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HOUSE OF COMMONS

Modernisation

50. Kali Mountford: To ask the President of the Council how many recommendations have been made by the Select Committee on Modernisation of the House of Commons; and how many have been implemented. [118176]

Mrs. Beckett: The Modernisation Committee reported at the beginning of this Session that of the 56 recommendations we have made, 47 have been approved by the House and implemented either in whole or in part. Since then, another one has been implemented by the use of a second Reading Committee for the Royal Parks (Trading) Bill.

53. Mr. Bercow: To ask the President of the Council if she will bring forward proposals to the Select Committee on Modernisation of the House of Commons to increase the amount of time available for oral questions. [118179]

Mr. Tipping: No. But any Member of the House may put proposals to the Modernisation Committee.

Parliamentary Adjournments and Recesses

52. Mr. Barnes: To ask the President of the Council if she will make it her policy that hon. Members should be able (a) to have written questions answered and (b) to table and have published early-day motions during parliamentary adjournments; and if she will make a statement. [118178]

Mr. Tipping: The Modernisation Committee is currently looking at questions in the recess; until now, no Member has raised the matter of EDMs.

58. Mr. Burns: To ask the President of the Council if she will make a statement on the factors that she takes into account in determining parliamentary recesses. [118185]

Mr. Tipping: My right hon. Friend takes many factors into account in determining Parliamentary recesses, including the progress of business, Members' needs to have time for constituency business, and the desirability of arrangements which allow Members and staff to spend time with their families.

Visitor Facilities

54. Angela Smith: To ask the President of the Council to ask the hon. Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire, representing the House of Commons Commission, what recent discussions the Commission has had on the provision of refreshment facilities for visitors to the House. [118180]

Mr. Kirkwood: This is primarily a matter for the Catering Committee, as my hon. Friend knows. In my reply to her on 26 July 1999, Official Report, columns 17-18, I indicated that provision of the Visitor Centre depended

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upon acquisition and conversion of Westminster Hall cafeteria once Portcullis House was functioning. Work towards establishing the Visitor Centre is accordingly expected to begin in 2001.

Human Rights Committee

55. Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the President of the Council what plans she has to propose the establishment of a human rights committee. [118181]

Mr. Tipping: Draft Standing Orders for a Joint Committee on Human Rights are in preparation. The Government propose that the Committee should have a wide remit to study human rights in the United Kingdom. It remains the expectation that the Joint Committee will start its work before implementation of the Human Rights Act.

Electronic Voting

57. Ms Coffey: To ask the President of the Council what representations she has received on electronic voting. [118183]

Mr. Tipping: I have received no written representations.

Portcullis House

Mr. Cox: To ask the Chairman of the Accommodation and Works Committee when Portcullis House will be opened. [118820]

Sir Sydney Chapman: Hon. Members and their staff will start to be moved into the building in September.

DEFENCE

Crossmaglen Gaelic Athletic Association

Mr. John D. Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what amount of public funds was paid as compensation to Crossmaglen Gaelic Athletic Association for use of a portion of their playing fields; and if he will make a statement. [119019]

Mr. Ingram: I have been asked to reply.

Responsibility for the matter in question has been delegated to the Compensation Agency under its Chief Executive, Mr. Denis Stanley. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.

Letter from Denis Stanley to Mr. John D. Taylor, dated 18 April 2000:

The Secretary of State has asked me, as Chief Executive of the Compensation Agency in Northern Ireland, to reply to your recent Question about compensation paid to Crossmaglen Gaelic Athletic Association in respect of use of part of their land by the security forces.
Land belonging to the Association was first requisitioned by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland under the Emergency Provisions Act in 1974. In 1985 a sum of £150,000 was paid by way of compensation in respect of the period 1974 to February 1985. This compensation was a composite amount and covered both physical damage to the property and the requisitioning of land. For

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the period subsequent to February 1985 the amount of compensation payable in respect of requisitioned land has been the subject of an appeal to the County Court which is still on-going.
I hope this explains the position.

AWE Aldermaston

Mr. Rendel: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 5 April 2000, Official Report, columns 486-87W, on AWE Aldermaston, against what criteria the parent companies were judged to ensure that they achieved full compliance on safety performance. [118561]

Mr. Spellar [holding answer 10 April 2000]: The assessments of the competing consortiums' bids were made on the basis of a safety criterion with 28 components of which 20 were classed as critical. Compliance was required against each of the critical components in order for the bid to be processed further. The components are as shown--(C=Critical; NC=Non-critical):

Policy, Strategy and General
To maintain, and where appropriate improve, an effective policy and strategy for ensuring high health safety and environmental performance (C).
Achievement of applicable standards and maintenance of company standards (C).
Track Record (C).
Co-operation with Authority's safety bodies (C).
Safety QA and documentation (C).
Provision of safety services (C).
Measuring Safety Performance
An effective safety performance measurement system to cover all significant and appropriate Environment Safety and Health matters on and off site (C).
Effective accident and incident investigation, analysis and reporting (C).
Planning, Implementing and Maintaining Safety
Five year plan (C).
Maintenance and improvement of an effective safety management system and improvement of performance as appropriate (C).
Provision of management prospectus (C).
Maintenance of site as safe place to be, safe working, justification of operations and facilities, peer review (C).
Control of hazardous materials, including criticality safety and explosives, and control of all wastes (C).
Nuclear weapon safety (C).
Provision of emergency response (C).
Restriction of access to designated premises (C).
Effective planning and implementation (NC).
Organisation for implementing Policy
Senior personnel (C).
The maintenance of effective communications on safety matters and provision of information (C).
Competence (C).
Safety culture (NC).
Management Control (NC).
Employee involvement (in Environment Safety and Health activity) (NC).
Regulatory interface (NC).

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Audit, Review, Action tracking, Verification and Essential Services
Effective corrective action including planning and verification of close out (C).
An effective audit system with benchmarking (NC).
Collective review of safety performance information and analysis for trends and causes (NC).
Measures to maintain essential services (NC).

Munitions

Mr. Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on progress with long-range precision munitions; and if he will make a statement. [117487]

Dr. Moonie [holding answer 3 April 2000]: The Strategic Defence Review identified precision weapons as an increasingly important military capability. The value of long-range all-weather precision weapons was confirmed during Kosovo and they are a key capability in the NATO Defence Capabilities Initiative. Long-range weapons allow the UK armed forces to strike with less risk to UK personnel and equipment, and precision guidance reduces the risk of civilian casualties.

Our current long-range precision strike capability is provided by the submarine-launched Tomahawk Land Attack Missile (TLAM) which entered service in 1998 and proved effective during Kosovo. From 2002 this capability will be complemented by the introduction of the air-launched Storm Shadow missile.

Ministry of Defence Police

Mr. Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the Royal Ordnance sites from which Ministry of Defence Police cover will be withdrawn; on what date this will take effect; and if he will make a statement. [117665]

Dr. Moonie [holding answer 5 April 2000]: Ministry of Defence Police are currently deployed at the Royal Ordnance sites in Bridgwater, Chorley, Glascoed, Nottingham and Radway Green. Royal Ordnance has requested that they be withdrawn as a cost saving measure and replaced by alternative arrangements. We have concluded that there is not sufficient reason to insist on their retention and are commencing consultation on the withdrawal of MDP from the sites in question subject to certain physical security enhancements required by the licensing authorities.

Mr. Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Ministry of Defence Police will be deployed to Kosovo in support of the UN International Police Force; what will be the length of their tour; what training they will receive; and if he will make a statement. [117667]

Dr. Moonie [holding answer 5 April 2000]: Up to 60 Ministry of Defence Police officers are to be deployed to Kosovo in support of the UN International Police for a 12-month tour of duty. All officers are currently undergoing a four-week training course including advanced firearms tactics, explosives and weapon searches, conflict resolution, personal safety and conditions in Kosovo.

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Mr. Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will bring forward legislation to extend the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Defence Police to give them the same constabulary powers as Home Office police; and if he will make a statement. [117669]

Dr. Moonie [holding answer 5 April 2000]: The Ministry of Defence Police already have constabulary powers in the places defined in Section 2 of the Ministry of Defence Police Act 1987. The adequacy of these powers is currently being reviewed.

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