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Written Answers to Questions
Monday 4 February 1991
FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS
Israel
Mr. Sillars : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will seek through the United Nations an estimate of the deaths and injuries caused to Palestinians in the west bank and Gaza by Israeli forces ; and if he will seek an investigation into the extent to which these acts were in breach of the fourth Geneva convention.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : We gather information on casualties in the occupied territories from a variety of sources, including the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, the United Nations agency responsible for the care of Palestinian refugees. Our figures are 870 deaths and many thousands of injuries since the beginning of the intifada. We regularly take up with the Israelis incidents in which we believe that their security forces have acted in breach of the fourth Geneva convention.
Saudi Arabia
Mr. Morley : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking to assist relatives of the United Kingdom citizens working in Saudi Arabia to keep in touch with their family and answer queries on their whereabouts and well-being.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : I understand that families are able to communicate freely by telephone and that the Post Office is doing everything that it can to provide a regular postal service.
United Kingdom Civilians, Dhahran
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what proposals he has to discuss with the management of Aramco at Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, health and safety factors relating to civilian employment of United Kingdom citizens.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : On 29 January the British ambassador to Saudi Arabia discussed with the President of Aramco the general situation of British nationals under contract to the company. The ambassador was assured that Aramco would not penalise those who sought to leave because of the Gulf crisis and that accrued benefits would not be forfeited.
Neither the British Government nor Aramco are advising those employed in or near Dhahran to leave. All British nationals in the area have been issued with respirators.
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Guatemala
Mr. Tom Clarke : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made concerning abuses of human rights by the Guatemalan national police ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Garel-Jones : We and our European partners have often made clear to the Guatemalan authorities our deep concern about human rights abuses, including the plight of street children. We have repeated this concern to the new Government of President Serrano.
Gulf War
Mr. Corbyn : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has held with King Hussein of Jordan concerning his proposal for a cease fire in the Gulf ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : We have been in close contact with the Jordanians about the Gulf crisis. We understand that the Jordanian proposal for a ceasefire is no longer being pursued.
Mr. Corbyn : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assistance has been received, or promised, from other Governments towards the costs of the deployment of British forces in the Gulf.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : We have received pledges of assistance, both financial and in kind, from a number of countries. It would be difficult to quantify these, or to list every offer. But notable among them are contributions from Germany and Japan ; and host nation support facilities from Saudi Arabia.
Mr. Darling : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what payments have been (a) made and (b) promised by (i) Kuwait and (ii) other Gulf states in respect of the cost of the war in the Gulf ; and to which countries or organisations such payments have been made.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : We are not aware of all pledges, but major among them are those by Kuwait--$16 billion--and Saudi Arabia--$13.5 billion--to the United States. Most Gulf states are providing practical support to forces involved in the hostilities.
Mr. Corbyn : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has held with the ambassador or charge d'affaires of Iraq concerning the level of civilian casualties suffered ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : We have frequently made clear to the Iraqi ambassador our abhorrence of the appalling treatment of Kuwaiti civilians by the Iraqis in breach of the Geneva conventions following Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. We have also protested to him about deliberate Iraqi attacks on civilian targets in Israel and Saudi Arabia. By contrast, allied service men have taken considerable risks to minimise Iraqi civilian casualties in the current hostilities.
Turkey
Mr. Morley : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on Her Majesty's Government's interpretation of the legal
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status of Turkey's relations with northern Cyprus, and what action he is taking to ensure Turkey complies with United Nation resolutions on this matter.Mr. Garel-Jones : I refer the hon. Member to United Nation Security Council resolution 541 of 18 November 1983 which calls upon all states not to recognise any Cypriot state other than the Republic of Cyprus. The Turkish Government are well aware of our position in full support of that resolution, and of all the Security Council resolutions on Cyprus.
Pilgrimages
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what advice he is giving to those who have booked pilgrimages to Mecca or Medina.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : Our advice to visitors to Saudi Arabia is that it is better to avoid travel, unless they have strong reasons to go there. The cities of Mecca and Medina are a good distance away from the area of hostilities but air services to Saudi Arabia are restricted. It is for individuals to decide whether to proceed.
PRIME MINISTER
The Gulf (Financial Assistance)
Mr. Marlow : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list all EEC countries, setting out his estimate of (a) their expenditure in direct contributions to their own participation in the Gulf conflict by the end of January, (b) their contribution to the United Kingdom and (c) the value of their contribution to the United Kingdom as a percentage of the United Kingdom's direct expenditure as described above.
The Prime Minister : Our EC partners are showing, both by their military and economic contributions, that they share solidarity with us in pursuing the liberation of Kuwait. But I cannot quantify this in the way requested, particularly since the position is changing all the time.
AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD
Chymosin
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he expects the new source for the enzyme Chymosin, as approved by the Food Advisory Committee, to be in commercial production ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Maclean : This is a matter for the manufacturing company, Gist Brocades.
Sugar (Pensioners)
Mr. Martlew : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he has any plans to provide a low price sugar concession for British pensioners.
Mr. Curry : We have no such plans.
Milk
Mr. Martlew : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assessment he has made of the effect on employment in the milk processing industry of further reductions in the common agricultural policy.
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Mr. Curry : The Commission has not yet published any formal proposals for changes in CAP support. The likely effect on employment in the milk processing industry will be one of the factors to be considered when such proposals are forthcoming.
Badgers
Mr. Martlew : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he has received any information about the illegal gassing of badgers in Cumbria in the last 12 months.
TRANSPORT
Speed Limits
Mr. Alex Carlile : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he has any proposals to introduce a new maximum speed limit ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Chope : I am currently considering whether the current maximum speed limits should be changed.
Freight Trains
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will raise at the European Community Transport Council proposals for the adoption of standard low bogies for through freight trains travelling on the United Kingdom and continental rail network after 1993.
Mr. Freeman : At the request of the Transport Council, the European Commission has recently set up a high-level working group to identify the measures required for the creation of a combined transport network and the conditions under which such a network can operate effectively. The United Kingdom will participate fully in the working group.
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he next expects to discuss with his French counterpart the Berne-gauge/British Rail gauge compatibility problem for through freight transport after channel tunnel completion.
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what representations he has received on the introduction of low bogies on the Berne gauge trains running through the channel tunnel.
Mr. Freeman : The choice of the rolling stock for channel tunnel freight services is primarily a commercial matter for British Rail and its railway partners. British Rail plans to use low-platform wagon technology to carry most types of swapbodies and containers within the British loading gauge.
Bus Priority Measures
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the introduction of bus priority measures.
Mr. Freeman : We believe that bus priority measures have an important role in promoting bus use. It is for local authorities to consider what measures might be appropriate in their area.
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Driver Information
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) when was the last time he met the data protection registrar to discuss the disclosure of personal information from the DVLA to third parties ; whether the data protection registrar was invited to make a submission to the road traffic law review committee ; and whether he will make a statement ;
(2) whether he will make it his policy to inform drivers that items of their personal information will be transferred to the new police national computer ; and whether he will make a statement ; (3) whether he will place the report of the Road Traffic Law Review Committee, that includes the discussions and recommendations that relate to the disclosure of information from the DVLA to the new police national computer, in the Library.
Mr. Chope : The DVLA and the Department in general regularly consult the Office of the Data Protection Registrar about proposed legislation which might affect or be affected by the Data Protection Act 1984.
DVLA registrations under the Data Protection Act 1984 indicate that details from both the vehicle and driver registers are given to the police. Therefore, as the planned changes for providing the police with additional information from the DVLA driver register do not require consultation with the Data Protection Registrar he was not invited to make a submission to the road traffic law review committee.
It would not be appropriate to undertake the substantial cost of informing individual drivers about the change in practice which is in line with the registration.
A copy of the road traffic law review report is in the Library. The relevant reference is paragraph 3.43.
ATTORNEY-GENERAL
Crown Prosecution Service
34. Mr. Allen : To ask the Attorney-General what is the current state of staffing levels and workload of the Crown prosecution service.
The Attorney-General : There has been a significant improvement in recruitment in the past year. The Crown prosecution service has 1,717 lawyers in post against an increased total requirement of 2,053, an increase over 12 months of 137 lawyers in post. There are 3,637 administrative staff and law clerks in post, against a total requirement of 3,688.
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Workload expressed in terms of the total number of cases prosecuted increased during the first nine months of 1990 by 3.2 per cent.35. Mr. Vaz : To ask the Attorney-General if he will make a further statement on the shortage of staff in the Crown prosecution service.
The Attorney-General : The Crown prosecution service now has 1,717 lawyers in post against an increased total requirement of 2,053, an increase over 12 months of 137 lawyers in post, and an increase since October 1986 of 504 lawyers in post. The current upturn in recruitment is being assisted by the success of the training scheme for pupil barristers and trainee solicitors, the introduction from1 June 1990 of the single combined prosecutor grade, and a current doubling of the number of recruitment boards.
Mr. Alex Carlile : To ask the Attorney-General if he is satisfied with current levels of recruiting of professional staff to the Crown prosecution service ; and if he will make a statement.
The Attorney-General : The number of lawyers in post at the end of January 1991 was 1,717.5. This figure represents an increase of 137.5 over the preceding 12 months, an average net gain of 11.5 per month. I welcome this significant increase, and recent trends indicate to me that it will continue.
Racist Publications
Mr. Janner : To ask the Attorney-General whether he will make a statement concerning the prosecution of people who disseminate anti-semitic and other racist material.
The Attorney-General : Such people may commit offences under part III of the Public Order Act 1986, or under the Malicious Communications Act 1988. I recently consented to a prosecution under the 1986 Act and I expect to make decisions under that Act in other cases in the near future.
Women Justices
Mr. Alex Carlile : To ask the Attorney-General how many women were appointed as judges, stipendiary magistrates and registrars respectively in each of the years 1985 to date ; and if he will make a statement.
The Attorney-General : The information requested is as follows :
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|1985|1986|1987|1988|1989|1990
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Circuit Judges |2 |3 |- |1 |1 |3
Stipendiary Magistrates |- |2 |1 |- |1 |1
County Court Registrars |1 |- |- |2 |1 |1
In 1991 to date one woman circuit judge and one woman district judge (formerly known as county court registrar) have been appointed.
The proportion of women in the profession with the necessary qualifications for appointment is low at present. As it increases, the Lord Chancellor will be able to appoint more women to judicial office.
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Chester Crown Court
Mr. Alex Carlile : To ask the Attorney-General if he will make a statement on the progress of the rebuilding and refurbishment of Chester crown court.
The Attorney-General : The initial phase of the project to adapt disused rooms as office accommodation was
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completed in June 1989. Construction work to provide a separate entrance for local authority staff is due for completion in spring this year. Work is also in progress to provide a third courtroom, new ancillary rooms and to complete repairs and other improvements to the building. This latter phase of the project is expected to be completed in autumn 1992.Guildford Pub Bombings
Mr. Mullin : To ask the Attorney-General when he expects the case of Mrs. Maguire and her family to come before the appeal court ; and if he will make a statement.
The Attorney-General : The question of listing is a judicial one and not for comment by Ministers. The DPP understands that the court will list the case for a preliminary hearing once the parties have finalised their written submissions.
NATIONAL FINANCE
Taxes
Mr. Roy Hughes : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his latest estimate for the tax yield for 1989-90 and 1990-91 of (a) vehicle excise duty, (b) fuel duty, (c) new car tax, (d) value added tax on new vehicles and (e) value added tax on petrol and derv sales.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : Following is the available information :