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Drugs Tests (Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders
Dr. David Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when a drugs test was last carried out on the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders; how many soldiers
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were tested; how many (a) officers and (b) other ranks failed the test; what actions have been taken against those failing; and if he will make a statement. [2594]
Mr. Soames: A random drugs test was conducted on the 1st Battalion Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders on 31 October 1995. Three hundred and ninety two all ranks were tested of which no officers tested positive, but 22 other ranks did. The commanding officer will consider each of the soldier's cases on their merits before recommending to retain or discharge them.
Expenditure Plans
Dr. David Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence to what extent savings in the equipment budget are being delivered by deferment of projects. [2452]
Mr. Arbuthnot: Our new expenditure plans will be published tomorrow. This Government remain committed to maintaining and enhancing the front-line capabilities of the armed forces, and to providing the support needed to enable them to carry out their wide range of tasks.
Dr. Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence to what extent the expenditure profile has been modified to take account of deferments in (a) capital project and (b) equipment projects. [2453]
Mr. Arbuthnot: We will be publishing our forecast of expenditure for this financial year as part of the Budget day announcements tomorrow.
Surplus Vessels
Dr. David Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 21 November, Official Report, columns 64-66, if he will list the countries to which the surplus vessels were sold; and what were the values of the contracts. [2695]
Mr. Arbuthnot: Vessels from the list given in my earlier answer were sold to: Chile, Ecuador, Lebanon, Indonesia, Portugal, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Brazil and India, although the vast majority were sold to the United Kingdom commercial market.
The values of the contracts are commercially confidential and could be released only with the permission of the purchasers.
HOUSE OF COMMONS
Child Care Facilities
32. Mr. Corbyn: To ask the right hon. Member for Berwick-upon-Tweed, representing the House of Commons Commission when he expects comprehensive child care facilities to be available in the House. [675]
Mr. Beith: Details of child care facilities available to Members and staff of the House were given on 23 October 1995, Official Report, columns 458-59. There has not been any significant change since then.
Copyright
Mr. Kirkwood: To ask the right hon. Member for Berwick-upon-Tweed, representing the House of Commons Commission, what steps are being taken to
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protect the copyright of parliamentary papers in the creation of an agency to run HMSO. [677]
Mr. Beith: By virtue of sections 165 to 167 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, the copyright in any work made by, or under the direction or control of, the House of Commons is owned by the House. The functions of the House as owner of copyright are exercised by the Speaker on the House's behalf. I can assure my hon. Friend that the Commission is well aware of the importance of protecting the House's control of that copyright and will do so vigorously. The statutory provisions I have cited are not affected by the Government's proposals to privatise HMSO.
Radio 5 Live
Miss Hoey: To ask the Chairman of the Information Committee whether he will arrange for Radio 5 Live to be made available on the Parliamentary Data and Video Network in place of London Radio; and if he will make a statement. [2562]
Mr. Waller: Following a notice in the all-party Whip seeking Members' views on the proposal, the Information Committee has endorsed the substitution of Radio 5 Live for London Radio, which will be effected as soon as the necessary technical arrangements can be made. It should be noted that Radio 5 Live broadcasts on AM and thus the sound quality may not be as good as the FM transmissions. In the longer-term, the Committee proposes that the requirement for more television programmes will make it necessary to phase out radio on the Parliamentary Data and Video Network.
Parliamentary Data and Video Network
Mr. Bennett: To ask the Chairman of the Information Committee what assessment he has made of the reliability of the Parliamentary Data and Video Network. [679]
Mr. Waller: The Parliamentary Data and Video Network provides a data network which is operational 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. It has been running continuously since November 1993, although it has grown considerably during that time. For the two years from November 1993 to October 1995 inclusive, downtime for the network has been calculated as follows:
| Hours | Percentage | |
|---|---|---|
| PDVN unscheduled downtime | 101.65 | 0.58 |
| PDVN scheduled downtime | 316.25 | 1.80 |
| Downtime attributable to PWD/works | 1,056.00 | 6.03 |
| Total | 1,473.90 | 8.41 |
PDVN scheduled downtime and PWD works downtime have almost all occurred over weekends or on other non-sitting days.
On the afternoon of 16 November, a serious fault occurred on the network which resulted in intermittent problems for all users of the PDVN. The cause of the fault has now been located and the E-mail address corruption which occurred as a result of the fault is being remedied. A full investigation is under way into the cause in order to prevent a similar occurrence.
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Mr. MacShane:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many times in the last year he has used (a) London Buses and (b) London Underground while on official business. [413]
Mr. Douglas Hogg:
For short journeys in London, I usually walk--a practice I recommend to the hon. Member. For journeys outside London, I usually take the train.
Mr. Cohen:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list all those in his Department who have authority to issue public interest immunity certificates; how many such certificates have been issued in each of the last five years; and what were the main reasons for them. [1396]
Mr. Boswell:
A claim to public interest immunity relating to departmental documents or information is normally made by the appropriate Minister. In the past five years only one such certificate has been issued--in 1993. Its purpose was to make a claim for public interest immunity for certain categories of confidential documents held by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in the case of Littlewood v. Department of Health and MAFF, so as to enable the High Court to decide whether the interests of justice required them to be disclosed in the case.
Mr. Gordon Prentice:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list for each county in England the largest single amount to an individual under the set-aside compensatory payment scheme. [2395]
Mr. Baldry:
For reasons of confidentiality, it is not possible to identify separately any payments made under the arable area payments scheme.
Mr. Prentice:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list for each county in England the number of people claiming set-aside compensatory payments in respect of land previously used to grow crops; and if he will give a total amount by county. [2394]
Mr. Baldry:
I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Sherwood (Mr. Tipping) on 22 November 1995, Official Report, columns 199-200.
Ms Ruddock:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) what (a) grants and (b) other support will be available from his Department for the conservation and protection of dry stone walls from April 1996; [2325]
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Mr. Boswell:
The Department's responsibilities in this area extend only to England. Payments for the restoration of dry stone walls are available under the environmentally sensitive areas scheme. We shall shortly issue a consultation paper giving detailed proposals for the future of the countryside stewardship scheme, which provides payments for environmental purposes in the wider countryside outside ESAs.
Mr. Jim Cunningham:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many fishing vessel decommissions his Department funded during the year 1994-95; what was the average funding per vessel; what is the average cost of decommissioning a vessel; and how many vessel owners applied to his Department for funding to decommission their vessels during the year 1994-95. [2653]
Mr. Baldry:
Under the Fishing Vessels (Decommissioning) Scheme 1994, 471 applications were received, and 162 vessels were successfully decommissioned at a total cost of £8.8 million. The average cost per vessel was some £54,160. Owners submit bids taking account of the cost of the applicant of scrapping. Information on this cost is not available centrally.
(2) what plans he has to introduce a nationwide grant scheme for the conservation and protection of dry stone walls. [2326]
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