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Military Support (EU Member States)

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is his policy on the commitment of military support to other EU member states proposed by the President of the European Commission on 10 February; and what representations he has made on the issue to the Commission. [115560]

Dr. Moonie: Collective defence of those EU member states who are also members of NATO is provided by NATO in accordance with Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty. This will not change. There is no such provision for countries that are not NATO members.

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence has not made any representations to the Commission on this matter.

Zimbabwe

Mr. Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which British Army personnel (a) have served during the last six months and (b) are currently serving, in Zimbabwe; and for what purpose. [115931]

Mr. Spellar: A total of 11 (nine British Army and two RAF) UK military personnel currently serve in Zimbabwe as part of the British Military Advisory and Training Team (BMATT) Southern Africa. On one occasion in the past six months the BMATT was augmented for a two week period by a further four British Army personnel to assist in the running of a training programme.

The BMATT's main role is to provide regional peacekeeping training in countries throughout the Southern Africa region.

In addition, two Army personnel (the UK Defence Adviser and his assistant) provide advice to the British High Commissioner in Harare on defence issues.

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Married Quarters

Mr. Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what has been (a) the rise or (b) the fall in demand for each grade 8 married quarters, in each quarter since January 1997. [113759]

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Dr. Moonie [holding answer 13 March 2000]: The number of married quarters of each type occupied at the beginning of each quarter since January 1997 is as follows:

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Number of occupied properties

	Type
	I	II	III	IV	V	D	C	B	Total
1-1997	70	329	1,791	3,263	4,868	3,225	24,804	14,258	52,608
2-1997	69	346	1,809	3,244	4,833	3,232	24,711	14,047	52,291
3-1997	67	342	1,819	3,206	4,842	3,257	24,408	13,914	51,855
4-1997	66	345	1,800	3,241	4,764	3,248	24,145	13,777	51,386
1-1998	67	336	1,804	3,254	4,651	3,281	23,848	13,402	50,643
2-1998	65	335	1,814	3,307	4,597	3,308	23,718	12,984	50,128
3-1998	65	343	1,799	3,346	4,640	3,256	23,591	12,794	49,834
4-1998	65	331	1,778	3,311	4,640	3,207	23,289	12,765	49,386
1-1999	65	336	1,769	3,317	4,577	3,167	23,112	12,509	48,852
2-1999	68	344	1,776	3,330	4,640	3,235	23,083	12,421	48,897
3-1999	67	344	1,774	3,402	4,690	3,221	22,967	12,444	48,909
4-1999	67	331	1,757	3,320	4,608	3,169	22,870	12,419	48,541

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Reserves

Mr. Viggers: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when the hon. Member for Gosport will receive the letter on reserve categories and capacities promised by the Minister of State for the Armed Forces in his holding answer of 15 December 1999, Official Report, column 215W. [106322]

Mr. Spellar: I wrote to the hon. Member yesterday and a copy of my letter has been placed in the Library of the House.

Parliamentary Questions

Mr. Viggers: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when the hon. Member for Gosport will receive a substantive reply to his Parliamentary Question 102828, tabled on 10 December. [109591]

Mr. Spellar [holding answer 11 February 2000]: I wrote to the hon. Member yesterday and a copy of my letter has been placed in the Library of the House.

AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD

Slaughterhouses

Mr. Hurst: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assessment he has made of the methods for charging and the cost of hygiene and veterinary inspections of slaughterhouses in other EU countries. [114948]

Ms Quin: In late 1998, we carried out a survey of meat inspection charges in other member states via our Agricultural Attaches in those countries. The Meat and Livestock Commission subsequently carried out a separate inquiry (the Pratt Report) into meat inspection charges and other enforcement costs. Both have been published and copies are available in the Library of the House.

Copies have also been provided to the European Commission. The Government have made clear to the Commission their concerns over the lack of transparency

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in the charging arrangements applied in other member states and their doubts as to whether such charges are being set on a common basis throughout the European Union, in accordance with Community law.

My right hon. Friend the Minister and officials continue to press the Commission to carry out a thorough investigation of the way in which the EU Charges Directive has been implemented in all member states, and to establish the level of inspection charges in each country. We understand that, as a result, the Commission will shortly be issuing a questionnaire to all member states as the first stage of such an investigation.

Dairy Farming (Employment)

Miss Geraldine Smith: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many people are directly employed in dairy farming in the (a) United Kingdom and (b) Morecambe and Lunesdale constituency. [115717]

Ms Quin: The total number of people working on dairy holdings in the UK is 81,027.

The total number of people working on dairy holdings in the Morecambe and Lunesdale constituency is 387.

Notes:

1. Dairy holdings are those on which dairy is the predominant activity.

2. Data for England, Scotland and Wales are for main holdings only. Northern Ireland data relates to all active farm businesses.

Source:

June 1999 Agricultural and Horticultural census.

Dairy Produce

Miss Geraldine Smith: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps the Government are taking to promote the sale of British dairy produce. [115754]

Ms Quin: In response to calls from representatives of dairy farmers the Government are widening the remit of the Milk Development Council to allow it to engage in

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the generic promotion of milk. The Milk Development Council is funded by a statutory levy paid by all milk produces in Great Britain.

EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT

LEA Funding (Northumberland)

Mr. Alan Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how much funding was awarded to the Northumberland local education authority in each year from 1997-98 to 1999-2000 in respect of (a) reduction in infant class sizes, broken down by (i) revenue and (ii) capital, (b) the National Grid for

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Learning, (c) literacy programmes, (d) numeracy programmes, (e) books for schools, (f) truancy initiatives, (g) school security, (h) Standards Fund, school effectiveness, (i) excellence in cities, (j) new deal for schools, (k) voluntary aided schools capital grant, (l) energy efficiency, (m) music programmes, (n) year six booster classes and (o) education standard spending assessment. [116013]

Ms Estelle Morris: The figures requested are shown in the following table. For Standards Fund grants, the figures include both the Government's and the local education authority's contribution where appropriate. The figures shown for Education Standard Spending Assessment also include provision for the authority's contribution to the Standards Fund.

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£

Northumberland LEA allocations	1997-98	1998-99	1999-2000
(a) Reduction of infant Class Size:
(i) Class Size revenue (within SF in 1998-99 only)	n/a	324,000	766,000
(ii) Class Size Capital	n/a	224,000	896,834
(l) Energy efficiency Capital	n/a	103,000	n/a
(k) Voluntary Aided Schools Capital	287,000	259,000	203,000
(j) New Deal for Schools Capital	542,000	1,985,000	1,908,000
(o) Education Standard Spending Assessment(1)	114,394,966	123,314,681	129,270,536
(b) National Grid for Learning	n/a	489,288	525,000
(c) Literacy Programmes	0	344,687	420,552
(e) Books for Schools	194,100	193,473	386,946
(f) Truancy Initiatives	125,800	43,100	162,756
(g) School Security	168,400	168,630	173,105
(h) School Effectiveness	1,082,600	1,209,921	1,857,250
(i) Excellence in Cities	n/a	n/a	0
(m) Music Programmes	n/a	n/a	0
(n) Year six Booster Classes	n/a	68,901	230,534

(1) In 1997-98 £527 million was removed from Education Standard Spending at national level for the Nursery Voucher Scheme, when Nursery Vouchers are added back for comparability the 1997-98 SSA equates to £118,090,000.

Notes:

n/a = Not applicable

All figures are in Cash terms.

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