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Coal Mining
Mr. Clapham: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he last discussed state aid for the UK deep coal mining industry with DG VII; and if he will make a statement. [109021]
Mrs. Liddell: Officials in the Department are in regular contact with the European Commission on issues concerning the coal industry and the European Coal and Steel Community State aid regime that applies to it.
Natural Gas
Mr. Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate he has made of the life span of British natural gas resources at the current rate of depletion, and taking into account the consents for gas-powered electricity generating stations which have been granted but not implemented. [109115]
Mrs. Liddell
[holding answer 8 February 2000]: Estimates of the United Kingdom's remaining recoverable reserves of gas are given in the Department of Trade and Industry's "Development of the Oil and Gas Resources of the United Kingdom 1999", a copy of which is in the Library of the House. This shows that discovered reserves could yield 1,795 billion cubic metres (bcm). This is equivalent to 18 years of production at current rates. If the full potential from as yet undrilled structures were to
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be realised, this could raise discovered reserves to 3,625 bcm. Estimates of reserves are, however, not constant over time and exploration may add to these estimates.
Whether production from these reserves will fully meet UK demand for any future period depends on a number of variables such as the timing of commencement and cessation of production in particular fields. As the Government indicated in their Energy White Paper in October 1998 (Cm 4071), it is likely that some gas imports would be required by the end of this decade.
Mr. Mitchell:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what guidance he has given to enforcement officials in respect of sales of goods sold from loose stock by measured weight in metric and imperial units. [109442]
Dr. Howells:
Local authorities have an independent statutory responsibility to enforce weights and measures legislation. As with the earlier stages of metrication, DTI has encouraged the local authorities to provide small traders with information and advice about the change to metric weights for the sale of loose goods, and to recognise the difficulties that some small traders have had in changing to metric weights by 31 December 1999.
Correspondence
Mr. Canavan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he will reply to the letter from the hon. Member for Falkirk, West, dated 17 December 1999, referring to an unanswered letter from the Trident Ploughshares campaign, dated 31 August 1999. [105908]
Mr. Spellar: I replied to my hon. Friend on 22 January.
Punishment Warrants
Mr. Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what was the total number of summary trials resulting in punishment warrants in the Royal Navy in (a) 1995, (b) 1996, (c) 1997, (d) 1998 and (e) 1999. [107869]
Mr. Spellar [holding answer 1 February 2000]: The information requested is as follows:
| Year | Number |
|---|---|
| 1995 | 284 |
| 1996 | 220 |
| 1997 | 218 |
| 1998 | 196 |
| 1999 | (2)128 |
(2) Reported to date
Land Mine Clearance
Mrs. Ray Michie:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent research his Department has
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(a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on the effectiveness of methods currently in use for anti-personnel land mines clearance. [108633]
Dr. Moonie:
My Department has not conducted any recent research specifically on the effectiveness of methods currently in use for anti-personnel land mine clearance. However, we have carried out limited trials on commercially produced hand held metal detectors.
Mrs. Ray Michie:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent representations he has received concerning the Dervish anti-personnel land mines clearance project. [108632]
Dr. Moonie:
Since 1997, my Department has received a number of representations concerning the Dervish anti-personnel land mines clearance project and the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA) has been in correspondence with the head of the project team. The Dervish device is intended for area clearance of anti-personnel mines and while it may have a role in humanitarian mine clearance, the system does not currently meet the requirements of the Armed Services.
Mr. Hancock:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the impact of the UK's decision to pull out of Project Horizon on the future integration of European defence (a) policies and (b) industries. [109036]
Dr. Moonie:
In April 1999, the participating nations--UK, France and Italy--decided not to proceed with the tri-national Horizon programme upon completion of its Project Definition phase in October 1999. We are, however, continuing to develop collaboratively the Principal Anti-Air Missile System.
The continuing commitment of European nations to strengthen their military capabilities, and to develop the means for undertaking crisis management, was demonstrated in the conclusions of both the European Council and North Atlantic Council meetings of Defence and Foreign Ministers in December 1999.
The Government remain committed to facilitating European defence industrial restructuring. We have negotiated a Framework Agreement with European partner nations designed to remove unnecessary obstacles to defence restructuring and hope to sign this Agreement shortly.
Mr. Mitchell:
To ask the President of the Council if, pursuant to her answer of 8 December 1999, Official Report, column 532W, concerning the proposed European Charter of Human Rights, she will list the meetings which the hon. Members for Bridgend (Mr. Griffiths) and for Eastleigh (Mr. Chidgey) and the Baroness Howells have (a) attended or (b) plan to attend; and if a Minister will report to the House on progress in the work of the drafting body prior to its submission to the European Council. [108754]
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Mr. Vaz:
I have been asked to reply.
There have been two meetings of the Charter of Rights Convention: on 17 December 1999 and 1-2 February 2000. The two parliamentary delegates were present at both. The next Convention session is an informal meeting on 24-25 February. The individual delegates and alternates are best placed to say which future meetings they plan to attend.
The House will have several opportunities to discuss the Charter, for example in the six-monthly debate before the June 2000 European Council.
Mr. Mitchell:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the approximate expenditure to date of the European Union in respect of the Partnership Agreement with the Ukraine; how much is budgeted for 2000; what (a) proposals and (b) reports concerning such expenditure have been compiled; and whether each of these has been made public. [105083]
Mr. Vaz:
There is a wide range of Community and bilateral programmes which support the EU/Ukraine Partnership and Co-operation Agreement. The main Community programme is TACIS, from which over 600 million euro was committed between 1991-98. The TACIS 2000 budget for Ukraine has not yet been decided. Since 1991, Ukraine has also benefited from EU grants towards the closure of Chernobyl (210 million euro), EU macro-financial loans (565 million euro) and humanitarian aid (12 million euro). In addition EU member states have provided bilaterally some 2.5 billion euro in loans and grants between 1991 and 1997. The European Commission's proposals for TACIS spending appear in its Country Strategy Papers, which are not made public. Reports of TACIS expenditure are, however, published annually. An independent evaluation of TACIS in Ukraine was published in 1998.
Mr. Cox:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the latest developments in the middle east peace process. [109053]
Mr. Hain:
We are greatly concerned by the recent escalation of violence in Lebanon and the suspension of Permanent Status Talks between the Israelis and Palestinians.
We urge all parties in Lebanon to exercise restraint and to respect the April 1996 Understandings. These incidents confirm the pressing need for renewed efforts to achieve a comprehensive negotiated peace in the region, including implementation of UNSCR 425.
We have high-level contact with all the parties to the peace process and offer what help we can in the search for agreement.
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Mr. Gapes:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans he has to attend the 2000 Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. [109175]
Mr. Hain:
I represent my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs at the NPT Review Conference and deliver the UK address to the plenary session. I would welcome any thoughts my hon. Friend might have on the matter.
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