| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
Correspondence
Mr. Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he plans to provide a substantive answer to the question from the hon. Member for Runnymede and Weybridge tabled on 13 April (ref 80286). [91726]
Mr. Denham: I replied to the hon. Member on 15 July.
Primary Care Groups (Management Allowances)
Mr. Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what are (a) the maximum and (b) the minimum per capita management allowances for 1999-2000 paid to primary care groups in England. [91727]
Mr. Denham: The information requested is not yet available centrally.
FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS
EU Codes of Conduct
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer to the right hon. Member for Penrith and The Border (Mr. Maclean) of 20 January 1999, Official Report, column 506, on the European Commission, if he will make a statement on progress made on drawing up the three Codes of Conduct. [90744]
Ms Quin: Two of the three Codes of Conduct (those governing the conduct of Commissioners and relations between Commissioners and their Departments) were adopted in March. They are available on the internet at:
http//europa.eu.int/comm/codesofconduct/index--en.htm.
The third Code, on the conduct of Commission staff, is still being negotiated.
Intergovernmental Conferences
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what are the procedures through which access is permitted to tape recordings of intergovernmental conferences. [90702]
Ms Quin: The Presidency and Council Secretariat are the only bodies which are allowed access to the tape recordings of intergovernmental conferences.
Gibraltar
Mr. Maples: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans he has to invoke Article 227 against Spain in respect of delays at the border with Gibraltar. [91245]
Ms Quin: We continue to press the Commission to take action to ensure that Spain fulfils its EU obligations in respect of traffic crossing the Gibraltar/Spain border. We take every opportunity to make clear to Spain that the current delays are unacceptable. My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary will be raising the issue with members of the Commission.
Mr. Maples:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations he has made to the European Commission concerning the obstruction of movement between Spain and Gibraltar. [90143]
16 Jul 1999 : Column: 365
Ms Quin:
Our Permanent Representative to the EU, Sir S. Wall, wrote to the President of the European Commission on this subject on 11 February, and again on 22 June. Our Permanent Representative was in regular contact with the Commission in the intervening period.
Mr. Maples:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what data he has collated on the expulsion of non-Serbian inhabitants from the Sanjak region; and if he will make a statement. [91232]
Mr. Tony Lloyd:
Although we do not keep extensive data, our Embassy in Sarajevo noted reports that by May of this year, almost 16,000 refugees from the Sanjak had arrived in Sarajevo. Other reports suggest that the FRY authorities used emergency powers to intimidate non-Serbs into leaving the region for Bosnia, and have made the possibility of their return very difficult.
We support the right of return for all displaced persons in the region regardless of their ethnic background.
Mr. Cohen:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations his Department has made to the Russian authorities concerning the case of Alexander Nikitin. [91721]
Ms Quin:
The Foreign Secretary raised Nikitin's case when he visited Murmansk on 3 March. I raised the subject with the Russian ambassador in October. As EU Presidency, we led representations to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs about his case on 24 February last year. We are following his case, and are ready to raise the issue again should this be necessary.
Mr. Ruffley:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) if he will conduct an inquiry into the disclosure of Foreign and Commonwealth Office documents referred to in press reports on 13 July, relating to Mr. Michael Ashcroft; [91544]
Mr. Tony Lloyd:
An inquiry was instituted on 13 July into the circumstances of the leak. We need to await the result of that inquiry. The rules applying to Ministers as regards access to papers of a previous Administration also apply to Special Advisers.
Mr. Ruffley:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if the disclosure of Foreign and Commonwealth Office documents referred to in press reports on 13 July, relating to Mr. Michael Ashcroft, was authorised by Ministers. [91545]
Mr. Tony Lloyd:
Ministers did not authorise the disclosure of the documents referred to, nor were they aware in advance of the unauthorised release of official documents.
16 Jul 1999 : Column: 366
Mr. Ruffley:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if Foreign and Commonwealth Office documents relating to Mr. Michael Ashcroft referred to in press reports of 13 July were disclosed by (a) Departmental Special Advisers, (b) another third party with the knowledge of Departmental Special Advisers and (c) other means. [91546]
Mr. Tony Lloyd:
We are not aware who disclosed these documents. An inquiry is being conducted.
Mr. Gardiner:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proposals he has for the timing of further sales of British gold reserves; and if he will make a statement. [91771]
Ms Hewitt:
I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to my hon. Friend the Member for Hove (Mr. Caplin) on 7 May 1999, Official Report, column 485.
Mr. Caplin:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the outcome of the ECOFIN Council held in Brussels on 12 July; and if he will make a statement. [91824]
Mr. Jim Marshall:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the outcome of the ECOFIN Council held in Brussels on 14 July; and if he will make a statement. [91849]
Ms Hewitt:
The programme for the Finnish Presidency was discussed in open debate and given a broad welcome.
There was discussion of economic and financial issues arising in the draft common strategy for Ukraine.
There was a discussion of the economic and financial aspects of the crises in Kosovo and the Western Balkans. A mandate for the Presidency for the 13 July High Level group was agreed.
There was general endorsement of the key elements of a Presidency proposal on the guarantee from the Community Budget for EIB loans to third countries.
A technical report on the provision of statistics in the euro area was agreed and published.
Two presidency reports on the implementation of OLAF (the European Anti-Fraud Office) and the appointment of a supervisory Committee were considered. Following slight amendment, the Reports were approved.
The Commission made a brief presentation of the draft decision on Own Resources, adopted by the Commission last week. The Presidency said it would proceed swiftly to a more detailed examination by the Council.
With regard to VAT on labour intensive services, Coreper was asked to reach agreement on a list of such services in time for agreement on the proposal at ECOFIN on 8 October.
16 Jul 1999 : Column: 367
Mr. Fallon:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on his plans for establishing a state-owned venture capital bank under the PFI, indicating the proposals for accountability to Parliament. [91689]
Mr. Milburn:
There are no plans for a state investment bank. I will be announcing the Government's response to Sir Malcolm Bates's report on the PFI shortly.
Jackie Ballard:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what new data series separated by gender, race, disability and age have been commissioned by his Department since June 1997. [90531]
Mr. Morley:
MAFF has not commissioned any new internal surveys separated by gender, race, disability or age since June 1997. It is an area which is kept constantly under review.
MAFF established a database of information relating to the ethnic origin of staff in 1989. The information is collected voluntarily and is updated annually. The database currently holds information on 95 per cent. of staff.
(2) if Special Advisers in his Department had access to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office documents referred to in press reports on 13 July relating to Mr. Michael Ashcroft. [91547]
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |