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Written Answers to Questions
Tuesday 4 April 1995
FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS
Diplomats (Background)
Mr. Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many current ambassadors, deputy ambassadors and high commissioners have graduated from (a) Oxford and (b) Cambridge universities; and how many from universities in (i) Scotland, (ii) Wales, (iii) Northern Ireland and (iv) other universities. [17968]
Mr. Goodlad: The current numbers of ambassadors, deputy ambassadors and high commissioners who have graduated from the listed universities are as follows:
(a) Oxford--63
(b) Cambridge--55
Universities in:
(i) Scotland--12
(ii) Wales--3
(iii) Northern Ireland--1
(iv) Others--84 (of whom 63 attended universities in England).
Mr. Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many current overseas ambassadors, deputy ambassadors and high commissioners have originated from (a) England, (b) Wales, (c) Scotland or (d) Northern Ireland. [17967]
Mr. Goodlad: The information is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Turkey
Mr. Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the human rights situation in Turkey. [17785]
Mr. David Davis: Our concerns about human rights form a major part of our dialogue with Turkey, both bilaterally and with our EU partners. The Turkish Government have undertaken to make a number of reforms in this area. We look forward to seeing these put into effect.
Mr. Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what are the total number of people who applied for visas at each British post in Turkey; and how many (a) were accepted, (b) were rejected and (c) resulted in re-application in each of the last 24 months. [18307]
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Mr. Baldry: In 1993 and 1994--the last two years for which full figures are available--the total number of applications made at entry clearance issuing posts in Turkey was:
|1993 |1994
------------------------------
Ankara |4,840 |3,371
Istanbul |47,390|39,257
Total |52,230|42,628
Of these a total of 47,971 were issued and 2,744 were refused in 1993; and 38,130 were issued and 2,881 were refused in 1994. Records are not kept of the numbers of applicants who reapply.
Mr. Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions have been held at the United Nations involving Britain concerning the Turkish military action in Iraq. [18308]
Mr. Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what direct representations have been made to the Government of Turkey concerning the invasion of the Kurdish areas of Iraq; and what response he received. [18418]
Mr. David Davis: We have made a number of representations to the Government of Turkey, both bilaterally and together with our EU partners. The Turkish Government have stated that the operation will be of limited duration and their forces withdrawn immediately Turkish objectives have been met.
Angola
Mr. Worthington: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what specific actions still need to be taken before UNAVEM III peacekeeping forces are ready to respond to a call to be deployed in Angola. [17826]
Mr. Douglas Hogg: Preparations for the deployment of UNAVEM III infantry units to Angola are proceeding in accordance with the UN Secretary General's report to the Security Council of 27 March. As my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs said to the House on 29 March, Official Report , column 1017, the deployment which is envisaged can be completed and fulfilled only if the parties on the ground fulfil their commitments.
Anglo-American Defence Agreement
Mr. Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the purpose of the further proposed amendment of the 1958 Anglo-American mutual defence agreement. [17477]
Mr. David Davis: There are no further proposed amendments to the 1958 UK/US mutual defence agreement. The hon. Member may be referring to Cm 2785. This is the same amendment which was laid before the House in October last year in the country series of Command Papers. Its appearance in the treaty series simply records that it has entered into force for the United Kingdom.
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Nuclear Disarmament
Mr. Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what proposals he has in regard to (a) a fissile material production freeze, (b) the strengthening of safeguards on plutonium and enriched uranium, (c) the reduction of the number of United Kingdom nuclear warheads deployed and in store, (d) the banning of the stockpiling of surplus plutonium and (e) the completion of a comprehensive nuclear test ban treaty for presentation on behalf of Her Majesty's Government at the review and extensions conference for the nuclear non- proliferation treaty to be held in New York from 17 April.
Mr. David Davis: The UK supported the UN General Assembly resolution in 1993 calling for the negotiation of a convention to ban the production of fissile material for explosive purposes. Since then we have supported efforts in the conference on disarmament in Geneva to set up an ad hoc committee to begin negotiation of such a convention. On 23 March the CD agreed the mandate for the ad hoc committee. We hope negotiations will begin soon.
The UK has full confidence in the effectiveness of the International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards system and its ability to detect diversion of nuclear material from the purposes declared for it. Events in Iraq in recent years have already lead to a number of initiatives, which the UK has supported, to strengthen IAEA systems in regard to undeclared nuclear activities.
Job Losses
Mr. Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the jobs that have been lost to agencies in his Department in the past two years that have (a) been taken over by contractors and (b) disappeared. [18325]
Taiwan
Mr. Sweeney: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what equipment the Government consider is covered by his Department's arms export policy to Taiwan.
Mr. Goodlad: We restrict the export to Taiwan on licensable defence- related equipment. Applications for export licences to supply defence- related equipment and technology are considered case by case. In scrutinising applications, we shall in future give greater weight to the implications for regional security tension, rather than focusing narrowly on Taiwan's military capability as hitherto. This is the result of a regular review of our policy. It does not amount to any substantial relaxation.
DUCHY OF LANCASTER
Competing for Quality Initiative
Mr. Luff: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what plans he has to review the "Competing for Quality" initiative. [18695]
Mr. David Hunt: The Government confirmed in the Command Paper "Taking Forward Continuity and
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Change" in January their intention to conduct such a review. From the results reported by Departments I believe that the initiative has already achieved significant efficiency improvements in public services while maintaining or improving quality. In seeking further improvements in value for money, it is important that we learn from the full range of experience gained in the last three years, and from both public and private sector participants in the programme. I have today commissioned the review to ensure that, in developing their future strategies for improving value for money, Departments and agencies can apply these techniques where they are most effective. The review will be run along the lines of a multi-departmental scrutiny by a team drawn from a range of Government Departments and the private sector; it will commence on 24 April 1995, and will report in the autumn. The review will focus on the main change associated with the initiative: the development of a large programme of market testing and contracting out in central Government. The team will scrutinise the results of the programme, analysing the experience gained in the application and management of the process to identify how far the objectives of the initiative have been achieved and how the techniques of market testing and contracting out should best be developed for the future.The full terms of reference are as follows:
Terms of Reference:
To evaluate the Government's competing for quality
initiative--market testing and contracting out--as a means of improving the efficiency and effectiveness of public services.
In particular, to identify to what extent, through the introduction of competition, Government have been able to:
--Obtain better value for taxpayers' money in the provision of public services;
--Deliver quality of service within Government and to users of public services;
--Provide users of public services with a wider variety of facilities and services;
--Enable managers to concentrate on their core activities; --Generate innovative ways of providing public services; --Enable staff to operate at higher levels of performance and with a greater sense of job satisfaction;
--Encourage the identification of new opportunities for private sector involvement in the delivery of public services.
The study will also examine the methods by which the initiative has been managed and implemented within Government and communicated to other interested parties in order to identify those factors which have affected the extent to which the various objectives of the initiative have been achieved.
Publicity
Mrs. Ann Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will list each non-departmental public body and agency for which he has responsibility and, for each, list separate figures for the spending by that body or agency on (a) television advertising, (b) radio advertising, (c) newspaper advertising, (d) other promotional materials and activities, (e) the totals in each year of (a) to (d) , and (f) the proportion of (e) that was spend on recruitment advertising, for each year since 1979 80 or for each year of its existence if it has been created since then; and what are his latest estimates of (a) to (f) for the years 1994 95 and 1995 96. [17614]
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Mr. Horam: The information requested is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Mrs. Ann Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will list, for 1992 93 and 1993 94, separate figures for the spending by his Department on (a) television advertising, (b) radio advertising, (c) newspaper advertising, (d) other promotional materials and activities,
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(e) the totals in each years of (a) to (d) and (f) the proportion of (e) that was spent on recruitment advertising; and what are his latest estimates for the years 1994 95 and 1995 96. [17613]Mr. Horam: Details of expenditure on advertising and other promotional materials and activities by the Cabinet Office, including the Prime Minister's Office, and the Office of Public Service and Science and its agencies for each year since 1992 93 are as follows:
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1992-93 1993-94 1994-95
|Cabinet Office|COI |Cabinet Office|COI |Cabinet Office|COI
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(a) Television advertising |- |- |- |- |- |-
(b) Radio advertising |- |- |- |- |- |-
(c) Newspaper advertising |£653,700 |£11,000 |£1,039,700 |£13,000 |£404,600 |£16,000
(d) Other advertising and promotional
materials and activities |£681,400 |- |£8,41,472 |- |£960,700 |-
(e) Total (a) to (d) |£1,335,200 |£11,000 |£1,881,100 |£13,000 |£1,365,300 |£16,000
(f) Proportion of (e) spent on
recruitment advertising as a
percentage of (e) |7.4 per cent. |100 per cent. |5.4 per cent. |100 per cent. |7.2 per cent. |100 per cent.
Notes:
1. Cabinet Office expenditure is mostly on the citizens charter and the Civil Service College's promotional material.
2. Figures for 1994-95 are provisional.
3. Estimates for 1995-96 are not available.
Corresponding figures for Her Majesty's Stationery Office, which assembles its figures by calender year, are:
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|1995
|1992 |1993 |1994 |(estimated)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(a) Television advertising | - | - | - | -
(b) Radio advertising | - | £11,000 | £8,000 | -
(c) Newspaper advertising and
(d) Other advertising and promotional materials and
activities | £1,457,000 | £2,567,000 | £2,773,000 | £3,733,000
(e) Total (a) to (d) | £1,457,000 | £2,578,000 | £2,781,000 | £3,733,000
(f) Proportion of (e) spent on recruitment advertising
as a percentage of (e) | 7.4 per cent.| 9.1 per cent.| 5.7 per cent.| 3.2 per cent.
Mr. Flynn: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what are the estimated costs for the current year and the next two years of the royal publicity services. [18311]
Mr. Horam: Estimated expenditure by COI in 1994 95 on publicity services for the royal household is £350,000. The estimates for 1995 96 contain provision for £471,000 and the survey for 1996 97 is the same.
Mr. Llew Smith: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what plans he has to increase the resources allocated to the promotion and advertising of the code of practice on access to Government information over its second year of operations from 4 April. [17903]
Mr. Horam: Expenditure on publicity for the code of practice on access to Government information is kept under constant review to ensure that resources are allocated efficiently and cost-effectively. The Office of Public Service and Science is preparing a second edition of its explanatory leaflet, including an ethnic minority language version. Opportunities for further publicity will be taken as they arise.
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Information Super-highway
Mr. Allen: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will list the Internet electronic mail addresses of (a) his Department and (b) each Minister in his Department; and if he will make a statement on his Department's approach to the information super-highway. [17741]
Mr. Horam: There is no single electronic mail address to cover the whole of the Cabinet Office and the Office of Public Service and Science.
My Internet electronic mail address is jhoram@ccta.gov.uk, and that of my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster is dhunt@ccta.gov.uk.
The Office of the Public Service and Science is leading and co-ordinating the use of information superhighways by Government Departments, stimulating public discussion of super-highway issues; and, at an international level, leading a G7 pilot project on "Government On-Line". The CCTA Government information service on the Internet provides information from all parts of the Department, including the Office
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of Science and Technology, the citizens charter unit, the machinery of Government division, the Civil Service College and HMSO.Job Losses
Mr. Flynn: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will list the jobs that have been lost to agencies in his Department in the past two years that have (a) been taken over by contractors and (b) disappeared. [18332]
Mr. Horam: This question concerns operational matters and I have asked the chief executives of agencies in my Departments to write to the hon. Member.
Letter from R. N. Edwards to Mr. Paul Flynn, Dated 3 April 1995: No Jobs have been taken over by contractors since April 1993 at Chessington Computer Centre (an Agency of the OPSS).
69 jobs have disappeared through efficiency and productivity initiatives since April 1993.
Letter from S. H. F. Hickey To Mr. Paul Flynn, Dated 31 March 1995:
The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster has asked me to reply for the Civil Service College to your Question about job losses in agencies (Ref PQ18332)
Over the past two years no jobs at the Civil Service College have been newly taken over by contactors. There has been a small increase in the overall numbers of staff employed at the College due to a substantial increase in the amount of training and related consultancy that we have undertaken.
Letter from Mike Devereau to Mr. Paul Flynn, dated 3 April 1995:
You asked the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he would list the number of jobs that have been lost by his agencies in the last two years that have been (a) taken over by contractors and (b) disappeared.
As this is an operational matter I have been asked to reply for the Central Office of Information.
In March 1995 there were 493 permanent staff in COI against 583 in April 1993.
No jobs have been lost as a direct result of market testing. The reduction in staff numbers is the result of:
a) improvements in efficiency
b) increase in the employment of contract staff to cope with the volatility of volume and nature of work.
a) cessation or reduction of function
COI does not maintain a staff complement and cannot realistically identify individual jobs lost or gained. Managers are constantly reviewing job functions and reassigning work in the light of current needs. The services provided to government by COI are constantly changing and there is no way of telling whether jobs now are the same as those that existed two years ago.
I hope this information is helpful.
Letter from Paul Freeman to Mr. Paul Flynn, dated 3 April 1995: I have been asked to reply to your question tabled on 30 March (N 95) regarding jobs lost in Agencies insofar as HMSO is concerned. HMSO trades in a dynamic environment and jobs are frequently changing as a result of business imperatives. Some jobs disappear as a consequence of greater IT sophistication, changing technology, reorganisation or because contracts are lost; others are formed to meet new requirements, to progress new initiatives, to enhance service or to service new contracts.
In the provision of printing services, in particular, some work is performed in-house and some is contracted out. This balance is constantly changing, and it is not possible to identify particular jobs.
The overall position is that on 31 December 1992, the total staff employed by HMSO (including temporary staff) was 3,174 and by 31 December 1994, this had fallen to 2,906.
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Letter from Dr. Elizabeth McCloy to Mr. Paul Flynn, dated 31 March 1995:The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster has asked me to reply to your question about jobs lost in the past two years.
In that period, the Civil Service Occupational Health and Safety Agency has lost three jobs. They were at the Atomic Weapons Establishment where my Agency was unsuccessful in retaining the provision of occupational health services. Only one of the posts was filled on a permanent basis and that incumbent has secured employment with the successful contractor.
Letter from Craig Muir to Mr. Paul Flynn, dated 3 April 1995: Your Parliamentary Question of 30 March asked the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster:
"if he will list the jobs that have been lost to agencies in his Department in the past two years that have (a) been taken over by contractors, and (b) disappeared.
I have been asked to write in reply in relation to Recruitment and Assessment Services.
In the last two years, 6 posts have been taken over by contractors due to the market testing exercise of Reprographics won by HMSO.
We have also reduced staffing by 45 posts as a result of rationalisation of the Agency's working methods. A detailed breakdown of staffing numbers is attached.
|31 March|31 March|31 March
Grades |1993 |1994 |1995
---------------------------------------------------------------
G6 |4 |3 |3
G7 |15.5 |16.5 |15
SEN PSYCH |3 |2 |1
SEO |7 |3 |3
HEO |9 |7 |7
EO |31.5 |25 |25
AO |46 |38 |36
AA |24 |20 |16.5
TYPIST |9 |5 |5
SIO |1 |0.5 |0.5
IO |1 |0 |0
SM2 |1 |0 |0
SG1 |8 |3 |3
SG2 |14.5 |11.5 |8.5
Totals (exclusive causals) |174.5 |134.5 |123.5
HOUSE OF COMMONS
Members' Salaries
Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Lord President of the Council what has been the change in real terms in hon. Members' salaries since 1979.
Mr. Newton: The real terms increase in the parliamentary salary between mid-June 1979 and end December 1994 was 28 per cent.
Senior Salaries Review Body
Mr. Alfred Morris: To ask the Lord President of the Council when he communicated to the Government Actuary's Department Her Majesty's Government's decision in respect of the SSRB's current
recommendations; and if he will state the precise terms in which the decisions were conveyed to the Government Actuary's Department and his method of communicating them.
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Mr. Newton: My officials wrote to the Government Actuary's Department on 23 March 1995 asking it to complete its report on the basis that the Government would propose acceptance of the recommendation for an increased death-in-service benefit. A copy of the letter was sent to the fund secretary at the same time. I have also sent the right hon. Member a copy.
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