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Consultants

Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how much his Department spent on external consultants and advisers in each of the last four financial years. [97428]

Mr. Wills: The Department spent the following sums on external consultants and advisers from its running cost budget.



    1997-98: £4.543 million


    1996-97: £8.216 million


    1995-96: £5.072 million.

I shall write to the hon. Member shortly with the figures for consultants and advisers funded from the Department's programme provision and place a copy in the Library.

After-school Clubs

Ms Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many places in after-school and holiday clubs there were in successful New Opportunities Fund bids up to and including the October 1999 awards broken down by local authority; and what percentage of children aged five to 14 years in each area this represented. [97560]

Mr. Chris Smith: I have been asked to reply.

In the period from 26 July 1999, when the first New Opportunities Fund out of school hours child care places were announced, to the end of October 1999, NOF announced grants totalling £7.3 million for the creation of 24,649 new child care places in 333 schemes spread across 183 local authority areas throughout the UK. I have asked the Chief Executive of the New Opportunities Fund to write directly to my right hon. Friend to provide further details of the precise breakdown of these places by local authority. Copies of his letter will be placed in the Libraries of the House.

10 Nov 1999 : Column: 542

PRIME MINISTER

Rural Policy

Mr. Peter Bradley: To ask the Prime Minister what steps he is taking to ensure co-ordination of the Government's policies affecting rural areas; and if he will make a statement. [98113]

The Prime Minister: I have established a new Cabinet Committee on rural affairs. Its membership and terms of reference are as follows. In addition to the members listed, other Ministers will be invited to attend meetings as and when business requires:














Advisory Committee on Business Appointments

Mr. Wyatt: To ask the Prime Minister if he has received the second report of the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments; and if he will make a statement. [98382]

The Prime Minister: The Committee has submitted its second report to me and I have today placed copies in the Libraries of both Houses. Since 1975 the Committee has advised the Prime Minister of the day on the propriety of business appointments that Crown servants wish to take up when they leave Crown service. Following a recommendation of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, it now also provides advice directly to former Ministers on their business appointments. The Committee's second report provides an account of their work in 1998-99.

I am very grateful to all the members for giving their time so generously to this important role. I should like to thank in particular the former Chairman, the right hon. the Lord Carlisle of Bucklow QC, who served with distinction for a number of years, as did the right hon. Lord Thomson of Monifieth, General Sir Charles Huxtable and Sir Robin Ibbs. I also join all members of the Committee in paying tribute to Lord Gillmore who died in March.

Homelessness

Mr. Flynn: To ask the Prime Minister what plans he has for the appointment of an official to co-ordinate the Government's policies on combating homelessness. [97598]

10 Nov 1999 : Column: 543

The Prime Minister: In February 1999, Louise Casey, formerly Deputy Director of Shelter, was appointed as the Director of the Rough Sleepers Unit, established within the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions to co-ordinate work across Government on tackling rough sleeping in England. I set out details of the work of the Unit in my answer to my hon. Friend of 8 February 1999, Official Report, columns 35-36.

Louise Casey was selected following an open competition and was appointed on a three year fixed term contract as a member of the Senior Civil Service.

Social Exclusion Unit

Mr. Kirkwood: To ask the Prime Minister what proposals he has for the parliamentary scrutiny of the Social Exclusion Unit. [96788]

The Prime Minister: The Social Exclusion Unit reports to me, and questions on its remit, resourcing and way of working are addressed to me. Each of the reports produced by the Unit has an action plan and timetable, which identifies a lead Department and Minister responsible for overseeing cross Whitehall implementation. That Minister is accountable to Parliament for the success of the implementation of an individual report.

Tampere Summit

Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to his oral answer of 19 October 1999, Official Report, column 261, what agreement he has reached with participants at the Tampere Summit to draw up a list of action to take against secrecy and illegality in matters related to actual and suspected drug transactions. [96884]

The Prime Minister: As I said in my answer to my hon. Friend on 25 October 1999, Official Report, columns 717-18, we agreed a range of special concrete actions against money laundering at Tampere. We also agreed that drug trafficking should be one of the forms of criminality in respect of which work should be done to define common offences and penalties, in order to ensure that these crimes can be prosecuted effectively in every member state. A copy of the Presidency Conclusions, in which the actions are listed, has been placed in the Libraries of the House.

HOUSE OF COMMONS

Scottish Grand Committee

Mrs. Ewing: To ask the hon. Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire, representing the House of Commons Commission, what budget has been allocated for Scottish Grand Committee meetings in the next session. [97654]

Mr. Kirkwood [holding answer 8 November 1999]: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to her on 9 November 1999, Official Report, columns 463-64, which explains that there is no single specific budget allocated for the Scottish Grand Committee. The House's Estimates are drawn up on a financial year, not a sessional, basis. The Estimates for the current financial year (1999-2000) include provision for expenditure of £49,800 for standing committees' travel and subsistence.

10 Nov 1999 : Column: 544

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Jiang Qisheng

Mr. Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will arrange for a representative from the British Embassy in Beijing to be present at the trial of Jiang Qisheng. [97900]

Mr. Battle: Foreign diplomats were unable to attend the trial of Jiang Qisheng on 1 November. The court is now in recess. It is not known when the next session will be held. The Chinese authorities have not allowed diplomats to attend the trials of any dissidents.

Mr. Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what action he is taking in respect of the decision of the Chinese Government to make Jiang Qisheng stand trial. [97899]

Mr. Battle: I personally raised Jiang Qisheng's case in my talks with the Chinese Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs and expressed our concerns about his trial and possible sentencing. I will continue to press his case.

Palestine

Mr. Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what action he is taking to monitor the operation of trade agreements between the European Union and both the Palestine Authority and the PLO; what assessment he has made of the levels of co-operation given by Israel to the implementation of these agreements; and what impact such co-operation has had on Palestine's ability to trade with the EU. [97873]

Mr. Hain: The monitoring of the EC/PLO interim agreement is primarily the responsibility of the European Commission. We are concerned that the agreement should be fully recognised by the Israeli government and that the Palestinians should be able to export and import from the EU within hindrance. We participate in the EU/Israel dialogue on the Palestinian economy, which discusses how the Palestinian capacity to export and import freely can be improved. Israeli co-operation in the implementation of the EC/PLO interim agreement is a very important factor affecting the Palestinians; ability to trade with the EU.

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