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Departmental Publications (Storage)

Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many departmental publications are in storage; and where they are located. [183873]

Mr. Straw: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) produces a range of printed publications; some are produced in-house, others are published on our behalf by commercial publishers e.g. The Stationery Office. Details are included in the FOI Publication Scheme on the FCO website: www.foc.gov.uk. Limited stocks are held of publications for which the FCO is both the publisher and distributor; publications are re-printed as required. The retention and storage of items published commercially is a matter for the publisher.

Dr. al-Qaradawi

Mr. Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs in which country the visa for Dr. al-Qaradawi was granted; and what consultation took place between London and the consular office who granted the visa. [183774]

Mr. Straw: I am withholding the information requested under exemption 5 of Part 2 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.

It is not our practice to disclose details of individual entry clearance cases.
 
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EU Constitution

Mrs. Browning: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 28 June 2004, Official Report, column 128W, on EU Policy (Voting Method), whether, under Part III of the draft Treaty, because the voting method is not specified, the default applies, and proposals are subject to Qualified Majority Voting. [182518]

Mr. MacShane [holding answer 6 July 2004]: As under the current Treaty, member states will coordinate their economic policies through broad economic policy guidelines which are non-binding and finalised in the European Council by consensus; and the Council will also continue to vote by QMV for other stages of multilateral surveillance and excessive deficit procedures as set out in article III-71 and III-76. Only members of the euro area would vote where a decision concerns a member of the area. The new Constitutional Treaty does not affect a member state's ability to determine its own economic policies.

Gibraltar

Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which Government Ministers are planning to visit Gibraltar on 4 August to join in the tercentenary celebrations. [182837]

Mr. MacShane: Details of any ministerial involvement will be announced nearer the time.

Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the electorate of Gibraltar will be entitled to vote in the referendum on the European Constitution. [182909]

Mr. MacShane: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary is sympathetic to the inclusion of the Gibraltar electorate in the franchise for the referendum on the EU Constitutional Treaty, as he stated to the Foreign Affairs Committee on 25 May. As yet, the Government have not yet taken a decision on this issue and are continuing to consider the matter.

Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many times he has spoken to the Chief Minister of Gibraltar in the past 12 months; and what main issues were discussed. [182910]

Mr. MacShane: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary spoke to the Chief Minister of Gibraltar in London on 26 May 2004 when they discussed Gibraltar's constitutional reform proposals.

TRANSPORT

Finningley Airport

Mr. Bill O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the number of local employment opportunities to be created by the development of Finningley airport; what assessment has been made of the effect on jobs at other regional airports; and if he will make a statement. [183014]

 
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Mr. McNulty: The development of the airport at Finningley is likely to create at least 2,400 new jobs. The assessment of the effect on jobs at other regional airports shows that the diversion effects would be relatively small and would not inhibit their long-term growth potential.

Mr. Bill O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much was allocated to Peel Holdings plc for the development of Finningley airport from (a) Objective 1 funds and (b) other sources of European and public funds. [183012]

Mr. McNulty: No allocation of funds from either Objective 1, other European or public funds has been made to Peel Holdings for the development of the airport at Finningley. As a result of Peel Holdings' application for Objective 1 support, a submission to the European Commission has been made but no decision has yet been received.

Mr. Bill O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the compliance of the development of Finningley airport with the (a) public inquiry decision and (b) EU rules on additionality; and if he will make a statement. [183013]

Mr. McNulty: Insofar as a submission has been made to the European Commission for the use of Objective 1 funds for the development of the airport at Finningley, officials have taken the public inquiry decision as well as additionality criteria into account in their submission. Compliance with the public inquiry decision would be a condition of any future offer of grant. A growth limit is also imposed on the airport by the public inquiry decision.

Airline Pilots (Security Passes)

Andy Burnham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on proposed changes to the system for issuing security passes to airline pilots; and what the (a) timetable and (b) process for introduction is. [183940]

Mr. McNulty: The Department is not planning any changes to the system for issuing Restricted Zone passes to airline pilots. Officials are, however undertaking a review of the criminal record check requirement for holders of restricted zone passes. The timing of implementation of any agreed changes would be dependent on consultations with stakeholders.

Airtrack

Mr. Wilshire: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) when he, his ministerial colleagues or his officials last met the Strategic Rail Authority to discuss Airtrack; and what matters were discussed; [183293]

(2) when he, his ministerial colleagues or officials last met the promoters of Airtrack; and what was discussed; [183298]

(3) what assessment his Department has made of the likely impact on traffic flows on motorways close to Heathrow airport of introducing Airtrack. [183300]

 
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Mr. McNulty: The promoters of Airtrack last briefed officials on progress in developing their proposals on 6 July. Officials also received a briefing from the SRA on 18 June in the wider context of surface access issues at Heathrow airport. At this stage, the Department has not made any assessment of the effect of Airtrack on traffic flows on motorways close to the airport.

Alcohol Limits

Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to review the maximum limit for consumption of alcohol by drivers of road vehicles. [183485]

Mr. Jamieson: There are no plans at present to review the legal alcohol limit for drivers. The Government considers that strengthened enforcement of existing controls, together with high-profile publicity campaigns and driver education, is the appropriate way of reducing drink-related crashes and casualties.

Crew Travel Scheme

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to expand the scope of the crew travel scheme. [182998]

Mr. Jamieson: In the White Paper 'British Shipping: Charting a new course' we said we would extend the scheme to include EU ports, but would limit CRCS to UK flagged vessels. Revision of the eligibility criteria for the Crew Relief Costs scheme requires primary legislation. To date no pparliamentary time has been available.

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