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Mr. Kilfoyle : To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage who are the members currently appointed to the Broadcasting Standards Council.
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Mr. Brooke : The current members of the Broadcasting Standards Council are :
Lady Howe (Chairman)
Dame Jocelyn Barrow OBE
Ms Sally O'Sullivan
Mrs. Rhiannon Bevan
Mr. Matthew Parris
Dr. Jean Curtis-Raleigh
The Reverend John Lang
Mr. Kilfoyle : To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage who are the members currently appointed to the board of the Horniman museum.
Mr. Sproat : The members of the board of trustees of the Horniman museum are :
Dame Margaret Weston (Chairman)
His Honour Judge Brian Galpin
Dr. Eileen Hooper-Greenhill
Michael Horniman Esq.
Dr. Schuyler Jones
Donald Kirkham Esq.
Dame Unity Lister
Prof. Ghillean Prance
Ronald Watts Esq.
Michael Wheeler Esq.
Mr. Kilfoyle : To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage who are the members currently appointed to the Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts.
Mr. Sproat : The present members of the Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts are :
Dr. Gerald Aylmer DPhil FBA (Chairman)
David Vaisey FSA
Viscount of Arbuthnott CBE DSC FRSE
Lord Camoys
Lord Egremont DL
Dr. Joan Thirsk FBA
Sir Matthew Farrer KCVO
Sir John Sainty KCB
Miss Barbara Harvey FSA FBA
Prof. R. H. Campbell
Sir Keith Thomas FBA
The Very Reverend Henry Stapleton
The Rt. Hon. Lord Blake Dlitt FBA JP
John W. Ehrman FBA
Prof S. F. C. Milsom QC FBA
Patrick Cormack MP FSA
Mr. Kilfoyle : To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage who are the members currently appointed to the board of the national maritime museum.
Mr. Sproat : The members of the board of trustees of the national maritime museum are :
Lord Lewin KG CGB LVO DSC (Chairman)
Sir Nigel Broackes
Professor Alastair Couper FNI FRICS
J. G. Davis Esq. CBE FCIT FCIS
HRA Duke of Edinburgh KG KT OM GBE PC FRS
Sir David Hardy
Robin Knox-Johnson Esq. CBE RD
H. U. A. Lambert Esq. MA FIB
Dr. Paul Murdin OBE
Mrs. Coral Samuel
Sir Charles Henderson Tidbury
Arthur Burton Weller Esq.
National Lottery
Mr. Cormack : To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if companies and consortia which plan to devote their profits to charitable causes will be eligible for consideration when he decides where to award the contract, or contracts, to manage the national lottery.
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Mr. Sproat : The responsibility for licensing a body corporate to operate the national lottery lies with the director general, who will consider all applications.
DEFENCE
Trident
Mr. Macdonald : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if the Trident D5 missile that the United Kingdom is purchasing from the United States of America has been flight-tested with more than eight re-entry vehicles.
Mr. Macdonald : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answers to the hon. Member for Leyton (Mr. Cohen) of 16 December, Official Report, column 903 , on test firing, and the hon. Member for Western Isles (Mr. Macdonald) of 18 January, Official Report, column 505, on a processing margin, what is Her Majesty's Government's policy in respect of the maximum number of Trident missiles to be purchased from the United States ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Aitken : We plan to purchase sufficient Trident missiles from the United States to maintain a minimum nuclear deterrent well into the next century. It is not our policy to comment on the total number of missiles to be purchased.
Mr. Macdonald : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the technical maximum number of warheads that the United Kingdom's Trident submarines will be capable of deploying.
Mr. Aitken : Each United Kingdom Trident submarine will be technically capable of carrying a maximum of 192 warheads. However, we have announced that each Trident submarine will deploy with no more than 96 warheads and may carry a significantly lower number.
Nuclear Weapons
Mr. Macdonald : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what are the implications of a cut-off in military fissile material production for (a) the planned Trident deployment and (b) the production of other future United Kingdom nuclear weapons systems.
Mr. Aitken : We hope to be able to work towards a multilateral and verifiable cut-off in the production of fissile material for explosive purposes which has potential value for non-proliferation efforts. It would be premature to comment on the implications for the United Kingdom until the details of such a cut-off have been agreed.
Mr. Macdonald : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if the United Kingdom has the capability to recycle military fissile material, currently deployed in its strategic nuclear weapons and arising from the dismantlement of some of its tactical nuclear weapons, for use in its Trident missiles.
Mr. Aitken : Yes. The United Kingdom has the facilities for, and extensive experience in, the dismantling of redundant nuclear wapons and in the recycling of the fissile material.
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Defence Staff
Mr. Trotter : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will publish a table showing the number, location, service and rank of defence and service attache and defence adviser posts in foreign and Commonwealth countries as of (a) April 1990 and (b) at the latest date for which figures are available together with similar figures for dedicated support staff ; if he will publish similar figures for the British defence staff in the United States of America ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Hanley : Tables showing the number, location, service and rank of defence and service attache , defence adviser posts and dedicated support staff in foreign and Commonwealth countries as of 1 April 1990, table 1, and 1 February 1994, table 2, and British defence staff in the United States of America as of April 1990 and January 1994, tables 3 and 4, are being placed in the Library of the House.
Mr. Trotter : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will set out the financial arrangements for funding defence and service attache s and defence advisers and their support staff in foreign and Commonwealth countries.
Mr. Hanley : Funding of accredited service attache s, defence advisers and dedicated support staff is undertaken by the Ministry of Defence and Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The Ministry of Defence funds pay and allowances as well as necessary equipment including official transport. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office provides accommodation, office facilities, communications and security for Ministry of Defence personnel in post.
Public Bodies
Dr. Wright : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which appointments since 1979 to public bodies or posts for which he is responsible have included candidates nominated by the Chief Whip's Office ; if any nominees by this source have been appointed ; and if he will give details.
Mr. Hanley : It is not the practice of Her Majesty's Government to answer parliamentary questions about discussions and consultations between Departments and offices of Government relating to public appointments.
Royal Small Arms Factory, Enfield
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for South Shields (Dr. Clark), of 20 January, Official Report , column 825 , if he will set out the reason why the information requested on arms manufacture at the royal arms factory, Enfield is not available from official sources.
Mr. Aitken : When the royal ordnance factories were incorporated in 1985, all records were retained by Royal Ordnance plc, except those that were returned to the Ministry of Defence for preservation as public records. The returned files do not contain the information requested by the hon. Member for South Shields.
Surplus Equipment
Mr. Cann : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the normal procedure for the sale of surplus or obsolescent equipment.
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Mr. Aitken : My Department arranges sales of surplus equipment through Government-to-Government and Government-to-industry contracts, competitive tenders, public auctions and private treaty sales. These take into account the type and condition of the equipment and the available market opportunities.
Jet Provost Trainers
Mr. Cann : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Jet Provost trainers are to be sold in the current financial year.
Mr. Aitken : A total of 62 Jet Provosts will be sold in the current financial year.
Mr. Cann : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence to whom and under what procedure Jet Provost trainers have been sold ; how many have been sold ; and what financial gain resulted to Her Majesty's Government.
Mr. Aitken : Since April 1990, 115 Jet Provost aircraft have been sold to over 20 different customers, by competitive tender, public auction and private treaty arrangements. Receipts have totalled some £600,000.
Arms Sales
Mr. Cousins : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether contingent liabilities exist for the United Kingdom Government in sales of arms or arms-related sales by the Government, its agents, including DESO or IMS Ltd., or as part of Government-to-Government arms deals.
Mr. Aitken : Yes. The supplementary statement to the Consolidated Fund and National Loans Fund Accounts 1992-93, Cm 52, contains information on contingent liabilities.
Arms Sales
Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which countries have been the top 20 buyers of British arms since 1979.
Mr. Aitken : Details of purchasers of British defence equipment are given in table 1.11 of the United Kingdom Defence Statistics. A copy of the 1993 edition has been placed in the Library of the House.
Defence Arms Control Unit
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the role and function of the defence arms control unit.
Mr. Hanley : The main function of the defence arms control unit, now known as the proliferation and arms control secretariat, is to co-ordinate and provide advice on defence policy aspects of United Kingdom's involvement in non-proliferation, arms control and disarmament negotiations.
Exercise Arctic Express
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the expected cost of participation of British forces in exercise Arctic Express.
Mr. Hanley : The expected cost to the United Kingdom for exercise Arctic Express will be some £2,950,000.
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NATO will, however, refund part of the cost of air transport movement, reducing the final cost to a figure of some £2,600,000.Sarajevo
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he is prepared to offer mortar-locating radar and other detection equipment to United Nations forces deployed in Sarajevo ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Hanley : It is for the United Nations to determine the equipment needs of their forces in the former Yugoslavia. Any United Nations request for additional equipments would be given due consideration.
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what consideration he has given to the use of air power to protect the civilians of Sarajevo in accordance with United Nations resolutions ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Hanley : The North Atlantic Council's decision of 9 February authorised the use of air strikes in close co-ordination with the United Nations Secretary-General, if heavy weapons are not withdrawn from around Sarajevo or placed under UNPROFOR's control within 10 days. Air strikes can be launched with immediate effect, at the request of the United Nations, against heavy weapons responsible for any further attacks on civilian targets in the city.
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what consideration he has given to the establishment of an effective United Nations safe area in and around Sarajevo ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Hanley : United Nations Security Council resolution 836 established six safe areas in Bosnia, including Sarajevo. NATO has called on the parties to lift the siege of Sarajevo and made clear the alliance's readiness to carry out air strikes if heavy weapons are not withdrawn or placed under United Nations control within 10 days. The Government fully support the efforts of NATO and the United Nations.
Bosnia
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what discussions he has had with his United Nations counterparts about the deployment of additional forces in Bosnia ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Hanley : My right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Defence, has had many discussions, including on former Yugoslavia issues, with his counterparts from various United Nations member nations. Additional Dutch, Malaysian and Pakistani forces are currently deploying to Bosnia following a request from the United Nations Secretary-General last year for troops to implement United Nations Security Council resolution 836, which established six safe areas.
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