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Written Answers
Tuesday, 19th November 1996.
Crown Servants in Overseas Posts: Eligibility
Lord Lester of Herne Hill asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Further to the Answer given by Baroness Chalker of Wallasey on 7th November 1996 (WA 74), whether they will amend the rules governing people employed by the Overseas Development Administration in overseas posts as Crown Servants so as to enable Commonwealth citizens with an established right of abode and the right to work in the United Kingdom to become eligible for such employment.
Lord Lester of Herne Hill asked Her Majesty's Government:
- To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Answer given by Baroness Chalker of Wallasey on 7th November 1996 (WA 74), whether there is any reason in principle, given the particular needs of the post of Forest Resources Management Adviser on contract to Her Majesty's Government in service in Guyana, to exclude applicants who are Commonwealth citizens without an established right of abode and right to work in the United Kingdom.
Lord Chesham: We find that the present eligibility criteria are sufficiently widely drawn to attract candidates with the appropriate qualifications and experience. On the very rare occasions where suitable candidates have not been identified through our normal processes we have exceptionally appointed people who do not satisfy our normal criteria.
NATO Enlargement: Financial Criteria
Lord Kennet asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether they will specify the financial criteria which they consider should apply to the enlargement of NATO.
Lord Chesham: It is impossible to predict the likely costs of NATO enlargement until we know who will join, when, and on what terms. Her Majesty's Government will seek to ensure that any measures taken in connection with enlargement are justified and cost-effective. New members must be prepared to share the roles, risks, responsibilities, benefits, and burdens of common security and collective defence.
Turkey and NATO Enlargement
Lord Kennet asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether the Government of Turkey is linking the question of NATO enlargement with that of its own accession to the European Union.
Lord Chesham: It is for the Turkish Government, not for Her Majesty's Government, to say what, if any, linkages Turkey sees between the two enlargement processes.
NATO Enlargement: Cost Estimates
Lord Kennet asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What is their view of (a) the US Congressional Budget Office's estimates of the possible costs of NATO enlargement of March 1996, (b) of the same office's estimates of May 1996; and (c) the estimates produced by the RAND Corporation, also of 1996.
Lord Chesham: All such estimates are dependent on the assumptions used. At this stage, it cannot be known whether the assumptions underlying the estimates to which the noble Lord refers will be realised.
EU/Seychelles Fisheries Agreement
Lord Pearson of Rannoch asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Which member states will benefit principally from the recent fisheries agreement signed between the European Union and the Seychelles.
Lord Lucas: The principal beneficiaries from the fisheries agreement between the EC and the Seychelles will be France and Spain.
Lord Pearson of Rannoch asked Her Majesty's Government:
- How much the European Union is paying to the Seychelles as part of the recent fisheries agreement and what proportion of that sum will be met by the UK taxpayer.
Lord Lucas: The agreement is estimated to cost a total of 9.9 MECU (approximately £8.3 million) over its three-year life. The UK contribution to this expenditure will be around 15 per cent.
Potato Industry Development Council
Lord Harlech asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What was the result of the consultation paper on a proposal to establish a Potato Industry Development Council for Great Britain.
Lord Lucas: Our industry-wide consultation revealed overwhelming support for such a body. Therefore, my right honourable friend the Minister of Agriculture,
Fisheries and Food together with my right honourable friends the Secretaries of State for Scotland and Wales have decided to set up a Potato Industry Development Council for Great Britain.The Council will be responsible for:
- commissioning or assisting research and development;
- the collection and dissemination of statistical information;
- promotion, including the development of exports; and
- promoting standard products and better defining trade descriptions and consistency in their use.
It is our intention that the order establishing the council, which will be made under the Industrial Organisation and Development Act 1947, will be laid before Parliament later this year.
Surplus Food Scheme
Lord Harlech asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether there will be a surplus food scheme in 1997.
Lord Lucas: Yes. We intend to implement a surplus food scheme in 1997. The scheme will involve UK intervention beef only. It will be supplied in the form of canned stewed steak, as was the case in 1995, and will be distributed to those on income support, family credit, jobseeker's allowance, the homeless and destitute and those living in welfare hostels.
The scheme will involve up to 8,000 tonnes of beef containing no offal, which will come from animals of less than 30 months of age. All this beef will have been purchased into intervention since April 1996.
We hope that charitable organisations will find the surplus beef to be a help in their efforts.
Indonesia
Lord Lester of Herne Hill asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What is the total amount of British investment in Indonesia.
The Minister of State, Department of Trade and Industry (Lord Fraser of Carmyllie): According to the Indonesian Investment Co-ordinating Board, the total amount of UK direct investment in Indonesia between 1967 and March this year, in terms of approvals, was US$21.33 billion spread across 181 projects. The UK is the second largest foreign investor after Japan in
cumulative terms since 1967 and was the single largest investor in 1995, with approvals totalling US$6 billion. UK investments are across a broad spectrum, most notably in the paper, food, hotels and tourism, plantations, non-metal mineral industry and electricity, gas and water sectors.
Lord Lester of Herne Hill asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What is their policy about the export of arms and arms-related equipment to Indonesia.
Lord Fraser of Carmyllie: The export of military, paramilitary, police and security goods is controlled under the Export of Goods (Control) Order 1994 (as amended). All such goods require an export licence, and applications for licences are subject to careful scrutiny against established criteria and internationally agreed guidelines to which the Government are committed. These guidelines were placed in the House in July this year.
Iran: CBI Conference
Lord Avebury asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What financial or other support is being given by the Department of Trade and Industry, and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office respectively, to the seminar being held by the Confederation of British Industry on 19th November 1996, on the current economic situation in Iran; what officials of either department will be present at this meeting, and what is their policy generally on subsidising events promoting commercial and economic links between Britain and Iran.
Lord Fraser of Carmyllie: Neither the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) nor the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) is providing financial support to the Confederation of British Industry for its conference on Iran. The DTI Director General of Export Promotion and the Charge d'Affaires at the British Embassy in Tehran have agreed to speak. Officials from the DTI Middle East Branch and the FCO Middle East Department will also attend. The DTI supports the promotion of trade with Iran (except where this is subject to restriction under export licensing controls) through the normal range of DTI services.
"Access to Justice": Response to Lord Woolf's Recommendations
Lord Lester of Herne Hill asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether they will give effect to the recommendation made by Lord Woolf in his Final Report, Access to Justice, July 1996, that in judicial
- review proceedings, the court should have a discretion to order costs to be paid out of public funds where proceedings have been brought in the public interest.
The Lord Chancellor (Lord Mackay of Clashfern): These recommendations are being considered together with those made by the Law Commission in its report Administrative Law: Judicial Review and Statutory Appeals (Law Com No. 226). No final decision has yet been taken.
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