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Stealth Bombers

Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the conditions under which stealth bombers of the US Air Force are to be stationed at Fairford. [132824]

The Prime Minister: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given by our hon. Friend the Minister for the Armed Forces on 21 July 2000, Official Report, column 342W, to our hon. Friend the Member for Stroud (Mr. Drew).

27 Jul 2000 : Column: 809W

27 Jul 2000 : Column: 811W

PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL

Speaker Nominations

Dr. Lynne Jones: To ask the President of the Council if she will bring forward proposals to provide for all nominations for Speaker to be considered by the House. [131418]

Mrs. Beckett: The procedure for the election of a Speaker is set out in "Erskine May", pp 237-241.

When the Procedure Committee last considered this issue (1st Report, Session 1995-96, HC386) they recommended no change to the procedure for electing the Speaker.

Merchant Navy Day

Mr. Flynn: To ask the President of the Council if she will ensure that the Red Ensign is flown from departmental buildings on Merchant Navy Day, 3 September. [132964]

Mrs. Beckett: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mr. O'Brien) today, Official Report, column 895W.

Duty Roster

Mr. Grieve: To ask the President of the Council if she will publish the daily ministerial duty roster for her Department during the summer adjournment. [133145]

Mrs. Beckett: No. It is not normal practice of Government to publish a daily ministerial duty roster. This Department will ensure that it has sufficient cover through the summer recess in line with the requirements of the Ministerial Code.

Westminster Hall

Mr. Forth: To ask the President of the Council if she will list the hon. and right hon. Members who have initiated debates in Westminster Hall since its inception, stating the number of debates initiated by each Member. [132841]

Mrs. Beckett: The information is as follows from the beginning of the Session to 26 July. It does not include Government Adjournment debates or debates on select committee reports:

	Number
Ms Diane Abbott	1
Mr. David Amess	3
Mr. Peter Atkinson	1
Mr. Norman Baker	1
Ms Jackie Ballard	2
Miss Anne Begg	1
Mr. A. J. Beith	3
Mr. Tony Benn	1
Mr. Bob Blizzard	2
Mr. Crispin Blunt	1
Sir Richard Body	1
Mr. Peter Bottomley	1
Mr. Peter Bradley	1
Mr. Graham Brady	2
Mr. Tom Brake	7
Dr. Peter Brand	2
Mr. Colin Breed	2
Mr. Desmond Browne	1
Mrs. Angela Browning	1
Ms Karen Buck	1
Mr. Paul Burstow	1
Dr. Vincent Cable	4
Mr. Alan Campbell	1
Mrs. Anne Campbell	1
Mr. William Cash	1
Mr. David Chaytor	1
Mr. Christopher Chope	1
Mr. Michael Clapham	1
Mr. Tom Clarke	2
Mr. Geoffrey Clifton-Brown	3
Mr. Vernon Coaker	1
Mr. Harry Cohen	2
Mr. Iain Coleman	1
Mr. Jeremy Corbyn	3
Mr. Jim Cousins	1
Mr. Tom Cox	3
Mr. Tam Dalyell	3
Ms Valerie Davey	1
Mr. David Davis	2
Mr. Hilton Dawson	1
Mr. Andrew Dismore	1
Mr. David Drew	4
Ms Julia Drown	1
Mr. Alan Duncan	1
Mr. Clive Efford	1
Sir Peter Emery	1
Mr. Nigel Evans	1
Mr. Michael Fabricant	2
Mr. Jim Fitzpatrick	1
Mr. Howard Flight	1
Mr. Paul Flynn	2
Mrs. Maria Fyfe	1
Mr. Barry Gardiner	2
Mr. Andrew George	1
Dr. Ian Gibson	1
Mr. Christopher Gill	1
Mrs. Teresa Gorman	1
Mr. Win Griffiths	1
Mr. Patrick Hall	1
Mr. Fabian Hamilton	1
Mr. Phil Hammond	2
Dr. Evan Harris	2
Mr. David Heath	2
Mr. Kelvin Hopkins	1
Mr. Lindsay Hoyle	2
Mr. Simon Hughes	2
Dr. Brian Iddon	1
Mr. Eric Illsley	3
Ms Helen Jackson	1
Ms Jenny Jones	1
Ms Helen Jones	1
Dr. Lynne Jones	1
Ms Sally Keeble	1
Miss Julie Kirkbride	1
Dr. Ashok Kumar	2
Dr. Stephen Ladyman	1
Mrs. Jacqui Lait	1
Mr. Edward Leigh	1
Dr. Julian Lewis	2
Mr. Peter Lilley	1
Mr. Richard Livsey	1
Mr. Tony Lloyd	1
Mr. Tim Loughton	1
Mr. Peter Luff	1
Mr. Calum Macdonald	1
Mr. Robert Maclennan	1
Mr. Denis MacShane	1
Ms Judy Mallaber	1
Mr. Michael Mates	1
Mr. John McDonnell	1
Miss Anne McIntosh	2
Mr. Patrick McLoughlin	1
Ms Gillian Merron	2
Mr. Austin Mitchell	1
Ms Laura Moffatt	1
Ms Margaret Moran	1
Ms Julie Morgan	1
Mr. George Mudie	1
Mr. Jim Murphy	1
Mr. Patrick Nicholls	2
Mr. Mark Oaten	2
Mr. Stephen O'Brien	1
Mr. Richard Page	1
Mr. David Prior	3
Mr. Bill Rammell	1
Mr. John Randall	1
Mr. David Rendel	1
Ms Joan Ruddock	1
Ms Joan Ryan	1
Mr. Martin Salter	1
Mr. Mohammed Sarwar	2
Mr. Malcolm Savidge	1
Mr. Jonathan Shaw	2
Mrs. Gillian Shephard	2
Mr. Marsha Singh	1
Mr. Llew Smith	1
Rev. Martin Smyth	2
Mrs. Caroline Spelman	1
Mr. Richard Spring	1
Dr. Phyllis Starkey	1
Mr. Anthony Steen	1
Mr. George Stevenson	1
Mr. David Stewart	1
Dr. Howard Stoate	1
Mr. Andrew Stunell	1
Mr. Desmond Swayne	1
Mr. David Taylor	1
Mr. Matthew Taylor	1
Mr. Gareth R. Thomas	1
Mr. William Thompson	2
Dr. Jenny Tonge	2
Mr. Michael Trend	1
Dr. George Turner	1
Mr. Stephen Twigg	1
Mr. Derek Twigg	1
Mr. Bill Tynan	1
Mr. Peter Viggers	1
Ms Joan Walley	1
Ms Claire Ward	1
Mr. Charles Wardle	1
Mr. Steve Webb	4
Mr. Bowen Wells	2
Mr. John Wilkinson	1
Mr. David Wilshire	1
Mr. Nicholas Winterton	1
Mr. Tony Worthington	2
Mr. Derek Wyatt	2

27 Jul 2000 : Column: 814W

CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT

New Millennium Experience Company

Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if all the design and construction contracts awarded by the New Millennium Experience Company complied with EU competition rules. [125029]

Janet Anderson [holding answer 8 June 2000]: The New Millennium Experience Company (NMEC) voluntarily followed EU competition rules for the key, large-scale construction and design contracts, having considered and taken on board legal advice that it was exempt from compliance.

All construction contracts to which the EU rules applied were tendered in compliance with them. Those construction contracts whose value fell under the EU threshold were competitively tendered in accordance with non-departmental public body (NDPB) procurement rules. When tendering for design services, NMEC also complied with EU competition rules or NDPB procurement rules whenever possible, however, the nature of these services meant that it was not always appropriate to do so. This was particularly the case when tendering for very specialist and/or unique goods and services, or when the timetable did not allow for a full-scale tendering process. In all cases where services were procured without competition, NMEC complied with Single Tender Action procedures.

Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to his answer of 14 June 2000, Official Report, column 648W, what fees (a) have been paid and (b) are estimated to be payable to each of the accountancy firms employed by the New Millennium Experience Company. [127844]

Janet Anderson [holding answer 26 June 2000]: Over the lifetime of the project to date, the New Millennium Experience Company (NMEC) has paid its official auditors, Ernst & Young, a total of £1,132,923 (excluding VAT) for audit services and other operational non-audit duties. Details of these fees have been and will be included in each of NMEC's Annual Reports and Financial Statements as recommended by good accounting practice.

Under the terms of the contracts with the other accountancy firms employed by NMEC, the company is obliged to seek permission before disclosing information about terms of employment. NMEC has written to these companies seeking their agreement to the release of the information requested. Should they agree I will write to the hon. Gentleman with details and place a copy of my letter in the Library. Any future fees payable will be dependent on the nature and scope of work to be undertaken and will be negotiated accordingly.

Mr. Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the policy of New Millennium Experience Company is in respect of the speed of payment of bills; and how much money has yet to be paid for bills submitted on or before 31 March. [128398]

Janet Anderson: [holding answer 4 July 2000]: It is the New Millennium Experience Company's (NMEC) policy that payments to suppliers should be made in accordance with those terms and conditions agreed

27 Jul 2000 : Column: 815W

between the Company and its suppliers, provided that all trading terms and conditions have been complied with. In the period from 1 April 1999 to 31 December 1999 over 75 per cent. of invoices, by value, were paid within 30 days of invoice date.

Of those bills submitted on or before 31 March 2000, there are currently invoices to the value of approximately £1 million awaiting payment (subject to final authorisation).

Ann Clwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if all (a) Government and (b) other papers relating to the New Millennium Experience will be released under the proposed Freedom of Information Act. [132547]

Janet Anderson [holding answer 26 July 2000]: My Department will respond to any requests for information within the spirit of the Freedom of Information Bill and, until a Freedom of Information Act comes into force, within both the letter and the spirit of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information. We expect the Millennium Commission and the New Millennium Experience Company to do the same.

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