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26 Oct 2004 : Column 1104W—continued

Iraq

Harry Cohen: To ask the Solicitor-General (1) on what date the Attorney-General (a) gave his advice to the Prime Minister about the legality of the war with Iraq and (b) officially examined Iraq's declaration of December 2002; what he considered to be material breaches in the declaration; on what date he made his opinion on these specific breaches known; whether he first expressed the opinion that there was material breach before he examined Iraq's declaration; and if she will make a statement; [190233]

(2) on what date the Attorney-General (a) gave his advice to the Prime Minister about the legality of the war with Iraq and (b) officially examined Iraq's declaration of December 2002; what he assessed as
 
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material breaches in the declaration; on what date he made his opinion on these specific aspects known; and if she will make a statement; [191011]

(3) if the Attorney-General will make a further assessment of whether Iraq was in major breach of United Nations resolutions to justify war based on the findings of the Iraq Survey Group report; and if she will make a statement. [190985]

The Solicitor-General: I refer the hon. Member to paragraphs 366–387 of the report of the Butler Review of Intelligence on Weapons of Mass Destruction (HC898) which describe the role of intelligence in assessing the legality of the use of force against Iraq. This section of the report sets out the legal process, including when advice was given by the Attorney-General.

The Butler Report also makes it clear that the advice concerned the legal interpretation of relevant UN Security Council resolutions and not WMD-related intelligence. In paragraph 1 of UNSCR 1441, the Security Council itself decided that Iraq was, and remained, in material breach of its obligations under relevant resolutions. In paragraph 4 of resolution 1441, the Security Council also decided that false statements or omissions in the declarations submitted by Iraq pursuant to the resolution and failure by Iraq at any time to comply with, and co-operate fully in the implementation of the resolution would constitute a further material breach of Iraq's obligations. It is a question of fact whether there were any such false statements or omissions in Iraq's declarations and whether Iraq did comply with and cooperate fully in the implementation of the resolution. As appears from paragraph 383 of the Butler Report, it was not for the Law Officers themselves to ascertain what those facts were. As stated in paragraph 385, the Prime Minister formed the view, based on information from a wide range of sources, including UNMOVIC reports, that there were false statements and omissions in the Iraqi declarations and also that Iraq had failed to comply with and cooperate fully in the implementation of resolution 1441.

CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT

Analogue Switch-off

Mr. Salmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the planned dates for analogue switch-off are broken down by ITV region. [193677]

Estelle Morris: Much progress has been made in the discussions between the Government, Ofcom, and Public Service Broadcasters and other stakeholders on the detailed plans for switchover. However, decisions have yet to be made on the timetable for Switchover across the UK by ITV regions.

Mr. Salmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the planned dates are for analogue switch-off for the transmitters at (a) Durris, (b) Rosemarkie, (c) Knock More and (d) Rumster Forest. [193678]


 
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Estelle Morris: Discussions are taking place between the Government, Ofcom, and Public Service Broadcasters and other stakeholders on the detailed plans for switchover. However, no specific dates have been set for the conversion of individual transmitters (with the exception of the Technical Trial transmitter in Ferryside which will be converted in March 2005).

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Central-Local Government Partnership

Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the cost to public funds of the Central Local Government Partnership conference held at Leeds Castle on 14 and 15 October was; and how many Government Ministers attended. [193360]

Phil Hope: The event held at Leeds Castle was a meeting of the Central Local Partnership (CLP)—a forum for leading members from local government to hold discussions with Ministers. The CLP meets three times a year, two meetings are held at the offices of the Local Government Association (LGA) or at the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's offices in London, and the October meeting is an Away Day.

The cost of the event was approximately £23,000, shared equally between central Government and the LGA. Over the two days 14 Ministers attended from Departments that work closely with local authorities. The councillors attending were drawn from all parties represented in local government including the chairman of the LGA, Sir Sandy Bruce-Lockhart, Conservative leader of Kent county council. Following is a list of the Ministers and councillors who attended the event:

Ministers


 
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Local Government Association Councillors

Council Tax (Yorkshire)

Mr. Greenway: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what proportion of the (a) City of York council, (b) Ryedale district council, (c) North Yorkshire county council and (d) Scarborough borough council budget was met from council tax receipts in (i) 1997–98 and (ii) 2004–05. [193905]

Mr. Raynsford: The proportion of each council's revenue expenditure met from council tax in 1997–98 and 2004–05 for the four authorities are tabled as follows:
Percentage

1997–982004–05
City of York2829
Rydale district council4649
North Yorkshire county council2831
Scarborough borough council2841

The data are as reported by the local authority and use outturn data for 1997–98 and budget data for 2004–05.

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