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Written Answers to Questions

Tuesday 4 July 2000

SOLICITOR-GENERAL

"The Judge Over Your Shoulder"

Mr. Dismore: To ask the Solicitor-General what the date was of publication of the last edition of "The Judge Over Your Shoulder"; what plans he has to update it; if he will place a copy of the most up to date edition in the Library; and if he will make a statement. [128929]

The Solicitor-General: A third edition of "The Judge Over Your Shoulder" was published in March 2000. There are two versions: one essentially for administrators, and the other for lawyers.

I am arranging for a copy of each version to be placed in the Library. They are also on the Treasury Solicitor's internet website.

Staff Secondments

Mr. Mitchell: To ask the Solicitor-General which companies or partnerships have seconded staff to the Law Officers' Departments since May 1997; how many staff have been seconded; and who pays for seconded staff. [128470]

The Solicitor-General: Secondments and attachments are part of the Interchange initiative, which promotes the exchange of people and good practice between the civil service and other organisations. Before an Interchange can occur, all parties must be satisfied that no conflict of interest arises.

Since May 1997, there have been no secondments of staff from outside the civil service to either the Legal Secretariat to the Law Officers or the Treasury Solicitor's Department.

Since May 1997, there have been four staff on secondment to the Serious Fraud Office. Two of the secondments had begun before May 1997. KPMG, Hacker Young, Pannell Kerr Foster (all accountancy firms) and Allen and Overy (a firm of solicitors) each sent one of their staff on secondment. The Serious Fraud Office bore all the cost of the staff member seconded from Allen and Overy and in the other cases made a major contribution to the cost.

One person has been seconded to the Crown Prosecution Service from the Royal Bank of Scotland for a period of three weeks. The Royal Bank of Scotland bore the cost of this secondment.

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PRIME MINISTER

Social Exclusion Unit

Mr. Field: To ask the Prime Minister if he will make it his policy to appoint persons with earnings below half average earnings as (a) members and (b) advisers to the Social Exclusion Unit. [128050]

The Prime Minister: The Social Exclusion Unit is staffed by a mixture of civil servants and external secondees. They come from a number of Government Departments and organisations with experience of tackling social exclusion. The members of the Unit range from New Dealers to an assistant Director of a local authority. Their previous earnings are not a factor in their appointment.

Advisers to the Unit are on secondment, and are not paid for by the Unit. They are appointed for their expertise and experience.

Bilderberg Conference

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Prime Minister which Ministers attended the session of the Bilderberg Conference in Sintra entitled, How Durable is the Current Rosy Complexion of European Politics; and what (a) written and (b) oral report of the Bilderberg Conference was submitted to him. [128134]

The Prime Minister: So far as I am aware, no Minister attended this conference.

Kosovo

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Prime Minister what recent estimate he has made of the number of war crime murders committed in Kosovo, broken down by ethnic origin of victims (a) before NATO intervention, (b) after NATO air strikes commenced and (c) after the insertion of KFOR. [128108]

The Prime Minister: The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia estimate that 10,000 Kosovar Albanians were killed in Kosovo between June 1998 and 12 June 1999. We broadly share this assessment. Of these we estimate 500 were killed before 20 March 1999. KFOR states 430 murders were committed in Kosovo between 12 June and 31 December 1999 across all ethnic communities. There are no official figures for this year, but estimates suggest six murders per week are committed in Kosovo.

Voluntary Sector (Islington)

Mr. Corbyn: To ask the Prime Minister what representations the Social Exclusion Unit has received on the effects of local authority cuts on the voluntary sector in Islington; and if he will make a statement. [127893]

The Prime Minister [holding answer 28 June 2000]: The Social Exclusion Unit has to date received no direct representations about the effects of local authority cuts on the voluntary sector in Islington.

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Vladimir Gusinsky

Mr. Maude: To ask the Prime Minister what representations he made to President Putin over the arrest of Vladimir Gusinsky. [128289]

The Prime Minister: We are following Mr. Gusinsky's case closely and have raised it with the Russian authorities on a number of occasions, to establish more details and to make them aware of the concerns the case has raised in the UK over media freedoms. We have also made it clear that if there is a case to answer it is important the due legal process is observed and that the judicial process is seen to be wholly independent.

Intelligence and Security Services

Mr. Blizzard: To ask the Prime Minister when the annual report of the Commissioner appointed under the Intelligence Services Act 1994 will be laid before the House; and if he will make a statement. [129290]

The Prime Minister: A copy of Lord Justice Stuart-Smith's annual report for 1999 has been laid before the House today in accordance with section 8(6) of the Intelligence Services Act 1994. The confidential annex to the report has been excluded from that copy in accordance with section 8(7) of the 1994 Act.

Lord Justice Stuart-Smith has served as Commissioner under the Intelligence Services Act since the role was created in 1994. This is his last report. I am very grateful to him for all his work as Commissioner.

Mr. Sawford: To ask the Prime Minister when the annual report of the Commissioner appointed under the Security Service Act 1989 will be laid before the House; and if he will make a statement. [129291]

The Prime Minister: A copy of Lord Justice Stuart-Smith's annual report for 1999 has been laid before the House today in accordance with section 4(6) of the Security Service Act 1989. The confidential annex to the report has been excluded from that copy in accordance with section 4(7) of the 1989 Act and in line with the Commissioner's recommendation.

Lord Justice Stuart-Smith has served as Commissioner under the Security Service Act since the role was created in 1989. This is his last report. I am very grateful to him for all his work as Commissioner.

Interception of Communications

Mr. Wyatt: To ask the Prime Minister when the annual report of the Commissioner appointed under section 8(1) of the Interception of Communications Act 1985 will be laid before the House; and if he will make a statement. [129292]

The Prime Minister: A copy of Lord Nolan's report for 1999 has been laid before the House today in accordance with section 8(7) of the Interception of Communications Act 1985. The confidential annex to the report has been excluded from that copy in accordance with section 8(8) of the 1985 Act and in accordance with the Commissioner's recommendations.

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Lord Nolan has served as Commissioner under the Interception of Communications Act since April 1994. This is his last report. I am very grateful to him for all his work as Commissioner.

AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD

Hatching Eggs

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the decision by the European Commission to decrease the export refunds for hatching eggs. [126821]

Mr. Nick Brown [holding answer 19 June 2000]: The small change to the export refund for hatching eggs introduced in May was in response to a reduction in the euro/dollar exchange rate. To ignore such currency movements when considering export subsidies would be a breach of WTO requirements and would not represent effective use of EU funds.

GM Seed

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what advice he has received on the lowest percentage of GM contamination that can be practically tested for in ostensibly GM-free seed supplies. [126861]

Mr. Nick Brown [holding answer 19 June 2000]: I am aware of possible analytical techniques which could be employed for detecting the presence of GM material in non-GM seeds, but have not received specific advice on the lowest level of GM contamination which can be reliably identified in non-GM seed. This question is being considered in the context of the on-going discussions taking place within the EC and the OECD on the methods of detection of GM seeds in non-GM seed.

Beef on the Bone

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what advice his Department gave on the prosecution of Christopher Bowman for selling beef on the bone. [126909]

Mr. Nick Brown [holding answer 20 June 2000]: The prosecution of Mr. Bowman was conducted by North Yorkshire County Council. The role of my Department in the case, therefore, was simply to supply evidence not advice.

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