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Driver Safety
Mr. McGrady : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when the review into new driver safety will be extended to Northern Ireland ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Tim Smith : I welcome the Secretary of State for Transport's proposals for ensuring the safety of newly qualified drivers. These proposals are already being considered by the Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland in consultation with the Department of Transport with a view to their possible introduction in Northern Ireland.
Cars (Anti-theft Devices)
Mr. McGrady : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will launch a public awareness campaign in order to encourage motorists to fit anti-theft devices to their vehicles.
Sir John Wheeler : The Government have taken a number of initiatives against car crime in Northern Ireland in recent years. In 1991 the Northern Ireland Office launched a crime prevention campaign titled "Stopping Crime Starts With You". A key part of the campaign was the distribution of a free handbook providing advice on, inter alia, how to safeguard motor vehicles.
The Northern Ireland Office has also recently given its support to a new car-crime initiative in Northern Ireland known as "Sold Secure--The Partnership Against Car Theft", which I was pleased to help launch at the Northern Ireland motor show on 14 February. The initiative offers motorists an opportunity to obtain advice on a range of car
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security products which have been tested against strict criteria. The initiative is supported by the RUC and the local motor retail industry. A free leaflet is available of participating retailers.Religious Education
Mr. Harry Greenway : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on religious education in Northern Ireland schools.
Mr. Ancram : All schools are required to provide religious education for all pupils of compulsory school age. In schools under the control of the education and library boards, such education must be undenominational and based on the holy scriptures. In voluntary schools religious education is under the control of the school managers. A compulsory core syllabus, entirely Christian in content, has been approved by all the main churches in Northern Ireland and is being introduced into all grant-aided schools on a phased basis.
Emergency Provisions
Mr. Trimble : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what arrangements he has made to review the operation of the Northern Ireland (Emergency Provisions) Act 1991.
Sir Patrick Mayhew : Mr. John Rowe QC has accepted my invitation to prepare a report on the operation in 1993 of the Northern Ireland (Emergency Provisions) Act 1991. As with previous reviews, the intention is that the report should enable both Houses of Parliament to discharge effectively their responsibility to scrutinise the operation of the Act on the occasion of the annual debates on the Continuance Order, and to determine whether any of the Acts temporary provisions could be allowed to lapse on15 June 1994.
I have asked Mr. Rowe to submit his report in sufficient time to facilitate the Houses' consideration of the Act.
Paramilitaries
Mr. A. Cecil Walker : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) how many loyalist paramilitaries have been apprehended in each of the last three years ;
(2) how many republican paramilitaries have been apprehended in each of the last three years.
Sir John Wheeler : The number of persons arrested in Northern Ireland under the Northern Ireland (Emergency Provisions) Act and the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act is as follows :
|Number
---------------------------
1991 |1,788
1992 |1,846
1993 |<1>1,671
<1> Figures for arrests
under the Northern Ireland
(Emergency Provisions) Act
are only available up to
30 June 1993.
Information on how many of these individuals were members of loyalist or republican groups is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
The number of persons thought to be members of loyalist or republican groups who were charged with terrorist offences during each of these years is as follows :
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|1991|1992|1993
-------------------------------
Loyalist |152 |191 |230
Republican |239 |214 |137
Note:
Statistics on charges are kept
according to the most serious
offence with which an
individual has been charged.
It the same individual is
arrested or charged on more
than one occasion, he/she will
be added to the statistics
each time.
TRANSPORT
Bicycle Loan Scheme
Mrs. Dunwoody : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the introduction by his department of a bicycle loans scheme for the central Department.
Mr. Key : Advances of salary towards the purchase of bicycles were made available in the central department on 4 January 1994. Advances, to a maximum of £350, are available to all permanent staff with over two months' service. The bicycle must be used during the journey between home and office. Advances are also available to staff in all our agencies.
44-tonne Lorries
Mr. Cryer : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what safeguards he is introducing to ensure that lorries of 44 gross tonnes are travelling to or from rail heads when in commercial use ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Key : The higher weight limit will apply only to vehicles carrying containers or swap-bodies--loading units--to or from railheads in combined road/rail operations. No conventional road vehicles will be able to operate legitimately at 44 tonnes. In order to operate at 44 tonnes, documentary evidence will have to be carried in the vehicle to show that the loading unit has travelled, or is destined for travel, by rail.
DEFENCE
Advertising
Mr. Matthew Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list all television advertising, newspaper advertising, radio advertising and other promotional campaigns with a budgeted cost in excess of £10,000 conducted by the Ministry of Defence and his agencies (a) in the current financial year and (b) planned for 1994-95, showing for each the objectives and mechanisms for assessing the effectiveness of the advertising.
Mr. Hanley : The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Steam Ships
Mr. Home Robertson : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proportion of marine engineering artificers currently serving in the Royal Navy are qualified to operate (a) gas turbine and (b) steam propulsion ; how many steam ships are in service in the Royal Navy ; and if he will make a statement.
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Mr. Hanley : Records readily available do not show the proportion of marine engineering artificers qualified to operate gas turbine or steam propulsion systems. Records of general service marine engineering artificers serving on the trained strength in the surface fleet, however, show that 44 per cent. are qualified to operate gas turbine machinery and 26 per cent. are qualified to operate steam main propulsion machinery. Those qualified to operate steam main propulsion machinery would require further training to qualify them to operate gas turbine machinery. The Royal Navy currently operates four steam-propelled surface ships.
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Overseas Visits
Mr. Vaz : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many visits abroad the Minister of State for the Armed Forces made during 1993 ; and what was (a) the cost to public funds and (b) the purpose of each visit.
Mr. Hanley : During 1993, my predecessor--until 27May--and subsequently I undertook 10 official overseas visits. The cost and purpose of each were as follows :
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Mr. Vaz : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many visits abroad the Minister of State for Defence Procurement made during 1993 ; and what was (a) the cost to public funds and (b) the purpose of each visit.
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Mr. Aitken : The Minister of State for Defence Procurement has made 11 official visits abroad in 1993. The cost to public funds and the purpose of each visit were as follows :
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Overseas visits made by Minister (DP) in 1993
Date |Destination |Purpose |Approximate
|cost £
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5-12 January 1993 |Kuwait
|Saudi Arabia |17,850
12-15 February 1993 |Abu Dhabi |2,400
17-19 February 1993 |Germany |Anglo/German Seminar |5,150
5 April 1993 |Germany |1,500
28 June 1993 |Netherlands |1,450
16 September 1993 |Poland |Representing HMG at reinterment of General Sikorski|See note 3
8 October 1993 |Kuwait |3,150
6-7 November 1993 |Dubai |2,600
18 November 1993 |Germany |2,450
15-17 December 1993 |Saudi Arabia |3,150
20-22 December 1993 |Bosnia |Visit to British Troops in Bosnia |8,950
Note:
1. The purpose of these visits unless otherwise stated was to promote defence exports or to discuss defence procurement issues.
2. Figures are based on the cost of the Royal Air Force and/or civil flights involved. Accommodation normally provided by HM ambassador or high commissioner, or other Government representative, or by host.
3. Accompanying HRH the Duke of Edinburgh. Negligible additional cost to public funds.
Radioactive Samples
Mr. Dafis : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when radioactive samples have been sent by scheduled airline flights after British nuclear tests since 1964 ; if he will list the number of occasions and by what carriers such samples were sent ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Aitken : Air transport of radioactive materials by scheduled carrier is a routine practice, conducted under the well-established international regulations of the International Air Transport Association. Since 1964, there have been 21 occasions when radioactive samples were sent by scheduled British airline flights after British nuclear tests in the United States of America. On each occasion the samples were accompanied by staff from the Atomic Weapons Establishment.
Ferranti
Mr. Alfred Morris : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on his Department's involvement in the future of Ferranti ; and when he now expects this to be resolved.
Mr. Aitken : Officials of my Department continue to have regular meetings with the receivers of Ferranti International to discuss our current and future business with the company.
I understand that the receivers have been having discussions with prospective purchasers of all or parts of the company. Which bid or bids to accept will be a matter for the receivers. Bids will then be considered under competition legislation, and my Department will be consulted in the normal way. I am unable to say how long this process may take, but I naturally hope that a satisfactory outcome will be achieved without undue delay.
Britannia Naval College (Dogs)
Mr. Jamieson : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many of the dogs kept at Britannia naval college, Dartmouth, are used for purposes other than security ; and what are the number for each of those purposes.
Mr. Hanley : All dogs owned by my Department at Britannia royal naval college are used for security purposes only. A number of privately owned dogs are, however, separately accommodated at the college at no cost to public funds.
GEC-Malaysia
Mr. Rogers : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence on how many occasions Tan Sri Arumugam, joint managing director, GEC-Malaysia has visited his Department in the past three years ; and if he will list the occasions.
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Mr. Aitken : Mr. Arumugam has visited my Department on three occasions over the past three years, twice in 1992 and once in 1993.
Malaysia (Bank Loans)
Mr. Alan Williams : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what compensation has been offered to United Kingdom banks which provided the Malaysian Government with loans at concessionary rates under the terms of the memorandum of understanding of 27 September 1988.
Mr. Aitken : All defence purchases by Malaysia under the 1988 MOU have been made on a cash basis. The need for finance at concessionary interest rates has not arisen.
Reserve Forces
Mr. Colvin : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he plans to complete his review of the Reserve Forces Act 1982 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Hanley : I will shortly be writing to hon. Members concerning the responses received during the consultation period, but we are unlikely to be in a position to announce final proposals until later in the year.
Minesweeping Awards
Dr. Blackburn : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will define the criterion for the award of the minesweeping 1945-51 clasp to the naval general service medal--1915-62 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Hanley : The criterion for the award of the minesweeping 1945-51 clasp to the naval general service medal--NGSM--was defined in 1952 as "for minesweeping service afloat" in a number of qualifying areas between 3 September 1945 and a variety of terminal dates appropriate to the areas. The time qualification was defined as being six months--180 days. Time spent in home, Atlantic and Mediterranean waters between 9 May 1945 and 2 September 1945 could also be counted towards the qualifying period of six months.
The transfer of the Royal Navy's medal issuing task from Bath to Gosport in the 1970s appears to have resulted in the loss of records associated with the criterion for the issue of this clasp to the NGSM. Consequently, a new interpretation evolved, possibly based on the stricter criterion for the award of the bomb and mine clearance clasp to the NGSM for service ashore which was authorised at the same time as the minesweeping clasp : it became the practice to issue the minesweeping clasp only to claimants who could be proved to have carried out 180 days of actual minesweeping and, although it was in some cases possible to determine eligibility by reference to payment of minesweeping allowance, this did not cover minesweeping activities in far eastern waters.
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The interpretation of the criterion used in recent years has been challenged by disappointed minesweeping veterans and a comprehensive investigation into their complaints has therefore been undertaken. It has proved impossible to establish how the criterion came to be redefined as requiring 180 days of actual minesweeping and it has now been decided to revert to the original 1952 criterion of six months--180 days--of minesweeping service afloat in the prescribed qualifying areas between the appropriate dates. Minesweeping service afloat is taken to mean service, in any capacity, aboard a vessel commissioned for mine counter- measure duties.Any naval minesweeping veteran who has not previously received this award but believes he is eligible should write to the Ministry of Defence, HMS Centurion--NPP(Acs)--Grange road, Gosport, Hants., PO13 9XA. Awards will also be issued posthumously, once eligibility is confirmed, in response to applications from next of kin.
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