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TRANSPORT
MV Braer
Mr. Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what is the current estimate of the costs incurred by his Department and agencies for which his Department is responsible in the clearing up operation which followed the grounding of the MV Braer on Shetland in January 1993. [17698]
Mr. Bowis: The marine pollution control unit, part of my Department's Coastguard agency, incurred costs of some £2.6 million in the clean-up operation following the grounding of the MV Braer. The Government have consistently said that their claim in respect of these costs and those incurred by the Scottish Office should be at the back of the queue for compensation.
Birmingham Northern Relief Road
Mr. Thurnham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the progress made in (a) building the Birmignham northern relief road and (b) developing the A628 Woodhead route. [17748]
Mr. Watts: The Birmingham northern relief road has been the subject of a lengthy public inquiry and the inspector's report is awaited.
The A57/A628 Mottram-Tinwistle bypass remains in the roads programme and a preferred route exists for it. The next stage will be the appointment of consultants to prepare the scheme for the publication of draft orders and of the environmental statement.
London Underground
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the loans which have been made to London Underground since 1967 indicating the dates on which the loans were repaid and those debts that remain outstanding. [18118]
Mr. Bowis: London Underground Ltd. did not exist as a separate business until 1984. The Department is not aware of any loans having been made to LUL.
Rolling Stock Leasing Companies
Mrs. Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport for what reasons a clawback clause was not included in the contractual agreements used for the sale of the rolling stock leasing companies. [18158]
Mr. Watts:
A proceeds clawback mechanism was rejected because it would almost certainly have led potential purchasers--most particularly venture capitalists
28 Feb 1997 : Column: 419
who offered the best bids for two of the three companies-- either to withdraw altogether or at least to reduce their bids significantly.
Additionally, such a clawback mechanism would have been complex, difficult to police and would have run counter to the policy of establishing a clean break.
Mrs. Dunwoody:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the sale of Railfreight Distribution. [18157]
Mr. Watts:
The British Railways Board has selected English Welsh and Scottish Railway as the preferred purchaser of Railfreight Distribution. The board is aiming to exchange contracts very shortly.
Mrs. Dunwoody:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what sums have accrued to Her Majesty's Government as a result of the clawback clause written into the sale of the National Bus Company. [18243]
Mr. Watts:
To date, a total of £8,055 million has been received in respect of mortgage charges placed on former National Bus Company properties under the clawback arrangement.
Mrs. Dunwoody:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if the public service obligation payments made by the Office of Passenger Rail Franchising to the train operating companies includes payments to cover the costs of staff redundancies. [18156]
Mr. Watts:
The franchising director makes payments under the franchise agreement to private operators, which purchase the rail services in the franchise agreement. It is for the operators to manage the services and the costs, including any redundancy costs.
The franchising director also makes payments under section 52 of the Railways Act 1993 to British Railways Board-owned operators for the provision of services prior to franchising. The calculation of grants to the BRB is based on the operator's projected costs after deducting forecast revenue and includes any redundancy costs.
Lockerbie
Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to his oral answer of 20 February, Official Report, column 1042, what factors led him to conclude that it was doubtful that the Libyan Government would deliver the suspects for trial in The Hague under a Scottish judge under Scottish rules of evidence. [18209]
The Prime Minister:
The Libyan Government may have said they accept the holding of the Lockerbie trial in a third country, and a trial in The Hague is one such proposal. But they have not said that they will ensure the appearance of the accused at any such trial. Despite agreeing in 1993 that a trial in Scotland would be fair, they have argued that they cannot compel the accused to
28 Feb 1997 : Column: 420
stand trial there, or in the United States, in the absence of a bilateral extradition agreement with either country. The same Libyan argument would apply to The Hague, there being no extradition agreement between Libya and the Netherlands.
I conclude, after five years of Libyan prevarication over delivering the suspects for trial in Scotland, that it is extremely doubtful that they would surrender them for trial in a third country.
Departmental Contracts
Mr. Alan Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the contracts awarded by (a) the diplomatic wing of his Department and (b) ODA to (i) EDS, (ii) Andersens, (iii) BMI, (iv) Capita and (v) Sema since 1992 and the broad function to be carried out by the contractor and the value of the contract in each case. [17602]
Mr. Hanley:
The information is in the table.
28 Feb 1997 : Column: 421
28 Feb 1997 : Column: 422
Mr. Spearing:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what criteria govern the circumstances in which United Kingdom embassies and high commissions are staffed by personnel not from his Department or the Department of Trade and Industry; and if he will list those posts which are permanently staffed by such officials. [17707]
Mr. Hanley:
FCO and DTI staff are chosen to fill overseas vacancies on the basis of their suitability, using open, competitive boarding procedures. When specialist knowledge or expertise is needed, officers from other Government Departments are, on occasions, also invited to bid.
Service attache and support posts are permanently staffed by Ministry of Defence personnel. A proportion of entry clearance manager and officer posts are permanently staffed by members of HM immigration service. On the basis of available information, there are currently 371 MOD staff serving in 74 missions and 87 immigration service staff in 33 missions
In addition, there is a small number of specialist posts--for example, drug and airline liaison officers--some of which are wholly or partially funded by other Government Departments or external bodies, and filled permanently by their staff. No definitive list is currently available. One is being compiled and will be sent to the hon. Member at a later date.
28 Feb 1997 : Column: 423
Brussels Embassy
28 Feb 1997 : Column: 424
Diplomatic wing, FCO
(a) (i) EDS
We have placed 33 contracts with EDS since 1992 for IT systems integration services, individual values (£) as follows:
1. 8,114
2. 17,881
3. 604
4. 3,376
5. 80,760
6. 13,832
7. 4,682
8. 4,682
9. 4,682
10. 82,746
11. 8,788
12. 72,950
13. 7,562
14. 9,265
15. 11,950
16. 2,100
17. 8,200
18. 58,990
19. 1,254
20. 35,726
21. 11,000
22. 4,885
23. 4,500
24. 54,000
25. 4,720
26. 17,881
27. 9,992
28. 1,900
29. 7,000
30. 7,500
31. 2,400
32. 2,380
33. 3,080
(ii) Andersens--nil.
(iii) BMI--nil.
(iv) CAPITA
Thirty-nine contracts (the more recent deriving from a frameworked agreement advertised in the Official Journal of the European Communities in 1995 for skills in benchmarking, process re-engineering, market testing, change management, strategic planning support and other services) have been placed since 1992 for management consultancy services. Individual values (£) as follows:
1. 7,815
2. 1,921
3. 1,692
4. 7,590
5. 9,502
6. 214,360
7. 23,100
8. 8,328
9. 16,440
10. 33,413
11. 8,955
12. 10,448
13. 465
14. 320
15. 6,643
16. 12,800
17. 10,000
18. 10,809
19. 14,226
20. 36,556
21. 14,990
22. 1,428
23. 10,285
24. 300
25. 2,445
26. 2,445
27. 285
28. 27,000
29. 50,760
30. 17,100
31. 13,700
32. 13,700
33. 23,280
34. 14,535
35. 27,740
36. 40,904
37. 19,619
38. 9,141
39. 85,100
(v) SEMA
We have placed 6 contracts with Sema since 1992, individual values (£) as follows:
1. 76,359
2. 11,550
3. 15,466
4. 74,973
5. 47,000
6. 4,180
Aid wing, FCO
(b) (i) EDS--nil.
(ii) ANDERSENS.
Two contracts placed with Anderson Consulting since 1992, individual values (£) as follows:
1. 46,000.
2. 1.330,000.
(iii) BMI--nil.
(iv) CAPITA.
Two contracts placed with Capital since 1992, individual values (£) as follows:
1. 29,050.
2. 81,058
(v) SEMA--nil.
UK missions in which certain posts are permanently staffed by MOD
Abu Dhabi
Accra
Amman
Ankara
Athens
Bahrain
Bangkok
Beirut
Belgrade
Berne
Bogota
Bonn
Brasilia
Bratislava
Bridgetown
BMATT Bridgetown
Brussels, UKDEL NATO and WEU
Bucharest
Budapest
Cairo
Canberra
Caracas
Colombo
Copenhagen
Damascus
Dhaka
Doha
Dubai
Dublin
Guatemala
Hague
Harare
Helsinki
Islamabad
Jakarta
Kampala
Katmandu
Kiev
Kingston
Kinshasa
Kuala Lumpur
Kuwait
Lisbon
Madrid
Manila
Mexico City
Moscow
Muscat
Nairobi
New Delhi
Nicosia
Oslo
Ottawa
Paris
Peking
Prague
Pretoria
Rabat
Riga
Riyadh
Rome
Santiago
Seoul
Singapore
Sofia
Stockholm
Tel Aviv
Tokyo
Vienna
Warsaw
Washington
Wellington
Zagreb
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