The Rt. Hon. Sir John Major KG CH

Tag: Subsidiarity

  • PMQT Written Answers – 17 December 1993

    Below is the text of the written answers relating to Prime Minister’s Question Time from 17th December 1993.

    PRIME MINISTER:

     

    Policy Objectives

    Mr. Tracey : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list the policy objectives of the Government which have been fulfilled since the general election of 1992.

    The Prime Minister : Among the more important objectives fulfilled since the last general election have been getting inflation down and keeping it down so that it now stands at 1.4 per cent., the lowest level for 26 years; the continuing fall in unemployment, for the eighth month running this year; the achievement of a successful GATT deal which will benefit industry and consumers alike; the continuing rise in retail sales and manufacturing output; reforms of the education system to provide children with a better education and a wider choice of qualifications and parents with more information; an intensified fight against crime; the continuing progress with the citizen’s charter, with resulting improvements in public services; and further progress with NHS reforms and an increase in the number of patients treated.

     

    Thermal Oxide Reprocessing Plant

    Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Prime Minister when he received a copy of the letter signed by members of the United States Congress, the Japanese Diet and right hon. and hon. Members appealing for a public inquiry on and review of the thermal oxide reprocessing plant at Sellafield.

    The Prime Minister : A copy of the letter was received in my office on Monday 13 December and has now been passed to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment for consideration.

     

    Regional and Urban Policy

    Mr. Stern : To ask the Prime Minister if he will detail the duties of sponsor Ministers in relation to regional and urban policy.

    The Prime Minister : The duties of sponsor Ministers in relation to regional and urban policy are set out in a note placed in the Library of the House by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment on 4 November, Official Report, columns 515-24, when he announced the package of urban and regional policy measures. A copy of that note has been sent to my hon. Friend. In carrying out their duties, sponsor Ministers will liaise as necessary with hon. Members.

     

    Scott Inquiry

    Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Prime Minister what is his policy towards the correction of answers given to Parliament where civil servants responsible for drafting, or Ministers or former Ministers have told the Scott inquiry that they were inaccurate.

    The Prime Minister : Lord Justice Scott’s inquiry is still in progress : his conclusions will be published in the inquiry’s report. The Government will respond to the report when it is published and hon. Members will then be able to table questions on the report and on the Government’s response.

    Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Prime Minister what contact, either by written communication or telephone or telefax, his office has had with Mr. Frank Machon of Glasgow in regard to matters raised at the Scott inquiry.

    The Prime Minister : Mr. Machon wrote to my office once during 1991, and once in 1992. In addition, the Member for Glasgow, Shettleston (Mr. Marshall) wrote on three occasions on Mr. Machon’s behalf during 1992.

     

    Ex-Ministers

    Mr. Matthew Taylor : To ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to this answer of 7 December, Official Report, column 143, if he will name (a) the Minister of State, Northern Ireland Office who received a severance payment on 14 April 1992 (b) the Minister of State, Northern Ireland Office who received a severance payment on 27 April 1992.

    The Prime Minister : Lord Belstead’s appointment as Minister of State, Northern Ireland Office, ceased on 14 April 1992. On 27 April, Lord Cavendish resigned as a Lord in Waiting, but was erroneously referred to as Minister of State, Northern Ireland Office.

     

    EC Directives

    Sir Teddy Taylor : To ask the Prime Minister pursuant to his oral statement of 13 December, Official Report, column 686, if he will publish a list of the 17 directives which the European Council agreed should be repealed, withdrawn or amended.

    The Prime Minister : The 17 directives are listed in an annexe to the Commission’s report on subsidiarity, which has been made available to the House. The Brussels European Council on 10 and 11 December called for early action to put the report into effect.

     

    Home and Justice Affairs

    Mr. Spearing : To ask the Prime Minister what matters were agreed in principle at the European Council in Brussels on 10 to 11 December concerning home and justice affairs; when such matters were debated in the House, or any of its Standing Committees; and when he expects publication of conventions of the European Union incorporating these matters.

    The Prime Minister : The European Council expressed its determination to use the new provisions of the Maastricht treaty on co-operation in the field of justice and home affairs to the full. It noted the work which had already been done in these areas and approved the action plan prepared by the Interior and Justice Council, in particular in relation to a number of specific areas. The Government followed the practice adopted for the former immigration/Trevi ministerial meetings and deposited in the Library of the House documents approved by the Interior and Justice Council on 29 and 30 November. The action plan and work programmes sent to the European Council have now also been placed in the Library. My right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for the Home Department has made proposals for future parliamentary oversight of title VI work, which will include sending to Parliament important documents before they go to the Council. We look forward to the House’s reaction to these proposals and to putting an effective scrutiny procedure in place. Any conventions that are found to be necessary to achieve the aims of the interior and justice programme of work will be dealt with in accordance with this procedure.

     

    Correspondence

    Mr. Meacher : To ask the Prime Minister what proportion of correspondence received by (a) his office and (b) each of his office’s agencies receives (i) an acknowledgement within five days and (ii) a substantive reply within 15 days.

    The Prime Minister : My office aims to acknowledge correspondence within five days and provide a substantive reply within 15 days.

     

    South Africa

    Mr. Winnick : To ask the Prime Minister if it is Her Majesty’s Government’s policy to encourage South Africa under a majority Government to join the Commonwealth.

    The Prime Minister : While it will be for the new democratically elected Government in South Africa to decide on whether it should seek to return to the Commonwealth, Her Majesty’s Government and their Commonwealth partners look forward to welcoming a non-racial and democratic South Africa back into the association at the earliest opportunity.

     

    Civil Servants

    Mr. Steinberg : To ask the Prime Minister what Civil Service rules or guidelines exist in relation to contact between civil servants and hon. Members and their personal staff; whether there have been any recent changes to any such rules or guidelines; and if he will place copies of any such rules or guidelines in the Library.

    The Prime Minister : There have been no recent changes in guidelines concerning briefing of MPs by civil servants.

    It is an established principle that civil servants should not engage in activities likely to call into question their political impartiality, or to give rise to criticism that people paid from public funds are being used for party political purposes. Accordingly, the following rules apply :

    (a) civil servants in their official capacity are prohibited from attending conferences arranged by political parties;

    (b) they may not attend meetings of policy or subject groups of the parliamentary parties;

    (c) they may not attend all-party subject groups or committees except to accompany a Minister and to respond to factual questions;

    (d) these rules need not inhibit factual briefing by officials of MPs on overseas or regional visits;

    (e) Ministers may also arrange factual briefings by officials, for MPs of one party provided that a Minister attends the meeting and similar facilities are offered to MPs of other parties;

    (f) Ministers should always be present when MPs are to discuss sensitive areas of public policy with officials.

    Written briefing material provided by officials to Ministers may be distributed to Back-Bench Members provided that it would be released to any bon fide inquirer and that hon. Members of all parties may have access to it.

    The rules do not prevent agency chief executives and managers of local offices, with the Minister’s approval, from communicating with hon. Members about problems of individual constituents.

    The convention governing pre-election contacts between senior civil servants and Opposition leaders was set out in my reply to a written question by the right hon. Member for Manchester, Wythenshawe (Mr. Morris) on 27 November 1991, at column 527.

     

    Post Office Privatisation

    Mr. Gordon Prentice : To ask the Prime Minister when he received the report from the hon. Member for Gainsborough and Horncastle (Mr. Leigh) on the privatisation of the Post Office; and if he has now completed his consideration of it.

    The Prime Minister : I have received a number of papers from colleagues at the Department of Trade and Industry arising from the review of the structure and organisation of the Post Office, both before and since the departure from the Government of my hon. Friend the Member for Gainsborough and Horncastle. No decisions on the outcome of the review have been taken.

     

    Northern Ireland

    Mr. Marlow : To ask the Prime Minister if he will set out his views on the union between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

    The Prime Minister : I support it and will uphold it for so long as it remains the democratic wish of a greater number of the people in Northern Ireland.

     

    Subsidiarity

    Sir Teddy Taylor : To ask the Prime Minister if he will publish the European Commission’s lists of (a) proposals which fail the subsidiarity test and will be dropped or changed and (b) Community laws which the Commission believes must be simplified or abolished, to which he referred in his oral statement of 14 December 1992, Official Report, column 24, on the European Council at Edinburgh; and what progress has been made in the past year on each of those directives.

    The Prime Minister : The lists referred to by my hon. Friend were included as an annexe to the conclusions of the Edinburgh European Council, copies of which were made available to the House. Details of progress are contained in the Commission’s report on subsidiarity, which has been made available to the House.

  • PMQT – 7 July 1992

    Below is the text of Prime Minister’s Question Time from 7th July 1992. Tony Newton deputised for John Major.

    PRIME MINISTER:

     

    Engagements

    Q1. Mr. McMaster : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 7 July.

    The Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons (Mr. Tony Newton) : I have been asked to reply.

    My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister is attending the economic summit in Munich.

    Mr. McMaster : Will the Leader of the House guarantee not to guillotine the Maastricht Bill when it returns to the House for debate ?

    Mr. Newton : The Leader of the House will guarantee that the Government will consider all matters carefully before deciding how to proceed.

    Mr. James Hill : Does my right hon. Friend agree that we should pass as quickly as possible legislation dealing with imitation firearms ? Is he aware that they are becoming a serious problem for the public, because one can suffer as much trauma and be robbed just as effectively with an imitation firearm as with a real one ?

    Mr. Newton : My hon. Friend’s concern is shared in many quarters. The Home Secretary is on the Bench beside me and will have heard what has been said.

    Dr. John Cunningham : Does the right hon. Gentleman believe that the Government’s moratorium on stamp duty for house purchase has been a success?

    Mr. Newton : I believe that the arrangements brought forward by my right hon. Friend and other colleagues at the turn of the year have materially assisted in reducing the number of repossessions and in bringing about an improvement in the housing market compared with what the position would have been. Frankly, I would find the hon. Gentleman’s answer more credible but for the fact that his hon. Friend the Member for Wrexham (Dr. Marek), I understand speaking for the Opposition, described the suspension of stamp duty at the time as a racket and a gimmick.

    Dr. Cunningham : If it has been of material benefit to the housing industry, is it not a fact that when we are in the depths of the worst recession for 60 years, with confidence at an all-time low and the building and construction industry in disarray, this is the last moment to remove any incentive from the desperately needful building sector? As the Government have still not used up all the money that they allocated for the scheme, why will they not concentrate the relief on transactions up to £100,000, thus helping the lower end of the market and first-time buyers? That would be a sensible step to take in the depths of the present awful recession.

    Mr. Newton : The aim of the scheme was to bring forward transactions that might otherwise have been delayed. I believe that it has made an important contribution in doing just that.

     

    Hastings and Rye

    Q2. Mrs. Lait : To ask the Prime Minister if he will make an official visit to Hastings and Rye.

    Mr. Newton : I have been asked to reply.

    My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister is making plans for a series of visits to all parts of the country and hopes to include the south-east among them.

    Mrs. Lait : I thank my right hon. Friend for that reply. I welcome the opportunity of my right hon. Friend visiting Hastings and Rye and hope that he will leave plenty of time to come down the road affectionately known as the snail trail. Will he also visit the Conquest hospital, which is operated by the Hastings and Rother trust, which took its first out- patients yesterday and will take its first in-patients on 20 July? Does he agree that this is another indication that only Conservative health policies deliver health care to the nation?

    Mr. Newton : I am sure that, if he is able to visit my hon. Friend’s constituency, my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister will wish to join her in welcoming the opening of the new hospital–and, indeed, in looking forward to phase 2, which is currently under consideration by the regional health authority.

     

    Engagements

    Q3. Mr. Denham : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 7 July.

    Mr. Newton : I have been asked to reply.

    I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply that I gave some moments ago.

    Mr. Denham : Does the Leader of the House agree that high-rise tower blocks are entirely unsuitable as homes for young children? Does he, like me, regret that, over the past few years, the number of young children trapped in Southampton tower blocks has risen two and a half times, and that hundreds of children will never have a decent home? Does he accept that Southampton council has a lower-than-average number of vacancies and that the number of children who are trapped in a high-rise hell is a direct result of Government policies? Can he offer those children any hope and what action will he take to ensure that they have a chance to live in a house with a garden?

    Mr. Newton : The Government have a range of policies designed to improve the supply of rented accommodation. They are channelling £6 billion into housing associations over the next two years to provide more than 150,000 new homes for rent and low-cost purchase by 1995-96. I very much hope that that will help to solve Southampton’s problems, given that the local authority wishes to participate.

    Dr. Hampson : Is my right hon. Friend aware of the growing feeling on both sides of the House that the county hall site would be ideal for the London school of economics? Would it not be poignantly symbolic if the Prime Minister, while he is President of the European Council, assisted in the development on the Thames of a great European university on a scale to rival anything on offer in Paris, rather than allowing a fine building to become a second-rate hotel for Japanese package tours?

    Mr. Newton : My hon. Friend will know that the disposal of county hall is a matter for the London residuary body. It is now up to the LSE to put firm proposals to that body.

     

    Q4. Mr. Cohen : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 7 July.

    Mr. Newton : I have been asked to reply.

    I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply that I gave some moments ago.

    Mr. Cohen : The Lord President will know that I shall be presenting my Homicide (Defence of Provocation) Bill today. Does he agree that a woman who acts in desperation after suffering sustained domestic violence ought to have recourse to a mitigating plea of provocation? Is not the present law–which has gaoled women such as Sara Thornton and Kiranjit Ahluwalia– unjust, and should it not be changed?

    Mr. Newton : I understand the concern that is felt about the matter, not least because of my past social services responsibilities. I am not sure that the solution is as easy as the hon. Gentleman suggests, but I certainly undertake to bear his points in mind, along with my right hon. Friends.

    Mr. Ward : Is my right hon. Friend aware that thousands of fishermen are demonstrating outside the House today, largely because they fear that the conservation measures required by the EC–which are being dealt with in the House–will not be observed by their counterparts on the other side of the Channel? That has happened many times in the past. Will the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food look again at ways of preserving our fishing industry?

    Mr. Newton : I assure my hon. Friend that it is no part of the British Government’s purpose to introduce what I take to be sensible measures to promote the conservation of fish stocks and the long-term future of the industry, only to see those measures destroyed by the actions of others. My right hon. Friend the Minister will take every possible step to ensure that that does not happen.

     

    European Community

    Q5. Mr. Spearing : To ask the Prime Minister what approaches have been received by Her Majesty’s Government concerning reallocation of powers currently the responsibility of the Council of Ministers of the European Community.

    Mr. Newton : I have been asked to reply.

    The treaty on European union enshrines in Community law the principle of subsidiarity, but the Community should act only when objectives cannot be achieved at the level of individual member states acting alone. The principle should be applied strictly to existing as well as to future legislation. It calls for urgent work on the procedural and practical steps to implement the principle and invites the Commission and the Council to report to the next European Council in Edinburgh. The treaty contains a presumption of action at the national level.

    Mr. Spearing : Yes, but that is answering a question that was not asked. So what is new? Is this not about the possible repatriation of powers? Is it not a fact that President Major as well as President Delors have been in favour of that, or have mooted the possibility? In respect of the President of the Commission, why is it that the Commission must always call the shots? Would it not be an advantage if it reacted only to requests from the Council of Ministers or the Heads of Government and therefore made the whole outfit more intergovernmental than it is already?

    Mr. Newton : With respect to the hon. Gentleman, I think that my answer did address the question that he asked. The plenary session between the United Kingdom presidency and the Commission last week, which I attended, very much addressed precisely that question. The hon. Gentleman will be well aware that plans are in hand to undertake a review of existing legislation before the Edinburgh summit at the end of the year.

    Sir Peter Tapsell : Did my right hon. Friend see certain scholarly articles that were published over the weekend drawing attention to the fact that the word “subsidiarity” is derived from the Latin word “subsidium” which, apparently, is a term of Roman Catholic dogma and that the Roman interpretation of that word is quite different from the Anglican?

    Mr. Newton : Coming from a somewhat mixed religious background, I do not intend to allow myself to be caught up in ecclesiastical controversy.

     

    Engagements

    Q6. Mr. Eastham : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 7 July.

    Mr. Newton : I have been asked to reply.

    I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply that I gave some moments ago.

    Mr. Eastham : Two weeks ago one of my hon. Friends with a London constituency raised with the Prime Minister the question of the housing crisis. The Prime Minister proceeded to attack local authorities, including Manchester–

    Dame Elaine Kellett-Bowman : Question !

    Mr. Eastham : Why don’t you shut up? [Interruption.]

    Madam Speaker : Order. It may be very amusing, but it is a great waste of time when we are nearly at 3.30. Can we hear the hon. Member for Manchester, Blackley (Mr. Eastham) in silence now?

    Mr. Eastham : In responding, the Prime Minister proceeded to attack local authorities, including Manchester, and said that we had empty properties. May I point out to the Leader of the House that we have hundreds of empty properties in Manchester that are dangerous and unlettable but that central Government are not allowing Manchester to borrow money to make those properties habitable? Is it not time that the Government got their spending priorities right and accepted their responsibilities, which clearly they are failing to do now?

    Mr. Newton : The Government have clearly accepted their responsibilities, with the arrangements that they have made concerning approvals for capital expenditure. I hope that Manchester will look carefully at the policy that leads to so many houses being empty.

    Dame Jill Knight : Will my right hon. Friend convey to the Prime Minister the level of public concern over the fact that a professional drug courier should have been protected from police action by hospital staff? Does he agree that drugs constitute an appalling danger, particularly to young people, and that the police ought to be helped, not hindered, in their fight against drugs?

    Mr. Newton : Again, I think that my hon. Friend raises a point which will be of concern to other hon. Members. I have seen reports of the case. Clearly, as I think all hon. Members will agree, it is important to balance a patient’s right to medical confidentiality against the safety of the community at large, but this is a very complex area. I understand that the chief executive of the North Staffordshire health authority is seeking an urgent meeting with the chief constable to discuss the confidentiality issue and agree clearer lines of communication.

     

    Q7. Mr. Garrett : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 7 July.

    Mr. Newton : I have been asked to reply.

    I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply that I gave some moments ago.

    Mr. Garrett : Last year 69,000 families had their homes repossessed. At the moment, 290,000 borrowers are more than six months in arrears with their mortgage repayments. The Government’s mortgage rescue scheme has so far managed to rescue 12 home buyers. When will the Government make a serious attempt to help home buyers and borrowers who are in difficulties?

    Mr. Newton : The hon. Gentleman will be aware that the Council of Mortgage Lenders has estimated that as a result of the action taken at the turn of the year some 55,000 repossessions will be prevented this year, and that the Halifax building society reckons that its repossessions are down by about 40 per cent. over the latest six months compared with the last six months of last year. That is substantial progress which has helped many tens of thousands of families.