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Written Answers
Thursday, 4th February 1999.
Operation Lifeline Sudan
Lord McNair asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether they have funded, or intend to fund, either bilaterally or through Operation Lifeline Sudan, the improvement of facilities at al-Obeid, Khartoum or Malakal airports to ensure the more efficient and effective use of those airports by Operation Lifeline Sudan.[HL755]
Baroness Amos: We do not intend to fund improvements to these airports. The cost of delivering food by air in Sudan last year was approximately 15 times the World Food Programme's average world wide food delivery cost. We are therefore pressing the WFP to maximise use of overland routes, including rail, for the delivery of humanitarian assistance in Sudan. This will have the dual benefit of realising large savings in transportation costs and greatly improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the relief effort.
Lord McNair asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether Operation Lifeline Sudan is using, or intends to use, Malakal airport as part of its efforts to assist in the more direct delivery of emergency humanitarian assistance; and, if not, why this airport is not being used.[HL756]
Baroness Amos: I refer to my earlier reply to the noble Lord. Operation Lifeline Sudan (OLS) does not use Malakal airport for the delivery of humanitarian assistance. There are no plans to do so.
Peter Mandelson MP
Lord Tebbit asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether Peter Mandelson MP continues to have access to Government papers not given to other members of the House of Commons; and[HL554]
Whether Peter Mandelson MP has access to information supplied in confidence or under statute to the Government by non-governmental entities; and[HL555]
Whether, when Mr. Mandelson represents the Prime Minister, his conduct is governed by the rules, codes of conduct and conventions governing the conduct of Ministers; and[HL604]
Which Minister is responsible to Parliament for the actions of Mr. Mandelson whilst he is representing Her Majesty's Government.[HL605]
The Lord Privy Seal (Baroness Jay of Paddington): Peter Mandelson MP is no longer a member of the Government. He is therefore not bound by the terms of the Ministerial Code. He continues to have a role representing his political party and
constituents, but not the Government. He has access only to government papers which are available to other Members of the House.
Lord Tebbit asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether the resignation of Mr. Mandelson was because of his conduct or because his conduct had become public knowledge.[HL601]
Baroness Jay of Paddington: Peter Mandelson MP made clear the reasons for his resignation in his letter of 23 December to the Prime Minister.
Geoffrey Robinson MP
Lord Tebbit asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What enquiries they have made to ascertain if any Ministers other than Peter Mandelson MP have accepted loans from Geoffrey Robinson MP.[HL556]
Baroness Jay of Paddington: Geoffrey Robinson MP made clear when he left the Government that no Ministers other than Peter Mandelson MP had accepted loans from him.
Lord Tebbit asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What was the nature of the conduct which required the resignation of the previous Paymaster General.[HL559]
Baroness Jay of Paddington: Geoffrey Robinson MP made clear the reasons for his resignation in his letter of 23 December 1998 to the Prime Minister.
Ministerial Code: Ministers' Obligations
Lord Tebbit asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether it is compatible with Ministerial Codes of Conduct for one Minister to owe substantial sums of money to another; and [HL557]
Whether they regard unethical conduct in the private lives of Ministers as likely to impair their ability to conduct ethical public policy on behalf of the Government.[HL558]
Baroness Jay of Paddington: The Ministerial Code makes clear that Ministers will want to order their affairs so that no conflict arises or is thought to arise between their private interests (financial or otherwise) and their public duties.
Lord Tebbit asked Her Majesty's Government:
- How listeners and viewers are expected to distinguish which views expressed in broadcasts by Ministers are personal views, which are not Government policy and which represent Government policy; and [HL602]
Whether it is their policy that Ministers being interviewed in their official capacity should mix personal and official views without distinction.[HL603]
Baroness Jay of Paddington: Ministers' responsibilities in relation to media interviews are set out in Section 8 of the Ministerial Code.
Swaffham Wind Farm
Lord Howie of Troon asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What will be the output in megawatts of the proposed windmill at Swaffham in Norfolk.[HL678]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Trade and Industry (Lord Sainsbury of Turville): The proposed wind farm at Swaffham is one of the successful projects contracted under the fifth Non Fossil Fuel Obligation Order (NFFO-5) under the small wind band. The generating capacity of the wind farm will be 0.632 megawatts (declared net capacity).
Russia: Trade Figures
Lord Hylton asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether they will provide tables showing United Kingdom exports and imports from Russia over the last five years, or part-years, in (a) actual and
(b) constant values.[HL572]
The Minister of State, Department of Trade and Industry (Lord Simon of Highbury): Information on UK trade with Russia, at current prices, is given in the following table. Information on UK trade with Russia on a constant price basis is not available.
| UK Exports | UK Imports | UK Balance | |
| Goods & Services | |||
| 1993 | 740 | 1,029 | -290 |
| 1994 | 957 | 1,018 | -61 |
| 1995 | 1,153 | 1,191 | -38 |
| 1996 | 1,350 | 1,520 | -170 |
| 1997 | 1,517 | 1,593 | -76 |
| Jan-Nov 1998 | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Goods | |||
| 1993 | 552 | 822 | -271 |
| 1994 | 708 | 805 | -97 |
| 1995 | 870 | 967 | -97 |
| 1996 | 1,009 | 1,272 | -263 |
| 1997 | 1,223 | 1,477 | -244 |
| Jan-Nov 1998 | 895 | 1,275 | -381 |
| Services | |||
| 1993 | 188 | 207 | -19 |
| 1994 | 249 | 213 | 36 |
| 1995 | 283 | 224 | 59 |
| 1996 | 341 | 248 | 93 |
| 1997 | 284 | 116 | 168 |
| Jan-Nov 1998 | n/a | n/a | n/a |
Note:
Figures for trade in goods are on an Overseas Trade Statistics (OTS) basis. Figures for trade in services are on a Balance of Payments (BOP) basis, and are only available on an annual basis.
Source:
Overseas Trade Statistics of the United Kingdom, HM Customs & Excise Geographical Analysis of UK Balance of Payments ONS.
Lord Ashley of Stoke asked Her Majesty's Government:
In what way, and in what numbers, has the NHS range of hearing aids been substantially up-dated in the past three years; and[HL801]
How many high frequency hearing aids have been supplied by the NHS; and[HL802]
How many mini-hearing aids have been supplied by the NHS; and[HL803]
In what number of NHS hearing aids have modern features been incorporated; and[HL804]
What modern features were introduced into some of the range of NHS hearing aids to make sounds clearer; and when they will be introduced into all NHS hearing aids.[HL805]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Baroness Hayman): Figures are only held for hearing aids supplied by NHS Supplies, which currently represents around 85 per cent. of the hearing aids supplied by the National Health Service. Alternative aids are available and can be prescribed to meet a clinical need. Aids which are more complex or expensive, such as those from the private sector, are not necessarily more effective.
NHS Supplies and its predecessors supplied 2,680,000 hearing aids between 1993 and 1998, 275,200 mini hearing aids between 1992 and 1998, 302,500 NHS hearing aids with modern features between 1993 and 1998 and 60,000 high frequency hearing aids between 1996 and 1998.
New products have been introduced and old technology has been deleted from the NHS Supplies range. Since 1995, NHS Supplies has introduced 15 new models. One hundred and eighty-eight thousand of these new model hearing aids have been supplied to the NHS.
The following features have been introduced into the NHS range over the last five years:
How many hearing aids have been supplied by the NHS; and[HL800]
automatic gain control, both input and output
feedback reduction control
multichannel with wide dynamic range
compression
introduction of Class D amplifiers and receivers.
The Government are constantly looking at ways to improve and modernise NHS hearing aid services.
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