| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
Ulster Museum
Mr. Faulds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will publish the attendance figures for 1995 reported by the Ulster museum, including its outstations, with the percentage increase or decrease on the attendance figures for 1994. [9012]
Mr. Ancram: In 1995, a total of 337,829 people visited the Ulster museum and the Armagh county museum--an increase of 25.57 per cent. on the attendance figure for 1994.
Delegated Legislation
Mr. Hutton: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many of the powers to make statutory instruments exercisable by the Secretary of State under primary legislation enacted since 1979 are subject to (a) the negative and (b) the affirmative resolution procedure. [9586]
Sir John Wheeler: This information is not held centrally and can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Public Spending
Ms Mowlam: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list the change in Government spending in Northern Ireland in the law, order and protective services budget in (a) 1995-96, (b) 1996-97 and (c) 1997-98; and if he will indicate the sums of money by which other areas of public spending will benefit from these savings in each of these years. [8222]
16 Jan 1996 : Column: 540
Sir John Wheeler: The information is as follows:
| 1995-96 | 1996-97 | 1997-98 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 Public Expenditure Survey Outcome | 944 | 963 | 963 |
| 1995 Public Expenditure Survey Outcome | (7)905 | 858 | 858 |
(7) Latest estimated outturn.
The fact that my right hon. and learned Friend has been able to reallocate these savings within the Northern Ireland block to social and economic programmes has clearly been beneficial. As all savings within the block are combined and used to meet pressures, it is not possible to be precise about where the savings have been allocated.
Further information was given by my right hon. and learned Friend in his reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Ribble Valley (Mr. Evans) on 11 December 1995, Official Report, columns 541-42.
Mr. Worthington:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) how many (a) republican and (b) loyalist paramilitary prisoners were granted home leave over Christmas; and how many of each persuasion failed to return; [8483]
Sir John Wheeler:
Responsibility for this subject has been delegated to the Northern Ireland Prison Service under its chief executive, Mr. Alan Shannon. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from A. D. Shannon to Mr. Tony Worthington, dated 16 January 1996:
The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has asked me to reply to the two Parliamentary Questions you listed relating to the numbers of paramilitary prisoners who were granted/refused Home Leave over the Christmas period.
Mrs. Ewing:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what involvement the United Kingdom has in Ukrainian defence conversion projects; and if he will make a statement. [9409]
Sir Nicholas Bonsor:
Her Majesty's Government support the conversion of the Ukrainian military industrial complex through multilateral programmes such as the
16 Jan 1996 : Column: 541
technical aid to the Commonwealth of Independent States--TACIS--programme of the European Union. A total of 5 million ecu has been budgeted to three defence conversion projects in Ukraine. In the 1992 budget, 1 million ecu was allocated to the setting up of an advisory company which was to assist military enterprises in the Kharkov area with defence conversion. Another 1 million ecu has been allocated to six companies from the MIC which are now producing agricultural equipment.
In the 1993 financial year, 3 million ecu was allocated to another six companies from the MIC.
British companies from the private sector are also active in this field. For example, a British-Ukrainian joint venture recently signed a contract with the Ukrainian Government for the conversion of a military shipyard to civilian use.
A feasibility study for this project received support from the UK know-how fund.
Mr. Hutton:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many of the powers to make statutory instruments exercisable by the Secretary of State under primary legislation enacted since 1979 are subject to (a) the negative and (b) the affirmative resolution procedure. [9584]
Sir Nicholas Bonsor:
My right hon. and learned Friend the Foreign Secretary has responsibility for making statutory instruments which are subject to the negative resolution procedure under the Southern Rhodesia Act 1979, the Antarctic Act 1994 and the Hong Kong Act 1985. He has responsibility for making statutory instruments which are subject to the affirmative resolution procedure under the Crown Agents Act 1979, the Zimbabwe Act 1979, the Overseas Development and Co-operation Act 1980 and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency Act 1988.
Mr. Fisher:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list those (a) consultants, (b) outside organisations and (c) individuals employed by his Department each year since 1990, indicating the purposes of their employment and the total payments made to them. [3956]
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton:
The total number of Scottish Office staff can be found in the civil service staff in post summary tables which have been placed in the Library. Staff costs are published in the Scottish Office departmental report. It is not possible to provide the other information without disproportionate cost.
Mr. Chisholm:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much Scottish Homes spent in each of the last three years on publicity and promotions. [7743]
Mr. Raymond S. Robertson:
The information is as follows:
16 Jan 1996 : Column: 542
Dr. Wright:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if answers sent to hon. Members in reply to parliamentary questions by the head of executive agencies in his Department are (a) seen, (b) approved and (c) amended by him before they are sent; and if he will identify such letters to which amendments by him have been made in 1994-95. [7824]
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton:
Parliamentary questions are passed to the head of an executive agency for reply when the matter is one delegated to the chief executive under the terms of the agency framework document. My right hon. Friend may, on occasion, specifically ask to see a copy of the reply before it is sent, but would not normally intervene in operational matters. To date, my right hon. Friend has not asked to see before issue a copy of any of the answers given by chief executives.
Mr. David Marshall:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many people in Glasgow have been made temporarily homeless due to the recent severe weather conditions. [8941]
Mr. Raymond S. Robertson:
Information obtained from Glasgow district council suggests that around 1,000 people had to be placed in temporary accommodation following the recent severe weather. This figure does not include those who managed to find temporary accommodation with friends and relatives.
Mr. Marshall:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement about the recent severe weather in Scotland. [8938]
Mr. Kynoch:
I refer the hon. Member to the answer my right hon. Friend gave to the hon. Member for Ayr (Mr. Gallie) on 10 January, Official Report, columns 235-38.
Mr. Marshall:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will visit those areas of Glasgow his Department estimates to be worst affected by the recent severe weather conditions. [8958]
Mr. Kynoch
[holding answer 15 January 1996]: On 5 January, my right hon. Friend visited the Strathclyde regional council water department headquarters and heard at first hand from the staff who had worked long and hard over the holiday period to maintain services. He learnt about the large numbers of properties which were affected by burst pipes and the efforts made to reduce the ensuring damage. I and my colleagues have paid similar visits in other parts of Scotland and we are all aware of the tremendous efforts made by the staff of the water authorities. Benefits Agency staff have also done very well in dealing with urgent cases of hardship. My right hon. Friend has established a working party to report on the lessons to be learnt from what was, by any standards, an extraordinary series of events.
16 Jan 1996 : Column: 543
(2) how many (a) republican and (b) loyalist paramilitary prisoners were not granted home leave over Christmas. [8484]
Of those prisoners who are assumed to have paramilitary associations, 125 were eligible to apply for leave under the 1995 Christmas Home Leave Scheme. All of these prisoners were granted 7 days leave from 22-29 December and all returned to prison on 29 December 1995.
The breakdown was:
68 prisoners with Republican affiliations
57 prisoners with Loyalist affiliations
No such prisoner who was eligible to apply under the 1995 Scheme was refused Christmas Home Leave.
I hope this information is helpful.
1992-93: £1.142 million
1993-94: £1.149 million
1994-95: £0.990 million.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |