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Written Answers to Questions

Monday 2 March 1998

PRIME MINISTER

City of London Corporation

Mr. Redwood: To ask the Prime Minister what discussions his Office has had with the City of London Corporation since 1 January. [30929]

The Prime Minister [holding answer 23 February 1998]: The City of London Corporation asked my office informally last autumn whether we would be content for Chancellor Kohl to be presented with the Freedom of the City of London. I did not initiate this process, but I was delighted that they wished to do this. Following confirmation from my office that I was content and Chancellor Kohl's own agreement, the Corporation formally agreed a recommendation to this effect on 4 December 1997. Since 1 January this year, my office has been in contact with the Corporation authorities on the practical arrangements, including my own involvement.

Iraq

Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to his oral answer of 24 February 1998, Official Report, columns 182-83, on Iraq, which of the Arab ambassadors whom he met on 23 February expressed the gratitude of their Government for the British and American stance on the threat of military action against Iraq. [32242]

The Prime Minister: The Ambassadors acknowledged the key role which the UK had played in the success of the UN Secretary-General's mission which, we hope, marks the resumption of full Iraqi co-operation with UNSCOM. It is also widely recognised, in the region and elsewhere, that this would not have been possible without the threat of force.

Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to his oral answers to the hon. Member for Workington (Mr. Campbell-Savours) of 24 February 1998, Official Report, column 184, and to the hon. Member for North-East Derbyshire (Mr. Barnes), Official Report, column 186, on the opposition in Iraq, if he will list the organisations (a) to which he referred and (b) with which the Minister of State has been in contact (i) in Iraq and (ii) based outside Iraq. [32245]

The Prime Minister: The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, my hon. Friend the Member for Leeds, Central (Mr. Fatchett) has met representatives of the following Iraqi organisations:





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    (ii) headquarters outside Iraq;


    Iraqi National Congress


    Iraqi National Accord


    Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq


    Iraqi Constitutional Monarchy Movement


    Islamic Accord Movement


    National Reform Movement


    Association of Iraqi Democrats


    Iraqi Democratic Party.

Ministerial Responsibilities

Mr. Streeter: To ask the Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the allocation of responsibility for Government policy in respect of European affairs between the Minister for Europe and the Minister without Portfolio. [32197]

The Prime Minister: The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, my hon. Friend the Member for Newcastle upon Tyne, North (Mr. Henderson), has ministerial responsibility in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office for European Union matters. My hon. Friend the Minister without Portfolio is a member of the ministerial sub-committee on European Affairs ((E)DOP), and assists me and other ministerial colleagues on the strategic implementation of Government policy and its effective presentation.

State Opening of Parliament

Mr. Flynn: To ask the Prime Minister what proposals he has to (a) modernise and (b) reduce the cost of arrangements for the State opening of Parliament. [30858]

The Prime Minister [holding answer 24 February 1998]: The ceremony, which should reflect the importance of the occasion, is the responsibility of the Earl Marshal. Expenditure for the next State Opening of Parliament is likely to be in line with previous expenditure on the ceremony.

CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT

British Library

Mr. Swinney: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what is his latest estimate of the building costs of the new building for the British Library; and if he will estimate the value of contracts associated with this construction sourced with companies in (a) London, (b) the South East of England, (c) England, (d) Scotland, (e) Wales and (f) Northern Ireland. [30064]

Mr. Fisher [holding answer 18 February 1998]: The construction project budget for the new British Library building at St. Pancras is £511.1 million. Negotiations continue with some contractors on their final accounts and it is not possible to estimate the final building costs until all these accounts have been settled. Nor is it possible, for this reason, to estimate the value of the contracts by the specific geographical areas set out in the question.

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ATTORNEY-GENERAL

Prosecutions (Sussex)

Mr. Baker: To ask the Attorney-General how many and what percentage of cases forwarded by the Sussex Police to the Crown Prosecution Service for prosecution were turned down (a) for evidential reasons and (b) for other reasons in each year from 1994 to 1997. [31922]

The Attorney-General: The table shows the number of defendants whose cases were discontinued by the Crown Prosecution Service in Sussex, and discontinuance as a proportion of cases completed in Magistrates' Courts in each of the last four years:

Year DiscontinuedDiscontinuance as percentage of completed cases
19943,24612.2
19953,14611.2
19963,02311.2
19973,46812.3

No central records are held of the reasons for which cases are discontinued. This information is held on individual case files, and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. During November 1994, a survey was conducted of all cases discontinued by the Crown Prosecution Service nationally. This survey showed that the reasons for discontinuance were as follows:

Reason for discontinuancePercentage of all cases discontinued
Insufficient evidence43
Prosecution not in the public interest28
Prosecution unable to proceed (eg. because witnesses failed to attend court or refused to give evidence)19
Defendant's driving documents produced at the hearing10

DUCHY OF LANCASTER

Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency

Mrs. Dunwoody: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (1) what was the number of staff employed by the CCTA for each of the last five years; [31283]

Mr. Kilfoyle: The cash expenditure and appropriations-in-aid of and the number of staff employed by the Central Computer and Telecommunications

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Agency (CCTA) in the current year and previous five years are:

£000£000£000
ExpenditureAppropriations in-aidNet totalStaff numbers at end year
1992-9349,48735,20514,282380
1993-9448,46635,79112,675381
1994-9537,85420,77517,079290
1995-9631,88420,45011,434265
1996-9726,46024,4402,020177
1997-98(1)23,40023,675-275179

(1) The actual outturn data are shown for 1992-93 to 1996-97, the data for 1997-98 are current forecasts.


Computer Systems

Mrs. Dunwoody: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what actions are taken by the CCTA to ensure that computer systems introduced by Government Departments and agencies meet requirements in terms of value for money and efficiency. [31281]

Mr. Kilfoyle: Responsibility for the subject of the question has been delegated to the Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency (CCTA) under its Chief Executive Bob Assirati. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.

Letter from Bob Assirati to Mrs. Gwyneth Dunwoody, dated 26 February 1998:



    The responsibility for ensuring that computer systems introduced by Government Departments and Agencies meet requirements in terms of value for money and efficiency lies with the individual departments and agencies. CCTA acts in an advisory and support capacity on a full cost recovery basis to those departments which seek its advice. They are free to seek support from any source they wish but virtually all make use of CCTA services. Major areas of advice include procurement and contract management, project management, post-implementation reviews, and the use of new technologies including the Internet.


    CCTA also manages arrangements which enable departments to make savings when procuring IT equipment and services. These include the Government Telecommunications Services (GTS), the Government Catalogue (GCat) for IT products, and the Services Catalogue (SCAT) for IT services.


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