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Sub-Saharan Africa

35. Mr. Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the level of aid devoted to sub-Saharan Africa in 1995-96. [20715]

Mr. Hanley: Gross public expenditure on bilateral aid to sub-Saharan Africa in 1995-96 is expected to total nearly £347 million. Africa is also a major recipient of multilateral assistance, to which Britain makes significant contribution--estimated at over £355 million in 1993.

Lumle Agricultural Research Station, Nepal

Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the visit to the office of the Minister for Overseas Development of the right hon. Member for Tonbridge and Malling (Sir J. Stanley) and the hon. Member for Linlithgow about aid to Nepal, following the Inter-Parliamentary Union visit, what decisions he has arrived at regarding the Lumle agricultural research station. [20851]

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Mr. Hanley: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to him on 29 January, Official Report, column 506, and to the letter he received from my right hon. and noble Friend the Minister for Overseas Development dated 8 February 1996.

St. Helena

Mr. Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list, by value of assistance, the fishing projects being supported by the St. Helena Development Agency. [22035]

Mr. Hanley: No fishing projects are being supported by the St. Helena development agency.

Mr. Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what have been the costs to public funds of supporting the operation of RMS St. Helena in each of the past five years. [22043]

Mr. Hanley: The cost of the shipping subsidy and associated costs in each of the last five financial years is:

1991-92: £0.920 million
1992-93: £1.389 million
1993-94: £1.071 million
1994-95: £1.152 million
1995-96: £1.346 million (estimate)

Mr. Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) how many (a) females and (b) males normally resident in St. Helena have commenced higher education courses (i) on the island and (ii) overseas in each academic year since 1990; [22030]

(2) how many (a) female and (b) males normally resident in St. Helena have commenced higher education courses (i) on the island and (ii) overseas in each of the most recent five years for which figures are available. [22031]

Mr. Hanley: All higher education courses have commenced in the United Kingdom. The numbers are:

Academic year	Male	Female
1990-91	1	8
1991-92	--	5
1992-93	7	7
1993-94	4	5
1994-95	1	9
1995-96	2	5

Mr. Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what constraints have been removed on fisheries under the St. Helena five-year development plan. [22032]

Mr. Hanley: The principal constraints to the development of an economically viable local fishery at St. Helena are related to its isolated location and to the limited natural resource base available for exploitation. St. Helena's geographical isolation does not permit easy or rapid access to markets, and the lack of a safe haven with associated vessel maintenance facilities precludes the operation of larger locally based fishing vessels. The Overseas Development Administration has worked closely with the Government of St. Helena, the St. Helena Fisheries Corporation and the island's fishing community

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to promote the development of a viable small-scale commercial fishery. To this end, the Administration, since 1978, has invested more than £3 million in a series of technical assistance and development aid projects. The Fisheries Corporation is now considering how best to expand throughput to meet demand and to develop its export marketing strategy further.

Mr. Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the staff employed by the St. Helena development agency who have previously worked with British development agencies, indicating for how long each employee worked for the relevant agency. [22036]

Mr. Hanley: No staff employed by the St. Helena development agency have previously worked with British development agencies.

Mr. Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the expert staff for key posts on St. Helena who are provided by the British Government. [22042]

Mr. Hanley: The key posts provided by the British Government are:

Mr. David Smallman: Governor
Mr. John G. Perrott: Chief Secretary
Mr. Robert J. Perrott: Financial Secretary
Mr. David Jeremiah: Attorney General
Mr. Kenneth Jones: Chief Auditor
Mr. Chris Lomas: Chief Agricultural and Forestry Officer
Dr. John Sharpe: Chief Medical Officer
Mr. Keith Jones: Chief Engineer

ODA is also funding the costs of an additional 13 expatriates working within St. Helena Government Departments.

Mr. Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what budgetary aid by category he is providing to St. Helena during the current financial year. [22044]

Mr. Hanley: The budgetary aid provision for St. Helena in 1995-96 is £3.56 million. This is a single grant in aid intended to supplement the St. Helena Government's overall public expenditure budget.

Mr. Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what non-governmental organisations have been established on St. Helena for electricity and water supplies. [22039]

Mr. Hanley: None. However, the St. Helena Government are currently considering a consultancy report which may lead to a restructuring of the electricity and water undertakings.

SCOTLAND

Procurator Fiscal Service

Mr. McAvoy: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on the procedure for processing complaints from members of the public about procurator fiscal offices. [21215]

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Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: My noble and learned Friend the Lord Advocate informs me that the Crown Office has recently completed a review of its complaints system. The revised system, which is about to be implemented, involves the introduction of a standard form for noting complaints. This will form the basis of a central record of the types of complaints received by the Department and the outcome of inquiries into those complaints.

The Crown Office has also produced a leaflet which will be available to members of the public and which will describe the procedure for making complaints and the way in which they will be handled. Complaints will be investigated by or under the supervision of procurators fiscal, regional procurators fiscal or the Crown agent as appropriate.

Mr. McAvoy: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland on how many occasions disciplinary action was taken against employees of the procurator fiscal service as a result of complaints from members of the public in each of the last five years. [21217]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: The Crown Office has no record of disciplinary action being taken against any member of staff in the last five years as a result of complaints from members of the public.

Mr. McAvoy: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) how many complaints about the operation of the Glasgow procurator fiscal office he has received from members of the public in each of the last five years; [21216]

(2) how many complaints against the operation of procurator fiscal offices in Scotland he received in each of the past five years. [21214]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: My noble and learned Friend the Lord Advocate informs me that this information is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost as there is no central record of the number of complaints made about the operation of procurator fiscal offices. The procurator fiscal at Glasgow has checked his records for 1995 and 1996 to date. During that period only one written complaint was received from a member of the public about the actions of a member of his staff.

Mr. McAvoy: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on the work of the procurator fiscal service in respect of on-going staff training and development. [21218]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: My noble and learned Friend the Lord Advocate informs me that the Crown Office and procurator fiscal service committed to the principles of "Investors in People" in December 1994. A departmental training and development group works with regional groups to take forward the training and development of staff in accordance with a training strategy agreed by senior management which addressed induction, core and development needs of each staff group. The group is currently revising competences which will form the basis of performance appraisal and be a

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foundation for future training. The link between competences and vocational qualifications is under consideration. The training strategy reflects the overall objectives, values and business requirements of the organisation and includes an objective to provide training on a complaints system which is about to be implemented.

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