Written Answers
Hadj
15 FEBRUARY 1991
MEO/E.U.
Mr. Madden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what consultations he has had with the appropriate Saudi Arabian authorities concerning arrangements for British Muslims wishing to visit holy places during Hadj; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Douglas Hogg: The question of pass quotas for pilgrims is a matter for the Saudi Ministry of the Hadj, who assess quotas on a country-by country basis. We have asked the British embassy in Riyadh to contact the Ministry to find out what plans have been made for this year's pilgrimage. I will tell the hon. Member of the
outcome.
Myanmar
SEAD
Mr. Foulkes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps Her Majesty's Government have taken to prevent the supply of Rolls-Royce engines, via Yugoslavia, to the security forces in Myanmar.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd: We have made representations to the Yugoslav authorities about the re-export of this equipment to Burma.
Hong Kong
HKD
Mr. Foulkes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations Her Majesty's Government have made to Hong Kong on the need to ensure that the existing de facto abolition of the death penalty in Hong Kong is confirmed in legislation for the territory before 1997.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd: There are no plans to change the present situation.
The Gulf (RSPCA)
EBED
Mr. Squire: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assistance was offered by his Department to the RSPCA team visiting the Gulf to assist in the cleaning of oil-damaged seabirds and mammals.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd: We are pleased to say that this Department was able to pay the return air fares of the RSPCA experts vising Saudi Arabia and other countries in the Gulf affected by this monstrous act of environmental terrorism. In consultation with the Saudi authorities through the British embassy in Riyadh, this Department also assisted with a number of administrative arrange- ments prior to the team's departure.
Nuclear Material
NFCD
Mr. Bob Cryer: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs. pursuant to the statement of October 1990 about a black market operating in nuclear materials outside of safeguards controls, if he will make it his policy to seek further information from the Chairman of Argentina's Comision Nacional de Energia Atomica.
pathhis
p.a.
KS/22/14/2
Written Answers.
610
Mr. Douglas Hogg (holding answer 31 January 1991]: Since 1985, it has been the declared policy of the Government of Argentina to insist that IAEA safeguards are applied to all nuclear material and equipment exported from Argentina.
SCOTLAND
Fishing
Mr. Kirkwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what plans he has to review the effect of the recently introduced restrictions in catching opportunities imposed on the Scottish inshore fleet by the recent EC tie-up scheme; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Michael Forsyth: Monitoring of the uptake of the United Kingdom quotas is carried out by Fisheries Departments as a matter of course throughout the year. We will continue to monitor the effects of the requirement for vessels to remain in port for eight consecutive days per month. In addition, discussions have now been concluded successfully with the European Commission to enable fishermen to use more selective fishing gear as an alternative to remaining in port.
Homelessness
Mr. Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on the special measures taken by Her Majesty's Government to protect homeless people in Scotland from the recent bad weather conditions; and if he will make it his policy to collect urgently and centrally information about the number of people sleeping rough.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: Local authorities, with their statutory responsibilities for helping the homeless and for dealing with emergencies, are best placed to determine the measures needed in their areas and to take appropriate action. Local authority housing and social work departments have not given us evidence to indicate that sleeping rough is a significant problem in their areas; while precise figures on the number of people sleeping rough are not available, advice from local authorities and voluntary bodies is that the number in Scotland at any one time is very small. Arrangements are being made to enumerate those sleeping rough on census night, 21 April 1991.
Housing
Mr. Maxton: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will publish a table showing the level of housing support grant paid by his Department to each local authority in Scotland in (a) cash terms, and (b) real terms at 1991-92 prices.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: The housing support grant entitlements of individual local authorities, in cash terms and at 1991-92 prices, are shown in the following tables.
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