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GPS Guided Munitions

Mr. Duncan Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to acquire GPS guided munitions for the Royal Air Force. [106567]

Mr. Kilfoyle: The UK is procuring Storm Shadow, a conventionally armed stand-off missile which utilises Global Positioning Systems (GPS) technology, to provide a precision capability to defeat hardened static targets in almost all weather conditions. Storm Shadow has an In Service Date of 2002.

We are also considering the procurement of precision guided munitions to improve the accuracy with which our forces can deliver ballistic bombs, and to provide a capability for them to be delivered in almost all weather conditions. Various technological solutions are available that could provide autonomous guidance for a weapon which met such a requirement, including the use of GPS technology.

Private Finance Initiative

Mr. Jack: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which projects relating to his Department that appeared in the Private Finance Panel's list of 29 November 1995 (a) have been completed, (b) are still pending, (c) have been dropped and (d) are being pursued by means other than a public private partnership. [105877]

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Mr. Spellar: I refer the right hon. Member to the answer given today by my right hon. Friend the Chief Secretary to the Treasury.

CABINET OFFICE

Civil Service Management (Delegations)

Mr. Miller: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what delegations have been made in 1999 under the Civil Service (Management Functions) Act 1992; to whom those delegations were made; and what were the main conditions attached to them. [106534]

Mr. Stringer: Since the last report to Parliament, 14 January 1999, Official Report, columns 253-54W, new delegations have replaced previous ones to reflect the creation of the devolved administrations and machinery of government changes. Ministers and office holders in charge of departments ¹ have been given delegated authority (from 1 July 1999) under the Civil Service (Management Functions) Act 1992:

(a) to prescribe the qualifications (so far as they relate to age, knowledge, ability, professional attainment, aptitude, potential, health and coping with the demands of the job) for the appointment of home civil servants (with the exception of the Fast Stream Development Programme) in their respective departments; and

(b) to determine in respect of home civil servants in their respective departments the number and grading of posts outside the Senior Civil Service and the terms and conditions of employment in so far as they relate to the following:

i. classification of staff, with the exception of the Senior Civil Service;

ii. remuneration, with the exception of the Senior Civil Service;

iii. allowances;

iv. expenses;

v. holidays, hours of work and attendance;

vi. part-time and other working arrangements;

vii. performance and promotion;

viii. retirement age and redundancy;

ix. re-deployment of staff within the Home Civil Service.

In some cases, for staff appointed by statutory office holders, the Minister for the Civil Service was statutorily required to give consent to terms and conditions of service. For such staff, delegation has been effected by waiving that requirement, subject to the condition attached to delegation.

The delegation was subject to the condition that recipients comply with the provisions of the Civil Service Management Code as amended from time to time. Copies of the Civil Service Management Code are available in the Library of the House. All previous delegations and authorisations made under the Civil Service (Management Functions) Act 1992 were revoked with effect from 1 July 1999.

Similar delegations were also made to the National Assembly for Wales and the First Minister of the Scottish Executive. These came into effect on 7 May and 1 July 1999 respectively and were also subject to the condition that they comply with the provisions of the Civil Service Management Code as amended from time to time.

¹ The statutory office holders are:

Commissioners of Inland Revenue

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Head of the Registry of Friendly Societies, being the Chief Registrar of Friendly Societies and the First Commissioner of the Building Societies Commission

Chief Charity Commissioner

Commissioners of Customs and Excise

Crown Estate Commissioners

Director General of Electricity Supply

Director General of Fair Trading

Director General of Gas Supply

Director of National Savings

Director of Passenger Rail Franchising

Director General of Telecommunications

Director General of Water Services

Director of Public Prosecutions

Director of the Serious Fraud Office

Government Actuary

Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools in England

Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools in Wales

International Rail Regulator

Public Works Loan Commissioners

Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration and Health Service Commissioners

Rail Regulator

Government Reports

Mr. Woolas: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office when the Government's annual reports on non-departmental bodies and executive agencies will be published. [106535]

Mr. Stringer: The Executive Non-Departmental Public Bodies 1999 Report and the 1999 Executive Agencies Report will be published simultaneously in March.

Departmental Smoking Policy

Mr. Crausby: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what action she is taking to reduce smoking in her Department. [105807]

Mr. Stringer: Restrictions on smoking in Cabinet Office buildings have been in effect since 1 August 1989. Smoking is permitted only in designated areas and rooms.

Cabinet Office Staff Welfare promotes National No Smoking Day each year and has a web page on the Department's local intranet site giving tips on how to quit smoking. The Staff Welfare Officer is also available to give help and advice to anyone who needs it.

The Cabinet Office Agencies all have similar no smoking policies in place.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

World Trade Organisation

Dr. Palmer: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps her Department is taking to strengthen the World Trade Organisation's capacity to monitor the effect of present trade agreements on developing countries. [105063]

Clare Short: The WTO does not have a mandate to monitor the impact of trade agreements. It does have a responsibility to monitor developments in world trade and

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the implementation of trade agreements which it fulfils with resources from its core budget. My Department has committed £16 million of trade related technical assistance to developing countries, of which details have been placed in the House of Commons Library. This includes payments to a trust fund at the WTO to develop the capacity of developing countries to fulfil their responsibilities as WTO members and implement agreements. It also includes support for the capacity building programmes in UNCTAD and the ITC, and research to assess aspects of the effect of trade liberalisation on developing countries, for example, the effects of trade liberalisation on poverty, and the impact of WTO agreements such as the Sanitary and Phytosanitary Agreement. Studies on the impact of the Uruguay Round trade agreements by the World Bank and other bodies show that developing countries should benefit, relative to their GDP, as much as, if not more than, developed countries. Similar studies in advance of the expected new Round by the European Commission and others, offer a similar prognosis.

Mr. Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent research reports she has received on the economic impact of the first five years of the World Trade Organisation trading regime on developing countries. [105584]

Clare Short: The WTO, World Bank and the academic community have completed many reports on the economic impact of the World Trade Organisation trading regime. Ex-post assessment of the impact of changes to the world trade rules agreed under the Uruguay Round presents problems as it is almost impossible to disentangle the ex-post impact of multilateral trade liberalisation from the many other factors that have an impact on world trade and developing country economies. However, economic modelling can help to give some indication of the possible benefits which have been estimated to be between $13 billion and $125 billion for developing countries.

This research work also suggests that developing countries stand to gain at least as much as developed countries from the Uruguay Round as a proportion of GDP, although, the distribution of benefits among developing countries is not evenly spread. South East Asia does well, there are also benefits for South Asia, but sub-Saharan Africa may face a small welfare loss.

Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent representations her Department has made to the World Trade Organisation concerning procedural reform. [106334]

Clare Short: My Department has not made any representations to the World Trade Organisation concerning procedural reform. This work is being led by the Department of Trade and Industry.

Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what discussions she has had with the United States of America concerning reform of the World Trade Organisation since 1 December 1999. [106333]

Clare Short: I have not had any discussions with colleagues from the United States concerning reform of the World Trade Organisation since the WTO in Seattle.

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