---

Customs and Excise (Millennium Hours)

Mr. Baldry: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what hours Her Majesty's Customs and Excise will be working over the Christmas and New Year period 1999-2000; and if those hours differ from arrangements in previous years. [98045]

Dawn Primarolo: The Department expects to have staff on duty round the clock throughout the Christmas and Millennium holidays. The levels of staffing will be determined locally by managers who will judge the relative level of risk from smuggling or other forms of evasion. There is no reason to expect the levels of attendance at Christmas to be different from previous years except where changes to traffic or other local factors have led to changes of risk.

Special arrangements have been made for the Millennium holidays. Some 350-400 staff attendances will take place during the holidays to ensure IT and building systems are working correctly. For operational staff the numbers of staff on duty will be determined throughout the period by local managers again according to perceptions of risk and other needs. Managers will make these judgments taking into account the plans of shipping/airline companies to ensure that staffing levels are kept to the minimum necessary to meet the risk.

PRIME MINISTER

Departmental Heads of Information

Mr. Baker: To ask the Prime Minister if he will list the changes of personnel holding posts within the Civil Service as departmental heads of information since 1 May 1997. [96338]

The Prime Minister: I will write to the hon. Member.

Research and Information Office

Mr. Baker: To ask the Prime Minister (1) what the anticipated annual running costs, including staff costs, are of the Research and Information Office within 10 Downing street; [96411]

11 Nov 1999 : Column: 784

(2) what is the job description of the head of the Research and Information Office within 10 Downing street. [96332]

The Prime Minister [holding answer 2 November 1999]: Bill Bush is employed as a Special Adviser to the Prime Minister under terms and conditions set out in the Model Contract for Special Advisers. Schedule 1 (part 1) of the Contract sets out the role and duties of Special Advisers. Bill Bush advises the Prime Minister on the operation and management of a single information resource at No. 10, the Research and Information Office (RIO), which provides briefing for the Prime Minister and No. 10 staff. A key part of the job is to advise on the use of the latest technology to enhance No. 10's Information Management Systems. The RIO is staffed by a mix of permanent civil servants and Special Advisers. The Private Secretary with responsibility for Parliamentary Affairs is the line manager for the permanent civil servants in the RIO. The anticipated annual running costs for the RIO, including staff costs, for 1999-2000 are £301,183.

Downing Street (Maintenance)

Mr. Baker: To ask the Prime Minister how much has been spent on (a) maintaining, (b) decorating and (c) otherwise improving 10 Downing street since 1 May 1997; how much has been spent on wallpaper; and what plans exist for future spending. [97594]

The Prime Minister [holding answer 8 November 1999]: Maintaining, decorating and otherwise improving 10 Downing street is part of a continuing programme of work. No. 10, now as in the past, is maintained to standards appropriate to its status as a Grade 1 listed building, as laid down by the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions, in consultation with Westminster City Council and English Heritage as appropriate. The building also fulfils an important representational role.

Expenditure is recorded by financial years. No distinction is made between maintaining, decorating and otherwise improving the property as projects frequently cover two or more of these categories of work. Since 2 May 1997, the recorded expenditure by the Cabinet Office for No. 10 Downing street is:

1997-98: £188,000

1998-99: £348,000

April-October 1999: £435,000.

The expenditure is mainly attributable to the refurbishment of the state rooms and converting the top floor of the building into office accommodation. Approximately £1,200 has been spent on supplies of wallpaper.

Expenditure prior to 1997-98 is recorded in respect of the Nos. 10-12 Downing street complex as a whole and it is not possible to separately identify expenditure in respect of No. 10. On this basis recorded expenditure is as follows:

1995-96: £504,700

1996-97: £1,486,775.

Plans for future years' expenditure have yet to be agreed.

11 Nov 1999 : Column: 785

Rural Development (Ministry)

Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Prime Minister if he will create a ministry for rural development; and if he will make a statement. [97839]

The Prime Minister: I keep the machinery of Government regularly under review but have no plans to create a new ministry for rural development.

Balkans

Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to his letter of 8 November to the hon. Member for Linlithgow (a) what he has made of the number of refugees made homeless in (i) Kosovo before the ceasefire and (ii) Krajina, (b) what is his latest estimate of the number of mass murders in Kosovo, (c) what he has made of the effectiveness of sanctions in achieving democratic reform in the former Republic of Yugoslavia, (d) what support he has had from the International Committee of the Red Cross for sanctions against Serbia, (e) what requests he has received through international humanitarian organisations for exemptions from sanctions against Serbia and (f) if he will identify the western structures to which he is referring. [98273]

The Prime Minister: Although reliable figures are hard to establish, reports received from agencies on the ground, such as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), indicate that approximately 860,000 Kosovar Albanians were made homeless before the ceasefire. Reports also indicate that 330,000 Serb refugees left Krajina, 300,000 of whom are in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and 30,000 are in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Our estimate for the number of murders in Kosovo before KFOR entering remains at 10,000.

Sanctions are a recognised international tool for applying pressure to governments who are operating outside internationally accepted norms. This is one element of the economic and diplomatic pressure against the Milosevic regime which we hope will lead to democratic reform in Serbia. We and the European Union are working to ensure that the sanctions are properly aimed at the Milosevic regime, and not the ordinary people of Serbia. The EU visa ban and assets freeze against key members and supporters of the Milosevic regime are examples of this approach. At the same time we are working with the Serbian democratic opposition, for example on the "Energy for Democracy" Initiative.

The recent 27th International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent called on the Security Council to take into account the needs of the civilian population and apply humanitarian exemptions as appropriate when applying sanctions. We and our EU partners are acting in full accordance with this approach, allowing exceptions to sanctions on humanitarian grounds.

Requests for humanitarian exemptions to the EU oil embargo have been made by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and were approved. Exceptions have also been made for various Non-Governmental Organisations involved in de-mining,

11 Nov 1999 : Column: 786

to allow their military equipment needed for de-mining to enter Kosovo, which remains part of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and so is subject to the arms embargo.

"Integration into western structures" refers in particular to the promotion of increasingly closer relations with the EU and NATO.

Ministerial Visits

Mr. Tyrie: To ask the Prime Minister if he will list the total cost including travel, accommodation and subsistence allowances, and the place visited on each occasion that Lance Price, Hilary Coffman, Kate Garvey, Fiona Millar, Sally Morgan and Anji Hunter travelled abroad in an official capacity since 2 May 1997, whether accompanied by him or not. [94529]

The Prime Minister: Officials in my Office regularly accompany me on official overseas visits and I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend, the Member for Stalybridge and Hyde (Mr. Pendry) on 17 June 1999, Official Report, columns 196-97, which accounted fully for the costs of my official visits overseas during the period 2 May 1997 to 31 March 1999, including the costs of those accompanying me. In addition, during the conflict in Kosovo Anji Hunter visited Macedonia and Albania and Hilary Coffman visited NATO Headquarters in Brussels and Romania at a total cost of £4,166. Anji Hunter also visited Chicago in April this year on official business; her travel costs were £3,936. Normal subsistence rates for civil servants have applied and all visits have been in accordance with the rules set out in the Ministerial Code.

Mr. Mackinlay: To ask the Prime Minister if he will list the visits made since May 1997 by Government Ministers to the Ukraine indicating the duration of each visit and its purpose. [98004]

The Prime Minister: There have been the following visits to the Ukraine by Ministers since May 1997:

Visitor	Dates	Purpose
Secretary of State for Defence	16-17 September 1997	Attend the UK-Polish-Ukranian exercise ("Cossack Steppe")
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for International Development	23-26 November 1997	Consultations on the UK's technical assistance strategy for Ukraine
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for International Development	11-12 May 1998	Attend European Bank for Reconstruction and Development's Annual Meeting
Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Minister for Europe)	23-25 June 1998	Consultations on bilateral and multilateral issues
Secretary of State for Defence	17-18 June 1999	Consultations on bilateral defence co-operation, NATO and Kosovo

---