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Mr. Boateng : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what representations he has received about the time limit for bringing actions applicable to those seeking to make claims arising from the ingestion of benzodiazepine tranquillisers.
Mr. John M. Taylor : A number of representations I have received on the subject have touched on the question of time limits, among other issues. Time limits are, of course, a matter for the court.
Mr. Boateng : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department (1) what recent representations he has received on the progress of the benzodiazepine tranquillisers claims ;
(2) what recent representations he has received on the decisions of the Legal Aid Board in relation to the availability of legal aid in pursuit of claims arising from the use of benzodiazepine tranquillisers.
Mr. John M. Taylor : I have received 70 some representations in the last three months, encompassing various aspects of this litigation.
Mr. Boateng : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department whether he intends to meet the Legal Aid Advisory Committee on the question of (a) class actions and (b) claims arising out of the use of benzodiazepine tranquillisers.
Mr. John M. Taylor : The Lord Chancellor and I are always interested to hear the views of the Legal Aid Advisory Committee on matters which it wished to draw to our attention. The Legal Aid Advisory Committee, however, has no role in respect of the handling of individual cases or groups of cases, which is entirely a matter for the Legal Aid Board.
Mr. Boateng : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department whether the Lord Chancellor has referred to the Supreme Court rules committee the question of procedures for the handling of multiple claims.
Mr. John M. Taylor : The Lord Chancellor has not referred to the Supreme Court rules committee the question of procedures for the handling of multiple claims. However, the Supreme Court procedure committee has considered this issue and in May 1991 published a "Guide for Use in Group Actions". Copies have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Mr. David Shaw : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will give a breakdown of the legal aid bill under the different categories of work
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categories for which information is kept including a separate total for divorce and matrimonial expenditure ; and if he will give comparable figures for (a) 10 and (b) 15 years ago.Mr. John M. Taylor : Net expenditure in each main category of work was as follows :
|1977-78 |1982-83 |1992-93 |£ million|£ million|£ million ------------------------------------------------------------------ All Civil |24 |68 |463 Criminal Higher |22 |52 |220 Criminal Magistrates' |20 |55 |197 Green Form |6 |31 |119 ABWOR<1> |n/a |8 |22 Duty Solicitor Schemes<2> |n/a |n/a |72 |------- |------- |------- Total Expenditure |72 |214 |1,093
It is not possible to give separate net expenditure figures for civil non- matrimonial and civil matrimonial. It is, however, possible to give separate figures in respect of gross expenditure, which are as follows :
|1977-78 |1982-83 |1992-93 |£ million|£ million|£ million -------------------------------------------------------- Non-matrimonial |10 |38 |353 Matrimonial |24 |50 |183 (All figures have been rounded to nearest £ million) <1> Assistance by way of representation. The scheme was introduced in April 1980. <2> The duty solicitor magistrates courts scheme and police station scheme were introduced in June 1984 and January 1986 respectively.
Mr. Lewis : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he intends to consult the public in respect of the proposed Greater Manchester western and northern relief road, section M62 to M66.
Mr. Spellar : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the current position in respect of the loan by the European investment bank for the construction of the Jubilee line.
Mr. Norris : I understand that arrangements for the European investment bank to fund the initial payment by the O and Y company towards its contribution to the cost of the Jubilee line extension are in place, ready to operate once my right hon. Friend can approve the funding agreement and give the go-ahead to construction.
Mr. Austin-Walker : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Eltham (Mr. Bottomley) of 7 July, Official Report, columns 158-59, on the east London river crossing, what are the implications of his announcement for the line
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order, the compulsory purchase orders and the exchange land certificate in relation to the proposed crossing ; and if he will make a statement.Mr. Norris : The extent to which the existing line order will need to be varied or revoked will depend on the new proposals which we shall bring forward in due course. We shall not take any action to implement the present compulsory purchase orders, which will cease to be valid in November 1994. The exchange land certificate will accordingly become redundant.
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Mr. Alan W. Williams : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will give the rate for personal injury accidents per million vehicle kilometres for England and Wales, for each year from 1985 to 1992 for (a) motorways, (b) dual carriageways, (c) trunk roads and (d) minor roads.
Mr. Key : Personal injury accident rates for motorways and trunk roads in England and Wales are shown in the table. Accident rates for dual carriageways in England and Wales are not available. Figures for minor roads are shown for 1989 to 1991, but are not readily available for England and Wales for earlier years. Figures for trunk and minor roads are not yet available for 1992.
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Personal injury accidents per million vehicle kilometres, by road type England and Wales 1985-1992 Rates per million vehicle kilometres |1985 |1986 |1987 |1988 |1989 |1990 |1991 |<4>1992 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- England Motorway<1> |0.122 |0.127 |0.110 |0.104 |0.108 |0.109 |0.104 |0.111 Trunk<2> |0.379 |0.443 |0.323 |0.400 |0.377 |0.366 |0.321 |- Minor<3> |- |- |- |- |0.859 |0.858 |0.800- Wales Motorway<1> |0.117 |0.104 |0.096 |0.109 |0.110 |0.116 |0.103 |0.092 Trunk<2> |0.368 |0.394 |0.392 |0.360 |0.355 |0.354 |0.334 |- Minor<3> |- |- |- |- |0.537 |0.608 |0.467 |- <1>Motorways plus A(M) roads. These are mostly trunk roads but include a few principal roads for which county councils are the highway authority. <2>Trunk roads. Roads comprising the national network of through routes for which the Secretary of State is the highway authority, but excluding motorways which have been classified separately. <3>Minor roads. B, C and unclassified roads. <4>Traffic data for 1992 are provisional.
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9 Accident rates per 100 million vehicle kilometres: by road class, region<1> and severity: 1989-1991 average Rate per 100 million vehicle kilometres A roads All A roadsAll main roads Built up Non built up |Mortorways|Trunk |Principal |Trunk |Principal ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Northern Fatal |0.5 |1.2 |1.8 |1.0 |1.2 |1.3 |1.3 Fatal or serious |2.1 |9.3 |17.5 |4.9 |8.4 |10.1 |9.4 All severities |15.1 |70.3 |92.3 |20.7 |35.0 |48.5 |45.8 Yorkshire and Humberside Fatal |0.2 |2.3 |1.5 |1.2 |1.9 |1.5 |1.2 Fatal or serious |2.0 |18.3 |18.7 |8.6 |13.3 |14.4 |11.3 All severities |8.9 |83.5 |90.2 |24.8 |42.2 |59.0 |46.6 East Midlands Fatal |0.3 |1.8 |1.6 |1.6 |1.9 |1.7 |1.5 Fatal or serious |2.9 |18.0 |18.2 |8.3 |12.9 |12.8 |10.9 All severities |12.6 |90.2 |98.5 |28.6 |44.8 |55.0 |47.0 Eastern Fatal |0.3 |1.6 |1.2 |1.0 |1.5 |1.2 |1.0 Fatal or serious |2.2 |18.5 |16.4 |6.2 |10.9 |10.5 |8.3 All severities |11.9 |86.2 |87.7 |21.7 |39.7 |45.2 |36.2 South East Fatal |0.3 |1.4 |1.0 |0.8 |1.4 |1.1 |0.9 Fatal or serious |2.3 |14.6 |15.4 |5.0 |10.0 |10.3 |8.0 All severities |10.3 |74.8 |81.8 |19.6 |38.8 |47.7 |37.0 London Fatal |0.3 |2.0 |1.9 |0.9 |1.4 |1.7 |1.6 Fatal or serious |4.3 |24.6 |36.8 |7.9 |9.9 |29.6 |27.9 All severities |29.9 |131.5 |197.3 |34.0 |38.9 |157.2 |148.5 South West Fatal |0.3 |0.9 |1.0 |0.9 |1.5 |1.2 |1.0 Fatal or serious |1.8 |10.2 |13.0 |5.6 |10.6 |9.8 |8.2 All severities |7.5 |54.8 |63.0 |18.2 |36.0 |39.3 |32.8 West Midlands Fatal |0.2 |1.7 |1.5 |1.1 |1.6 |1.4 |1.0 Fatal or serious |1.6 |15.0 |18.1 |8.4 |10.7 |13.5 |9.4 All severities |8.3 |71.8 |86.2 |29.9 |38.8 |58.6 |41.3 North West Fatal |0.4 |2.1 |1.6 |1.4 |1.5 |1.5 |1.1 Fatal or serious |1.9 |16.7 |16.1 |7.7 |8.8 |12.8 |9.0 All severities |11.4 |99.6 |106.5 |31.4 |38.3 |75.8 |53.2 England Fatal |0.3 |1.8 |1.4 |1.1 |1.5 |1.4 |1.1 Fatal or serious |2.1 |19.0 |19.9 |6.7 |10.7 |13.4 |10.5 All severities |10.7 |98.9 |107.1 |24.0 |39.1 |63.2 |49.9 Wales Fatal |0.2 |1.0 |1.3 |1.3 |1.6 |1.4 |1.2 Fatal or serious |1.9 |13.9 |15.3 |9.2 |11.5 |11.9 |10.4 All severities |10.6 |70.4 |90.7 |31.2 |42.0 |53.3 |46.9 Scotland<2> Fatal |0.4 |1.5 |1.6 |1.7 |1.7 |1.7 |1.5 Fatal or serious |2.9 |20.8 |24.7 |10.3 |13.4 |15.5 |13.7 All severities |10.0 |72.6 |95.7 |27.6 |37.9 |50.8 |44.8 Great Britain<2> Fatal |0.3 |1.7 |1.4 |1.2 |1.6 |1.4 |1.1 Fatal or serious |2.1 |18.8 |20.1 |7.2 |11.0 |13.5 |10.8 All severities |10.7 |94.9 |105.6 |24.9 |39.1 |61.5 |49.4 <1> Traffic data and casualty data in this breakdown are not available for Northern Ireland. <2> Two accidents in Scotland, originally recorded as A road accidents, have been re-allocated as motorway accidents. There were five casualties in these accidents.
Ms Walley : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list his estimates for traffic levels on each link of the M6 between junctions four and 11 for the years up until 2011, with and without the proposed Birmingham northern relief road.
Mr. Key : The environmental statement for the toll road proposals published in June indicates that in 1996 and 2011 predicted flows--vehicles per day--on M6 could be about :
|Junction 10A-11 |Junction 8-9 |Junction 6-7 |East of Junction 4 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1996 with BNRR |73,900 |132,500 |116,000 |81,100 without BNRR |106,000 |150,000 |134,200 |110,300 2011 with BNRR |102,500 |146,200 |131,700 |117,300 without BNRR |145,500 |180,700 |167,600 |161,800
A copy of the environmental statement will be placed in the House Library.
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Dr. Wright : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when it is proposed that the provisions of the passengers charter should apply to services operated in conjunction with passenger transport authorities.
Mr. Freeman : It is for each passenger transport authority to consider whether and when to introduce a passengers charter for the rail services they specify and which are provided by British Rail on contract. I understand that the West Midlands PTA has authorised its PTE to introduce such a charter on 9 August, and that Merseyside PTE is well advanced with its preparation of a charter.
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has of the number of lives saved every year by the use of rear seat belts in cars.
Mr. Key : An estimated 140 lives were saved in 1992 by the use of rear seat belts.
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Sir Anthony Grant : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what progress is being made by his Department in technological methods of advancing road safety with particular reference to devices to prevent vehicles driving too close to each other ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Key : The Department's research programme aims to assess the safety related aspects of systems emerging from the European vehicle industry-led research programme, Prometheus, including autonomous intelligent cruise control (AICC). This system is intended to enhance driver convenience and comfort by automatically adjusting vehicle speed and following distance.
Mr. Cousins : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for Don Valley (Mr. Redmond), of 19 June 1992, Official Report , columns 701-2 , if he will publish a table showing the hoax fire calls for 1991 and 1992 on a similar basis to that given for 1987 to 1990.
Mr. Charles Wardle : The information for 1991 is shown in the following table ; 1992 information is not yet available.
Percentage of total fire calls attended by local authority fire brigades which the brigades believed to be malicious false alarms 1991 |Per cent. ------------------------------------------------ United Kingdom |17.2 England |17.3 England-non-metropolitan |14.2 Avon |13.9 Bedfordshire |11.1 Berkshire |13.8 Buckinghamshire |12.9 Cambridgeshire |14.1 Cheshire |11.9 Cleveland |33.4 Cornwall |7.3 Cumbria |13.4 Derbyshire |15.6 Devon |14.7 Dorset |12.3 Durham |24.4 East Sussex |11.3 Essex |15.5 Gloucestershire |14.5 Hampshire |7.1 Hereford and Worcestershire |14.0 Hertfordshire |10.4 Humberside |20.0 Isle of Wight |8.4 Kent |15.7 Lancashire |17.5 Leicestershire |17.8 Lincolnshire |14.9 Norfolk |8.8 North Yorkshire |7.6 Northamptonshire |9.2 Northumberland |13.4 Nottinghamshire |11.3 Oxfordshire |12.3 Shropshire |14.7 Somerset |12.2 Staffordshire |15.7 Suffolk |7.3 Surrey |10.6 Warwickshire |9.0 West Sussex |8.2 Wiltshire England-Metropolitan |20.1 Greater Manchester |22.6 Merseyside |16.5 South Yorkshire |20.2 Tyne and Wear |22.8 West Midlands |22.5 West Yorkshire |18.8 Greater London Wales |17.6 Clwyd |13.4 Dyfed |14.7 Gwent |23.4 Gwynedd |7.9 Mid Glamorgan |19.4 Powys |8.9 South Glamorgan |19.5 West Glamorgan Northern Ireland |13.1 Scotland |17.8 Strathclyde |20.3 Highlands and Islands |8.0 Grampian |9.6 Tayside |13.4 Lothian and Borders |18.6 Fife |17.5 Central |14.6 Dumfries and Galloway |13.3
Ms Ruddock : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will give the figures for drug seizures and offenders in the Birmingham metropolitan area for each month of 1993 up to the latest date available.
Mr. Maclean : This information is not yet available. Information on seizures of controlled drugs in the United Kingdom and offenders dealt with during 1992 will be included in the annual Home Office statistical bulletin to be published in the autumn, a copy of which will be placed in the Library.
Ms Ruddock : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the percentage change (a) in the reported incidence in each category of crime and (b) in total for the Metropolitan police area between 1 April 1992 and 31 March 1993.
Mr. Maclean : The information requested is not yet available.
Ms Ruddock : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what information he has on the number of residents' associations and similar bodies which have hired private security firms to protect their property in the Metropolitan police area.
Mr. Charles Wardell : Information of this kind is not held centrally.
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Sir Ivan Lawrence : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will set out his objectives in the privatising of DTELS.
Mr. Howard : The key objectives are :
1. To maximise sale proceeds consistent with preserving the best prospects for effective competition in the market for
telecommunications support services for the emergency services. 2. To obtain reassurance that the purchaser should have the capacity to meet transferred liabilities and obligations.
Sir Ivan Lawrence : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he has yet received a copy of the first annual summary of activities from the Criminal Justice Consultative Council ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Howard : I received an advance copy of the first summary of activities for the Criminal Justice Consultative Council from Lord Justice Farquharson on 25 June. It outlines the many important issues considered by the council during 1992, following its inception in January of that year, and includes a list of topics which council intends to include in its forthcoming agenda. The report also provides a brief summary of the activities of the area criminal justice liaison committees in the six months since they first met. The summary is being published today.
Miss Emma Nicholson : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the Asylum and Immigration Appeals Act 1993 will be brought into force.
Mr. Charles Wardle : Some provisions came into effect when the Bill received Royal Assent on 1 July. My right hon. and learned Friend has made a commencement order bringing all the remaining provisions of the Act into force on 26 July.
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what information is available to the Government on persons residing or working illegally in the United Kingdom ; and from what sources the information is drawn.
Mr. Charles Wardle : Information about illegal entrants, overstayers and those working in breach of their immigration conditions may be available from records held by the immigration and nationality department. Those responsible for the enforcement of the immigration law also receive information from the police, for other Government Departments and agencies, and from members of the public.
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will call for a report from the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis on the wider London impact of the road closures effected by the City of London corporation on security grounds.
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Mr. Charles Wardle : Traffic congestion in Lower Thames street has extended beyond normal peak times. There has been no significant impact elsewhere.
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many notices under the Immigration (Carriers' Liability) Act 1987 have been issued (a) in total since 1987 and (b) in each quarter since January ; how much money has accrued as a result, how many such notices have been contested by airlines or shipping companies ; and with what results.
Mr. Charles Wardle : As at 31 May 1993, 51,279 notices had been issued to carriers since the Act came into force, and total receipts stood at £25.06 million. The number of notices issued in each quarter since January 1992 was as follows :
Quarter ending |Numbers of notices --------------------------------------------------------- 31 March 1992 |1,954 30 June 1992 |1,605 30 September 1992 |2,355 31 December 1992 |2,197 31 March 1993 |1,608
A total of £7.91 million was received in payments during this period. Representations to local immigration service inspectors were made by carriers in 3,304 cases, and further representations to headquarters were made in 612 cases. A total of 1,296 charges were waived locally and 116 by headquarters during the same period.
Dr. Lynne Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many times Home Office animals inspectors have visited the university of Glasgow since the Animals (Science Procedures) Act 1986 was passed ; and what action, if any, arose from such inspections.
Mr. Charles Wardle : Between 1 January 1989 and 12 July 1993, 294 visits were made to the university of Glasgow. Each visit is likely to have involved visits to several individual university departments. Prior to 1989, departmental visits were counted separately : 232 such visits were made in the period 1 January 1987 to 31 December 1988. It is not the practice to give information about the findings and resultant actions, if any, arising from routine visits of inspection.
Mr. Meacher : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will request the Charity Commission to undertake an investigation into the Humana Charity, No. 297489, in respect (a) of its donations to the International Emergency Centre and (b) of its links with the Danish TVIND- DAPP organisation.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : The Charity Commissioners are already investigating the activities of Humana in the light of matters identified during routine monitoring. The investigation will include any links which Humana may have with other charitable or non-charitable organisations.
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Mr. Peter Bottomley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how long it took to return clothes and possessions to John Matthews after he left court on Tuesday 6 July ; how long John Matthews was in custody ; and if he will estimate the total cost of holding and transporting John Matthews.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : At Paddington Green police station on 6 July Mr. Matthews refused to give his written authority to hand his property to his chosen nominee. The police are currently awaiting Mr. Matthews' authority to do so.
Mr. Matthews was in custody from 27 April 1993 until his court appearance on 6 July. The estimated cost of holding and transporting him is £37,116.
Mr. Bernie Grant : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many overseas visitors were initially refused leave to enter and removed from the United Kingdom in 1987 and in each subsequent calendar year to date ; and what were their nationalities.
Mr. Charles Wardle : The total numbers of non-EC passengers by nationality who were refused leave to enter, and removed from, the United Kingdom in 1987-91 are published in table 1 of the annual Home Office Command Papers "Control of Immigration : Statistics, United Kingdom"--Cm. 415, 726, 1124, 1571 and 2063 for each of the five years respectively-- copies of which are held in the Library. Corresponding information for 1992 is given in table A. Information on EC nationals refused and removed in 1987-92 is given in table B. It is not possible from the information available centrally to ascertain how many of those refused leave to enter, and removed from, the United Kingdom had sought entry as visitors.
Table A Non-EC nationals refused leave to enter, and removed from, the United Kingdom in 1992 Geographical region |Number of persons and nationality<1> ----------------------------------------------------------------------- All nationalities excluding EC |14,722 Western Europe (excluding EC) |1,163 Austria |70 Cyprus |78 Finland |53 Malta |13 Norway |40 Sweden |122 Switzerland |67 Turkey |228 Former Yugoslavia |492 Eastern Europe |1,576 Bulgaria |28 Czechoslovakia |302 Hungary |145 Poland |855 Romania |86 Former USSR |160 Americas |2,886 Argentina |65 Barbados |34 Brazil |518 Canada |125 Chile |42 Colombia |397 Cuba |4 Guyana |60 Jamaica |409 Mexico |83 Peru |108 Trinidad and Tobago |61 United States of America |933 Uruguay |16 Venezuela |31 Africa |3,443 Algeria |233 Egypt |23 Ethiopia |36 Ghana |401 Kenya |210 Libya |19 Mauritius |157 Morocco |99 Nigeria |1,070 Sierra Leone |316 Somalia |50 South Africa |430 Sudan |12 Tanzania |107 Tunisia |31 Uganda |38 Zambia |73 Zimbabwe |138 Indian sub-continent |1,058 Bangladesh |390 India |324 Pakistan |344 Middle East |563 Iran |175 Iraq |19 Israel |125 Jordan |22 Kuwait |7 Lebanon |175 Saudi Arabia |18 Syria |22 Remainder of Asia |991 China |53 Indonesia |12 Japan |138 Malaysia |346 Philippines |114 Singapore |46 Sri Lanka |108 Thailand |43 Hong Kong<2> |131 Australasia |392 Australia |236 New Zealand |156 Others |2,650 British Overseas citizens |22 Other countries not elsewhere specified |1,453 Stateless |1,175 <1> Or claimed nationality where the nationality is in doubt. <2> British Dependent Territories citizens and British Nationals ( Overseas) only.
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Table B EC nationals<1> refused leave to enter, and removed from, the United Kingdom, 1987-92 Number of persons Nationality |1987 |1988 |1989 |1990 |1991 |1992 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- European Community |1,453 |1,654 |367 |145 |88 |229 Belgium |36 |28 |2 |6 |3 |16 Denmark |12 |5 |7 |6 |4 |5 France |158 |134 |49 |34 |18 |111 Germany<2> |91 |66 |20 |11 |13 |1 Greece |57 |13 |4 |1 |- |3 Italy |91 |56 |12 |3 |4 |23 Luxembourg |1 |- |1 |- |- |- Netherlands |124 |70 |18 |25 |9 |23 Portugal |472 |767 |134 |49 |32 |44 Spain |411 |515 |120 |10 |5 |3 <1> Passengerss who are, or claim to be, EC nationals. <2> Excluding nationals of the German Democratic Republic prior to the unification of Germany on 3 October 1990.
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what action on malnutrition and infant mortality in Iraq he has taken since the meeting in the Foreign Office between the Under -Secretary responsible for the middle east and the hon. Member for Linlithgow on 22 June.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : Since the meeting referred to, £1 million has been transferred through the United Nations escrow account to the World Food Programme (WFP) for purchasing part of the crop in the north of Iraq to help feed the Kurds. We have also agreed to finance a programme of water and sanitation work ept the conditions set out under United Nations Security Council resolutions 706 and 712, it could sell its oil and provide $1.6 billion worth of humanitarian aid for its people.
Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans he has to increase aid to (i) Angola, (ii) Mozambique and (iii) Eritrea and Ethiopia.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : We have committed £0.8 million of humanitarian aid to Angola this year and plan to increase this to £2 million if the security situation permits safe access for aid organisations. Three thousand tons of bilateral food aid has also been allocated. We will consider providing further assistance depending on the situation.
We spent over £31 million in Mozambique in 1992-93. We also expect to spend significant sums this year but with a higher proportion of rehabilitation and longer term development activities than last year when the greater need was for drought relief.
We plan to commit £10 million to bilateral projects in Ethiopia over the next two years, and £1 million to Eritrea.
We shall continue to provide major contributions to these countries through our share of the development programmes of the multilateral agencies. In addition the EC Development Council on 25 May, agreed a resolution
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calling for the Community to implement an urgent rehabilitation programme of at least 100 mecu, drawn mainly from the European development fund, for certain African countries including Angola, Mozambique, Ethiopia and Eritrea.Mr. Meacher : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans he has for further humanitarian relief to Sarajevo to address the severe shortage and possible disappearance of water supplies to the city.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees continues to make every effort to secure the passage of humanitarian supplies into Sarajevo, including fuel, in order to operate the pumps which are essential for the local water supply system.
We are playing a major part in both the road-based relief convoys into Sarajevo and the airlift. But the continuing hostilities are inhibiting the passage of humanitarian supplies and we urge all of the parties to the conflict to allow these supplies to pass without hindrance or delay.
Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the activities funded from United Kingdom expenditure in Colombia and the amounts spent.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : Current technical co-operation commitments in Colombia funded by Overseas Development Administration are as follows :
a project in support of biological control of the pests of coffee plants-- £0.833 million.
advice and training support in the post-harvest handling of fruit-- £0.842 million.
completion of a programme of training in mines safety --£0.332 million.
support to teacher training in English language education --£0.456 million
sponsorship of post-basic training in the United Kingdom --around £0.5 million per annum.
Technical co-operation spending in Colombiaamounted to £1.149 million in 1990-91 and £1.292 million in 1991-92.
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Mr. Meacher : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the destination, dates and purposes of each overseas visit undertaken by the Minister for Overseas Development since April 1992.
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Mr. Lennox-Boyd [holding answer 12 July 1993] : The information requested is contained in the tables.
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Lady Chalker's overseas travel 1992 When |Number of working |Where |Reason |days out of the |office ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ April Monday 13 to |1" |Budapest |1st AGM of EBRD Tuesday 14 May Sunday 3 to |2 |Brussels |EC Formal Development Council, Tuesday 5 |Joint EC Development/Environment Council, |Bilaterals with EC Commissioners Friday 22 to |3 |Lisbon |Conference on Humanitarian aid to FSU Sunday 24 June Monday 1 |1 |Geneva |UN/SADCC Conference Saturday 6 to |7 |Rio de Janeiro |UNCED Saturday 13 Sunday 14 to |1 |New York |UNICEF Executive Board Monday 15 July Sunday 5 to |2 |New York |UN ECOSOC High Level meeting Tuesday 7 Wednesday 8 to |2 |Washington |IBRD, IMF, IADB and State Department Thursday 9 | Bilaterals Wednesday 15 |" |Brussels |European Parliament Development Committee Tuesday 28 to |1" |Geneva |UNHCR Conference on ex-Yugoslavia Wednesday 29 August Thursday 20 to |2 |Wolfsberg, |ICRC High Level Meeting Saturday 22 |Switzerland September Saturday 12 to |2 |Kenya |) Sunday 13 |) Monday 14 |1 |Somalia |) EC Troika visit to Kenya and Somalia, Tuesday 15 to |3 |Zambia |) Heads of Mission Conference in Zambia. Thursday 17 |) Bilateral and drought relief visit to Zambia Friday 18 |1 |) and Zimbabwe |) Saturday 19 |1 |South Africa |British-South African Conference, |Durban and bilaterals with South African | politicians Sunday 20 |1 |Mozambique |Bilaterals and drought relief Tuesday 29 |1 |Luexembourg |EC/ACP Joint Assembly Wednesday 30 to |1" |Former |Bilaterals and to see humanitarian relief work Friday 2 (October) | Yugoslavia October Monday 5 |1 |Luxembourg |FAC: Somalia briefing Tuesday 13 to |1" |Ukraine |) Wednesday 14 |) Thursday 15 to |2 |Russia |)Bilaterals and visit KHF Projects Friday 16 |) Tuesday 27 to |4 |Tokyo |Humanitarian aid to FSU conference Friday 30 | (28 October), |Aid talks with Japanese (27 October) November Wednesday 4 |1 |The Hague/ |Bilaterals. | Brussels |Address to ACP Ambassadors Saturday 14 to |2 |Madrid |Bilaterals Sunday 15 Tuesday 17 to |1" |Brussels |EC Development Council Wednesday 18 Thursday 19 to |1" |New York |Address to UNGA. Friday 20 |Bilaterals Monday 30 |1 |Paris |OECD: DAC High Level Meeting December Tuesday 1 |1 |Brussels |EP Development Committee
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Lady Chalker's overseas travel 1993 (to date) When |Number of working |Where |Reason |days out of the |office --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- January Sunday 17 to |4 |Nigerial, Ghana |Bilaterals, project visits Thursday 21 Wednesday 27 to |2 |Bosnia |Assessment of humanitarian relief operation Thursday 28 February Friday 5 to |2 |Somalia, Kenya |Bilaterals, project visits Monday 8 | and (in Somalia) relief operation Tuesday 23 to |3 |South Africa |Bilaterals with Mandela, Buthelezi, de Klerk Thursday 25 March Monday 1 to |5 |Nepal |Accompany HRH Princess of Wales on Saturday 6 | working visit Friday 26 to |1 |Germany |Konigswinter Conference Saturday 27 April Wednesday 21 |1 |Turkey |President Ozal's funeral May Monday 3 to |3 |Hungary |Accompany Her Majesty The Queen on state Wednesday 5 | visit Tuesday 18 |1 |Brussels |ACP/EC Council of Ministers Tuesday 25 |1 |Brussels |EC Development Council Monday 31 to |2 |New York/ |Bilaterals with UN/State/USAID/World Bank Thursday 3 | Washington June |No Visits July |No Travel
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Prime Minister what trade facilitation groups have been set up in Peru, Colombia and Mexico in the wake of his visit ; and what advantages have accrued to Britain as a result of agreements and understandings arrived at during his visit.
The Prime Minister : On my visit to Colombia last year I agreed with President Gaviria that we should establish a trade facilitation group and that the United Kingdom and Colombia should begin negotiations for an investment promotion and protection agreement and a double taxation agreement. The trade facilitation group has now reported back on obstacles to bilateral trade and how to overcome them and has identified many opportunities for British businesses. We hope to sign an IPPA and a DTA soon. I did not visit Peru or Mexico.
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