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Royal Palaces

22. Mr. Alan W. Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what plans her Department has for improving public access to the royal palaces and their gardens [28781]

Mr. Sproat: The Historic Royal Palaces Agency is responsible for the unoccupied royal palaces, all of which are open to the public. They have plans to improve access for disabled visitors at Hampton Court palace.

The Royal Collection Trust is responsible for public access to the occupied royal palaces. Details are given in the trust's annual report.

Millennium (Christians)

23. Dr. Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what discussions she has had with the established Church regarding the celebrations to mark the 2000 anniversary of the birth of Christ. [28782]

Mrs. Virginia Bottomley: The millennium will be an event for everyone to celebrate. It will also be an important anniversary for all Christians, and I recently met the Archbishop of Canterbury to discuss the Church's role. The Millennium Commission has also met many other faith groups to discuss their part in the celebrations.

FM Radio Frequencies

25. Mr. John Marshall: To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what representations she has received about the availability of FM radio frequencies. [28785]

Mr. Sproat: My Department receives representations on a wide variety of frequency spectrum issues from time to time.

National Lottery (Conservation)

26. Sir Sydney Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what has been the funding from the national lottery allocated to the conservation of the United Kingdom built and landscape heritage; and what percentage this represents of total national lottery funding. [28786]

Mrs. Virginia Bottomley: A total of 189 projects involving the preservation of the built and landscape heritage have received £61.4 million from the heritage lottery fund. These are only two areas of our diverse heritage that the heritage lottery fund supports. The heritage lottery fund is distributing 20 per cent. of the proceeds of the national lottery to heritage projects. In total it has made 302 awards to a value of 172.3 million.

20 May 1996 : Column: 70

The Amsterdam

Mrs. Lait: To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what progress is being made in resolving the outstanding problems with the Dutch Government over responsibility for the wreck of the Dutch East Indiaman the Amsterdam. [28773]

Mr. Sproat: The Dutch Government is the owner of the wreck of the Amsterdam. I understand that they have been approached by a local group and have entered into discussion on the future of the wreck. My officials are being kept informed of developments by the Dutch Government.

Playing Fields

Mr. Harry Greenway: To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if she will make a statement on her policy for playing fields. [29027]

Mr. Sproat: The Government are seriously concerned at the loss of playing fields and attach a high priority to ensuring that people have access to high quality sports facilities. Following a commitment made in "Sport: Raising the Game", the Government consulted on proposals that the Sports Council should become a statutory consultee for development affecting playing fields. Responses indicated broad support and, subject to further consideration of some technical and legal points, it is expected that the necessary statutory instrument will come into force in July.

SCOTLAND

Mr. and Mrs. McInnes

Mr. Galloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what has been the cost to public funds of disinterring the cadavers of Mr. John McInnes and his mother; and if he will make a statement. [29508]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: The estimated cost of exhuming and re-interring the bodies of Mr. McInnes and his mother by Strathclyde police is approximately £2,900. I fully appreciate how distressing this must be for the family and relatives of Mr. and Mrs. McInnes and I am glad that the bodies have now been re-buried. While this is, of course, a police operational matter in which Ministers have no powers to intervene, I hope that the investigations can now be concluded as speedily as possible.

Departmental Equipment and Furniture

Mr. McFall: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was (a) the cost and (b) the number of items of equipment and furniture that (i) have been stolen and (ii) are otherwise accounted for from the (1) Scottish Home and Health Department, (2) Scottish Industry Department, (3) Scottish Education, (4) Scottish Environmental Department in each of the past five years specifying any such items valued at £5,000, and showing information technology material separately. [28756]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Makerfield (Mr. McCartney) on 18 March.

20 May 1996 : Column: 71

Small Firms

Mrs. Roche: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many firms with fewer than (a) 100, (b) 50, (c) 20 and (d) 10 employees were used by his Department in each of the last five years. [29437]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 28 November, Official Report, column 590, to her question on total spend with small and medium enterprises. Our financial and procurement systems in use in 1995-96 and earlier years had no facility for categorising suppliers according to their number of employees.

Lockerbie

Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if the Crown Office will conduct an inquiry into the implications for the Lockerbie inquiry of developments in respect of the forensic science laboratory in Kent. [30187]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: An independent scientific review is to be conducted by Professor Brian Caddy which will consider the instances where contamination might have taken place from the particular centrifuge in question. It would be quite wrong to attempt to pre-empt the results of that review by indulging in speculation concerning what those results might be. It is a matter of public record that residues of both RDX and PETN, which are components of a high performance plastic explosive, semtex, were identified in debris from the Lockerbie disaster by the forensic explosives laboratory. I understand from my noble and learned Friend the Lord Advocate that the evidence which forms the basis of the charges against the two Libyans does not depend on the identification of the high performance plastic explosive which destroyed the aircraft at Lockerbie.

Crofters (Building Grants and Loans)

Mr. Maclennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what assessment he has made of the conclusions of the Committee of Public Accounts set out in paragraphs 29 to 33 of its 17th report, Session 1989-90, "Grants to Aid the Structure of Agriculture in Great Britain" (HC 150). [29573]

Mr. Raymond S. Robertson [holding answer 16 May 1996]: My right hon. Friend broadly agrees with the conclusions about the crofters building grants and loans scheme expressed by the Public Accounts Committee in its 17th report for Session 1989-90. However, he also believes that it is important to consider from time to time whether there are ways of getting better value for money from Government spending. In his statement to the Scottish Grand Committee, he indicated that CBGLS would continue in its present form. This decision is based on a judgment that the scheme continues to play a key role in improving housing conditions in crofting areas.

Council of Europe Meetings

Mr. Terry Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many meetings of, or organised by, the Council of Europe since January 1995 have been attended by Ministers or officials of his Department or the Lord Advocate's Department; and if he will make a statement. [29367]

20 May 1996 : Column: 72

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton [holding answer 17 May 1996]: Since January 1995, no Minister from the Scottish Office has attended a meeting organised by the Council of Europe. The Solicitor-General has attended one such meeting. Officials from the Scottish Office attend Council of Europe meetings whenever there is a subject on which Scotland has interest or a particular expertise. Since January 1995 three such meetings have been attended.

Cullen Inquiry

Mr. William Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many firms of solicitors are to represent the families of the deceased at the Cullen inquiry; and how many families are to be represented by each firm. [29942]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton [holding answer 17 May 1996]: One firm of solicitors represents the families of all the deceased children. A different firm represents the family of the deceased teacher.

Caledonian MacBrayne

Mr. Charles Kennedy: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, pursuant to his answer of 14 May, Official Report, column 434, if he will list all the factors involved in the need to increase the revenue deficit grant to Caledonian MacBrayne in 1996-97; if he will indicate the compliance costs associated with additional safety requirements applying to ro-ro ferries; and if he will make a statement. [29940]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton [holding answer 17 May 1996]: Caledonian MacBrayne Ltd. prepares an annual report and accounts which comply with the requirements of the Companies Act 1985, and which are presented each year to Parliament in accordance with section 8(1) of the Transport (Scotland) Act 1989. The Government do not consider that it is appropriate to disclose more detailed information about the company's revenues and expenditure than is contained in the published annual report and accounts.

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