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Nuclear Weapons
Mr. Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) if the Defence Review will include consideration of the threat or use of nuclear weapons, following the International Courts Advisory Opinion of July 1996; [253]
- (2) if the Defence Review will include a review of the future of Trident. [258]
Dr. Reid: As was made clear in the new Government's Election Manifesto, we are committed to retaining Trident to provide a minimum, but credible and effective, nuclear deterrent. We will press for multilateral negotiations towards mutual, balanced and verifiable reductions in nuclear weapons. When satisfied with progress towards our goal of the global elimination of these weapons, we will ensure that British nuclear weapons are included in multilateral negotiations.
Our country's security needs and foreign policy objectives must be fully reflected in the roles, missions and tasks of our armed forces. The Government have decided therefore to hold a strategic defence and security review. All aspects of defence will be considered in this process.
22 May 1997 : Column: 115
Mr. Vaz:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the current nature of Her Majesty's Government defence co-operation with Bahrain; and if he will make a statement. [740]
Dr. Reid:
Bahrain hosts some of the RAF force involved in Operation JURAL, which monitors Iraqi compliance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 688. There are occasional deployments by other RAF aircraft and RN ships make regular visits to Bahrain. UK and Bahraini Defence Forces periodically exercise together and the UK provides some military training to Bahraini students. The defence relationship with Bahrain is underpinned by regular meetings of the UK-Bahrain Defence Committee.
Mr. Vaz:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to review the five power defence arrangement with Malaysia, Singapore, New Zealand and Australia. [813]
Dr. Reid:
The strategic defence and security review will consider all aspects of defence. The review will take full account of our commitment to international peace and security, and our interest in continued co-operation and consultation with our friends, including in the Five Power Defence Arrangements.
Mr. Key:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what progress has been made since 18 March in his Department's search for information concerning reports of dead animals being found during the Gulf war and analysed. [99]
Dr. Reid
[holding answer 21 May 1997]: As well as searching for relevant information amongst our records, my Department has conducted a survey amongst serving Gulf war veterans on this subject. I will report on the results of this work as soon as it has been completed.
Mr. Streeter:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence
(2) if he will list his proposals for the Defence Review; and if he will make a statement: [981]
(3) what plans he has to reduce the size of the armed forces. [979]
Dr. Reid:
Our country's security needs and foreign policy objectives must be fully reflected in the roles, missions and tasks of our armed forces. The Government has, therefore, decided to hold a strategic defence and security review. All aspects of defence will be considered in this process, which will be policy led rather than driven by resources.
22 May 1997 : Column: 116
Mr. Vaz:
To ask the Attorney-General how many civil servants of each grade in his Department were of Asian origin, on 5 May. [726]
The Attorney-General:
The numbers of civil servants of each grade in the Law Officers' Departments who are of Asian origin is as follows:
(1) if he will list the estimated savings he intends to make as a result of the Defence Review his Department is undertaking: [980]
| Number | |
|---|---|
| Senior civil service | 1 |
| Grade 6 | 1 |
| Grade 7 | (2)5 |
| Executive officer | 5 |
| Administrative grades | 4 |
| Secretarial grades | 2 |
(2) Includes two on loan to other departments.
| Number | |
|---|---|
| Senior civil service | 0 |
| Grade 6 | 0 |
| Grade 7 | 0 |
| Executive Officer | 2 |
| Administrative Grades | 0 |
| Secretarial Grades | 0 |
| Number | |
|---|---|
| Senior civil service | 0 |
| Grade 6 | 1 |
| Grade 7 | 0 |
| Crown prosecutor | 71 |
| Executive officer | 40 |
| Administrative grades | 91 |
| Secretarial grades | 6 |
| Number | |
|---|---|
| Senior civil service | 0 |
| Grade 6 | 0 |
| Grade 7 | 0 |
| Executive officer | 4 |
| Administrative grades | 4 |
| Secretarial grades | 0 |
The figures set out the position at 5 May 1997 except in the case of the Crown Prosecution Service where the figures are based on information provided by staff as at 30 April 1997.
Mr. Vaz:
To ask the Attorney-General what proposals he has to increase the number of ethnic minority employees in his Department. [727]
The Attorney-General:
The Departments for which I am responsible, in line with other Government Departments, are equal opportunity employers. They welcome applications from ethnic minorities and recruit staff on the basis of fair and open competition in
22 May 1997 : Column: 117
accordance with the guidelines published in the Civil Service Commissioners' Recruitment Code "to find the best available person for the job considered on individual merit and regardless of race, gender or disability".
A number of initiatives exist designed to increase awareness of race issues and to monitor the effectiveness of equal opportunity policies. In addition the Crown Prosecution Service participates in mentoring and fellowship schemes offering assistance to undergraduates drawn from ethnic minorities.
Mr. Gordon Prentice:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what estimates he has made of the number of people in Pendle earning less than £3.50 per hour. [205]
Mrs. Liddell:
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Chief Executive of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to arrange a reply to be given.
Letter from Tim Holt to Mr. Gordon Prentice, dated 22 May 1997:
I will arrange for a copy of this letter to be placed in the Library
Mr. Skinner:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will issue a separate list of unemployment figures based on the number of people seeking work. [190]
Mrs. Liddell:
The Director of the Office for National Statistics is responsible for deciding the form, coverage and timing of release of statistics issued by his Office, taking into account the views of customers. ONS is presently consulting customers on the future presentation of labour market statistics; the consultation exercise was
22 May 1997 : Column: 118
launched through an article in the Labour Market Trends published on 8 May. Comments on the proposals should be sent to ONS by 14 June.
The proposals set out for consultation reflect the House of Commons Employment Select Committee recommendation that more prominence should be given to the measure of unemployment which is based on the internationally agreed ILO definition.
Mr. Campbell-Savours:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the current level of unemployment in the United Kingdom (a) numerically and (b) in percentage terms. [296]
Mrs. Liddell:
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Chief Executive of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to arrange a reply to be given.
Letter from Tim Holt to Mr. Dale Campbell-Savours, dated 22 May 1997:
(2) what estimate he has made of the number of persons in employment in (a) Pendle and (b) East Lancashire currently earning less than (i) £4 per hour, (ii) £3.50 per hour and (iii) £3 per hour. [232]
The Chancellor of the Exchequer has asked me to reply as the Director of the Office for National Statistics to your recent questions regarding earnings in Pendle and East Lancashire.
The latest information, from the New Earnings Survey April 1996, is contained in the following table. Results are presented for the Pendle parliamentary constituency and for Lancashire as a whole; East Lancashire is not a formally defined geographical area.
£3.00 £3.50 £4.00
Pendle
Full-time 1.5 8.1 14.0
Part-time 11.1 27.8 30.6
All 3.5 12.2 17.4
Lancashire
Full-time 1.6 5.7 11.0
Part-time 7.5 23.2 37.3
All 3.0 9.8 17.1
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