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10 Sept 2003 : Column 395W—continued
Regulatory Burdens
10. Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans he has to meet representatives of small business organisations to discuss regulatory burdens on business in Northern Ireland. [128496]
Mr. Pearson: I have met representatives of small businesses on several occasions recently and I shall be happy to them again in the future to discuss regulatory and other issues of mutual interest.
Manufacturing
11. Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what progress he is making with increasing inward manufacturing investment into the Province; and if he will make a statement. [128497]
Mr. Pearson: In common with other regions, Northern Ireland has seen a decline in inward manufacturing investment as a result of the depressed global economic situation. Despite this, I am very
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pleased that in recent months major investment projects have been announced by Seagate and NACCO among others. Furthermore, Northern Ireland continues to be a particularly attractive investment location for service-based industry, as exemplified by the Abbey National's recent decision to open a new customer outreach centre at its Mays Meadow site in Belfast.
Housing
13. Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the number of housing voids in Belfast. [128500]
Jane Kennedy: At 31 July 2003, there were a total of 6,593 empty properties of all tenures of which 2,181 are Northern Ireland Housing Executive properties and 4,412 are in the private sector. Over half the empty homes in the public sector are undergoing redevelopment or are awaiting demolition. The Northern Ireland House Condition Survey 2001 published in April 2003 shows that the level of vacancies is linked to inner-city decline factors and the emergence of new apartment developments.
Dangerous Wild Animals Act
Mr. Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans he has to extend the provisions of the Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976 to Northern Ireland. [128494]
Angela Smith: We are actively preparing proposals for legislation to regulate dangerous wild animals kept by private individuals in Northern Ireland. Legislation will aim to establish an appropriate regulatory regime in the interests of public safety.
We will be consulting on proposed legislation in the near future.
Common Agricultural Policy
Mr. Joyce: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the prospects are for agriculture in Northern Ireland following the mid-term review of the Common Agricultural Policy. [128495]
Mr. Pearson: The recent agreement on the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy makes for a more stable policy environment and will help put the agricultural industry on a more sustainable footing. It will enable farmers to concentrate on producing for the market and encourage good farming and countryside management practices which society values.
PRIME MINISTER
Iraq
Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Prime Minister what the basis was for his statement on 18 June 2003, Official Report, column 355, that extremists from Chechnya were among the foreign fighters engaging Coalition forces at the conclusion of the war in Iraq. [127913]
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The Prime Minister: According to US military sources, US forces engaged a number of irregular fighters from the middle east, North Africa and Chechnya near Baghdad in April 2003. These sources were quoted in several media reports at the time.
Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Prime Minister pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Reigate (Mr. Blunt) of 9 July 2003, Official Report, column 1156, whether the unsubstantiated reports of Chechens fighting Coalition forces in Iraq have been substantiated. [127914]
The Prime Minister: I have nothing further to add at the current time.
CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS
High Court (Backlog)
Keith Vaz: To ask the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs what the current backlog is in the High Court. [120827]
Mr. Leslie: An exercise is currently underway to provide accurate management information on workload in the High Court Divisions. This work will be completed by the end of October 2003, and I will then write to my hon. Friend with full details. Currently we can estimate the number of outstanding cases in the three main divisions. The estimates are:
Norton Report
Mr. Peter Duncan: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs if he will publish a response to the Norton report. [128010]
Mr. Leslie: No. It is not the Government's practice to publish responses to privately commissioned reports.
DEFENCE
Joint Terrorist Analysis Centre
Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what representation the Royal Navy has in the Joint Terrorist Analysis Centre. [128658]
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Mr. Ingram: The Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre is a Government organisation which can draw on the expertise of a wide number of Departments and agencies, including the Royal Navy. Its staff includes personnel from the Naval Service.
Colonel Tim Collins
Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when the court martial into the conduct of Colonel Tim Collins last met; when any written statement announcing the verdict was issued; what contacts there were between his Department and (a) the BBC and (b) journalists concerning the matter prior to the issue of the statement; and what the policy of his Department's press office was if asked to confirm or deny the substance of the matter (i) prior to Monday 1 September and (ii) on Monday 1 September. [128816]
Mr. Ingram: Colonel Tim Collins was not the subject of a court martial. He was the subject of an internal investigation into his conduct during Operation TELIC, following allegations made against him. This investigation has now been completed and Colonel Collins has been informed that no formal disciplinary or administrative action would be taken against him.
In response to a specific media inquiry on 20 May naming Colonel Collins and claiming that he was subject to an investigation, the press office confirmed that an investigation was being conducted. Other than confirming this, the press office offered no further comment while the investigation continued. On 29 August, however, once the investigation had finished and Colonel Collins had been informed of the outcome, the press office were advised that, in response to inquiries, they could confirm that the investigations had concluded and that no formal action would be taken. Our records indicate that the first inquiries from the press were not received until 1 September.
The Ministry of Defence did not issue a written statement announcing either the commencement or conclusion of the investigation.
Consultation Documents
John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the consultation documents issued by his Department in each of the last four years; what the cost was of producing each of these; how many documents were issued in each consultation; and how many responses were received in each consultation. [124567]
Mr. Ingram: The Cabinet Office Code of Practice on Written Consultation applies to all formal national public consultation documents issued by Departments from 1 January 2001 and the information requested before that date is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Since 1 January 2001, the Ministry of Defence has issued seven formal national public consultation documents. They are:
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The table identifies additional costs of producing the consultative documents. It does not include costs of the personnel who produced the documents.
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Information on the number of consultation documents issued and the number of responses received is reproduced in the following table:
| Title | Number issues | Number of respondents |
|---|---|---|
| The Military Maritime Graves and the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986 | Over 300 | 78 replies were received |
| Armed Forces Pension Scheme Review | ||
| Joint Compensation Review | 1,500 Armed Forces Pension Scheme (AFPS) Review and Joint Compensation Review (JCR) consultation documents were issued. 20,000 leaflets were also distributed to serving members of the armed forces | 203 responses were received in total, with some respondents comments on both the AFPS and JCR |
| Ministry of Defence Police Quinquennial Review | Widely publicised by PG, announcement in Government Opportunities and on MOD Web | Responses were received from all those who were specifically targeted. The Ministry of Defence also received a written response from a member of the public |
| Proposed Introduction of the Voluntary Screening Programme following Health Concerns in Respect of Depleted Uranium | 38 documents were issued | 37 replies were received |
| The Second Consultation Document on the Introduction of a Voluntary Screening Programme for Depleted Uranium | No record available | 20 replies were received |
| Future of the Defence Diversification Agency | 78 documents were issued | 21 replies were received |
This list does not include reports and other working papers that have been put in the public domain for comment, but which are not put out for formal consultation within the terms of the Code of Practice (e.g. SDR New Chapter public discussion document).
The Government recommend that policy development should be done in close consultation with stakeholders. Formal consultation documents are only one part of this process, which includes:
Listening events/public meetings
Free phone and freepost surveys and events
Further information on these public consultations can be found on the Internet under http://www.mod.uk/consultations.
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