2 Jul 1999 : Column: 283
Written Answers to Questions
Friday 2 July 1999
NORTHERN IRELAND
Arms Decommissioning
Mr. William Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what is the cost to date of implementing the provisions of the Northern Ireland Arms Decommissioning Act 1997. [88811]
Mr. Ingram: It is not possible to give the exact total cost to date as the expenditure incurred by the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning is shared with the Irish Government. To date, the British Government have contributed £1,099,439, which represents approximately 50 per cent. of the total cost.
Visitor Statistics
Mr. Fearn: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many (a) Holiday Visitors and (b) Business Visitors to Northern Ireland from (i) Great Britain, (ii) the Republic of Ireland and (iii) the rest of the world there were in the last year for which figures are available. [89130]
Mr. Ingram: During 1998, 277,000 Holiday Visitors came to Northern Ireland, 81,000 from Great Britain, 90,000 from the Republic of Ireland and 106,000 from the rest of the world.
434,000 Business Visitors came in 1998--an estimated 302,000 from Great Britain, 80,000 from the Republic of Ireland and 52,000 from the rest of the world.
CABINET OFFICE
Special Advisers
Mr. Levitt: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what are the increases to the Special Adviser pay bands for 1999-2000; and how many Advisers are in each pay band, by Department. [88645]
Dr. Jack Cunningham: The minima and maxima of the Special Adviser pay bands have each been increased by 2.8 per cent. with effect from 1 April 1999, the same increase as for the Senior Civil Service pay bands. The three pay bands are now:
| Pay band | Scale |
|---|---|
| Band A | £26,728 to £46,260 |
| Band B | £41,120 to £61,680 |
| Band C | £55,512 to £78,186 |
The number of Special Advisers in each pay band is as follows:
2 Jul 1999 : Column: 284
| Department | A | B | C |
|---|---|---|---|
| No. 10(1) | 3 | 10 | 7 |
| Agriculture, Fisheries and Food | 1 | -- | -- |
| Cabinet Office(2) | -- | 2 | 1 |
| Chief Whip's Office | -- | 2 | -- |
| Culture, Media and Sport | 1 | 1 | -- |
| Defence | -- | 1 | 1 |
| Education and Employment(3), (4) | 2 | 1 | -- |
| Environment, Transport and the Regions(5) | -- | 3 | 1 |
| Foreign and Commonwealth Office | -- | 2 | -- |
| Health | -- | 1 | 1 |
| Home Office | -- | 2 | -- |
| International Development | 2 | -- | -- |
| Leader of the House of Lords | -- | 2 | -- |
| Lord Chancellor's Department | -- | -- | 1 |
| Northern Ireland Office | 2 | -- | -- |
| President of the Council | 1 | 1 | -- |
| Scottish Office(6) | -- | 1 | -- |
| Social Security | -- | 1 | 1 |
| Trade and Industry | -- | 2 | -- |
| HM Treasury(7), (8) | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Welsh Office | 2 | -- | -- |
| Total | 15 | 33 | 14 |
(1) Plus Jonathan Powell and Alastair Campbell who are paid outside the band structure, and Iain Anderson who is an unpaid Adviser
(2) Plus Keith Hellawell, UK Anti-Drugs Co-ordinator, who is paid outside the band structure
(3) Plus Michael Barber, the Standards and Effectiveness Adviser
(4) Includes two part-time posts; one additional Adviser has been appointed at a salary to be determined
(5) Includes two part-time posts
(6) One additional Adviser has been appointed at a salary to be determined
(7) Plus the three members of the Council of Economic Advisers (two in Band C and one in Band B; one of them part-time)
(8) One additional Adviser has been appointed at a salary to be determined.
HOUSE OF COMMONS
Documents of Record
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Chairman of the Administration Committee if he will make a statement on the extent of use of paper containing acid for (i) the Official Report, (ii) House of Commons printed papers and (iii) other House of Commons documents of record; and what assessment he has made of the estimated durability and life expectancy of paper copies of (i), (ii) and (iii). [89112]
Mrs. Roe: The contract for the printing of the House's core documents (including the Official Report, Vote Bundle, Bills and Select Committee Reports) specifies the use of acid free paper of archival quality. The paper used has an alkali reserve of a minimum of 2 per cent., and an archival life in excess of 100 years.
Mr. Dismore:
To ask the Chairman of the Information Committee what estimate he has made of the durability and life expectancy of paper copies of the (a) Official Report and (b) other documents of record held by the Library. [89111]
2 Jul 1999 : Column: 285
Mr. Allan:
For information on the current standards for paper used for the Official Report and other House documents of record held by the Library, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him today by the Chairman of the Administration Committee, column 284.
The durability of older documents varies according to age, the type of paper used, the frequency of use and the storage conditions. The Library regularly monitors the condition of these documents and has a programme of conservation. It is aware of a particular problem with acidic paper used from about 1850 to 1950. Older Parliamentary Papers were moved in 1992 to controlled storage conditions in Broad Sanctuary, where there are also reserve volumes of the Official Report. The Library is investigating the feasibility of producing a digitised text of older Official Reports. As well as giving easy access to the text, this would also reduce use of the paper volumes and so aid their preservation.
UNHCR
Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what is the total cash payment in 1999 to date to UNHCR from her Department. [89620]
Mr. Foulkes: The total cash payments made by the Department for International Development (DFID) to United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) between 1 January and 30 June 1999 amount to £14.66 million. Of this total, we have contributed £7 million to UNHCR's General and Special Programmes, £3 million to a DFID/UNHCR scheme to support NGO Refugee projects, and £4.66 million to specific country programmes and regional appeals.
Departmental Grants
Mr. Sutcliffe: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what grant support her Department has given to (a) the Foundation for International Community Assistance and (b) the Small Enterprise Foundation in South Africa. [89416]
Mr. Foulkes: The Department for International Development (DFID) is providing assistance to the Foundation for International Community Assistance (FINCA) in three African countries. The details are as follows:
- 1. FINCA International in Tanzania: £850,000 between 1999 and 2002
- 2. FINCA Uganda: £98,000 between 1998 and 1999 (this project is likely to be scaled up if phase 1 is successful)
- 3. FINCA Malawi: £721,000 between 1998 and 2001
DFID has not received any proposals for support to FINCA in South Africa. My Department has had discussions with the South African Small Enterprise Foundation (SEF) about potential proposals.
DFID has also offered to finance a study to help the Mineworkers Development Agency (MDA; the development arm of South Africa's National Union of Mineworkers) establish a rural banking facility, for micro
2 Jul 1999 : Column: 286
credit as well as savings. The MDA has held discussions with a number of potential partners in this venture, including FINCA and SEF.
Mr. Worthington:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what plans she has to support child care provision in Romania. [89044]
Mr. Foulkes
[holding answer 1 July 1999]: We are presently exploring with the Department for Child Protection of the Government of Romania how best we can assist them, taking account of other donor support in this area.
Mr. Worthington:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what humanitarian assistance her Department has provided to improve child care provision in central and eastern Europe. [89045]
Mr. Foulkes
[holding answer 1 July 1999]: We financed a Child Care project in Romania between 1995 and 1998. This provided advice on the framing of child care legislation, support for the development of model Centres for Family Support and Child Protection, and assistance at county council (judet) level with the development of sustainable and accountable services to vulnerable children and families. The total cost was about £339,000. The project was managed by the European Children's Trust.
In Bulgaria, we co-financed with the EU (Phare) a project to advise on child care legislation and good practices. We provided £90,000 in 1998 for a three month study visit to the UK by child care practitioners. We have just started a £300,000 project to advise the Ministries of Education, Health and Labour and Social Policy on alternatives to institutional child care. This is being managed by Save The Children Fund.
We are also financing projects in south-eastern Europe to address the problems of refugee children in the region as a result of the Kosovo crisis. For example we have contributed £300,000 to Save The Children Fund for regional programmes, which include non-formal education through local groups and volunteer teachers; £160,000 to Children's Aid Direct for the distribution of school materials and equipment for Kosovo refugees and host communities in Macedonia; and an unearmarked sum of £2.25 million to UNICEF for their activities in the region. UNICF are aiming to improve access to health care and primary education. They have been effective in developing and advocating child friendly spaces in camps and other locations. These spaces provide basic services for children and mothers such as baby care, pre-school, primary school, recreational activities, counselling and basic health and nutrition education.
Through the newly established Humanitarian Assistance Field Office in Pristina, we will continue to identify further areas of support in accordance with the needs of the returning refugees and the displaced people of Kosovo.
2 Jul 1999 : Column: 287
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |