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Written Answers to Questions
Tuesday 30 April 1996
FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS
Cyprus
Mr. John D. Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the estimated number of Turkish Cypriots in Cyprus living in the area to the south of the UN-patrolled buffer zone; what are current trends in the number; and if he will make a statement. [27152]
Mr. David Davis: The UN Secretary-General's report of 10 December 1995 on the UN operation in Cyprus states that 362 Turkish Cypriots located in the southern part of Cyprus have made themselves known to United Nations forces in Cyprus personnel. We support the call in UN Security Council resolution 789 for a Cyprus-wide census under the auspices of the United Nations.
Land Mines
Mr. Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer of 23 April, Official Report, column 84, what is his Department's assessment of the effect of Her Majesty's Government's decision to modernise their stock of anti-personnel mines on the prospects of achieving an international agreement banning all anti-personnel mines. [27323]
Mr. David Davis: We are committed to pursuing a total ban on anti-personnel land mines. We shall as soon as possible destroy nearly half of our existing stocks of anti-personnel land mines. We intend to destroy the remainder when an international ban is agreed, or when viable alternatives become available. In the meantime, should it become necessary to replace any of the remaining mines, we shall do so only with self-destruct mines. We have taken no final decision to procure any new anti-personnel mines. We shall continue to pursue the policy which, in our view, offers the best prospect of addressing the terrible consequences for innocent civilians of the irresponsible use of anti-personnel land mines.
Mr. Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer of 23 April, Official Report, column 84, how the Government plan to pursue an international agreement on banning all non-self-destructing anti-personnel mines. [27320]
Mr. Davis: We are committed to pursuing a total international ban on all anti-personnel mines and, as an interim measure, will also work for a ban on non-self-destructing mines. We shall consider how best to proceed, in concert with allies and partners who share our objectives, in the light of the conclusion of the UN weaponry convention review conference, which is currently in progress in Geneva.
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Mr. Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer of 23 April, Official Report, column 84, what is his Department's policy towards sharing self-destruct technology with those countries who currently export non-self-destruct anti-personnel mines to help them switch production to self-destruct anti-personnel mines. [27324]
Mr. Davis: Our aim is to bring about the elimination of all anti-personnel land mines as soon as it is practicable, and in the short term to eliminate particularly non-self-destruct mines which are the most dangerous to civilians. We have also announced a total moratorium on the export of all anti-personnel land mines to all destinations. We shall be guided by these factors in considering any sharing of mine-related technology with any country.
PRIME MINISTER
Ministerial Visit (Gosport)
Mr. Viggers: To ask the Prime Minister if he will pay an official visit to Gosport. [25708]
The Prime Minister: I have at present no plans to do so.
Department of Transport
Mr. Allen: To ask the Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the future role of the Department of Transport. [26903]
The Prime Minister: The "Transport Report 1996", Command Paper 3206, which was published on 25 March, sets out the Department of Transport's overall objectives and priorities for the immediate future.
Nuclear Safety and Security Summit
Mr. Llew Smith: To ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to his answer of 22 April to the hon. Member for Reading, West (Sir A. Durant) Official Report, columns 18-19, if he will publish (a) the financial commitments made to the Ukraine to close down and clean up the Chernobyl reactors by (i) the United Kingdom and (ii) the G7 and (b) the timetable over which these commitments are made. [27348]
The Prime Minister: The memorandum of understanding signed in December 1995 between the Ukraine, the G7 countries and the European Commission provides for the closure of Chernobyl within the framework of a comprehensive assistance programme for Ukraine's energy sector. The MOU committed assistance to some $500 million in grants and to $1.8 billion in projected investments. To date, the United Kingdom has contributed over £16 million for Chernobyl-related projects and assistance with energy sector restructuring.
Mr. Smith: To ask the Prime Minister what estimates he has made of the cost to the United Kingdom of (a) additional health monitoring, (b) nuclear installations safety reviews, (c) compensation for loss of trade to the
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United Kingdom and (d) other costs of the Chernobyl accident of 1986. [27386]
The Prime Minister: No central estimate has been made of the cost of the United Kingdom of additional health monitoring of the Chernobyl accident. Direct costs which can be identified amount to around some £13 million for compensation paid to sheep farmers and environmental monitoring projects. In addition, over a 10-year period, £33 million will have been invested in the Government's radioactive incident monitoring network.
Prince of Wales's Consent
Mrs. Fyfe: To ask the Prime Minister in what circumstances the Prince of Wales's consent is needed for a Bill. [26043]
The Prime Minister: Bills whose provisions affect the hereditary revenues, personal property or interests of the Duchy of Cornwall require the consent of the Prince of Wales to be signified in both Houses before they are passed. The same would apply to any Bill which affected the interest of the Prince of Wales in his capacity as Prince and Steward of Scotland.
Engagements
Sir Peter Tapsell: To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 30 April. [26044]
Mr. Harry Greenway: To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 30 April. [26045]
The Prime Minister: This morning, I had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others. In addition to my duties in the House, I shall be having further meetings later today.
LORD CHANCELLOR'S DEPARTMENT
Performance Targets
Mrs. Lait: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what are the key performance targets for the Court Service, Her Majesty's Land Registry, the Public Record Office and Public Trust Office for 1996-97. [27708]
Mr. Jonathan Evans: The following tables set out the key performance targets that the Lord Chancellor has set for the Court Service, Her Majesty's Land Registry, the Public Record Office and the Public Trust Office for 1996-97.
| Indicator | Target | |
|---|---|---|
| Quality of service: | 1. Percentage of courts and offices meeting all charter for court users standards | 95 per cent. |
| Supreme court: | 2. Percentage of administrative process dealt with within target time | 95 per cent. |
| Crown court: | 3. Percentage of defendants committed for trail waiting 16 weeks or less | 75 per cent. |
| County courts: | 4. Percentage of administrative process dealt with within target time | 92 per cent. |
| Enforcement: | 5. Number of warrants paid as a percentage of correctly directed warrants | 70 per cent. |
| Unit costs: | 6. Unit cost of a productive courtroom hour (Crown court) | £522.55 |
| 7. Unit cost of an hour of administrative work as measured by the business management system (county courts) | £49.92 | |
| Cost recovery: | 8. Percentage of the cost of civil courts recovered | 86 per cent. |
Fuller details of the agency's targets are given in its business plan which is available from the Court Service Headquarters.
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| Indicator | Target |
|---|---|
| Financial | |
| Return on average capital employed(1) (ROCE): | 3 per cent. |
| External financing limit: | £0 |
| Efficiency | |
| Cost per unit in real terms(3) | £27.84--a 3 per cent. reduction over the 1995-96 target of £28.70 |
| Cost per unit in cash terms: | £30.82 |
| Productivity | |
| Unit output per post (per day): | 3.34 units--a 4.1 per cent. increase over the 1995-96 target of 3.202 units |
| Citizen's charter standards | |
| Percentage of pre-completion applications handled in two working days at every district land registry: | Not less than 98.5 per cent. |
| Average processing time for post-completion applications at every district land registry: | Where no requisitions arise, no more than 15 working days. |
| Percentage of registrations handled free of error at every district land registry: | Not less than 98 per cent. |
| Development of land registration | |
| Number of computerised titles: | To increase the number of registered titles in computerised format to 14 million. |
| Number of title plans: | To increase the number of title plans in computerised format to 0.3 million. |
| Number of account holders using direct computer access at end of year: | 400 account holders. |
(1) ROCE below 6 per cent. reflects agreement with HM Treasury to apply surplus income generated in 1993-95, when ROCE exceeded 25 per cent. in each year to fee reductions in 1996-99.
(2) The real term unit cost in the base year, of 1992-93 was £30.65.
Fuller details of the registry's performance targets are given in its business plan, which is available from Her Majesty's Land Registry.
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| Indicator | Target |
|---|---|
| 1. Efficiency | |
| Unit costs of key activities: | |
| (a) record accessions | Reduce by 3.4 per cent. to £2.99 |
| (b) providing record storage space per linear metre | Reduce by 14.6 per cent. to £60.70 |
| (c) making documents available to users per document | Reduce by 0.9 per cent. to £5.99 |
| (d) providing census reader services per reader visit | Reduce by 4.86 per cent. to £4.03 |
| (e) providing document reader services per reader visit | Limit increase to 7.01 per cent., i.e. to £41.54 |
| (f) providing remote user information services per contact | Reduce by 3.79 per cent. to £42.20 |
| Backlog of records reported by Departments as being over 30 years old and awaiting review | Reduce by 1,000 metres |
| The timely destruction of records not worthy of preservation | Departments to have in place key features of records management, as specified in the PRO Manual of Records Administration |
| Provision of acceptable storage conditions, i.e. meeting the preservation and environmental standards recommended by BS 5454: 1989 Recommendations for storage and exhibition of archival documents BSI, 1989. | Increase the proportion of records stored to the standards from 87.75 per cent. to 87.85 per cent. |
| Management efficiency in running support services and projects | Reduce the running costs of the office's support services as a proportion of overall running costs from 11.2 per cent. to 9.8 per cent. |
| 2. Quality of service | |
| Citizen's charter standards | Achieve all charter standard targets(3) |
| 3. Effectiveness | |
| Performance in achieving specified milestones towards strategic objectives | (i) complete new Public Record Office project at Kew |
| (ii) review operation of the public records system | |
| (iii) increase revenue by 10 per cent. |
(3) Subject to specified modifications during period of major building works and moves of records.
Fuller details of the office's targets are given in its business plan, which is available from the Public Record Office.
| Indicator | Target |
|---|---|
| 1. To carry out accounting transactions within target times | To bring to account at least 98 per cent. of receipts and payments transactions within turnaround targets |
| 2. To achieve investment targets | (a) to pay annually not less than the rate provided by the average of a model set of comparators for special and basic rate at 75 per cent. of special rate (b) on an annual basis to ensure that 85 per cent. of all measured funds perform in line or better than their model based on stock market indices (c) on a three-year rolling basis to ensure that 80 per cent. of all measured funds perform in line or better than their model based on stock market indices |
| 3. To achieve Charter Standards | To achieve 98 per cent. of charter standards |
| 4. To achieve unit costs in activity areas | To reduce overall unit costs so that the target for 1996-97 will be at least 2.75 per cent. lower than the target for 1995-96 (adjusted for inflation) |
| 5. Percentage of full costs recovered | To ensure that 100 per cent. of full costs are recovered |
Fuller details of the office's performance targets are given in its business plan, which is available from the Public Trust Office.
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