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The Earl of Carlisle asked Her Majesty's Government:
Lord Whitty: The Know How Fund has allocated £500,000 each in bilateral funding to projects in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in 1998-99. In 1997-98, £580,000 was allocated to each country. These amounts are additional to the UK's share of the European Union's Phare programme, which in 1998 proposes to allocate 18.9 million, 18.6 million and 29.1 million ECU to Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania respectively.
The Earl of Carlisle asked Her Majesty's Government:
Lord Whitty: Our policy is to support the process of transition to pluralist democracy and a market economy in a way which promotes and recognises the interests of all the people in transition countries. This objective is achieved by a variety of activities, including some directly aimed at reducing poverty and social exclusion. Projects include training in the United Kingdom where appropriate.
Lord Gregson asked Her Majesty's Government:
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (Baroness Hayman): When announcing the change from a council tax to a tonnage based system for the apportionment of Joint Waste Disposal Authorities levies, we requested officials in the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions to work out methods for such a system and to discuss them with the local authority associations. Proposals have now been developed on how to apportion authorities' contributions on the basis of the amount of waste they deliver for disposal in a preceding period. The aim is to
reflect the service each authority draws from the JWDA and to provide encouragement for waste minimisation and other sustainable methods of waste management. The more successful authorities are in minimising waste and diverting it to other forms of sustainable waste management such as recycling and composting, the less they will deliver for disposal and the less they will pay. As we said in March, this will form one more element in our policy to encourage waste management options higher up the waste hierarchy.A consultation document will therefore be issued today to local authority associations, the JWDAs and their constituent authorities. It remains our intention to have an efficient and effective default system in place in time for the 1999-2000 levy and we would very much welcome their responses to our proposals.
Lord Gisborough asked Her Majesty's Government:
Baroness Hayman: Under the current arrangements for the railways, this is a commercial matter for the privatised train operating companies. Two operators, Chiltern Railways and Great Western Trains, have introduced mobile phone free carriages on their services. It is for other operators to consider whether there is demand from their passengers for similar provisions to be made.
Lord Randall of St. Budeaux asked Her Majesty's Government:
The Minister of State, Ministry of Defence (Lord Gilbert): We considered this matter very carefully and decided that the most effective way to meet the reductions in the Tornado F3 and Tornado GR forces was to disband two squadrons. In order to minimise disruption for Service personnel and optimise running cost savings, No. 29(F) Tornado F3 Squadron at RAF Coningsby and No. 17(F) Tornado GR Squadron at RAF Bruggen will be disbanded by 1 April 1999.
There will be no redundancies as a result of this decision. We wish to place on record our recognition of the distinguished role these squadrons have performed over many years. Arrangements are in place to brief all personnel affected by this decision.
Lord Shepherd asked Her Majesty's Government:
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean): To assist Sir Thomas Legg complete his report as soon as possible the indemnities will come into force on 10 July.
Lord Kennet asked Her Majesty's Government:
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: The FCO and DTI, working together as Overseas Trade Services (OTS), and the MoD (in relation to defence exports), provide a wide range of services designed to help companies exploit overseas opportunities. In some circumstances--for example, for a tailored market information report--the OTS will charge companies based on the time spent by staff. The revenue generated by such charging is paid to the DTI. The MoD also charge companies in some circumstances--for example, for an overseas demonstration by an MoD sales team. The charges are also based on the time spent by staff, and the revenue is paid to the MoD.
Lord Kennet asked Her Majesty's Government:
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: Her Majesty's Government are not responsible for the accuracy of information carried on the Internet apart from, of course, their own website.
Lord Kennet asked Her Majesty's Government:
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: Any NATO action would need to be in accordance with international law, but it is clear that not all operations would require a Security Council Resolution.
The Earl of Carlisle asked Her Majesty's Government:
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: Heads of State and Government reaffirmed at the NATO Summit in Madrid on 8-9 July 1997 that NATO remains open to new members in accordance with Article 10 of the North Atlantic Treaty. The process of NATO enlargement will be considered at the NATO Summit in Washington in April 1999. No commitments have been made in respect of particular applicant countries.
Lord Hylton asked Her Majesty's Government:
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: As my noble friend will be aware, we hope to complete all stages of the Landmines Bill in another place on 10 July. It will then be debated in this House shortly afterwards. We do not yet have a date.
Lord Patten asked Her Majesty's Government:
The Lord Privy Seal (Lord Richard): The Privy Council entertained Her Majesty the Queen and His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh to Dinner on 8 December 1997, to celebrate their Golden Wedding Anniversary. Every member of the Privy Council was invited to attend.
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