pollution prevention are to be secured. We suggested early ratification by member states of the protocols to the international liability and fund conventions agreed at the diplomatic conference in London last year which provide for increased compensation amounts, and ratification of the salvage convention ; and we encouraged early adoption of the EC directive concerning requirements for vessels carrying dangerous or polluting goods which was agreed last month during the United Kingdom presidency. We also suggested urgent examination of other possible measures including additional guidance to tanker operators and masters, routing measures, extension of radar coverage and vessel traffic service schemes, the role of salvage tugs and further port state control action.

The Council commended the United Kingdom on its prompt and effective response to the Braer incident. It recognised that further concerted action at national and Community level and in the IMO is essential to minimise threats to the marine and coastal environments from oil and hazardous cargoes. It urges the Community and member states to support the on-going work in IMO relevant to this objective. The United Kingdom has been urging the Commission to bring forward as a matter of urgency its communication "A Common Policy for Safe Seas". This now now expected to issue next month. The full text of the Council conclusions will be placed in the Library when it is available.

Station Car Parks

Mr. Mackinlay : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make it his policy to ensure that the existing level of car parking spaces are maintained at railway stations following their sale, franchise or vesting in Railtrack.

Mr. Freeman : Where stations are being managed by franchisees, any conditions about the level of car parking spaces could be imposed through the franchise contract. Otherwise, car parking arrangements will be subject to the general oversight of the independent regulator.

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Mr. Mackinlay : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make it his policy that charges for car parking spaces at railway stations should not rise above the equivalent, in real terms, of charges as at February, following either their sale, franchise or vesting in Railtrack.

Mr. Freeman : Where stations are being managed by franchisees, any restrictions on car park charges could be imposed through the franchise contract. Otherwise, car parking charges will be subject to the general oversight of the independent regulator.

London Underground

Mr. Mackinlay : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) if he will list the location of track, stations and ticket offices owned or managed by Briitsh Rail which provide facilities to London Underground on an agency basis ;

(2) if he will list the location of track, stations and ticket offices owned or managed by London Underground which provide facilities to British Rail on an agency basis.

Mr. Freeman : I understand that the information requested is as follows :

Stations served jointly by London Underground and British Rail 1. Stations owned and staffed solely by BR, but served by trains of both operators

(a) BR and LUL trains on same tracks

East Putney*

Harrow and Wealdstone

Kew Gardens

South Kenton

Wembley Central

Wimbledon Park*

Gunnersbury

Kensal Green

North Wembley

Southfields*

Willesden Junction

Harlesden

Kenton

Richmond

Stonebridge Park

Wimbledon

*No timetabled BR passenger service, but served by BR trains diverted onto the route.

(b) BR and LUL trains on separate tracks but serving adjoining platforms.

Barking

New Cross Gate

Upminster

Kensington Olympia

Paddington (Suburban)

New Cross

Stratford (also served by DLR)

2. Stations owned and staffed solely by LUL, but served by trains of both operators

(a) BR and LUL trains on same tracks

Amersham*

Harrow on the Hill*

Chalfont and Latimer

Rickmansworth

Chorleywood

(b) BR and LUL trains on separate tracks but serving adjoining plaforms.

Barbican*

Moorgate*

Farringdon*

Old Street*

Greenford*

*LUL also sells tickets for BR-only journeys on an agency basis

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