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Written Answers to Questions

Friday 29 January 1993

HOME DEPARTMENT

South Yorkshire Fire Service

Mr. Hardy : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the budget of the South Yorkshire fire service (a) in the current financial year and (b) for 1993-94 ; and what estimate he has made of the effect of compliance with the capping requirement.

Mr. Peter Lloyd : The South Yorkshire fire and civil defence authority's revenue budget for the financial year 1992-93 is £31.614 million. The authority has yet to set a budget for the financial year 1993- 94. In doing so, it must have regard to the intended designation criteria for council tax capping announced on 26 November 1992 by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment, to the nationally recommended minimum standards of fire cover, and to its statutory duties under the Fire Services Act 1947.

Mr. Hardy : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the establishment level of the South Yorkshire fire service ; and what the forecast actual manning level is for March 1994.

Mr. Peter Lloyd : The establishment scheme notified to me on 26 February 1992 by the South Yorkshire fire and civil defence authority provided for a whole-time establishment for the South Yorkshire fire service on 1 January 1992 of 1,084 posts, and for a retained establishment on that date of 192 posts. The authority has not yet notified me of the establishment scheme for 1 January 1993. Any forecasts of actual staffing levels in the future are a matter for the authority.

Naturalisation

Mr. Spearing : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what changes he expects to make in the procedures related to application for naturalisation to become British citizens consequent to the implementation of the treaty on European union ; and what information he has on the principal differences in the procedures adopted from those of other member states.

Mr. Charles Wardle : My right hon. and learned Friend has no plans to amend the requirements for naturalisation. He is aware of the broad principles governing naturalisation in member states of the European Community.

Danish Citizens

Mr. Spearing : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will state the rights and obligations of (a) a Danish citizen resident in the United Kingdom and (b) a United Kingdom citizen resident in


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Denmark occasioned by implementation of the intergovernmental decision agreed at Edinburgh and how they differ from those currently obtaining.

Mr. Kenneth Clarke : When the treaty on European union enters into force, Danish nationals resident in the United Kingdom--like other European Community nationals--will, in addition to the existing rights of free movement and residence as provided in the treaty of Rome and in measures adopted to give it effect, gain the rights to vote and stand in local and in European parliamentary elections, to petition the European Parliament and to apply to a European ombudsman. United Kingdom and other European Community nationals resident in Denmark already enjoy the right to vote in local elections. The Edinburgh decision does not affect this position but makes clear that union citizenship does not replace national citizenship and the rights and obligations accruing from it, which will continue to be decided by reference to the national law of the member state concerned.

Police Statistics

Mr. Sweeney : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many civilian staff there were in each police force in England and Wales in 1981 and 1991 ; and what percentage of total employees these figures represented in each year.

Mr. Charles Wardle : The information requested is set out in the table :


Civilian strength in England and Wales  

as at 31 December                       

Force              |1981  |1991         

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

Avon and Somerset  |711   |909          

Bedfordshire       |291   |387          

Cambridgeshire     |309   |451          

Cheshire           |419   |510          

Cleveland          |258   |434          

Cumbria            |259   |403          

Derbyshire         |701   |487          

Devon and Cornwall |808   |1,038        

Dorset             |309   |557          

Durham             |480   |532          

Dyfed Powys        |197   |250          

Essex              |721   |1,055        

Gloucestershire    |231   |367          

Greater Manchester |1,507 |2,259        

Gwent              |214   |304          

Hampshire          |725   |1,039        

Hertfordshire      |379   |551          

Humberside         |511   |676          

Kent               |871   |1,018        

Lancashire         |881   |1,095        

Leicestershire     |430   |676          

Lincolnshire       |334   |457          

Merseyside         |1,036 |1,569        

Norfolk            |267   |442          

Northamptonshire   |258   |420          

Northumbria        |835   |1,193        

North Wales        |323   |444          

North Yorkshire    |335   |439          

Nottinghamshire    |581   |706          

South Wales        |847   |1,079        

South Yorkshire    |637   |892          

Staffordshire      |623   |749          

Suffolk            |337   |500          

Surrey             |359   |565          

Sussex             |717   |932          

Thames Valley      |975   |1,410        

Warwickshire       |187   |323          

West Mercia        |541   |843          

West Midlands      |1,489 |2,270        

West Yorkshire     |1,294 |1,833        

Wiltshire          |257   |473          

City of London     |288   |295          

Metropolitan       |13,824|14,131       

                   |---   |---          

Total              |37,556|46,963       

Civilian staff represented 24 per cent. and 26 per cent. respectively of total strength of the police service in those years.

Mr. Sweeney : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list for each police force in England and Wales in 1981 and 1991 the number and percentage of entrants who were over the age of (a) 30 years and (b) 40 years.

Mr. Charles Wardle : The information requested is not held centrally and could be collected only at disproportionate cost.

LORD CHANCELLOR'S DEPARTMENT

Judiciary (Training)

Mr. Gordon Prentice : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what was the total cost of training for the judiciary for each year since 1979.

Mr. John M. Taylor : The Judicial Studies Board, which is responsible for training the judiciary, was established in 1979. Until 1987 it had no separate budget and expenditure on training for the judiciary in that period cannot be discretely identified. Since 1987-88 the Judicial Studies Board has had its own budget. Annual expenditure has been as follows :


             |£                        

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

1987-88      |604,330                  

1988-89      |601,100                  

1989-90      |977,909                  

1990-91      |1,535,720                

1991-92      |1,765,460                

1992-93      |<1>1,800,000             

<1> Estimate.                          

Mr. Gordon Prentice : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many days training per year were undertaken by the judiciary in (a) the Court of Appeal, (b) the High Court and (c) the circuit bench for each year since 1987.

Mr. John M. Taylor : Training for the judiciary is organised by the Judicial Studies Board. The numbers of judges trained at courses and seminars arranged by the Judicial Studies Board since January 1987 were as follows :


                       |Days     

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

(a) 1987                         

Circuit judges         |300      

                                 

(b) 1988                         

Court of appeal judges |4        

High court judges      |34       

Circuit judges         |519      

                                 

(c) 1989                         

High court judges      |16       

Circuit judges         |383      

                                 

(d) 1990                         

Court of appeal judges |41       

High court judges      |116      

Circuit judges         |936      

                                 

(e) 1991                         

Court of appeal judges |31       

High court judges      |19       

Circuit judges         |840      

                                 

(f) 1992                         

High court judges      |19       

Circuit judges         |546      

                                 

(g) 1993 (to date)               

Court of appeal judges |30       

High court judges      |72       

Circuit judges         |56       

In addition, each circuit judge attends an annual circuit conference chaired by the presiding judges. Precise figures for these are not available.

Mr. Gordon Prentice : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will list the names of those judges who have not undertaken any training (a) since their appointment to the bench, (b) in the last five years and (c) in the last 12 months.

Mr. John M. Taylor : The information required is not available. Each year conferences are arranged on each Circuit for all circuit judges. Recorders and assistant recorders and also for district judges and deputy district judges. In addition a wide range of training is available through the Judicial Studies Board in the form of courses, seminars and other training events. When they are appointed all assistant recorders and deputy district judges attend induction courses and thereafter attend refresher seminars. If the hon. Member has a more specific question I invite him to write to me.

Justices of the Peace

Mr. Hoon : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will list the composition of the advisory committee for the appointment of JPs in the Mansfield area.

Mr. John M. Taylor : The membership of the Mansfield advisory sub- committee of the Nottinghamshire advisory committee is : J. Archer Esq JP

Mrs. J. Dennis JP

Mrs. C. M. Gaster JP

Mrs. M. Harper JP

E. Higham Esq JP

T. King Esq JP

P. R. Marsh Esq JP

Mrs. K. Winson

The membership of the Nottinghamshire advisory committee is : Sir Andrew Buchanan JP

C. M. Dennis Esq JP

R. A. Hassett Esq JP

T. King Esq JP


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Mrs. J. E. Latham JP

P. R. Marsh Esq JP

Mrs. J. M. Parry JP

Colonel A. R. Ripley TD, DL

Mr. Hoon : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many (a) women, (b) trade union members and (c) members of ethnic minorities have been appointed as JPs in the last five years.

Mr. John M. Taylor : During the five-year period ending 31 December 1992 a total of 9,823 persons were appointed to the magistracy, of whom 4,832 were women. Figures for appointment of members of ethnic minorities have been collected only since January 1989 since when a total of 375 persons has been appointed. No records are kept of trade union membership.

EDUCATION

Grant-maintained Schools

Mrs. Ann Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will list, for each local education authority, the latest available figures for the numbers of pupils attending (a) schools which have grant-maintained status, (b) schools which have had proposals to acquire grant-maintained status approved and (c) the total of (a) and (b) .

Mr. Forth : The numbers of pupils in schools currently operating as grant-maintained and in schools which have had proposals to acquire grant- maintained status formally approved and the total for each LEA in England are given in the table. Authorities with no such schools are left blank. Pupil numbers shown relate to January 1992, the latest date for which information is available.


Pupils in schools operating as grant-maintained or in schools with                                       

proposals approved in England.                                                                           

LEA                  |GM schools operating|Schools with        |Total                                    

                                          |proposals approved                                            

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

City                 |-                   |-                   |-                                        

Camden               |-                   |-                   |-                                        

Greenwich            |-                   |-                   |-                                        

Hackney              |-                   |-                   |-                                        

Hammersmith and                                                                                          

  Fulham             |1,197               |-                   |1,197                                    

Islington            |-                   |-                   |-                                        

Kensington and                                                                                           

  Chelsea            |622                 |-                   |622                                      

Lambeth              |838                 |877                 |1,715                                    

Lewisham             |198                 |-                   |198                                      

Southwark            |389                 |413                 |802                                      

Tower Hamlets        |879                 |-                   |879                                      

Wandsworth           |4,605               |-                   |4,605                                    

Westminster          |-                   |-                   |-                                        

Barking              |-                   |-                   |-                                        

Barnet               |3,117               |-                   |3,117                                    

Bexley               |448                 |-                   |448                                      

Brent                |1,891               |-                   |1,891                                    

Bromley              |11,065              |-                   |11,065                                   

Croydon              |958                 |1,047               |2,005                                    

Ealing               |5,301               |-                   |5,301                                    

Enfield              |-                   |-                   |-                                        

Haringey             |-                   |-                   |-                                        

Harrow               |-                   |-                   |-                                        

Havering             |-                   |-                   |-                                        

Hillingdon           |9,176               |-                   |9,176                                    

Hounslow             |-                   |-                   |-                                        

Kingston upon                                                                                            

  Thames             |894                 |-                   |894                                      

Merton               |-                   |-                   |-                                        

Newham               |574                 |-                   |574                                      

Redbridge            |-                   |-                   |-                                        

Richmond upon                                                                                            

  Thames             |-                   |-                   |-                                        

Sutton               |4,012               |1,660               |5,672                                    

Waltham Forest       |1,058               |-                   |1,058                                    

Birmingham           |4,827               |3,352               |8,179                                    

Coventry             |-                   |-                   |-                                        

Dudley               |564                 |-                   |564                                      

Sandwell             |652                 |-                   |652                                      

Solihull             |495                 |-                   |495                                      

Walsall              |2,363               |-                   |2,363                                    

Wolverhampton        |1,777               |-                   |1,777                                    

Knowsley             |-                   |-                   |-                                        

Liverpool            |1,043               |-                   |1,043                                    

St. Helens           |-                   |-                   |-                                        

Sefton               |-                   |-                   |-                                        

Wirral               |-                   |-                   |-                                        

Bolton               |1,158               |-                   |1,158                                    

Bury                 |-                   |-                   |-                                        

Manchester           |-                   |-                   |-                                        

Oldham               |-                   |-                   |-                                        

Rochdale             |242                 |-                   |242                                      

Salford              |-                   |-                   |-                                        

Stockport            |-                   |-                   |-                                        

Tameside             |794                 |759                 |1,553                                    

Trafford             |-                   |821                 |821                                      

Wigan                |-                   |-                   |-                                        

Barnsley             |-                   |-                   |-                                        

Doncaster            |-                   |-                   |-                                        

Rotherham            |-                   |-                   |-                                        

Sheffield            |71                  |-                   |71                                       

Bradford             |938                 |828                 |1,766                                    

Calderdale           |1,415               |-                   |1,415                                    

Kirklees             |1,192               |-                   |1,192                                    

Leeds                |-                   |-                   |-                                        

Wakefield            |-                   |-                   |-                                        

Gateshead            |-                   |-                   |-                                        

Newcastle upon                                                                                           

  Tyne               |-                   |-                   |-                                        

North Tyneside       |-                   |-                   |-                                        

South Tyneside       |-                   |-                   |-                                        

Sunderland           |-                   |-                   |-                                        

Isles of Scilly      |-                   |-                   |-                                        

Avon                 |1,455               |-                   |1,455                                    

Bedfordshire         |2,851               |272                 |3,123                                    

Berkshire            |8,203               |-                   |8,203                                    

Buckinghamshire      |4,625               |1,834               |6,459                                    

Cambridgeshire       |6,285               |1,830               |8,115                                    

Cheshire             |547                 |1,786               |2,333                                    

Cleveland            |-                   |-                   |-                                        

Cornwall             |-                   |-                   |-                                        

Cumbria              |5,012               |-                   |5,012                                    

Derbyshire           |4,198               |2,619               |6,817                                    

Devon                |1,381               |844                 |2,225                                    

Dorset               |5,836               |-                   |5,836                                    

Durham               |-                   |-                   |-                                        

East Sussex          |-                   |-                   |-                                        

Essex                |27,087              |9,253               |36,340                                   

Gloucestershire      |13,529              |-                   |13,529                                   

Hampshire            |6,285               |2,981               |9,266                                    

Hereford and Worcester  -                  -                    -                                        

Hertfordshire        |6,266               |-                   |6,266                                    

Humberside           |76                  |-                   |76                                       

Isle of Wight        |-                   |-                   |-                                        

Kent                 |26,522              |2,043               |28,565                                   

Lancashire           |4,121               |-                   |4,121                                    

Leicestershire       |364                 |747                 |1,111                                    

Lincolnshire         |14,333              |-                   |14,333                                   

Norfolk              |7,273               |770                 |8,043                                    

North Yorkshire      |-                   |-                   |-                                        

Northamptonshire     |9,185               |384                 |9,569                                    

Northumberland       |-                   |-                   |-                                        

Nottinghamshire      |334                 |-                   |334                                      

Oxfordshire          |-                   |-                   |-                                        

Shropshire           |481                 |-                   |481                                      

Somerset             |612                 |-                   |612                                      

Staffordshire        |917                 |-                   |917                                      

Suffolk              |-                   |-                   |-                                        

Surrey               |8,619               |-                   |8,619                                    

Warwickshire         |3,650               |1,086               |4,736                                    

West Sussex          |-                   |-                   |-                                        

Wiltshire            |1,795               |-                   |1,795                                    

                     |----                |----                |----                                     

England              |236,595             |36,206              |272,801                                  

Further Education

Mr. Bowis : To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will give the most recent figures for revenue spending by each local education authority in England and Wales per full-time student aged 16 to 19 years at (a) further education colleges, (b) sixth-form colleges and (c) sixth forms in secondary schools.

Mr. Boswell : This information is not collected centrally for local education authorities in England. Expenditure returns from LEAs contain information about their total spending on all secondary education, including sixth-form education, and on further education, but this information cannot be disaggregated between particular age ranges.

Dyslexia

Mr. Bowis : To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will list the available facilities for pupils with dyslexia problems in the London boroughs.

Mr. Forth : Comprehensive information about such facilities is not held centrally.

TRANSPORT

Signal Failures

Mr. Spearing : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will tabulate the number of reported signal failures on the railways of (a) the British Railways Board and (b) London Underground Ltd., giving the number of reported wrong side failures of signals for each year since 1981 ; and what steps have been taken to reduce their numbers.

Mr. Freeman : The Health and Safety Executive's railway inspectorate began recording reported wrong side failures in 1990, following recommendations in Sir Anthony Hidden's report of the investigation into the Clapham junction accident.

The figures available are :


        |Figures        

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

1990                    

BR      |1,298          

LUL     |0              

                        

1991-92                 

BR      |698            

LUL     |4              

Of those, only one in 1990 and five in 1991-92 led to reportable accidents. Also, of the respective years' totals,


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847 and 277 incidents involved failures of position light signals which are usually located in yards and sidings not used by passenger trains, and where speeds are low.

The reduction is due largely to BR's total quality campaign whereby a systematic approach to quality is closely aligned with safety management.

Level Crossings

Ms. Walley : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects the railways inspectorate to publish its requirements for level crossing of railway lines by footpaths and bridleways.

Mr. Freeman : The Health and Safety Executive's railway inspectorate expects this section of its revised requirements to be published shortly. The full title will be "Railway Construction and Operation Requirements, Part F Level Crossings, Protection of Footpath and Bridleway Level Crossings (Section 18)" (ISBN 0-11-882115-6).

Company Cars

Ms. Walley : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what proportion of total car mileage is shown by the national travel survey to be accounted for by company cars ; and what proportion of company car mileage is shown to be for commuting and other personal, as against business, purposes.

Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : In 1985-86, the national travel survey showed that 20 per cent of total car mileage was by company-owned cars, of which 57 per cent. was for commuting and other personal purposes as against 43 per cent. for business purposes.

Newly Qualified Drivers

Mr. Peter Bottomley : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what research or evidence his Department has commissioned on the casualty reduction consequences of restrictions on driving on the display of "P" or "R" plates by newly qualified drivers in the United Kingdom or elsewhere.

Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : We are considering the available evidence on the effectiveness of probationary driving schemes in Northern Ireland and overseas. The Department of the Environment (Northern Ireland) has commissioned a study by Queen's university, Belfast into the working of the "R" plate system in Northern Ireland.

Railways Bill

Mr. Spearing : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will set out details of his calculations for the numbers of staff required in the offices of the rail regulatory and the franchising director respectively under the Railways Bill ; and what estimate he has made of the changes in personnel (a) required in the railway section of the Department of Transport and (b) to occur in the British Railways board and combined new companies relative to those currently employed by the board.

Mr. Freeman : The number of staff estimated for the offices of the rail regulator and the franchising director reflects their expected workloads and is broadly comparable with the numbers working in other regulators'


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offices. Once the new regime for the railways is established, we expect there to be a small saving in the number of departmental staff concerned with the railway industry. It is not possible to predict with any accuracy future employment levels within the railway industry.

Concessionary Rail Travel

Mr. Barry Field : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will tabulate the number of people entitled to concessionary travel from British Rail in total and categorised as (a) employees, (b) pensioners, (c) employees' dependants and offspring, (d) former employees of British Transport Docks Board, (e) former employees of British Transport Hotels, (f) former employees of Sealink, (g) former employees of Wightlink, (h) British Transport police and (i) pensioners of British Transport police ; and what estimate he has of the cost in each of the last 10 years.

Mr. Freeman : I understand that the number of people entitled to concessionary travel, as at 9 January, totals 561,922, made up as follows :


                                                 |Numbers        

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

(a) Employees                                    |137,488        

(b) Pensioners                                   |262,825        

(c) Employees dependants and offspring           |150,669        

(d) Former employees of British Transport Docks                  

  Board                                          |3,611          

(e) Former employees of British Transport hotels |431            

(f) Former employees of Sealink                  |2,340          

(g) Former employees of Wightlink                |Nil            

(h) British Transport police                     |1,677          

(i) BTP pensioners                               |2,881          

The extra costs to British Rail of providing concessionary travel arrangements are not quantifiable.

Biofuels

Mr. Dafis : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what action is currently undertaken by his Department to promote the production and use of biodiesel in the United Kingdom.

Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : The Government are sponsoring a number of research projects looking at a wide range of alternative fuels, including biodiesel.

Although biodiesel offers the possibility of reduced carbon dioxide emissions through the growth of plant feedstock, available evidence regarding exhaust emissions and other environmental impacts suggests that the case for its use is not obvious. Current technology biodiesel is also some two and a half to three times as expensive as conventional diesel. It would therefore be premature to encourage its widespread use. Further study is needed.

To improve our understanding of this fuel the Department is carrying out emissions tests on one of the vehicles being used in the Reading Buses biodiesel fuel trial. The results will be made available when testing is complete.

Cycle Routes

Mr. Bowis : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what proposals he has to increase the marking of cycle priority routes in London.


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Mr. Norris : There are no cycle priority routes in London. My hon. Friend may be referring to the proposed 1,000-mile strategic cycle network. Provision of cycle routes falls to the Department on trunk roads and the London borough councils on local roads. The traffic director for London is responsible for approving cycling facilities which may be contained in local plans for priority red routes. There are no current plans to change marking requirements for cycle routes.

Bus Deregulation

Mr. Bowis : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make it his policy that his proposals for bus deregulation will give priority to tendering for existing services by the private sector.

Mr. Norris : London Transport will be offering at least a further 5 per cent. of London's bus routes to competitive tender this year. We have also announced plans to begin privatisation of all London Buses Ltd. subsidiaries by the end of the year. All bus routes will therefore be operated by private operators competing on level terms before deregulation of the London bus market.

Rail Electrification

Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make it his policy, under the Government's policy with regard to the additionality of funding of projects by the EC, that offers of funding from EC sources for the electrification of railway lines will not be netted off from other funds earmarked by the Government for transport projects ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Freeman : The policy for the treatment of European regional development fund grants remains that which was announced by the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry to the House on 17 February 1992, Official Report, columns 22-37.

Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the policy which was adopted by Her Majesty's Government towards the suggested EC funding for the electrification of the north Wales railway line from Crewe to Holyhead ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Freeman : It would be for British Rail, in conjunction with local authorities as appropriate, to apply for European funding of any electrification of the Crewe to Holyhead line. British Rail is upgrading the line to allow 90 mph running and is financing this itself. It has no plans at present for electrifying the line.

Official Travel

Mr. Winnick : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport on how many occasions he has used trains for his official duties since being appointed to his present position.

Mr. MacGregor : I have travelled by train for my official duties on several occasions since becoming Secretary of State for Transport.


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Estuarial Rail Bridges

Mr. McAllion : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) if he will publish the maintenance and upkeep costs of (a) the Tay rail bridge and (b) the Forth rail bridge in each year since 1980 ;

(2) if he publish the number of safety checks carried out, and their cost, on (a) the Tay rail bridge and (b) the Forth rail bridge since 1980 ;

(3) if he will publish the cost of maintaining estuarial rail bridges in the BR network in each year since 1980.

Mr. Freeman : The Department does not hold this information. These are matters for British Rail.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Shining Path

Sir David Steel : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps have been taken to extradite to Peru known members of the Shining Path terrorist organisation.

Mr. Garel-Jones : I am not aware of any extradition request from Peru. Any such request would have to satisfy the conditions set out in schedule 1 of the Extradition Act 1989 and the terms of the UK/Peru extradition treaty of 1904.

Human Rights

Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information he has on the status of the European convention on human rights in each signatory state.

Mr. Douglas Hogg : The European convention on human rights has been incorporated into domestic law in all signatory states except Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

Hong Kong

Dr. Marek : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans he has to revise the Hong Kong Emergency Regulations Ordinance.

Mr. Goodlad : The Hong Kong Government have no immediate plans to revise the Emergency Regulations Ordinance, but it is examining its provisions to ensure that there is no conflict with the Bill of Rights Ordinance.

Dr. Marek : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he expects Radio Television Hong Kong to become an incorporated company.

Mr. Goodlad : The corporation of Radio Television Hong Kong remains under consideration by the Hong Kong Government.

Dr. Marek : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans he has to repeal the broadcasting authority ordinance in Hong Kong before the handover of the colony in 1997.

Mr. Goodlad : The Hong Kong Government have no immediate plans to repeal the Broadcasting Authority Ordinance. They are, however, reviewing all aspects of the law relevant to freedom of information.


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International Events

Mr. Meacher : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list all the major international events in the United Kingdom and overseas in which Her Majesty's Government will participate in 1993 ; and which Minister will attend in each case.

Mr. Lennox-Boyd : On present plans, in 1993, we will participate in the following major international events overseas :

(a) two Western European Union ministerial meetings attended by the Foreign Secretary ;

(b) two North Atlantic Council meetings attended by the Foreign Secretary ;


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