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17 Mar 2004 : Column 291W—continued
Way to Go Campaign
Mr. Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on progress with the Way to Go campaign. [161193]
Mr. McNulty: The Government are committed to developing a modern, efficient and sustainable transport system fit for the 21st century. The Way to Go campaign raises a number of important issues about how our transport system can better serve people's needs. Many of the transport schemes being implemented across the country are those advocated by the Way to Go campaign. Our plans will deliver over £180 billion of public and private money across all forms of transport over the 10 years to 2010, a 45 per cent. real terms increase over the previous decade.
PRIME MINISTER
Parliamentary Questions
Norman Baker: To ask the Prime Minister what his policy is in respect of providing substantive answers to written parliamentary questions where he concludes that to provide such answers would be detrimental to the work of Government. [162307]
The Prime Minister: I have nothing further to add to the answer I gave him on 2 March 2004, Official Report, column 849W.
17 Mar 2004 : Column 292W
United Nations Charter
Mr. Allen: To ask the Prime Minister what proposals he has for reform of the United Nations Charter to allow the United Nations greater rights (a) to intervene within the territory of member states and (b) otherwise to override their sovereignty. [162309]
The Prime Minister: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Blaenau Gwent (Llew Smith) on 15 March 2004, Official Report, column 38W.
SCOTLAND
Climate Change
Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what conclusions he has drawn for Scotland from the writings of the Government Chief Scientist on climate change. [160371]
Mrs. McGuire: The Government Chief Scientist's article in the journal Science in January 2004 concluded that the evidence for man-made climate change was convincing and could not be ignored. The Government shares that view, as my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister said in reply to my hon. Friend on 11 March 2004, Official Report, column 1655W.
The Government are committed to making significant reductions in emissions of the greenhouse gases which cause man-made climate change. The UK Climate Change Programme sets out a number of measures to reduce such emissions; the UK programme includes the Scottish Executive's Climate Change Programme.
Departmental Communications
Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many staff are employed in the Department to work in the communications field, broken down by (a) Government Information and Communication Service staff and (b) other staff, broken down by (i) press officers, (ii) special advisers and (iii) others. [158167]
Mrs. McGuire: The Scotland Office employs three press officers, one of whom is part time, who are current members of the Government Information and Communications Service. The office also has one special adviser. The Special Adviser's Code of Conduct sets out the sort of work a special adviser may undertake on behalf of their Minister. This includes communications activity. No other staff are employed in the communications field.
Departmental Officials
Mr. Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland which former officials of the Department have asked for permission to join (a) PricewaterhouseCoopers, (b) Deloitte & Touche, (c) Ernst & Young and (d) KPMG. [156888]
Mrs. McGuire: No former officials of the Scotland Office have asked for permission to join these organisations.
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Secondments
Mr. Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what secondments (a) PricewaterhouseCoopers, (b) Deloitte & Touche, (c) Ernst & Young and (d) KPMG have made to his Department since 2001; for what (i) periods and (ii) tasks the secondments were made; whether secondments of staff from his Department have been made to those firms; and for what (A) periods and (B) tasks. [156913]
Mrs. McGuire: No secondments have been made between the Scotland Office and these organisations.
Temporary Staff
Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many staff the Department employs on a temporary basis through employment agencies; what percentage this is of total staff employed; and how much the Department paid employment agencies to supply temporary staff in (a) 2001–02, (b) 2002–03 and (c) 2003–04 to the most recent date for which figures are available. [158245]
Mrs. McGuire: The Scotland Office currently employs two temporary staff. This comprises 2.3 per cent. of total staff employed.
Details of payments to employment agencies for temporary staff are as follows:
| £ | |
|---|---|
| 2001–02 | 75,392 |
| 2002–03 | 78,539 |
| 2003–04 | (6)59,991 |
(6) To end February 2004.
NORTHERN IRELAND
Belfast Agreement
8. Mr. Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the progress of the current talks about the future of the Belfast agreement. [160824]
Mr. Spellar: As my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister said last week, after the St. Patrick's Day break the two Governments will be seeking to inject fresh momentum into the dialogue between the political parties, with a view to securing early movement on an end to paramilitarism and the return of devolved government. The Prime Minister and the Taoiseach will visit Northern Ireland next Tuesday for discussions with the parties.
Devolution
9. Mr. Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what recent discussions he has had on the restoration of devolution in the Province. [160825]
Mr. Spellar: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave previously to the hon. Member for Basingstoke (Mr. Hunter).
17 Mar 2004 : Column 294W
Decommissioning
10. Sir Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what progress has been made on arms decommissioning. [160826]
Jane Kennedy: Four acts of decommissioning have taken place to date—one carried out by the LVF and three by PIRA. The latest decommission act occurred on 21 October 2003 in which the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning confirmed they witnessed a third event in which IRA weapons were put beyond use. The quantity of arms involved was larger than the quantity put beyond use in the previous event.
Employment (Strangford)
11. Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on job prospects in Strangford. [160827]
Mr. Pearson: Residents based claimant rates indicate that in January 2004 unemployment in the Strangford constituency stood at 3.6 per cent. However, the hon. Lady will be aware of the recent announcement locally that TKECC is to close with the loss of 550 jobs. Invest NIs Local Office team is working with other Government Departments to facilitate retraining and other employment-related options for the work force. Since April 2002 Invest NI has offered client companies in the constituency over £3 million assistance towards investment of over £12 million. In addition it has supported 270 business start-ups and continues to work in close partnership with the local councils in support of their economic development activities.
Higher Education
12. Mr. Luke: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the expansion of higher education in Northern Ireland. [160828]
Jane Kennedy: Since 1999 there has been an increase of over 4,000 in the number of full time equivalent student places in Northern Ireland. This year we will be increasing provision by an additional 330 places and are also considering a substantial increase in places on specialist medical and social working training courses.
Economy
13. Mr. Lyons: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the development of the Northern Ireland economy since the Good Friday agreement. [160829]
Mr. Pearson: Since the Good Friday agreement was signed, the number of employee jobs has reached record levels, increasing by 61,550 from March 1998 to December 2003. Claimant count unemployment at 4.1 per cent. of the work force is at its lowest rate since the mid 1970s and growth in Gross Value Added of 13 per cent. between 1998 and 2001 makes Northern Ireland one of the fastest growing UK regions.
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