House of Commons Hansard Debates for 26 May 1994

Written Answers to Questions

Thursday 26 May 1994

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Maastricht Treaty

Sir Teddy Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the procedures for informing industry, commerce and the public about the effect of the provisions of the treaty of Maastricht.

Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : I am satisfied that an appropriate effort has been made to explain the effects of the Maastricht treaty. We have issued a number of publications. Recent Foreign and Commonwealth Office publications include "Europe After Maastricht", "Britain in Europe", and "The European Elections--Why They Matter to You". The Department of Trade and Industry recently issued "The Single Market--Making It Work For You". This includes advice to business on the European Community's legislative process.

Gibraltar

Mr. Alex Carlile : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assistance his Department is offering to the people of Gibraltar following cuts in Government spending ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : We have established the joint economic forum to bring those concerned together to help overcome Gibraltar's economic difficulties. The forum includes United Kingdom Government Departments, the Government of Gibraltar, trade unions and representatives of local business. We have negotiated substantial European Union funds for Gibraltar. The Ministry of Defence is offering training, and will continue to purchase local goods and services.

Mr. Alex Carlile : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Bolton, South-East (Mr. Young) of 10 May, Official Report, column 83, what arrangements have been made to enable Gibraltarians resident in (a) the United Kingdom and (b) other EU countries to vote in the European elections.

Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : Gibraltarians resident in the United Kingdom are entitled to vote in European elections. Gibraltarians resident in other member states of the European Union are entitled as citizens of the European Union to vote in European parliamentary elections on the same terms as nationals of that member state under article 8b2 of the treaty on European Union.

Column 224

Wilton Park Executive Agency

Mr. Burns : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how the Wilton Park executive agency performed against the targets which were agreed for 1992-93 ; and if targets have yet been agreed for the current year.

Mr. Lennox-Boyd : According to provisional figures, which are subject to full audit, Wilton Park exceeded two of the four targets set for the 1993-94 financial year, for the number of conference participants and the cost per head to the FCO. It failed to achieve those for cost recovery and commercial income by margins of 0.1 per cent. and 0.6 per cent. respectively. Commercial income was again affected by adverse trading conditions.

The Wilton Park departmental board met on 19 April. We have agreed to the recommendation of the board that the following key targets be adopted for this financial year :

to increase overall income from £953,000 in 1993-94 to £1,039,000 ;

to increase cost recovery from 71.9 per cent. in 1993-94 to 72.8 per cent. ;

to increase the overall number of Wilton Park conference participants from 1,077 in 1993-94 to 1,260 ;

to reduce the average cost to the FCO of each participant from £345 in 1993-94 to £307.

It has also been agreed that for 1994-95 Wilton Park will aim to recover 80 per cent. of the costs of its commercial activities and 64 per cent. of the cost of Wilton Park conferences.

Arms Sales (Middle East)

Mr. John Marshall : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the policy of Her Majesty's Government on the sale of arms to Israel and Syria.

Mr. Hurd : I have decided that, in the light of favourable developments in the middle east peace process, in particular the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and Jericho, the United Kingdom's arms embargo against Israel should be lifted. This will bring the United Kingdom into line with our European Union partners.

Forthwith, all applications for the sale of arms to Israel will be considered cases by case in the light of the international guidelines to which we are committed. Those include whether a proposed transfer would be likely to increase tension in the region or contribute to regional instability.

The Israeli Government have made it clear that they have no territorial claim on Lebanon. We hope to see progress on the Syrian track in line with that seen on the Palestinian track. In that context, we will be ready to raise with our European partners the lifting of the European Union arms embargo against Syria.

DUCHY OF LANCASTER

Citizens Charter

Mr. Steinberg : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what plans he has to include in the citizens charter specific charter provisions for disabled people.

Mr. David Davis : The citizens charter applies to all users of public services. One of the six key principles of the charter is that service providers should inform their

Column 225

customers of the standards of service that they can expect. It is for individual organisations to decide on the specific commitments that they are able to meet in order to improve the quality of their services to disabled people.

There are currently 39 charters, of which 35 make particular reference to people with disabilities.

Parliamentary Counsel

Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what consideration he has given to the role of civil servants in the Office of Parliamentary Counsel in preparing amendments and new clauses for private Members' Bills.

Mr. Waldegrave : The civil servants in the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel are accountable to ministers in the same way as other civil servants. Their work in preparing amendments and new clauses for private Members' Bills is, like their other work, undertaken on the authority of Ministers.

Consultants

Ms Primarolo : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what was the expenditure on management and financial consultants by his Department in 1992-93.

Mr. David Davis : The expenditure in 1992-93 on management and financial consultants by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster's Departments was :