Mr Andrew Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the progress of the current talks about the future of the Belfast agreement.
Mr Andrew Hunter: I am conscious that the hon. Member for Ealing, North (Mr. Pound) will soon wish to return to his multi-tasking. I shall be selective in my remarks, because by this stage of the debate many of the main points have been made, and not all of them bear repetition. On the hon. Gentleman's comments about recruiting for the Royal Ulster Constabulary, may I put it on the record that I have seldom...
Mr Andrew Hunter: I am sure that my hon. Friend is right. That point also featured in their lordships' debate. It was a matter of worry to several Members of that House that, were such a pool system to emerge, even de facto, it would automatically result in a lowering of standards. I agree with my hon. Friend on that. I should also like to make the wider point that, in practice, having organisations reflect...
Mr Andrew Hunter: I am having a little trouble following the hon. Gentleman's argument. I know of the perception, which I reject, that the Royal Ulster Constabulary was not an open and fair organisation, but I am searching my memory for any perception in the past 30 to 40 years that the judiciary was biased. The Bill is based on that assumption, which the hon. Gentleman has asserted. We are entitled to ask him...
Mr Andrew Hunter: Before my hon. Friend leaves this subject, may I remind him of the point that I put to the Secretary of State? Although it is not stipulated in the Bill, the only conceivable way to implement the two guiding principles of merit and of reflecting the community is indeed by the creation of a pool of merit, which is precisely what is bound to emerge over time.
Mr Andrew Hunter: rose—
Mr Andrew Hunter: Is the Secretary of State thinking about a pool of merit—a pool of people who reach an approved standard from which appointments can be made according to a 50–50 formula or some other criteria?
Mr Andrew Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received about the advice given in PPG8: Telecommunications, that where proposals to locate telecommunications masts meet with the standards of the International Commission on Non-Ionising Radiation Protection, it should not be necessary for a local planning authority to consider further health effects of the...
Mr Andrew Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will revoke the decision to disband the full-time police reserve in the light of on-going activity of terrorist organisations in Northern Ireland.
Mr Andrew Hunter: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number of close companies which may operate with the primary purpose of reducing their owners' personal tax liability; and what value of tax revenues he estimates may thus be lost to the Exchequer.
Mr Andrew Hunter: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will ensure that measures which will be introduced in the 2004–05 Finance Bill affecting the taxation of small businesses (a) reflect the regulatory compliance costs small businesses already bear, and (b) are sensitive to the needs of small companies endeavouring to expand; and if he will make a statement.
Mr Andrew Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will enable recipients of income support to put aside some of their benefit to save for the purchase of a Motability vehicle without their savings affecting their entitlement to income support.
Mr Andrew Hunter: In view of the lack of time, I shall be ultra-brief and very selective. I agree with my hon. Friend the Member for Lagan Valley (Mr. Donaldson) and regard the order as a monument to a failure of policy. It is just one manifestation of a wider approach to the problems of Northern Ireland that has become so discredited over the last years. Not only has that approach failed to deliver, but many...
Mr Andrew Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum seekers have been provided with accommodation at public expense in (a) Hampshire and (b) Basingstoke and Deane borough council in each year since 1997; what type of accommodation they were given; and what the nature of the tenancy was in each case.
Mr Andrew Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will take steps to amend section 20 of the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970 and the Use of Invalid Carriages on Highways Regulations 1988 to allow a mechanically propelled invalid tricycle which is capable in other circumstances of travelling at more than eight miles per hour to be used on public footways at a speed of less than...
Mr Andrew Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will instruct Inventures to expedite their dealings with the Church Grange Satellite Surgery at Park Village, Basingstoke, in respect of a land transaction; and if he will make a statement on the reasons for delays in Inventures completing this business.
Mr Andrew Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what statistics his Department has collected on the availability of NHS dentistry in each year since 1997; if he will make a statement on the level of availability of NHS dentistry; and what measures he is taking to increase the availability of NHS dentistry.
Mr Andrew Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether it is his policy to adhere to the 2002 spending review increase in the national control total for 2004–05.
Mr Andrew Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the United Kingdom's contribution will be to the Global Fund for combating AIDS, TB and malaria in each year up to 2008 for this year.
Mr Andrew Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will make a statement on the effectiveness of the Global Fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.
