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Nuclear Decommissioning

Mr. Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what are his Department's outstanding liabilities for future decommissioning of nuclear facilities at (a) Calder Hall, (b) Chapelcross and (c) Capenhurst. [22350]

Mr. Soames: British Nuclear Fuels Ltd. is responsible for assessing the costs of decommissioning facilities at its sites. My Department's share of these costs is either subsumed in prices paid on supply contracts or met when the costs are actually incurred, which in most cases will not be for some considerable time. It is not possible accurately to determine the costs of these liabilities as they will depend on a number of factors including future usage of the facilities by other customers.

Atomic Weapons Establishment, Aldermaston

Mr. Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the current status of the A91 building at AWE Aldermaston; and on what date it is expected that this building will become fully operational. [22365]

Mr. Arbuthnot: Work to rectify the problems in the A91 building at AWE Aldermaston is progressing. The building is expected to become fully operational in 1997.

Mr. Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the current total estimated cost of the new capital works projects at AWE Aldermaston. [22364]

Mr. Arbuthnot: The projects in question are largely complete and the estimate of their total cost remains £1.2 billion.

25 Mar 1996 : Column: 445

Mr. Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the current status of the A90 building at AWE Aldermaston; and on what date it is expected that this building will become fully operational. [22349]

Mr. Arbuthnot: The phased radioactive commissioning of the A90 building is in progress. The building is expected to come into full operation by the end of this year, with the completion of the progressive transfer of plutonium processing from existing facilities.

Pindar Facility

Mr. Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the current status of the Pindar bunker. [22351]

Mr. Soames: The Pindar facility is fully operational.

51 Squadron

Mr. Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the role of aircraft from 51 Squadron, Royal Air Force, in operations over Bosnia. [22356]

Mr. Soames: It is not our policy to comment on such matters.

Exercise Arid Thunder

Mr. Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Don Valley (Mr. Redmond) of 12 March, Official Report, column 510, which sub-munitions were used during the expending of BL755 cluster bombs during Exercise Arid Thunder. [22362]

Mr. Soames: The sub-munitions used were piercing-fragmentation bomblets.

RAF Bases

Mrs. Mahon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which RAF bases in the United Kingdom have no (a) runways, (b) jets and (c) other aeroplanes; how many United States personnel are stationed at each; and how much each base cost in the last year for which figures are available. [20642]

Mr. Soames [pursuant to his reply, 18 March 1996, c. 64-65]: I regret that there was an omission from the list of RAF bases where there is a US presence but where there is no operational runway or aircraft. This is RAF Feltwell where there are approximately 400 US personnel.

DUCHY OF LANCASTER

Deregulation

12. Mr. Pike: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many new regulations have been introduced by the Government since April 1992; and how many regulations have been removed as a result of the Government's deregulation procedures. [20690]

Mr. Willetts: We have repealed or amended over 500 of the 1,000 regulations which we identified as unnecessary burdens on business. Of 3,334 new statutory instruments in 1994, nearly 2,000 were for road closures

25 Mar 1996 : Column: 446

and other local measures. Two thirds of the remainder either were specifically to help businesses or had no impact on them.

25. Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what new deregulation initiatives his Department is examining; and if he will make a statement. [20705]

Mr. Willetts: A number of new deregulation initiatives were announced at the "Your Business Matters" conference on 11 March. We also announced plans for a programme of deregulation seminars, covering sectors from tourism to financial services, to enable business to put forward their own ideas for further deregulation.

Charter Mark

15. Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster which Labour-held councils were recently awarded the charter mark; and what are the categories of the awards and the factors underlying their issue. [20694]

Mr. Willetts: There were 41 charter mark winners from within Labour-controlled local authorities in 1995.

There is one category of award. All winners must demonstrate excellence against the nine criteria.

Government Policy

16. Mr. Keith Hill: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make a statement on his policy on the co-ordination of Government policy. [20695]

The Deputy Prime Minister: We are pursuing economic prosperity and security for all, based on an enterprise economy; creating a nation of opportunity, reflecting the Government's values of choice, ownership and reward; upholding decent common-sense values in the pursuit of law, order and justice; providing the people of Britain with first-class public services; and reflecting pride in the nation and its place in the world.

Referendums

17. Mr. Dykes: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will commission a study into the use of referendums in respect of Government policies. [20696]

The Deputy Prime Minister: No; the Government have access to sufficient information and advice on the subject.

Small Businesses

18. Mr. Ainger: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what contribution his Department made to the Government initiative on small businesses. [20698]

Mr. Freeman: A package of new deregulation measures for small businesses was announced at the "Your Business Matters" conference on 11 March. These measures, which include new rights for business in enforcement actions and a prototype IT system to provide information about forms and regulations, have been widely welcomed by business.

25 Mar 1996 : Column: 447

19. Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what steps he is taking to co-ordinate more effectively the presentation of Government policy towards small businesses. [20699]

Mr. Willetts: Last year, the Prime Minister asked the Institute of Directors and other business organisations to organise a series of small business conferences, so that small businesses could give their views on Government policies and their presentation. At the final conference on 11 March, the Prime Minister announced further measures to help small firms and said that the Government would respond in full to these conferences in the third White Paper on competitiveness in the summer.

Ministerial Responsibilities

20. Mr. Hain: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make a statement about his division of responsibilities with other Cabinet Ministers. [20700]

24. Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what are (a) his responsibility and (b) his authority in respect of (i) the Department of Trade and Industry and (ii) the Department for Education and Employment. [20704]

The Deputy Prime Minister: Ministerial responsibilities are a matter of public record, set out in my Department's publication, the "List of Ministerial Responsibilities".

23. Mr. Wareing: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what changes have taken place in his responsibilities since he was appointed. [20703]

The Deputy Prime Minister: As previously announced, the Prime Minister has this year invited me to chair ministerial groups on information technology and on the Millennium festival. In other respects, my role is unchanged.

Competitiveness

21. Mr. John Evans: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what progress has been made following the Government's planned White Paper on competitiveness. [20701]

The Deputy Prime Minister: The Government will report on the progress made since last year's White Paper on competitiveness in a third competitiveness White Paper in the summer.

Departmental Staff

22. Mr. Win Griffiths: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many staff there are in his Department. [20702]

25 Mar 1996 : Column: 448

Mr. Willetts: By convention, the Office of Public Service, the Cabinet Office and CCTA, the Government Centre for Information Systems, are treated as one group, and staff currently number 1,332.

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