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Online Services

Mr. Robert Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the services which (a) his Department and (b) the executive agencies responsible to his Department (i) provide online and (ii) expect to be deliverable online by 2002. [119439]

Mr. Straw: The Cabinet Office will shortly be publishing the spring 2000 report summarising progress towards the delivery of all Government services electronically by 2005. We are currently collecting data to contribute to that report. This will include our progress

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towards delivering 25 per cent. of Government services electronically by 2002. We currently provide a range of services electronically which include the following:

a 24 hour, seven day a week call centre within the United Kingdom Passport Agency, established in January this year, which is able to give members of the public responses to a wide range of inquiries, including progress of their passport applications;

the online provision of Home Office research and statistical publications. This includes the Digest of Criminal Justice Statistics, enabling criminal justice practitioners, academics and other members of the public to carry out their own analysis of criminal justice statistics; and

a comprehensive online information service, provided by the Home Office website, for all aspects of my Department's work.

Extradition Powers

Mr. McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what powers he has to seek the extradition of persons suspected of murdering British citizens abroad. [119289]

Mr. Straw: I have no powers to seek the return of persons suspected of murdering British subjects abroad unless the suspect is also a British subject. Under section 9 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861, the extraterritorial jurisdiction of courts in England and Wales extends only to cases where a British subject is accused of committing murder or manslaughter abroad and not to those where the victim is a British subject.

Dr. Harold Shipman

Mr. Pendry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if inquests will be held into the deaths of the 23 further alleged victims of Dr. Harold Shipman in connection with which the Director of Public Prosecutions has decided he should not be charged. [119723]

Mr. Straw: I understand that the relevant coroner is considering whether inquests ought to be held. Since the bodies have all been cremated in these cases, the coroner cannot proceed without my authority. If such consent is sought, I will consider very carefully whether inquests are desirable and whether to direct the coroner accordingly.

Fire Service

Kali Mountford: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he has received the recommendations of the inquiry into the machinery for determining firefighters' conditions of service. [119127]

Mr. Straw [pursuant to his reply, 12 April 2000, c. 226W]: The word "employees" was inadvertently substituted for the word "employers" in the first paragraph. The final sentence of the first paragraph should, therefore, have read:

These include proposals which would involve the acceptance by the employers and the union of conciliation and arbitration, in the event of disputes, a clarification of procedures, a streamlining of the negotiation arrangements, and an independent Chair for the National Joint Council.

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PRIME MINISTER

Synchrotron

Mr. Field: To ask the Prime Minister if he will list the dates on which meetings were held between Her Majesty's Government and the French Government on the Synchrotron project; and if he will make a statement on the nature of the French Government's representations on the siting of the Synchrotron. [117103]

The Prime Minister [holding answer 3 April 2000]: I am advised that officials from the UK Government and the French Government met on 15 September 1999, 4 November 1999 and 13 December 1999 to discuss the new synchrotron project. On 14 October 1999 my noble Friend the Minister for Science had a private discussion with the French Minister for Research and Education who stated that it would be more acceptable for the French if the synchrotron were to be located at the Rutherford Laboratory. My noble Friend had a further conversation with the French Minister on 9 March 2000, during which the French Minister said they would withdraw their support from the synchrotron project if the Wellcome Trust withdrew.

Both partners expressed the view that the favoured the Rutherford site. The French Education Ministry state publicly that

This site was strongly supported by the French partners in the project and we are delighted with this choice.

The Wellcome Trust stated that they would withdraw from the partnership if the decision was taken to locate the project at Daresbury.

Parliamentary Questions

Mr. Field: To ask the Prime Minister when he will reply to the question tabled on 28 March by the right hon. Member for Birkenhead on Government meetings in connection with the relocation of the synchrotron (reference 117103). [119693]

The Prime Minister: I have done so today.

Personal Envoys

Mr. Baker: To ask the Prime Minister if he will make it his policy to ensure that all persons carrying out duties abroad on his behalf can be questioned in Parliament. [118425]

The Prime Minister [holding answer 10 April 2000]: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, my hon. Friend the Member for Neath (Mr. Hain) to the right hon. Member for Horsham (Mr. Maude) on 12 April 2000, Official Report, column 180W.

Pig Farmers

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Prime Minister what representations he has received from pig farmers on the compensation sought for the BSE-equivalent costs. [119448]

The Prime Minister: I have received a number of representations. But, as has been made clear by Agriculture Commissioner Fischler, payment of aid to pig producers linked to BSE is not possible under EU state aid rules. Helping the industry to meet the challenges it

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faces is the way forward and this is the prime objective of the Pig Industry Aid Scheme I announced at my meeting with industry leaders on 30 March 2000.

Correspondence

Mr. Norman: To ask the Prime Minister if he will reply to the letters of 5 and 13 April from the hon. Member for Tunbridge Wells. [119682]

The Prime Minister: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 4 April 2000, Official Report, column 390W.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Accumulated Service Medals

Mr. Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what procedure was followed by the Honours and Distinction Committee to ascertain the eligibility of members of the Royal Irish Regiment claiming accumulated service medals, but for whom the necessary records were not available. [119344]

Mr. Spellar [holding answer 17 April 2000]: I have been asked to reply.

The Royal Warrant for the Accumulated Campaign Service Medal specifies that the award to Royal Irish Regiment personnel is dependent upon completion of 1,080 operational duties for full-time members, and 1,000 operational duties for part-time members. In the absence of contemporary local records, the Ministry of Defence has introduced a protocol to assist applicants in providing evidence of their operational service. Dedicated teams have been established to help applicants with their cases and each applicant is allocated his/her own case officer. As the qualifying criteria for the medal remain unchanged, there has been no need for my Department to consult the Committee on the Grant of Honours, Decorations and Medals (known as the HD Committee).

PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL

Action 2000

51. Mr. Ben Chapman: To ask the President of the Council what assessment she has made of the work of Action 2000 and the Government's Year 2000 programme. [118177]

Mrs. Beckett: The Government's year 2000 programme has been an outstanding success, with the UK almost untouched by the Bug. This is due to the hard work of many across the public and private sectors who worked in partnership with Government and Action 2000.

The work done has also delivered far-reaching benefits. These are drawn out in a Command Paper entitled "Modernising Government in Action: Realising the Benefits of Y2K" that I am publishing today. The Paper explains how the lessons and benefits of tackling the Bug are being captured across government.

56. Mr. White: To ask the President of the Council what assessment she has made of the work of Action 2000 in tackling the year 2000 problem. [118182]

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Mrs. Beckett: Action 2000's contribution in helping to tackle the Millennium Bug has been significant. The National Infrastructure Forum (NIF) alone was a remarkable achievement. The links which were forged in the NIF, and the work done to map the key processes of the national infrastructure, will be of lasting benefit.

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