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8 Sept 2003 : Column 16W—continued

SCOTLAND

Caledonian MacBrayne

Mr. Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) what assessment he has made of the part played by Caledonian MacBrayne in supporting island economies; [128021]

Mrs. McGuire: Matters affecting the internal Scottish ferry services operated by Caledonian MacBrayne are devolved to the Scottish Parliament and fall within the responsibility of Scottish Ministers.

Campbeltown-Ballycastle Ferry

Mr. Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what recent assessment has been made of the effectiveness of Government support for the Campbeltown to Ballycastle ferry service. [127869]

Mrs. McGuire: Assistance for the ferry service between Campbeltown and Ballycastle is a matter for the Scottish Executive.

Electoral Boundaries

Mr. Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what recent representations he has received from the Scottish Executive on difficulties arising out of non-coterminous electoral boundaries in Scotland. [128012]

Mrs. McGuire: No representations have been received recently from the Scottish Executive on non-coterminous constituency boundaries. However, the Executive's response in March 2002 to the Scotland Office's consultation on the size of the Scottish Parliament included its views on the possible difficulties that might arise from having different constituency boundaries between Westminster and Holyrood. These are recorded in the summary of the consultation responses which was placed in the Library of the House on 18 December 2002.

Regional Statistics

Mr. Alex Salmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on regional gross value added statistics. [127201]

Mrs. McGuire: The regional gross value added statistics published by the Office for National Statistics provide a useful measure of economic activity across the countries and regions of the UK.

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Robin Rigg Wind Farm

Mr. Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he was consulted by the Scottish Executive before their decision not to grant a public inquiry on the Robin Rigg wind farm. [127862]

Mrs. McGuire: My right. hon. Friend was not consulted by the Scottish Executive on this matter. The functions under the Electricity Act 1989 relating to the determination of applications for consent under section 36 of that Act, including those concerning a Public Local Inquiry, were executively devolved to the Scottish Ministers in 1999 by S.I. 1999/1750.

Rosyth Ferry Terminal

Mr. Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what assessment has been made of the impact of the Rosyth ferry terminal traffic on the economies of (a) Fife and (b) Scotland. [128023]

Mrs. McGuire: The Rosyth to Zeebrugge ferry service is Scotland's only direct, daily, passenger and vehicle ferry service to mainland Europe and provides new transport and communication opportunities for business, tourism and freight operations. Assessing the economic impact of the ferry service for Fife and Scotland as a whole is a matter for Scottish Ministers.

Scotland Act

Mr. David Marshall: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what plans he has to amend the Scotland Act 1998 in respect of representation by elected members; and if he will make a statement. [126512]

Mrs. McGuire: Section 86 of the Scotland Act 1998 sets out in detail how the reduction in the number of hon. Members representing Scottish constituencies in this House is to be made. The Government has no plans to amend these arrangements.

ADVOCATE-GENERAL FOR SCOTLAND

Engagements

Mr. Peter Duncan: To ask the Advocate-General how many official Scotland Office engagements she has undertaken in the last 12 months. [128026]

The Advocate-General for Scotland: I have undertaken a number of Scotland Office official engagements over the last 12 months.

PRIME MINISTER

Boundary Commission for Scotland

Mr. Peter Duncan: To ask the Prime Minister whether it is his policy that the fifth periodic review of the Boundary Commission for Scotland should be effected before the next general election. [128014]

The Prime Minister: Implementing the Boundary Commission for Scotland's recommendations on Scottish parliamentary constituencies before the next general election will depend on when the Commission

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reports and on the date of that election. The Government is required, as soon as may be after the Commission has submitted its report, to lay this before Parliament, together with a draft Order in Council giving effect, with or without modifications, to the report's recommendations.

Chechnya

Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Prime Minister whether he raised the issue of unauthorised killings by Russians in Chechnya when he met President Putin in June. [127911]

The Prime Minister: I discussed the situation in Chechnya with President Putin, although this specific issue was not raised.

Downing Street Staff (Security Clearance)

Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Prime Minister pursuant to his answer of 16 July to the hon. Member for New Forest, East ref. 126089, to what level of clearance Downing Street officials, whose roles may include seeing intelligence material, are vetted. [127909]

The Prime Minister: All staff are subject to the necessary level of security vetting.

European Constitution

Mr. Allen: To ask the Prime Minister if he will publish the text of the amendments to the draft European Union Constitution which are sought by the United Kingdom. [125002]

Mr. MacShane: I have been asked to reply.

The Government's proposed amendments to the Convention's draft Constitutional Treaty are available on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office website (www.fco.gov.uk).

Iraq

Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the support expressed by Chechen leader Aslam Maskhadov for the US and UK decision to invade Iraq. [127910]

The Prime Minister: We have noted Mr. Maskhadov's statement.

Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Prime Minister pursuant to his answer of 15 July 2003, Official Report, column 173W, on Iraq, what percentage of the total volume of the second dossier he estimates was taken from the three internet articles by Ibrahim al-Marishi, Sean Boyne and Ken Gause. [127912]

The Prime Minister: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave on 15 July 2003, Official Report, columns 173–74W. Sections one and three of the document were based on intelligence material, as were elements of section two which were detailed in Alastair Campbell's supplementary memorandum to the FAC, dated 24 June, Foreign Affairs Committee Report HC 813–11, paragraphs 3 and 6, pages EV10 to 11.

Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Prime Minister if he will place in the Library the full text of the legal opinion of the Attorney-General in relation to the war in Iraq. [128266]

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The Prime Minister: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Stone (Mr. Cash) on 22 May 2003, Official Report, column 914–15W.

Israel

Mr. McGrady: To ask the Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the recent detention of John Morgan from West Belfast in Israel. [127966]

The Prime Minister: Mr. Sean O'Muireagain (also known as John Morgan) was arrested in the West Bank on 12 July 2003 and questioned by Israeli security authorities on suspicion of being connected with terrorist activities. The Israeli authorities found no evidence to implicate Mr. O'Muireagain in terrorist activities. He was released on 16 July 2003 and flew back to the UK later the same day. The FCO were in regular contact with Mr. O'Muireagain's family throughout.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Age Discrimination

Linda Perham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent research his Department has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on age discrimination. [127843]

Malcolm Wicks: In June 1999, the Government published the Code of Practice on Age Diversity. This was issued to employers with the aim of reducing age discrimination in the work place. A programme of research to evaluate the impact of the Code was carried out between March 1999 and December 2000. A full report of the findings from the evaluation was published by my Department in December 2001 entitled "Evaluation of the Code of Practice on Age Diversity in Employment: Report of Research Findings". A copy is available in the Library.

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