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Written Answers to Questions

Monday 20 November 2000

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Contraception

Ms McCafferty: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement on her Department's contributions to the provision of contraceptives in the developing world. [138526]

Mr. Foulkes: We are committed to the International Development target to attain universal access to reproductive health services before 2015. We have substantial involvement in efforts to ensure women and men in developing countries can access contraceptives and other reproductive health commodities.

Our recent pledge to contribute an additional £25 million to the United Nations Population Fund, on top of our annual core contribution of £15 million, will help meet immediate and short-term needs, and assure continued access to essential reproductive health commodities, including condoms for family planning and HIV/AIDS prevention, in a number of countries which are facing shortages.

Ms McCafferty: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what representations she has made to other donor Governments about the supply of contraceptives in the developing world. [138527]

Mr. Foulkes: The recent pledges by this Department and the Government of the Netherlands, to contribute an additional £51 million to the United Nations Population Fund to help fund immediate and short-term needs in developing countries for reproductive health commodities, is a further demonstration of the commitment of both Governments to the health of poor people.

We will continue to encourage other donors and developing countries to make every effort to meet the rising demand for contraception in the developing world.

Intellectual Property Rights

Dr. Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the effects of recent decisions within the WTO on patents and intellectual property rights in technological developments in the developing world. [138552]

Mr. Foulkes [holding answer 16 November 2000]: The UK Government believe that intellectual property rights (IPR)--for instance, conferring copyright, patent or trade mark protection--provide an important incentive for private investment. Developing countries have an important interest in providing intellectual property protection, as a way of encouraging more foreign investment, research and innovation from which they should benefit.

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The Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights Agreement was introduced into the WTO in the Uruguay Rounds and sets minimum standards for intellectual property rights (IPR) protection.

Developing countries agreed to implement TRIPs consistent legislation by January 2000. The least developed countries have until 2006 to comply. Therefore the real impacts are not yet visible and no conclusion can be drawn as to the effect of these rules on technological developments or otherwise in developing countries.

The precise details of IPR regimes can and should be tailored to the particular circumstances of individual countries. The UK Government believe that the TRIPs agreement allows WTO members sufficient flexibility to implement domestic IPR regimes which take adequate account of their national circumstances. But governments and the international community do need to support improved arrangements to monitor the impacts of the current agreement to make sure that this is the case.

GM Research

Joan Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will list the GM research funded by her Department which incorporates genetic systems designed to prevent seed germination. [138721]

Mr. Foulkes [holding answer 16 November 2000]: This Department is not funding research which incorporates genetic systems designed to prevent seed germination.

We have funded a study to examine the likely costs and benefits to the livelihoods of the poor in developing countries from the application of so-called "terminator genes" and similar technologies. The results of this work are being prepared for publication and will be disseminated widely.

Development Council

Mr. Hood: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what was the outcome of the Development Council held in Brussels on 10 November; and if he will make a statement. [138452]

Clare Short: The main achievement was the adoption by the Council and the Commission of a Declaration on the European Community's Development Policy. This was a milestone for the EC. The Declaration provides the EC, for the first time, with a clear operational framework for all EC development assistance, with poverty reduction as the principal objective. This was an important UK objective in our published strategy for working with the EC. The Development Commissioner, Poul Nielson, also presented a comprehensive Action Programme for implementing the Declaration. He emphasised the multi-dimensional nature of poverty, the need to work within a country's own poverty reduction strategies, the importance of focusing EC development assistance on fewer areas and the need for further progress in ensuring that other EC policies such as fisheries, trade and agriculture do not undermine our development efforts.

I strongly welcomed the Declaration and the Commission's plans for implementing the new policy. It remains essential to turn the operational framework into reality on the ground. My Department will be reviewing how we can help ensure that this is achieved.

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The Council also adopted an important new framework for preparation of EC Country Strategy Papers. This clarifies the need to collaborate closely with other donors and to focus on poverty reduction strategies developed by the partner country.

The Council briefly reviewed the actions that have been taken to follow up the overall evaluation of EC programmes which had been discussed in May 1999. These included the adoption of an overall statement of EC development policy.

The Council adopted a Resolution on Communicable Diseases which welcomed a recent Commission Communication and called for an Action Programme to implement it. The Council agreed on the need for a coherent approach to tackling these diseases which threaten poor people and hinder efforts to reduce poverty. Conclusions on the 6th Conference of the Parties on Climate Change were also adopted.

During the pre-Council dinner there was an informal exchange of views on Liberia, Ethiopia/Eritrea, Somalia, Sudan and Zimbabwe.

CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT

School Skiing Lessons

Mr. MacShane: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many British school children participated in ski lessons in (a) the UK and (b) Europe in each of the last three years as part of school organised sport. [138663]

Kate Hoey: Figures for the number of children participating in school organised skiing lessons are not centrally held. However, Crystal Holidays Industry Report 2000 estimates that in 1999-2000, 119,000 British children took part in school organised skiing holidays. These figures are not broken down between the UK and Europe.

Free Television Licences (Cheltenham)

Mr. Nigel Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many pensioners will receive free television licences in Cheltenham in 2000. [139283]

Janet Anderson: Everyone aged 75 or over will be entitled to benefit from a free television licence, but licences cover households rather than individuals. Estimates of the number of households which will receive a free licence are not available at constituency level and TV Licensing, which administers the concession as agent for the BBC, is not able to provide geographical breakdowns of free licences issued. However, estimates of the over-75 population based on the 1991 Census indicate that there were approximately 7,400 people aged 75 or over in the Cheltenham constituency.

English Heritage

Mr. Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will make a statement on the accountability of English Heritage. [138867]

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Mr. Alan Howarth: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State is answerable to Parliament for the policies and performance of all public bodies sponsored by the Department, including English Heritage. In addition, the Chief Executive of English Heritage, as its Accounting Officer, and the Accounting Officer of DCMS are responsible to Parliament for the resources under their control, and can be summoned to appear before the Public Accounts Committee of the House of Commons.

SOLICITOR-GENERAL

Lord Birt

Mr. Baker: To ask the Solicitor-General how many meetings the Attorney-General has had with Lord Birt regarding crime since Lord Birt's appointment as an adviser to the Government on crime. [137317]

The Solicitor General: I refer to the answer given by the Prime Minister on 17 November 2000, Official Report, column 800W.

Treasury Counsel

Mr. Dismore: To ask the Solicitor-General if his Honour Gerald Butler QC has completed his review of arrangements for the instruction of Treasury Counsel at the Old Bailey. [139708]

Solicitor General: His Honour Gerald Butler QC delivered his report to the Attorney-General on 18 August 2000. The report recommends the retention of the Treasury Counsel system but makes important recommendations to open up and modernise the Treasury Counsel arrangements. The Government will be accepting most of the recommendations without modification.

The system of selecting barristers to be monitored for appointment as Treasury Counsel will be reformed with the aim of encouraging applications from a broader cross-section of the bar (and solicitor advocates) and there will be a higher quality of monitoring so that able barristers have the best chance of an appointment.

There will be clear rules as to the maximum permitted length of service of Junior and Senior Treasury Counsel. There will be new criteria governing the ambit of work sent to Treasury Counsel with the aim of reducing their considerable workload and giving other barristers more opportunity to be instructed in cases being prosecuted at the Old Bailey. Murder and manslaughter cases, not falling within the criteria, will not normally be prosecuted by Treasury Counsel at the Old Bailey in the future.

Consideration will be given to instructing Counsel from the provinces in cases at the Old Bailey and, with a reduced volume of work, Treasury Counsel will be freed up to prosecute some cases in the provinces and to be instructed to defend in some cases. The practice whereby Junior Treasury Counsel are paid a brief fee of two thirds of that of Senior Treasury Counsel leading them, whatever work is to be done or not to be done, will cease. I believe these reforms will be of considerable benefit to the criminal justice system.

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The report and the Government's response have been placed today in the Libraries of each House for the information of Members. It is also being published today on the Attorney-General's website (www.lslo.gov.uk), with copies being made available to interested parties.

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