| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
Development Projects
Mr. Sarwar: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps she is taking to encourage the private sector to become more involved with the support of overseas development projects. [29637]
Clare Short: We announced in the White Paper that we will develop a new partnership with the business sector, based on a shared approach to the eradication of poverty and in particular to strengthen support for investment and trade. The Department for International Development is actively taking forward this agenda and putting in place better mechanisms for consulting the private sector. I intend to set out further progress on this in a speech in the Summer.
EU Co-operation
Angela Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what are the priorities of her Department in respect of EU co-operation for the United Kingdom Presidency of the European Union; and if she will make a statement on how she intends to take them forward. [29626]
Clare Short: During the UK Presidency, we will seek to improve the poverty focus and effectiveness of the EC's programmes. Our top priorities are to agree the EU negotiating mandate on the future of the Lome Convention, which governs the aid, trade and political relations between the EU and 71 African, Caribbean and Pacific States, and to secure the EU's commitment to the OECD's 21st Century Strategy for poverty eradication.
Negotiations on the content of the EU's Lome negotiating mandate are under-way in Council and we are seeking to ensure that poverty eradication is at the heart of the mandate. We are planning to discuss how to put
25 Feb 1998 : Column: 259
the 21st Century Strategy into practice in the EU's programmes at a high level seminar which will be held on 17 March in Brussels with Development Ministers from Member States, appropriate European Commissioners and representatives of European Parliament Development Committee.
Mr. Randall:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many meetings have been requested with her Department's Ministers by (a) Labour and (b) Conservative hon. Members; and how many meetings have been granted in each category. [31299]
Clare Short:
Records of the number of requests for meetings with Ministers are not kept. I have met with 10 Labour Members and three Conservative Members. My hon. Friend the Under-Secretary had meetings with 11 Labour Members, three Conservative Members, and one Independent Member.
Mr. Gordon Prentice:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many of her officials attended conferences (a) in the United Kingdom and (b) overseas; and how many and what percentage made (i) oral and (ii) written contributions to the matters under discussion in the last 12 months for which figures are available. [31175]
Clare Short:
Given the nature of our business, a large number of DFID staff have attended conferences over the past year. They would have done so only where DFID has a substantive interest and therefore all would have contributed to the discussions. However, detailed figures are not recorded centrally and could be collected only at disproportionate cost.
British Army of the Rhine
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the annual running cost of the British Army of the Rhine; and what were the figures for (a) 1974, (b) 1979 and (c) 1988 at current prices. [3267]
Dr. Reid [pursuant to his reply, 16 June 1997, c. 86]: On the costs of the Army's garrisons in Germany, further information has been drawn together on the sum of these costs for the current financial year.
I regret that in calculating the figures for my original answer, I inadvertently omitted the costs of some minor, centrally funded units which are also based in Germany, but included those for our contribution towards some of the NATO headquarters in the country. I have now reassessed the estimated running costs of the Army in Germany to account both for these factors and for a revision of those costs for the formations which I properly included in my earlier answer. The net effect of these changes is that I now estimate the cost of the Army in Germany in 1997-98 to be £1,139 million.
25 Feb 1998 : Column: 260
The British Army of the Rhine ceased to exist as a formation from 1 April 1994 when 1(UK) Armoured Division and the United Kingdom Support Command (Germany) became fully operational. I regret that I remain unable to provide comparable costs for 1974, 1979 and 1988 as these were compiled on a different basis.
Mr. Keith Simpson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proportion of the defence budget in (a) cash and (b) percentage terms is taken up by the cost of maintaining the Army and RAF in Germany in the current financial year. [8134]
Dr. Reid
[pursuant to his reply, 16 July 1997, c. 236-37]: On the costs of maintaining the Army and Royal Air Force's garrisons in Germany, further information has been drawn together.
I regret that the calculations given in my original answer inadvertently omitted the running costs associated with some minor, centrally funded units which are based in Germany, but included those for our contribution towards various NATO headquarters in the country. The estimated running costs of the Army and Royal Air Force in Germany to account both for these factors and for the revision of those costs for the formations which were properly included in my earlier answer. The net effect of these changes is that the estimated running costs for financial year 1997-98 for the Army and Royal Air Force in Germany are now £1,139 million and £169 million respectively. These costs represent about 5.2 per cent. of the Defence budget in the case of the Army and 0.8 per cent. for the Royal Air Force.
I am sorry that it has been necessary to make these corrections.
Mr. Key:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if, under his applied research programme he will list technology demonstrator projects by value, stating in each case (a) the spin off benefits of defence research into the private sector and (b) civil technologies applied to defence. [29521]
Mr. Spellar
[holding answer 18 February 1998]: Technology demonstration within the Applied Research Programme, as opposed to that technology demonstration which is part of project development, is not separately identified. The information requested is therefore not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Matthew Taylor:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 17 November 1997, Official Report, column 66, what are the current security classifications of (a) the last three annual environment, safety and health reports, (b) the last four quarterly health and safety reports and (c) the last five monthly reports to the Environment Agency on discharges from AWE which have been produced by the AWE Directorate of Environment, Safety and Health. [30564]
25 Feb 1998 : Column: 261
Mr. Spellar:
The last three AWE Environment Safety and Health Reports have been unclassified. The last Report published was for 1996. Copies are provided to, among others, local council representatives and members of the general public who express an interest.
The last four quarterly health and safety reports were produced in two versions, unclassified and classified. They differ only in terms of the degree of detail included. The unclassified version provides the same essential safety information without breaching security regulations.
Monthly reports made by AWE to the Environment Agency on discharge over the last five months have all been unclassified. These reports are placed on the Public Register by the Environment Agency.
Mr. Matthew Taylor:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when the Warhead Hydrodynamics Division at the Atomic Weapons Establishment, Aldermaston, was set up; what is the purpose of this division; how many series of technical papers or reports are currently being produced by this division; and what are the names of each series. [30563]
Mr. Spellar:
The Warhead Hydrodynamics Division was set up in 1955. In 1995 it was subsumed into a new Directorate and retitled the Hydrodynamics Department. Its purpose is to undertake research into high explosive detonation processes and the response of materials when subjected to explosive shocks. It produces a variety of working documents, but only one series of technical papers which is known as "Hydrodynamics Department Technical report, R Series".
Mr. Hancock:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when the Storm Shadow stand off missile is expected to enter the RAF service; and what is the current estimated cost of the programme. [30824]
Mr. Spellar:
The Storm Shadow Conventionally Armed Stand Off Missile is expected to enter RAF service in December 2001. The current estimated cost of the programme is £934 million.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |