daning
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ons, (f) what percentage of der the Act a:
te from inces, family inc.
supple- pplementary benefit, and (g) es are available for the total blic authorities in Northern npared with the total of such nd and Wales, and in Scot-
: I shall reply to the hon. on as possible.
፡
OREIGN AND NWEALTH AFFAIRS sland (Governorship) Davison asked the Secretary oreign and Commonwealth dvice he gave Her Majesty ncerning the term of office
cus standi of Her Majesty's n the United Kingdom
advice.
d: It would be improper ails of advice about the of Australian State Gover« the Foreign and Common. ary to Her Majesty the
gdom Ministers are at nsible for advising Her Queen on certain matters Australian States, including
nt of State Governors. In is duty, no United King- of any party is in any way party considerations or responsibility is a direct the established Australian position. Its continued not mean that United sters wish to retain any which are regarded as y those concerned. The m Government's general ation to Australian con- lems, namely that they
essentially matters for Australians in Australia, cly made clear on many
Kingdom Government statement in the Aus. ent on 7th December by Australian Prime Mini. question. Mr. Fraser said
119
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21 DECEMBER 1976
Islands and Dependencies, Gibraltar, Gilbert Islands, Hong Kong, Montserrat, New Hebrides (Anglo-French Condo- minium), Pitcairn Islands Group, St. Helena and Dependencies, Solomon Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands, and Tuvalu.
that in the view of his Government the means of communication appropriate with the Queen is the Commonwealth Government, and that if the State Gov- emments wish to change the present arrangements to give effect to this the Commonwealth Government would be willing to assist them.
The United Kingdom Government for their part would not stand in the way of any changes that command the agree- ment of all concerned in Australia.
Rhodesia
Mr. Grocott asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will publish the full text of the Geneva Conference on Rhodesia.
Mr. Rowlands: When the conference has concluded, my right hon. Friend intends to follow the normal practice of issuing a Command Paper.
Mr. Churchill asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps have been taken by Her Majesty's Government to secure a reduction in the escalating level of terrorist violence against Rhodesia while the Geneva talks are in progress or only temporarily adjourned; and what repre- sentations have been made to the Russian Government in regard to the financing, arming and training of these forces.
Mr.
Rowlands : The Government
believe that the best hope of averting
further bloodshed in Rhodesia lies in pressing ahead with the search for a negotiated settlement to the underlying political problem of that country.
British Dependencies
Mr. Grocott asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will publish a list of the remaining British overseas dependencies, indicating which he expects ultimately to achieve independence, which may satis- factorily seek associations with neigh bouring States, and which he sees as being permanently dependent on Great Britain.
Mr. Rowlands: The remaining British overseas dependencies are: Belize, Ber- muda, British Antarctic Territory, British Indian Ocean Territory, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands. Falkland
It has been the policy of successive British Governments to promote self- government and independence in the dependent territories in accordance with the wishes of the inhabitants and the provisions of the United Nations Charter. The Seychelles achieved independence earlier this year and an independence conference for the Solomon Islands is planned for next year. The Gilberts and Tuvalu are expected to achieve indepen- dence before the end of this decade. With the possible exception of one or two territories which have special problema or an exiguous or transient population, none are expected to remain permanently dependent. It is of course open to individual territories to seek association with neighbouring States or to form regional groupings if that be the wish of their peoples.
ENERGY
North Sea Oil and Gas
Mr. Skeet asked the Secretary of State for Energy if he will give his estimate of the cost of extracting, treating and trans- porting to shore terminals the United Kingdom oil and natural gas reserves which he evaluates as worth £300 billion at current energy prices.
Dr. John A. Cunningham: I am not able to estimate the cost of extracting, treating and transporting the quantities of oil and natural gas associated with this evaluation because it involves the development of fields in the late 1980s and early 1990s that are subject to con- siderable uncertainty in respect of the nature of the finds and their technological requirements.
Mr. Skeet asked the Secretary of State for Energy if he will express in money terms the calculation that by 1980 output of North Sea oil will improve the balance of payments by over 3 per cent. of the GNP and between 5 per cent. and 5·5 per cent. in 1985. .