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Euro
Mr. Weir: To ask the Prime Minister if the results of a future referendum on UK membership of the euro will be broken down by each (a) nation and (b) region of the UK. [21779]
The Prime Minister: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Economic Secretary to the hon. Member for Buckingham (Mr. Bercow) on 2 November 2001, Official Report, column 883W.
Stephen Byers
Norman Baker: To ask the Prime Minister if he will investigate the circumstances surrounding the decision taken by the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, the right hon. Member for
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Tyneside, North (Mr. Byers), to expend departmental funds to pursue an action against Associated Newspapers and Simon and Schuster. [21741]
The Prime Minister: The circumstances are set out in the reply given by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry on 10 December 2001, Official Report, column 646W.
House of Lords
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Prime Minister if he will make it his policy to require persons raised to the peerage on his recommendations to serve as Ministers in the House of Lords, to relinquish their peerage when they cease to be Ministers of the Crown; and if he will make a statement. [22284]
The Prime Minister: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Lewes (Norman Baker) on 26 November 2001, Official Report, column 626W.
SCOTLAND
Correspondence
Mr. Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many, and what proportion of letters received by the Department from right hon. and hon. Members between 20 June and 20 July were replied to in (a) under 15, (b) under 20, (c) under 30, (d) under 40 and (e) over 40 working days. [22006]
Mrs. Liddell: Further to my written answer of 3 December 2001, Official Report, column 92W, six letters were replied to in under 15 days; one in under 20 days; and two in under 30 days.
Budd Report
Mr. Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what assessment she has made of the implications for private clubs and societies in Scotland of the proposals in the Budd report. [21538]
Mr. Foulkes: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport have recently carried out a public consultation on the Budd report. During this consultation, a number of representations were made about the recommendation in the report that jackpot machines should be removed from private clubs. The Government will put forward their proposals on the law relating to gaming once we have fully considered the points made in the consultation. The Scotland Office, and the Scottish Executive, are keeping in close touch with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport in this area.
Fishing
Mr. Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many (a) licensed fishing boats and (b) people employed directly in offshore fishing there were in Scotland in each of the past 10 years. [21539]
Mrs. Liddell: This is a devolved matter, for which the Scottish Executive is responsible.
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LORD CHANCELLOR'S DEPARTMENT
County Court Judgments
Mr. Kidney: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many orders were made in county courts in England setting aside county court judgments in the last three years; and how many of the judgments had been obtained by (a) Government Departments, (b) utilities and (c) others. [20938]
Mr. Wills: Specific figures concerning the setting aside of county court judgments are not collected in a way that makes them readily identifiable. Such information will be held within the individual court records and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Magistrates Courts
Mr. Todd: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what representations he has received in 2001 from (a) the Countryside Agency and (b) the rural advocate on proposed closures of magistrates courts; and if he will make a statement. [21451]
Mr. Wills: The Lord Chancellor's Department has received one representation from (a) the Countryside Agency, and two representations from (b) the rural advocate, on proposed closures of magistrates courts.
It is the Government's policy that decisions concerning the number, location and future of magistrates courts are for each magistrates courts committee to determine, in consultation with its local paying authority or authorities.
Parliamentary Questions
Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what percentage of parliamentary questions replied to by the Lord Chancellor's Department were the subject of a holding answer in the last three Sessions of Parliament. [22022]
Ms Rosie Winterton: According to departmental records, the percentage of parliamentary questions replied to by the Lord Chancellor's Department which received a holding answer, during the parliamentary Sessions 1998–99, 1999–2000 and 2000–01, was 7.8 per cent. The figures for each parliamentary Session are provided in the table.
| Session | Number of PQs | Number of named day PQs | Number of holding replies | Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998–99(21) | 925 | 159 | 51 | 5.5 |
| 1999–2000(22) | 837 | 206 | 74 | 8.8 |
| 2000–01(23) | 402 | 131 | 44 | 10.9 |
(21) December 1998 to November 1999; sitting days 149
(22) November 1999 to November 2000; sitting days 170
(23) December 2000 to May 2001; sitting days 83
FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS
Departmental Expenditure
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the total
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expenditure was on (a) advertising, (b) polling, (c) focus groups, (d) design consultants, (e) caterers, (f) production of departmental publications and (g) photographs/ photographers by his Department for each year since 1995 in (i) cash and (ii) real terms; what was (A) the annual percentage increase in spending on each category and (B) spending on each category as a percentage of the total departmental running costs; and if he will make a statement. [6934]
Mr. MacShane: The known expenditure by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on the categories listed by the hon. Member was:
| Advertising | Design consultants | Publications | Photographs | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995–96 | 0 | 547,193 | 2,188,776 | not known |
| (639,508) | (2,558,036) | |||
| 1996–97 | 0 | 366,383 | 1,465,534 | not known |
| (415,078) | (1,660,313) | |||
| 1997–98 | 54,038 | 687,199 | 2,748,800 | 330,634 |
| (59,391) | (755,270) | (3,021,084) | (363,385) | |
| 1998–99 | 1,029,850 | 364,640 | 1,458,564 | 227,040 |
| (1,101,033) | (389,844) | (1,559,380) | (242,733) | |
| 1999–2000 | 54,498 | 329,833 | 1,319,336 | 228,074 |
| (56,877) | (344,232) | (1,376,931) | (238,031) | |
| 2000–01 | 52,950 | 355,374 | 1,421,497 | 235,225 |
| (53,249) | (364,258) | (1,421,498) | (241,106) |
Note:
Figures in brackets show expenditure in real terms relative to 2001–02 prices.
| Year | Advertising | Design consultants | Publishing | Photographs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995–96 to 1996–97 | n/a | -33 | -33 | not known |
| 1996–97 to 1997–98 | n/a | +88 | +88 | not known |
| 1997–98 to 1998–99 | +1,906 | -47 | -47 | -32 |
| 1998–99 to 1999–2000 | -1,890 | -10 | -9 | +0.5 |
| 1999–2000 to 2000–01 | -4 | +8 | +8 | +3 |
Note:
Percentages are rounded.
| Year | Advertising | Design consultants | Publishing | Photographs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995–96 | n/a | 0.13 | 0.5 | not known |
| 1996–97 | n/a | 0.09 | 0.35 | not known |
| 1997–98 | 0.013 | 0.16 | 0.66 | 0.08 |
| 1998–99 | 0.235 | 0.08 | 0.34 | 0.052 |
| 1999–2000 | 0.015 | 0.09 | 0.35 | 0.062 |
| 2000–01 | 0.012 | 0.08 | 0.33 | 0.055 |
Note:
Percentages are rounded.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office incurred no expenditure on 'polling' or 'focus groups' in the years concerned.
Catering expenditure is not separately identifiable in the FCO accounting system: to ascertain the figures would involve disproportionate effort and cost. The figures for publications include expenditure on public diplomacy, consular publications and annual reports. In addition to the expenditure identified, there was minor additional
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expenditure in London and overseas in the years concerned. This cannot be ascertained without disproportionate effort and cost.
The figures quoted for photographs were spent on still photographs used to promote Britain overseas; additional expenditure was incurred in the years concerned on photographs used in publications and exhibitions here in the UK. It would require disproportionate effort and cost to establish this expenditure.
The Government are committed to using only whatever channel is judged to be the most cost-effective way to deliver the publicity necessary to support the implementation of policy. Paid advertising is only resorted to after careful consideration of the cost-benefits. The figures for advertising include expenditure on consular publicity but exclude expenditure on advertising for recruitment, as identifying this expenditure would entail disproportionate effort and cost. The advertising figure for 1998–99 includes £1 million spent on a consular advertising campaign in the run-up to the World Cup 1998 in France.
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