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Extradition
Mr. Canavan: To ask the Attorney-General what recent advice his Department has given on requests from other countries for extradition of people detained in British prisons. [12642]
The Attorney-General: It is not the practice to disclose such advice or to disclose whether or not advice has been given.
Court of Appeal
Mr. Clappison: To ask the Attorney-General what plans he has to seek an extension of his power to refer sentences to the Court of Appeal for review. [12639]
The Attorney-General: I am in discussion with colleagues about the best way to implement our manifesto commitment to extend my powers to refer cases to the Court of Appeal for review where it appears to me that the sentence is unduly lenient.
FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS
Embassies
Mr. David Atkinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what are the usual days and hours of manning United Kingdom embassies, including provision for answering telephone calls; and if he will make a statement. [13158]
Mr. Tony Lloyd: The days and hours UK embassies open for business vary from country to country, according to local custom; details are available from Consular Division within this Department. All embassies operate a duty officer system to deal with emergency telephone calls out of office hours and this Department is always ready to answer queries about embassy services.
European Treaties
Mr. Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will publish the texts of any declaration, now appended to the treaty of Amsterdam not contained in the version of 16 June, stating for each (a) if it was agreed to by a Minister of the Crown at the preceding Inter-Governmental Conference and (b) what steps have been taken to publicise it. [13528]
Mr. Doug Henderson [holding answer 30 October 1997]: Four Declarations were agreed after the Amsterdam European Council and attached to the draft Final Act of the intergovernmental conference. These are numbers 3, 10, 21 and 45. Three declarations (numbers 14, 40 and 51) were agreed before Amsterdam and were attached to the Final Act subsequently. In addition, there were eight national declarations of which the conference took note. None was made by the UK.
Ministers have agreed the text which was signed at Amsterdam on 2 October, including all declarations attached to the Final Act. All declarations are included in the final texts which have been deposited in the Library of the House and are set out in Cm 3780.
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Mr. Edward Davey:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) how many former employees of GCHQ remain eligible for reinstatement as a result of the Government's decision to restore trade union rights at this establishment; and if he will make a statement; [14100]
Mr. Robin Cook:
About 130 staff left GCHQ as a result of the 1984 union ban, of whom 14 were actually dismissed. The remainder fell into various categories--for example, transfer to other Government Departments and early or normal retirement. I informed the House on 19 May of the procedures needed to restore normal trade union rights to the staff of GCHQ and a copy of this statement was sent to those who had been dismissed, together with an invitation to contact GCHQ's Head of Personnel to discuss re-joining on reinstatement terms. It is open to any former civil servant to apply for reinstatement, though there is no right to be reinstated, and applications are considered in terms of existing vacancies and the suitability of an applicant for a particular vacancy. Of the 14 who were dismissed, only seven were still below retirement age by the time initial discussions on the procedure for people to rejoin had taken place; discussions with these have reached varying stages. It is not known how many of the roughly 115 people who were not dismissed but who left GCHQ by other means are still below normal retirement age but GCHQ has received a total of five expressions of interest in reinstatement or transfer back to GCHQ and discussions have again reached varying stages.
Mr. McNamara:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many sub-bases of GCHQ are presently maintained in Northern Ireland. [13082]
Mr. Robin Cook:
It is long-standing practice not to disclose the details of the operations of the security and intelligence services.
Mr. Clifton-Brown:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list all (a) secondary, (b) other delegated legislation and (c) all deregulation orders his Department made during the summer adjournment. [14382]
Mr. Tony Lloyd:
I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer given yesterday by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, on 5 November 1997, Official Report, column 216.
Mr. Edward Davey:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many cases of persons missing in Sri Lanka his Department is dealing with; and if he will make a statement. [14099]
Mr. Fatchett:
We are currently dealing with two cases of missing persons in Sri Lanka.
6 Nov 1997 : Column: 266
Mr. Edward Davey:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many outstanding replies his Department is waiting for from the Sri Lanka Government with respect to requests for information on missing persons; and what is the average length of time taken for that Government to respond to letters on the subject of missing persons. [14098]
Mr. Fatchett:
We have no replies outstanding from the Sri Lankan Government on requests for information on missing persons; on the basis of the two recent cases, the average length of time for the Sri Lankan Government to respond substantively to letters on missing persons is 10 months.
Mr. Waterson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the circumstances of the citizens of Montserrat. [14297]
Mr. Tony Lloyd:
The safety of Montserratians is paramount. Scientific advice indicates that the North of the island is relatively safe. We are committed to helping to sustain a viable community there for as long as it is safe to remain. If, however, Montserratians wish, and need help, we shall provide them with financial assistance for them to relocate elsewhere in the Caribbean or the UK.
Mr. Corbyn:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received from the British Antarctic Survey on the depletion of the ozone layer over the southern polar regions. [14217]
Mr. Tony Lloyd
[holding answer 5 November 1997]: The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) Meteorological and Ozone Monitoring Unit issues regular bulletins to interested scientists, Government officials and the media. These bulletins and further background information are available on the world wide web from the BAS home page (http://WWW.nbs.ac.uk).
Mr. John M. Taylor:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement indicating the current state of negotiations on the proposed contract for the supply of Land Rovers to Indonesia. [13797]
Mr. Fatchett:
Contractual negotiations are a matter for the company concerned.
Mr. Savidge:
To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department when the report of the Review of the Court of Appeal (Civil Division) will be published; and when the Lord Chancellor expects to respond to it. [15143]
Mr. Hoon:
The report of the Review of the Court of Appeal (Civil Division) has been published today and copies have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
6 Nov 1997 : Column: 267
I am very grateful to the members of the review, and in particular to Sir Jeffery Bowman for chairing it. The Lord Chancellor is at present considering their conclusions and recommendations and intends to publish a detailed response early in the new year.
Mr. Etherington:
To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will give people the statutory right to draw up an advance directive setting out their wishes with regard to future medical treatment should they become incapacitated in the future. [13909]
Mr. Hoon:
The Law Commission report on mental incapacity published in 1995 includes recommendations relating to advance statements (sometimes referred to as advance directives). As I indicated in my written answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Corby (Mr. Hope) on 28 October 1997, Official Report, column 787, the Government do not consider that it would be appropriate to legislate on the basis of these recommendations without fresh public consultation. It is hoped that a consultation paper will be issued by the end of the year.
(2) how many of those eligible for reinstatement at GCHQ have applied; and how many of those applications were approved. [14101]
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