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DATE .../7/23
Written Answer.
VOL
233
29 JUNE 1988
136
Written Answers to
Questions
Wednesday 29 June 1988
PRIME MINISTER
Interest Rates
Mr. Doran: To ask the Prime Minister what is the additional administrative cost to (a) the Treasury, and (b) other Government Departments of each half per cent. change in interest rates.
The Prime Minister: Little or none; and certainly too small to be identified within the administrative expen- diture of Government Departments.
Daya Bay Nuclear Plant
Dr. Thomas: To ask the Prime Minister if she has received any recent representations in opposition to the Daya Bay nuclear plant being built with United Kingdom assistance.
The Prime Minister: No.
Nuclear-free Asia-Pacific
Dr. Thomas: To ask the Prime Minister if she has received any information from the Governor-General in Hong Kong over the outcome of the conference for a nuclear free Asia-Pacific held in Hong Kong on 8-12 June.
The Prime Minister: No.
Scientific and Medical Research
Mr. Wallace: To ask the Prime Minister whether Her Majesty's Government propose to seek international co- operation in undertaking the scientific and medical research recommended in the second report of the Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment, COMARE; and if she will make a statement.
The Prime Minister: Ministers and officials have regular discussions with their counterparts in other governmental and international agencies. The EC radiation research programme in particular already supports relevant work in this field. The COMARE report has been drawn to the attention of relevant international organisations and its recommendations on research will be fed into future discussions of research needs and priorities.
Sir John Harvey Jones
Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Prime Minister what approach Her Majesty's Government made to Sir John Harvey Jones about his possible chairmanship of the proposed Universities Funding Council; which Department made the approach; for what reasons Sir John was not appointed to the post; and if she will make a statement.
The Prime Minister: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Education and Science on 26 May, at column
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Written Answers
234
238, announced the appointment of Lord Chilver to be the first chairman of the Universities Funding Council. It is not the practice to comment further on public appointments of this kind.
HOME DEPARTMENT
Hong Kong
Dr. Marek: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he plans to increase the numbers of refugees accepted for settlement by the United Kingdom following the Chief Secretary of Hong Kong's statement on the 15 June that Hong Kong is in greater need of resettlement places now than at any time in the last eight years.
Mr. Hurd: I have nothing to add to the reply given to the hon. Member on 26 April at column 86.
Visas
Mr. Dicks: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the criteria used to decide whether to permit foreign nationals needing a visa to enter the United Kingdom to arrive at a port of entry without one and subsequently to gain entry.
Mr. Hurd: Except where a standard waiver applies to transit passengers, the normal course would be to refuse admission to those requiring a valid visa and not possessing one. However, each case is considered on its merits, and such a passenger may be admitted if there are particularly compassionate or compelling circumstances.
Mr. Dicks: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many foreign nationals needing visas to enter the United Kingdom have been permitted to arrive at a port of entry without one and have been granted entry to the United Kingdom during the past year; and if he will list their country of origin.
Mr. Hurd: No separate total is kept of such arrivals, and the information requested could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Pet Animals
Mr. Gareth Wardell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the United Kingdom will sign the European convention for the protection of pet animals without any reservation on article 10 concerning surgical operations.
Mr. Douglas-Hogg: This will be decided when our consultations are completed.
Immigration
Ms. Short: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the average waiting time for interviews of sponsors living in the United Kingdom in relation to applications from relatives living in the Indian subcontinent after relatives have been interviewed abroad, for each of the offices that conduct such interviews.
Mr. Renton: I regret that the information requested is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
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