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BBC World Service
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations he has received on the jamming of BBC World Service broadcasts; and if he will make a statement. [4165]
Mr. Tony Lloyd: None recently. We deplore all attempts to jam World Service broadcasts and make representations to the Governments concerned.
Departmental Wages
Mr. Tom King: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many (a) full-time and (b) part-time persons employed by his Department and its agencies are paid (i) less than £4 an hour, (ii) less than £3.50 an hour and (iii) less than £3 an hour. [4191]
Mr. Tony Lloyd:
Full Time Staff: Two persons are employed earning less than £4 per hour. Four persons are employed earning less than £3.50 per hour. One person is employed by this Department's Executive Agency (Wilton Park) earning less than £3.50 per hour.
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Part Time Staff: One person is employed earning less than £3.50 per hour. No staff earn less than £3 per hour. Earnings quoted take account of 1997 pay award. In all these cases, staff are employed outside London are not eligible for Recruitment and Retention Allowance.
Mr. Burstow:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs is he will introduce proposals to revise the treaty on European Union so as to (a) introduce a general power at a European level to outlaw discrimination against disabled people in policy areas where the European Union has competence under the treaty and (b) introduce a change to article 100a of the treaty on European Union so that all proposals put forward to regulate the internal market take into account the needs of disabled people. [3617]
Mr. Doug Henderson
[holding answer 18 June 1997]: At the Amsterdam European Council, we supported Article 6a allowing the Community to combat discrimination on grounds of disability. We also tabled a Declaration attached to Article 100a, calling on the institutions of the Community to take the needs of the disabled into account when framing internal market legislation. Both measures were adopted.
Mr. Mullin:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what use his Department makes of polygraphs; and if he will make a statement. [4584]
Mr. Tony Lloyd:
This Department does not make use of polygraphs and has no plans to do so.
Mr. Vaz:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he plans next to visit Kenya. [4874]
Mr. Tony Lloyd:
My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has no immediate plans to visit Kenya. I will pay an official visit there from 25 to 27 June 1997.
Mr. Corbyn:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what action he has taken to promote nuclear disarmament; and if he will make a statement. [4406]
Mr. Tony Lloyd:
We have made clear our commitment to the goal of the global elimination of nuclear weapons and determination to press for multilateral negotiations towards mutual, balanced and verifiable reductions in such weapons. We will be considering how best to implement these commitments, particularly in the context of the Strategic Defence Review.
Mr. Corbyn:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the impact of the International Court of Justice ruling on nuclear arms on United Kingdom policy; and if he will make a statement. [4758]
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Mr. Lloyd:
I refer the hon. Member to the answers I gave on 22 May to the honourable Member for Great Grimsby (Mr. Mitchell) column 135-36.
Mr. Corybn:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress has been made on the siting of a secretariat for the Antarctic treaty; and if he will make a statement. [4413]
Mr. Tony Lloyd:
There is as yet no consensus amongst the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Parties on the location of the Treaty Secretariat. We are reviewing our policy in the light of developments at the recent Antarctic Treaty meeting in Christchurch.
Mr. Corbyn:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will set out the legal basis for his Department's assertion that Rockkall is part of the United Kingdom; and if he will make a statement. [4414]
Mr. Tony Lloyd:
British sovereignty over Rockall was proclaimed in 1955. It was confirmed by the subsequent passing of the Island of Rockall Act 1972 which made Rockall part of Scotland.
Mr. Corbyn:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is his estimate of the costs of NATO expansion to include Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic on the defence budgets of those countries and no other NATO members separately identifying the costs to the United Kingdom. [4403]
Mr. Tony Lloyd:
Twelve countries have applied to join NATO.
No decision has been taken on which countries will accede to NATO membership. The costs of enlargement, which fall both on the countries which join and on existing members of the Alliance and which will be incurred over a long period, will depend on that decision. Subject to that caveat, we expect the costs of enlargement to be manageable.
The US Government report to Congress in February 1997 gives an estimate of the direct additional costs of NATO enlargement of between $9 billion to £2 billion.
Mr. Boswell:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the various areas of extension of qualified majority voting under the Amsterdam treaty. [5026]
Mr. Doug Henderson:
The Presidency text on the extension of qualified majority voting (QMV) agreed at Amsterdam is below.
There will also be QMV for implementing decisions under the Common Foreign and Security Policy as provided for by Article J13. However a Member State may prevent a vote from being taken for important and stated reasons of national interest, whereupon the decision may be referred to the European Council for decision by unanimity.
23 Jun 1997 : Column: 349
| Area | |
|---|---|
| New Treaty provisions | |
| Article 4, new Title on Employment | Employment guidelines |
| Article 5, new Title on Employment | Incentive measures |
| Article 118(2) | Social exclusion |
| Article 119(3) | Equality of opportunity and treatment of men and women |
| Article 129(4) | Public health |
| Article 191a | Transparency |
| Article 209a | Countering fraud |
| Article 213a | Statistics |
| Article 213b | Establishment of independent advisory authority on data protection |
| Article 227(2) | Outermost regions |
| New Article | Customs cooperation |
| Existing Treaty provisions | |
| Article 45(3) | Compensatory aid for imports of raw materials |
| Article 56(2) | Coordination of provisions laid down by law, regulation or administrative action for special treatment for foreign nationals (right of establishment) |
| Article 130i(1) | Adoption of the research framework programme |
| Article 130i(2) | Adapting or supplementing the research framework programme |
| Article 130o | Setting up of joint undertakings in R&T development |
AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD
BSE-infected Material (Disposal)
Dr. Gibson: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the arrangements for the future disposal of BSE-infected carcases. [2825]
Mr. Rooker: It will continue to be the Ministry's practice to use incineration wherever feasible to dispose of cattle suspected of having BSE.
Abattoirs (Licences)
Mr. Edwards: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the criteria by which abattoirs are licensed by the Intervention Board to slaughter cattle under the 30 month scheme. [3933]
Mr. Rooker:
Abattoirs wishing to slaughter cattle qualifying for the Over Thirty Month Slaughter Scheme are currently being selected by competitive tender. The evaluation criteria are set out in the invitation to tender. They include compliance with statutory requirements, quality of service, geographical location and price.
23 Jun 1997 : Column: 350
Mr. Letwin:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if it is his policy that all cows born in a given BSE-infected cohort within a given herd, regardless of the location of subsequent rearing, should be culled in any case where one or more cows in such a cohort are culled under the selective cull scheme. [3916]
Mr. Rooker:
The scientific basis of the cull is that animals which ate the same feed as BSE cases in the first six months of their lives are likely to be at risk of exposure to infection through that feed. Any such exposed animals which have been sold from the natal herd will be traced as far as possible. Those animals found alive will be restricted and slaughtered.
We intend also to include animals which were reared together in their first six months of life, irrespective of where they were born, provided we can be reasonably sure that it was there, rather than in the natal herd, that exposure to infection took place. We are currently seeking agreement from the European Commission that to do so would be in line with the relevant EC legislation.
Mr. Gordon Prentice:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when his Department first contacted other member states of the EU advising them that BSE-contaminated feed should be removed from farms. [4282]
Mr. Rooker:
The measures which Member States should take in order to avoid the feeding of BSE contaminated feed were discussed with representatives of the Commission and the other Member Stases in the Standing Veterinary Committee of 18-19 July 1989.
Mr. Prentice:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the dates on which farmers were advised by their national authorities to dispose of BSE-contaminated feed, in respect of each member state in the EU which imported such feed from the UK. [4285]
Mr. Rooker:
Advice given by the authorities of the other Member States to their farmers is a matter of national competence and we do not have records of such advice.
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