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Departmental Expenditure

Mr. Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much his Department has spent on (a) legal fees, (b) special security measures and (c) other expenses in supporting former members of the Parachute Regiment in connection with the Saville Inquiry. [98588]

Mr. Hoon: As at the end of September the Ministry of Defence has spent £2,843,519 on legal fees in total in connection with the Bloody Sunday Inquiry. It is not possible to identify separately the legal costs incurred in supporting former members of the Parachute Regiment, since soldiers from many other regiments are involved.

Special security measures were not provided by the Department but by the Home Office; the costs are withheld for security reasons under Exemption 1 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.

The only other expenses which can be identified as having been incurred in supporting former members of the Parachute Regiment are travel and subsistence costs which are reimbursed following meetings with their MOD-appointed lawyers. These currently amount to £6,256.17.

Pensions

Mr. Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to review the entitlement to attributable forces family pension. [98748]

Mr. Spellar: Entitlement to attributable forces family pensions is being considered as part of a review of the Armed Forces Pensions currently underway. This review of pensions should not be confused with the joint MOD

26 Nov 1999 : Column: 226W

and DSS review of arrangements to compensate members of the Armed Forces and their dependants for illness, injury and death attributable to service.

NATO Bombing

Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the effects of the NATO bombing of (a) the oil refinery and bridges at Novi Sad and (b) the chemical complex at Pancevo. [100086]

Mr. Hoon: The refinery at Novi Sad and the chemical complex at Pancevo were damaged during NATO airstrikes, resulting in immediate cessation of production at Novi Sad and severe functional damage at Pancevo. Production has now resumed and repairs are continuing.

The effect of the destruction of the bridges at Novi Sad (and the other bridges crossing the Danube) was to dislocate lines of communication in Serbia. The capacity to reinforce and sustain Serbian Forces was reduced. Road and railway traffic was interrupted, and the remains of the bridges blocked the Danube at Novi Sad. The closure of the Danube to river traffic impacted on imports, but also affected the through traffic to and from neighbouring countries and Black Sea ports.

Uranium (Kosovo)

Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what requests he received in the summer of 1999 from the UN for NATO assistance to investigate the use of depleted uranium in Kosovo; and what reply was sent. [100087]

Mr. Hoon: I have received no such requests from the UN. NATO has received numerous inquiries from a number of sources, including the United Nations, about the use of depleted uranium in Kosovo. NATO has repeatedly confirmed that some of its aircraft used DU munitions in anti-tank engagements.

Correspondence

Sir Brian Mawhinney: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when the right hon. Member for North-West Cambridgeshire will receive a reply to his letter of 10 August, on behalf of his constituent Mr. Hall preliminarily acknowledged on 30 August. [99923]

Mr. Hoon: The investigations being carried out by the RAF in this case have reached a point where the complainant and Corporal Hall have been provided with a report and conclusions. They have some time to comment on that report, following which the investigation will be brought to a close and decisions will be taken. At that point I will write to the right hon. Member again.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Industrial Diseases

Mr. Cummings: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list by age and number the claimants who have received a settlement in relation to (a) vibration white finger and (b) chronic bronchitis and emphysema for each month since April; and if he will make a statement. [99209]

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Mrs. Liddell: The monthly breakdown of payments made to ex-miners and their widows in respect of claims for compensation for VWF and respiratory disease since April 1999 is as follows:

Payments made to respiratory claimants		Payments made to VWF claimants
Age	Number	Age	Number
April
49 and below	4	49 and below	30
50-59	65	50-59	59
60-69	153	60-69	74
70-79	192	70-79	23
80-89	39	80-89	13
90 and above	3	90 and above	0
May
49 and below	5	49 and below	43
50-59	41	50-59	86
60-69	143	60-69	123
70-79	202	70-79	46
80-89	34	80-89	3
90 and above	2	90 and above	0
June
49 and below	9	49 and below	51
50-59	45	50-59	69
60-69	109	60-69	108
70-79	159	70-79	46
80-89	34	80-89	0
90 and above	1	90 and above	0
July
49 and below	9	49 and below	141
50-59	42	50-59	125
60-69	134	60-69	140
70-79	172	70-79	50
80-89	30	80-89	2
90 and above	2	90 and above	0
August
49 and below	4	40 and below	123
50-59	33	50-59	115
60-69	81	60-69	170
70-79	119	70-79	60
80-89	21	80-89	3
90 and above	0	90 and above	0
September
49 and below	9	40 and below	122
50-59	28	50-59	152
60-69	128	60-69	211
70-79	241	70-79	91
80-89	58	80-89	5
90 and above	2	90 and above	0
October
49 and below	7	49 and below	180
50-59	49	50-59	222
60-69	147	60-69	241
70-79	273	70-79	130
80-89	51	80-89	10
90 and above	3	90 and above	0
November as 22.11.99
49 and below	4	49 and below	176
50-59	32	50-59	169
60-69	143	60-69	247
70-79	276	70-79	150
80-89	40	80-89	5
90 and above	1	90 and above	0

The figures for both respiratory disease and VWF include payments made in part settlement.

26 Nov 1999 : Column: 228W

With regard to respiratory disease, the number of full and final payments made under the Handling Agreement is 521, with a further 3,270 offers either awaiting response from the claimant's solicitor or verification of the claimant's work history. In relation to VWF, the number of full and final payments made since April is 2,168, with a further 1,646 receiving part payments while outstanding matters are discussed with the claimants' solicitors.

Export Licences

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many SIEL and open individual export licence applications have been made in 1999; and how many of them have been (a) accepted and (b) rejected. [99298]

Dr. Howells: Between 1 January and 12 November 1999, 10,109 applications for an individual licence to export goods controlled for strategic reasons were received; 9,775 applications for a Standard Individual Export Licence (SIEL); and 334 applications for an Open Individual Export Licence (OIEL).

Between 1 January and 12 November 1999, a decision was taken on 6,851 SIEL applications and 143 OIEL applications, some of which will have been received before 1 January 1999; 6,802 SIELs were issued between these dates and 49 applications for such a licence were refused; 143 OIELs were issued between these dates and no applications for such a licence were refused in full.

A comparison of the numbers of licences issued or refused in any two periods, even when they are of the same duration, is hardly a reliable indicator of the practical effect of a change in Government policy--or indeed a change in Government--between the periods concerned. In the first place, companies are unlikely to apply for licences that they can judge for themselves are likely to be refused when assessed against the published criteria. More generally, the number and nature of the applications received in total or in relation to particular destinations can vary widely from one period to the next, and there can be many reasons for such variation.

Fireworks

Mr. Wigley: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will put forward legislation relating to the sale of fireworks in order to ensure that fireworks cannot be bought directly or indirectly by young children; and if he will make a statement. [99392]

Dr. Howells: The Fireworks (Safety) Regulations 1997 prohibit the supply of most fireworks to persons under the age of 18 years. The exceptions to this prohibition are caps, cracker snaps, novelty matches, party poppers, serpents and throwdowns which, under the Explosives Act 1875, can be sold to persons over the age of 16 years.

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