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General Communications Headquarters
Mr. David Nicholson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the intended capacity of GCHQ after 1999, on the reasons for the proposed closure of the Culmhead station and on the arrangements for the personnel at present stationed there. [599]
Mr. Rifkind: GCHQ will maintain its capability up to and beyond 1999 but will be able to reduce its staff numbers to about 5,000 by 1999 by moving to more efficient methods of operation. The decision to close the composite signals organisation station at Culmhead was the result of a periodic review of resources and was in response to anticipated changes in requirements and technological advances which will enable GCHQ to become more efficient by consolidating some of its operations. As far as possible the run-down at Culmhead will be achieved through voluntary retirements and redeployments, but some compulsory redundancies appear inevitable. Full support to those affected will be provided by GCHQ's personnel and welfare service and an outplacement scheme.
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Mr. Milburn:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what procedures are necessary for the ratification by (a) the United Kingdom and (b) other nations of changes made to the convergence criteria of the Maastricht treaty or of new criteria made or added by the 1996 IGC. [1099]
Mr. David Davis:
The Government do not expect discussion of the Maastricht convergence criteria to the 1996 intergovernmental conference.
Mr. Spearing:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what legislation has been agreed by the European Union, arising from the social chapter of the Single European Act treaty or the work programme arising from the social charter agreed in Strasbourg by the European Council in 1989, which by virtue of the protocol on social policy in the treaty on European Union does not apply to the United Kingdom; what articles authorised such legislation; and what proposals in or likely to be in this category of legislation is before either the Council of Ministers or the Council of Permanent Representatives. [1495]
Mr. David Davis:
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Minister for Education and Employment today.
Mr. Waterson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the outcome of the recent review of the Wilton Park agency. [1897]
Mr. Hanley:
A prior options review has been carried out on Wilton Park, which has been an executive agency of the FCO since 1991. The review concludes that Wilton Park conferences organised on behalf of the FCO fulfil a valuable function, and that Wilton Park should continue to operate as a next steps agency. The review also makes recommendations for involving FCO geographical commands and departments more closely in Wilton Park conferences; for improving the marketing of the conferences among potential participants and for the market testing of the commercial--non-conference-- operation at Wilton Park. The outcome of the review has been endorsed by Ministers, and action to implement it is in hand. A summary of the review's findings has been deposited in the Library of the House.
Mr. Waterson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he has reviewed his policy on placing visas for the United Kingdom in Taiwan passports. [1898]
Mr. Hanley:
We have compared our practice of issuing visas with a number of other countries which, like us, do not recognise Taiwan. I have agreed, with effect from 1 December, that visas for the UK should be placed in travel documents issued by the Taiwan authorities. We regard such travel documents as no more than confirming
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the identity of the holder. Our change in practice does not involve recognition of Taiwan or constitute acceptance by the Government of a Taiwanese nationality.
Mr. Menzies Campbell:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the measures being adopted by Her Majesty's Government to persuade the Nigerian authorities to adopt democratic values and to safeguard human rights in Nigeria. [1501]
Mr. Hanley:
Details of measures in force since 1993 were set out in a written answer to the hon. Member for Clydebank and Milngavie (Mr. Worthington) on 2 December 1993, Official Report, column 680. On 11 November 1995, my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister announced a full arms embargo against the Nigerian regime. We are considering further options with our EU partners.
Mr. Tony Lloyd:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the use of a room in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on 17 October by the British-Nigerian Chamber of Commerce for a cocktail party; and how many Government officials were present. [1208]
Mr. Hanley:
The reception was hosted and paid for by the UK chapter of the British-Nigerian Chamber of Commerce, not the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Two junior FCO officials, and two from the DTI, attended the reception. No Nigerian ministers were present.
Mr. Lloyd:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the dates of all official visits of members of the Nigerian military regime to Britain since 18 November 1993. [1210]
Mr. Hanley:
Since the European Union suspension of high-level visits to and from Nigeria in November 1993 there have been no official visits by members of the Nigerian Government (Provisional Ruling Council and Federal Executive Council) to Britain.
Mr. Lloyd:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the dates of all private visits of members of the Nigerian military regime to Britain since 18 November 1993. [1211]
Mr. Hanley:
Since the European Union restriction of visas for members of the military and their families in June 1993, exemptions have been made only on rare occasions for pressing medical visits.
British Overseas Trade Board
Mr. Patrick Thompson: To ask the President of the Board of Trade who will succeed Sir Derek Hornby as chairman of the British Overseas Trade Board. [1977]
Mr. Nelson: I am delighted to announce that Martin Laing CBE, chairman of John Laing PLC, will succeed Sir Derek Hornby as chairman of the British Overseas
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Trade Board--BOTB. Sir Derek will retire following this afternoon's meeting of the BOTB, after five most distinguished years.
EU Industry Council
Mr. Patrick Thompson: To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement on the outcome of the EU Industry Council held in Brussels on 6 and 7 November. [1976]
Mr. Eggar: The Council adopted resolutions on the following issues: the role of small and medium-sized enterprises--SMEs--in the process of technological innovation; the industrial aspects of the information society; and the importance of the competitiveness of the European mechanical engineering industry. The Council also agreed conclusions on the following topics: the links between industrial competitiveness and business services; industrial co-operation with other regions and third countries; the feasibility of a European secondary capital market for SMEs; and the interaction between competition policy and industrial competitiveness. The Council reached political agreement, pending examination of the European Parliament's opinion, on a draft Council decision on an action programme to strengthen EU industrial competitiveness.
The Commission made oral presentations on the work of the Commission research-industry task forces and on a forthcoming communication on the promotion of quality as a factor in improving industrial competitiveness. It presented a communication on the impact of international developments on the EU textile and clothing sector.
Political agreement was reached on the text of a Council regulation implementing OECD rules on aid to shipbuilding, with a qualified majority in favour of extending existing Community rules for up to nine months--that is, 1 October 1996--if the OECD agreement had not come into force by then.
On steel, the Commission made a presentation on the monitoring of article 95 cases. I welcomed the Commission's assurance that there would be no resort to article 95 in the future. I shared the Commission's concern about the expiry of the deadline for the 500,000 tonnes of capacity reductions in Italy. Italy promised to provide a new proposal on how this would be achieved within the following two weeks. There was a brief discussion on the Commission's proposal to amend the environmental provisions of the steel aid code.
The most difficult issue on the agenda was the Irish article 95 request for Council assent to state aid to be made in relation to Irish Steel. We have serious concerns about the principle of further state aid to the steel industry. This request caused particular difficulties for the United Kingdom and Luxembourg, where steel plants compete with Irish Steel and where jobs could consequently be put at risk by the injection of the proposed aid. Some progress was made towards formulating possible conditions which could be attached to any aid, but it did not prove possible to reach agreement at the meeting. It was agreed that further discussions would take place.
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