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Written Answers to Questions
Tuesday 23 March 1999
DEFENCE
Parliamentary Questions
Mr. Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his Department's estimate was of the cost of answering the question from the hon. Member for Chichester of 17 March 1999, Official Report, column 689, concerning the waiving of the working time directive (Ref. 76811); and if he will provide a breakdown. [78048]
Mr. Spellar: The cost to my Department's budget of answering individual parliamentary questions is not held centrally, however, the advisory cost of limit answering a parliamentary question is £500.
Compensation Claims
Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Mid-Norfolk (Mr. Simpson) of 21 January 1999, Official Report, column 529, on outstanding compensation cases, if he will indicate the year of submission of each claim for compensation on the grounds of (a) post- traumatic stress disorder and (b) physical injury; and if he will categorise them according to the geographical region where it is alleged the injuries were sustained. [78174]
Mr. Spellar [holding answer 22 March 1999]: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave him on 8 February 1999, Official Report, column 17.
Iraq
Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer on Iraq of 18 March 1999, Official Report, column 810, what evidence he has received of Saddam Hussein attempting to use his air force in 1999 for repressing his own people; and to which people he is referring. [78367]
Mr. George Robertson:
The no-fly-zones were established in April 1991 (north) and August 1992 (south) in support of UN Security Council Resolution 688 which condemned Saddam Hussein's brutal repression of his own people. This repression involved extensive use of helicopter gun ships against the Kurdish minority in the north as well as both fixed wing aircraft and helicopter gun ships against Sh'ia muslims in the south. Since the end of December 1998, over 170 Iraqi aircraft have violated the no-fly zones. Coalition patrols have successfully prevented any of these aircraft from attacking the Kurdish minority in the northern no-fly zone or the Sh'ia muslims in the southern no-fly zone. However, given the extensive history of brutality by Saddam's regime, there is no reason to believe that he would not resume these tactics were we to cease patrols.
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Mr. Dalyell:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 18 March 1999, Official Report, column 811, on no-fly zones, what agreement he has sought from the UN that Rules of Engagement should be entirely a national matter. [78364]
Mr. Dalyell:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what was the approximate weight of ordnance fired against targets in Iraq on Tuesday 16 March. [78249]
Mr. George Robertson:
UK forces did not launch or drop any ordnance against Iraqi targets on 16 March.
Ann Clwyd:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what records are kept regarding the export of military, police or security goods from RAF airfields by private companies. [77245]
Dawn Primarolo:
I have been asked to reply.
Customs declarations are lodged for exports from military airfields of goods originating in the UK on the same basis as exports from civil airports. They are retained for a minimum period of three years.
Departmental Report
Mr. Gareth R. Thomas: To ask the Attorney-General when he expects his 1999 departmental report to be published. [78497]
The Attorney-General: I can confirm that copies of my departmental report have been placed in the Libraries of the House today.
Crown Prosecution Service
Mr. Jack: To ask the Attorney-General what proportions of cases put by the police to the Crown Prosecution Service for prosecution are rejected. [76343]
The Attorney-General: The Crown Prosecution Service discontinued 12 per cent. of cases completed in magistrates courts in 1998, almost unchanged from the figure recorded for each of the four preceding years.
More than half of discontinued cases are unable to proceed because witnesses fail to appear in court, refuse to give evidence, or change their evidence; defendants produce documents proving their innocence in motoring cases on the day of the trial; evidence is excluded because of irregularities in its collection; or there are gaps in the prosecution case which cannot be filled by the police. In these circumstances, the Crown Prosecution Service has no choice but to discontinue proceedings.
The number of cases discontinued against the opinion of the police is very small; a survey conducted in 1994 showed that the police objected to discontinuance on only 4 per cent. of occasions when they were consulted.
Mr. Peter Bottomley:
To ask the Attorney-General what factors underlay the decision of the Solicitor General to intervene in the Hamilton v Al Fayed case. [77739]
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The Solicitor-General:
The Attorney-General intervened before the Court of Appeal in this case, on behalf of the Speaker and the Authorities of the House of Commons, as it raised fundamental constitutional issues as to the respective jurisdictions of Parliament and the Courts. It was important that such issues should not be decided by default. The Speaker and Authorities of the House of Commons have a direct interest in protecting the privileges of the House, which were directly in issue in the appeal.
Before deciding whether to intervene, the Attorney-General took into account the judgment of Mr. Justice Popplewell in the High Court, together with representations made to him following that judgment by the Clerk of the House.
Mr. Dalyell:
To ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to his answer of 10 March 1999, Official Report, columns 364-65, on the Al Shifa factory, if he will identify the international terrorists to whom he refers. [77103]
The Prime Minister:
The US Government have stated that they took action against international terrorist groups which had played a key role in the US embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania. They had reason to believe that these groups were planning further terrorist attacks against US and other citizens.
Mr. Dalyell:
To ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to his answer of 10 March 1999, Official Report, columns 364-65, on Al Shifa, what discussions he has held with the US Administration since the strike on Al Shifa concerning the compelling evidence that the plant was being used for the production of chemical weapons materials. [77104]
The Prime Minister:
It is established practice under section 1(c) of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information not to disclose or discuss information received in confidence from foreign governments.
Mr. Dalyell:
To ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to his answer of 10 March 1999, Official Report, column 364-65, on Al Shifa, to which places he was referring, as the bases for terrorist organisations. [77105]
The Prime Minister:
The US Government have stated that their airstrikes last August against targets in Afghanistan and Sudan were against camps and facilities linked with groups who had played a key role in the US embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania killing over 200 innocent people.
Green Transport Plan
Mr. Burstow:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what involvement fleet managers have had in drawing up his Department's Green Transport Plan. [77964]
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Mr. Hain
[holding answer 22 March 1999]: The Welsh Office does not run a large fleet of vehicles and therefore does not have a Fleet Manager. However, the Department's car purchasing and hiring arrangements reflect a concern for the environment. Current practice is to replace petrol driven vehicles with those fitted with catalytic converters and run on unleaded petrol. All vehicles are regularly serviced and fuel consumption, mileage and maintenance costs are closely monitored. These policies will be reflected in the Department's Green Transport Plan.
Following the transfer of functions, this issue will be a matter for the National Assembly.
Ms Lawrence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he has received the final report of the independent review of the standard spending assessment formula; and if he will make a statement. [78532]
Mr. Michael:
Yes, I have placed copies of the report in the Library of the House.
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