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Procurement Projects

Mr. Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the procurement projects worth £300 million or more for which, since 1996, (a) delivery dates, (b) stage payment dates and (c) in-service dates have been varied from those specified in the original contracts. [118264]

Dr. Moonie: The information requested is not readily available; however, I will write to the hon. Member and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

Helsinki European Council

Mr. Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence following the decisions made at the Helsinki European Council relating to a Common Defence and Security capability of the European Union, which tasks within the remit of armed forces acting on the authority of the Council are additional to those capable of being conducted by agreement of all members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation; and who is responsible for liaison between the Political and Military Committee of the European Council and the decision-making authority of NATO. [118866]

Mr. Hoon: At Helsinki, EU member states made a commitment to be able, by 2003, to deploy rapidly and sustain up to 60,000 troops capable of undertaking the full range of Petersberg tasks. The Petersberg tasks are defined as humanitarian intervention, rescue operations, peacekeeping, and crisis management (including peacemaking). NATO is capable of conducting all of these tasks.

The mechanisms for liaison between the EU Political and Security Committee and the NATO North Atlantic Council are being developed in accordance with the conclusions of the Helsinki European Council and the NATO Washington Summit.

Balkans (Equipment)

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the total cost to his Department of equipment lost, damaged, and no longer available for MOD use in (a) Bosnia and (b) Kosovo; and if he will make a statement. [119167]

Mr. Spellar: The estimated total cost of stock written off to date, in relation to operations in the Balkans, is:

(a) Bosnia: £11.0 million (including £1.303 million for one Hercules aircraft)
(b) Kosovo: £1.4 million.

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Northern Ireland Regiments

Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what guidelines govern the involvement of part-time and serving members of the armed forces in political activities; if members of the (a) Ulster Defence Regiment and (b) Royal Irish Regiment are subject to separate guidelines for Northern Ireland; and how many soldiers have been dismissed for political activities in each year since the UDR was created. [118980]

Mr. Spellar: Guidelines on political activity for members of the armed forces, including full-time and part-time members of the Royal Irish Regiment, are contained in Queens Regulations for each service.

The Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) used to have a separate set of Regulations with guidelines on political activities, and these clearly stated that Queens Regulations also applied to UDR personnel.

We have no records of the number of soldiers dismissed for engaging in political activities.

Meteorological Stations

Mrs. Ray Michie: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the social and economic impact on remote and island communities of the automation of meteorological stations; and if he will make a statement. [118969]

Dr. Moonie [holding answer 14 April 2000]: This is a matter for the Chief Executive of the Meteorological Office. I have asked the Chief Executive to write to the hon. Member.

Letter from Peter Ewins to Mrs. Ray Michie, dated 18 April 2000:

I am replying to your question to the Secretary of State for Defence about the social and economic impact on remote and island communities of the automation of meteorological stations. This matter falls within my area of responsibility as Chief Executive of The Met Office.
The Met Office is looking to improve efficiency and reduce costs in the delivery of weather services. The automation of meteorological stations is not a new initiative but an important part of this strategy.
Trials are to commence shortly to assess the feasibility of extending the automation process into areas where, up to now, manual observations have been seen as necessary for our operations. Assuming a satisfactory outcome from the trials, we plan to automate the observing functions at several locations around the United Kingdom, including Tiree Airport.
We recognise that the withdrawal of Met Office observers from Tiree, should this be the outcome, could have an adverse impact on the local community, and this I would very much regret. In particular, the services delivered by the Highlands and Islands Airport Ltd are likely to be affected. We are, therefore, discussing options with them to examine how they could continue to provide the Aerodrome Meteorological reports which are necessary for airport operations, in the absence of our observers.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Post Offices

Mrs. Fiona Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he has defined what is a reasonable distance when determining access to a post office. [119757]

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Mr. Alan Johnson: Decisions on access criteria will be made in the light of the Performance and Innovation Unit's report on the post office network and subsequent consultations with interested parties.

Mr. Worthington: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what agreement he has with the Post Office about the (a) number and (b) percentage of existing Crown post offices that should be maintained. [119002]

Mr. Alan Johnson: As set out in the White Paper "Post Office Reform: A World Class Service for the 21st Century", the Government agreed a strategy, reflecting proposals put by the Post Office to the trade unions, of retaining a core of directly owned and managed Crown offices. For the foreseeable future, the Post Office intends that at least 15 per cent. of the total business transacted by the counters' network is done at Crown offices.

Mr. Worthington: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if changes have taken place since May 1997 in the restrictions on the activities of Crown post offices. [119003]

Mr. Alan Johnson: No.

Mr. Truswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps he will promote to maximise the income of sub-postmasters from (a) benefit transactions and (b) other transactions following the introduction of automated credit transfers in post offices. [119205]

Mr. Alan Johnson: The Government have given a commitment that all benefit recipients who wish to access their benefits in cash at post offices will continue to be able to do so, both before and after the migration of benefit payments to automated credit transfer from 2003. By equipping the whole of the post office network with Horizon, a modern, automated IT platform towards the capital costs of which the Government are contributing £480 million, from spring 2001 the Post office will be able to improve its services to existing clients and take advantage of new business opportunities. In particular, Horizon offers the potential to move into automated network banking on an agency basis and to use the post office network as a delivery channel for electronic Government services.

Companies House

Mr. Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what targets he has set Companies House for 2000-01. [119987]

Mr. Byers: I have set Companies House the following targets for the year 2000-01.

Operational Targets
To process 99 per cent. of statutory documents within five days of receipt at Companies House.
To achieve, on average, a monthly compliance rate for accounts submitted of 95 per cent.
To ensure that there is a minimum of 98 per cent. error-free work in current processing.
To ensure that 96 per cent. of all forms submitted to Companies House are captured error-free.
To answer 90 per cent. of all incoming telephone calls within 20 seconds.

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Questions delegated to the Chief Executive
The Chief Executive to reply within 10 days to all letters from Members of Parliament delegated to him for reply.
Complaints Handling
To clear up 90 per cent. of complaints within five days.
Financial Targets
To maintain a unit cost reduction of 3 per cent. in real terms on document registration.
To achieve, taking one year with another, a 6 per cent. average rate of return based on the operating surplus expressed as a percentage of average net assets.
To pay bills due within 30 days, or other agreed credit terms, on receipt of goods or services or a valid invoice, whichever is later.

I have placed copies of the Corporate Plan in the Libraries of the House.

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