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24 Mar 2004 : Column 902W—continued

Cyprus

Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether (a) a

24 Mar 2004 : Column 903W

unity settlement and (b) an end to the occupation of Cyprus by Turkish armed forces is a prerequisite to advancing Turkey's EU candidacy status; and if he will make a statement. [163245]

Mr. MacShane: A Cyprus settlement is not a precondition for the opening of EU accession negotiations with Turkey. The UK is working to ensure a positive outcome in the ongoing settlement negotiations, including on security issues, on the basis of the UN Secretary General's proposals. We believe that is also the position of the Turkish Government—something which can only strengthen Turkey's relationship with the European Union.

Iran

Mr. Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress has been made in persuading Iran to allow full International Atomic Energy Agency access to its nuclear facilities since he took part in the tripartite visit to Iran in 2003. [162396]

Mr. Mullin [holding answer 18 March 2004]: Together with our tripartite partners, we have continued to press Iran to meet all of its obligations under the agreement signed in Tehran last October. Following informal discussions in the margins of last week's meeting of the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and further high-level contacts in Tehran, Iran has now reversed its recent decision to suspend co-operation with IAEA inspectors. It is hoped that the inspectors will now gain full access to Iranian facilities.

Lancaster House

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the running cost of Lancaster House was in the last year for which figures are available. [163017]

Mr. Straw: In the financial year 2002–03 the running cost of Lancaster House was £1,882,000.

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the cost of (a) maintaining and (b) holding publicly funded functions at Lancaster House was in each of the last five years. [163018]

Mr. Straw: To provide the cost of holding publicly funded functions at Lancaster House for the last five years would incur disproportionate costs. However the cost of maintaining Lancaster House is as follows:

	£
1999	161,904
2000	375,679
2001	746,222
2002	325,632
2003	608,547

24 Mar 2004 : Column 904W

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many times Lancaster House was used for private functions in each of the last five years; and what revenue was brought in as a result. [163019]

Mr. Straw: No private functions are held in Lancaster House. However occasionally, on special request, the Crown Estate has allowed Lancaster House to be used for commercial filming. The revenue from this source over the last five years has been set out in the following table:

	£
1999	26,000
2000	0
2001	40,000
2002	95,000
2003	7,000

We are actively exploring the possibility of greater commercial use of the House in order to offset costs.

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many times Lancaster House was used by his Department for functions in each of the last five years. [163020]

Mr. Straw: In 2002 Lancaster House was used by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office 236 times and in 2003, 216 times. We are unable to provide figures for previous years as this would incur disproportionate costs.

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what his Department's policy is on private hire of Lancaster House. [163021]

Mr. Straw: The lease for Lancaster House with the Crown Estate only permits its use by senior Civil Servants of grades 2 and above for official business. However on special request, the Crown Estate have on occasion allowed commercial filming to take place.

We are actively exploring the possibility of greater commercial use of the House in order to offset costs.

CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

Magistrates Courts

Bob Spink: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what plans he has to review the ease of access to magistrates courts for rural communities. [162877]

Mr. Leslie: I currently have no plans to review access to magistrates courts in rural communities. Decisions regarding the location of magistrates courts whether rural or urban are made by local Magistrates' Courts Committee's (MCCs) pursuant to Section 31 of the Justices of the Peace Act 1997.

From April 2005 a single executive agency will be created to administer the magistrates courts, the Crown court and the county courts in England and Wales. The new agency can further improve the way all the courts

24 Mar 2004 : Column 905W

work, by allowing the different parts of the system to work together more effectively to respond to local needs, including those of rural communities.

Project Funding

Mr. Colman: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how much was spent by (a) the Government and (b) the private sector on (i) solely state financed and (ii) public-private and private finance initiative projects in the Department in each of the last 10 years, broken down by region. [160857]

Mr. Leslie: The following table shows how much the DCA has spent on (i) solely state financed and (ii) public-private and private finance initiative projects in each of the last 10 years. The figures for the solely state-financed projects are for property and construction projects only. The figures for the public-private and private finance initiative projects include IT and property and construction projects.

An indication of the amount the private sector has spent on public-private and private finance initiative projects in the Department in each of the last 10 years can be found on the Treasury website at: http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/documents/public private partnerships/ppp pfi stats.cfm

	Solely state financed(£ million)	Region	Public-private and private finance initiative projects (£ million)	Region
1994–95	33.75	Wales and Chester	0
	6.3	South East	0
1995–96	32.7	South East	0
1996–97	0		0
1997–98	0		9.5	National
1998–99	0		19.5
1999–2000	18.7	West	28.8
2000–01	0		53.6
2001–02	0		1.3	Midlands
			75	National
2002–03	0		1.4	Midlands
			99.7	National
2003–04	0		1.5	Midlands
(expected)			107.7	National

Supreme Court

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs which consultees expressed concerns as to the integrity of Scots law further to the proposals for a new UK Supreme Court. [162327]

Mr. Leslie: The Government published a summary of responses in January 2004. They have also published the full responses given by consultees on the Department for Constitutional Affairs website.

There was no specific question on Scots Law. Only James Chalmers, a lecturer at Aberdeen university, and two members of the public suggested that the proposals would have an adverse effect on the integrity of Scots law.

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LEADER OF THE HOUSE

Bills (Timetabling)

Mr. Shepherd: To ask the Leader of the House if he will list for each bill introduced in (a) Session 2001–02 and (b) Session 2002–03 (i) the number of sittings in committees, (ii) the number of knives (A) for which provision was made and (B) which took effect, (iii) the number of groups of amendments not reached because a knife took effect, (iv) the number of clauses on which the question that the clause stand part was not reached because a knife took effect, (v) for how many days each bill was considered at report stage, (vi) the number of knives (X) for which provision was made and (Y) which took effect at report stage, (vii) the number of groups of amendments not reached because a knife took effect and (viii) how long was spent in debate (1) at second reading, (2) in committee, (3) in consideration on report and (4) on third reading. [162841]

Mr. Hain: I refer the hon. Member to my reply of 23 October 2003, Official Report, column 662W. In respect of 2002–03, much of this information is published in the First Report of the Modernisation Committee, Session 2002–03 (HC 1222, p Ev3). Further information has been published by the Procedure Committee in its Minutes of Evidence of 11 February 2004 (HC 325-i, available on the Committee's web pages).

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