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PRIME MINISTER

European Summit

Mr. Morgan: To ask the Prime Minister what representations he has received in relation to the location of the summit meeting during the next United Kingdom presidency of the Council of Ministers of the European Union. [4129]

Mr. Ron Davies: To ask the Prime Minister when he estimates Her Majesty's Government will decide its preferred venue for the 1998 European Union summit. [4070]

The Prime Minister: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales has expressed support for Cardiff as a possible location for the June 1998 European Council. I am also aware of early-day motion 173 which also proposes Cardiff. An announcement will be made in due course.

Iraq

Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Prime Minister if he will place in the Library a copy of his response to the letter from Friendship across Frontiers, signed by the chairman, Riad El Taher, on 6 November, about the mortality rate of Iraqi children, and the UNICEF report. [4391]

The Prime Minister: So far as I am aware, my office has not yet received this letter.

Tigris and Euphrates Valleys

Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Prime Minister what response Her Majesty's Government have given to the Secretary General of the Arab League's representations about the humanitarian situation in the valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates. [4465]

The Prime Minister [holding answer 15 November 1996]: My right hon. Friend the Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, discussed the humanitarian situation in Iraq during the Secretary General's visit to London in May 1996, and in Cairo in June 1996, raising in particular Saddam Hussein's indifference to the suffering of the Iraqi people. Saddam Hussein continues to delay implementation of UN Security Council resolution 986 by attempting to renegotiate issues already with the UN. Like the Arab League, we want SCR 986 implemented as soon as possible; it will bring much needed relief to millions of Iraqis.

18 Nov 1996 : Column: 393

OVERSEAS DEVELOPMENT ADMINISTRATION

Child Protection (Wars)

Mr. Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he has taken to protect children in wars where the United Kingdom has an aid interest. [4263]

Dr. Liam Fox: The Government have provided considerable humanitarian aid in a careful and targeted way in many war situations overseas. Support for children's needs is a high priority in all cases, delivered through agencies like the Red Cross, UNICEF and specialists such as the Save the Children Fund and Children's Aid Direct. Projects have benefited health, nutrition, orphan care, education, deprived families and family reunification.

Sudan

Mr. Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the current need of the population of Sudan for international provision of basic foodstuffs for survival listed by area and broken down to show (a) Government-held (b) non-Government-held areas, and indicating if the delivery of such aid should be (i) via Khartoum, (ii) via east Africa or (iii) otherwise. [4659]

Dr. Liam Fox: In northern Sudan, serious food shortages have been reported this year in Darfur and Kordofan. The UK has provided £1.5 million to the Save the Children Fund and CARE UK for food aid, purchased within Sudan, to address needs in those areas. There are also reports of food shortages in Red Sea state. In southern Sudan, the World Food Programme predicts serious deficits over the next few months in Juba, Gogrial and parts of Jonglei state including Pochalla and Pibor.

The World Food Programme report that food for outstanding deficit areas in Government and non-Government held areas may be available for purchase within Sudan. They have not yet established the requirement for external provision of food aid. Precise delivery arrangements will depend on the source of food aid and the relative costs of delivery options.

DEFENCE

Surplus Ammunition

Mr. Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what programme his Department has established to incinerate surplus ammunition; what sites are used; what environmental impact assessments have been conducted at each site; and what is the annual cost of the programme. [3926]

Mr. Soames: This is a matter for the chief executive of the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency. I have asked the chief executive to write to the hon. Member.

18 Nov 1996 : Column: 394

Letter from John Chisholm to Mr. Michael Meacher, dated 18 November 1996:

I have been asked to reply to your question about the Ministry of Defence's programme to incinerate surplus ammunition. I am replying since the Ministry of Defence's programme is currently carried out by the Defence Evaluation & Research Agency (DERA) of which I am Chief Executive.

DERA has developed a programme for disposing of surplus ammunition and explosives by incineration based at its site at Shoeburyness in Essex. This was in response to ratification of the 1989 Oslo Convention, which banned the dumping of surplus ammunition and explosives at sea, and also a result of a general desire to find a more environmentally friendly means of disposing of these materials.
The Shoeburyness facility currently consists of two incinerators which have been developed over the past few years at a cost of about £5m. They employ a state of the art pollution control system which uses dry spun ceramic filtration and dry scrubbing to control gaseous emissions. All of the waste metals and most of the plastics generated by the system are recovered and recycled. Non recyclable solids are disposed of as controlled waste into a licensed land fill site. The plant does not discharge any waste into water. The system has been licensed by the Environment Agency and they undertake regular surveys to monitor its operation. DERA has also introduced its own programme of regular environmental monitoring of the site.
When fully operationally we anticipate that the incinerator system will be able to deal with up to 2000 tonnes of explosives and ammunition a year. Running costs are expected to be of the order of £600,000 a year. The system, which is known as Avocet, represents a considerable technical achievement and DERA is actively marketing it overseas with the aim of obtaining a return for the UK for our investment in this technology.

Military Hospital Closures

Mr. Chris Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the military hospitals which have closed in the last 12 months; and what proportion of their work was carried out for the NHS. [3054]

Mr. Soames: This is a matter for the Defence Secondary Care Agency and I have asked the chief executive to write to the hon. Member.

Letter from Ron Smith to Mr. Chris Smith, dated 18 November 1996:

I am replying to your Question to the Secretary of State for Defence on the closure of service hospitals as this matter falls within my area of responsibility as Chief Executive of the Defence Secondary Care Agency (DSCA) .

The DSCA was launched on 30 April this year. Since November 1995, the following three hospitals have closed:
The Princess Mary's Hospital, Halton;
The Princess Alexandra's, Royal Air Force Hospital, Wroughton;
The Cambridge Military Hospital, Aldershot.
The decision to close these hospitals arose from a combination of Options for Change and Front Line First recommendations. No Service hospitals have closed since the launch of this Agency.
Although the responsibility for the treatment of civilian patients rests with the Department of Health, NHS patients have been, and continue to be treated at Service hospitals. This enables our medical personnel to undertake the varied mixture of cases which they require for training and professional development for front lines roles. The proportion of NHS patients seen at the closed hospitals varied from year to year and depended on the location of the hospital. However, in general NHS patients accounted for between 50% and 70% of the hospitals' total caseload.

18 Nov 1996 : Column: 395

Tornado Aircraft

Mr. Colvin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence on how many occasions an overheated or failed cross-drive clutch has caused a fire in the rear fuselage of a Tornado aircraft. [2828]

Mr. Soames: In 16 years of Tornado operations there have been five confirmed cases of overheated or failed cross-drive clutches causing fires in the rear fuselages of RAF Tornado aircraft. These incidents all took place on the ground during routine engine running tests. The procedures for running Tornado engines on the ground have been reviewed and suitably amended.

Mr. Colvin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if Tornado GR1 and F3 aircraft will be allowed to fly before modification 1670 has been made in respect of the recirculating cross-over valve. [2829]

Mr. Soames: Yes. When modification 1670 was designed, a safety analysis confirmed that the operation of both F3 and GR1 Tornado at pre-modification 1670 standard was safe.

Mr. Colvin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will estimate the difference in cost between performing modification 1670 to Tornado GR1 and F3 aircraft by means of a contractors' working party as set out in his Department's contracts bulletin, volume 11, No. 2; and assuming sufficient manpower was available, undertaking such work with RAF personnel. [2831]

Mr. Soames: RAF manpower is used to embody aircraft modifications whenever appropriate. On this occasion, the circumstances were such that the use of a contractor's working party allowed the RAF to maximise aircraft availability to the front line. The final contract price is still under negotiation.

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