| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
Naval Nuclear Material
Mr. Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the annual cost of storing Royal Navy nuclear material at BNFL Sellafield. [97643]
Mr. Kilfoyle: Spent submarine reactor fuel cores represent the only significant Royal Navy nuclear material stored at BNFL Sellafield. At today's prices, the cost of BNFL's storage service in the years 1992 to 1998 has been £0.7m, £1.2m, £1.7m, £2.8m, £2.4m, £1.5m and £1.7m respectively. The annual cost has varied with the amount of spent fuel deposited and routine examination of the spent fuel in 1995 and 1996 to ensure its integrity.
Service Posts (Women)
Mr. Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence from which posts in (a) the Army, (b) the RAF and (c) the Royal Navy women are excluded; what percentage of overall service posts this represents; and if he will make a statement. [97667]
Mr. Spellar [holding answer 8 November 1999]: The three Services are wholly committed to maximising career opportunities for women in the Armed Forces. 73 per cent. of posts in the Naval Service, 70 per cent. of posts in the Army and 96 per cent. of posts in the RAF are open to women. In the Naval Service women are excluded from the Royal Marine Commandos; in the Army posts in the Infantry and Royal Armoured Corps (including the Household Cavalry) are closed to women; and in the RAF women cannot serve in the RAF Regiment. Additionally in the Royal Navy, women cannot serve in submarines or as mine clearance divers for medical reasons.
Pensions and Compensation Reviews
Mr. Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when (a) his Department's pensions review and (b) his Department's compensation review will be (i) completed, (ii) presented to ministers and (iii) published; and if he will make a statement. [97851]
Mr. Spellar:
I am currently considering proposals from the joint MOD and DSS compensation review. The Armed Forces Pension Review is currently in progress and I expect to receive proposals next year.
10 Nov 1999 : Column: 552
Mr. Keetch:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to review the effectiveness of the SA80 weapon; and if he will make a statement. [94783]
Mr. Kilfoyle
[holding answer 20 October 1999]: It is our practice to keep the effectiveness of weapon systems under continual review. SA80 is an effective weapon system and is planned to remain in service well into the next century. We are, however, currently investigating potential improvements to the SA80 and I expect to receive recommendations in due course.
Mr. Don Foster:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much his Department spent on external consultants and advisers in each of the last four financial years. [97418]
Mr. Kilfoyle:
My Department's spending on external consultants over the last four financial years is as follows:
| Year | £ million |
|---|---|
| 1998-99 | 175.6 |
| 1997-98 | 148.1 |
| 1996-97 | 136.7 |
| 1995-96 | 150.8 |
Details of expenditure are submitted annually to the Cabinet Office Efficiency and Effectiveness Group and placed in the Library of the House.
We employ a number of individuals in an advisory capacity. Many of these are consultants whose costs will be included in the figures given in the table. We do not hold figures centrally on others employed as advisers and the information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Bonded Labour
Mr. Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what action her Department is taking to end the practice of bonded labour. [97998]
Clare Short: The Government made clear their commitment to core labour standards in the White Paper "Eliminating World Poverty". Elimination of all forms of forced or compulsory labour is one of the four core standards established by the International Labour Organisation. We are committed to the promotion of these standards both in the UK and overseas.
We are currently undertaking a strategic review of our approach to the implementation of core labour standards. It will be published later this year. However my Department is already addressing the issue at several levels. At the international level, we are a strong supporter of the International Labour Organisation (ILO). Its Declaration and Fundamental principles on the Rights at Work (1998) and Convention on the Worst Forms of Child Labour (1999) both outlaw bonded labour and offer key international standards and monitoring mechanisms. The focus of our support to date has been primarily on
10 Nov 1999 : Column: 553
the issue of child labour and the UK is currently the second largest funder of the ILO's International Programme for the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC).
Mr. Sayeed:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will review the effects of existing trade agreements on developing countries, with particular focus on smaller communities and their environment, before the WTO Seattle Conference in November. [97889]
Clare Short:
Work by the WTO and the World Bank suggests that the gains to developing countries from the Uruguay Round will have been as large, or larger, relative to income, as the benefits to developed countries. The gains by small states from trade agreements and the effects on their environment vary greatly according to their differing patterns of production and the extent to which they benefit from trade preference schemes.
Initial studies on the possible effects of the new Round identify the potential for considerable benefits for developing countries in agriculture and manufacturing. With regard to the environmental effect of the forthcoming Round, the Government strong support the European Union's Sustainability Impact Assessment. The objectives are to develop a methodology for sustainability impact assessment and to use that methodology to make a broad qualitative assessment of the Round's sustainability impact. The Government will continue to liaise with both the European Commission and the consultants in order to contribute to, and learn from, this work.
At country and regional level, DFID is working with the ILO, national governments, NGOs, trade unions and civil society organisations to promote workers rights. For example in south-east Asia we are supporting the ILO's programme to tackle trafficking in women and children across the region. Women and children are often tied to the commercial sex industry in conditions of bonded labour. We have also provided funds for Christian Aid's programme on bonded Child Labour in India.
We are also funding Anti-Slavery International to provide support to six countries to ratify the Convention on the Worst Forms of Child Labour. Anti-Slavery International has considerable expert knowledge on the issue of bonded child labour.
Mr. Sayeed:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what plans she has to (a) review market access for developing countries and (b) assess the impact of zero tariffs for agricultural and textile exports from developing to developed countries. [97892]
Clare Short:
We are continuing to work within the EU for the best possible access to EU markets for developing countries, in support of our efforts to integrate them into the multilateral trading system. The UK and EU are already committed to providing duty free access for essentially all exports from Least Developed Countries by the end of the next round of multilateral trade negotiations.
My Department is in the process of assessing the effects of further trade liberalisation in agriculture and textiles, including improved market access and reductions in tariffs. Within the context of the next round of trade
10 Nov 1999 : Column: 554
negotiations, to be launched at Seattle later this month, we will be pushing for reductions in tariff barriers, especially in areas where there are tariff peaks, as for textiles, footwear and leather, and where tariffs escalate as for processed agricultural products.
Mr. Don Foster:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much her Department spent on external consultants and advisers in each of the last four financial years. [97422]
Clare Short:
In the last four financial years our spending on external consultants and advisers was as follows:
| Year | £ million |
|---|---|
| 1995-96 | 1.2 |
| 1996-97 | 0.82 |
| 1997-98 | 1.79 |
| 1998-99 | 1.83 |
Water Consumption (West Bank and Gaza)
Mr. Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what estimates she has made of per capita water consumption by (a) Israelis and (b) Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. [97874]
Clare Short: Recent and accurate information on water usage in the West Bank and Gaza is not readily available.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |