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Planning Appeals
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) if he will give, for each of the last five years for which figures are available, the number of planning appeal decisions which were allowed, dismissed, withdrawn and undetermined, respectively, in each of the Welsh national parks, and if he will express the numbers allowed and dismissed as a percentage of those determined ;
(2) if he will give, for each of the last five years for which figures are available, the number of planning appeal decisions which were allowed, dismissed, withdrawn and undetermined, respectively, in Wales ; and if he will express the numbers allowed and dismissed as a percentage of those determined.
Mr. Wyn Roberts : This information is not available.
Owner-occupied Dwellings
Sir Raymond Gower : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many dwellings in Wales were owner-occupied at the end of 1960, 1970, 1980, and at the latest convenient date.
Mr. Grist : Information is not available in the form requested. Estimates of owner-occupied dwellings at the closest dates to those requested are :
|Dwellings
----------------------------------
April 1961 |374,000
April 1971 |532,000
December 1980 |637,000
December 1987 |777,000
Dwelling stock estimates in census years are based upon information collected in the census of population for that year. In inter-censal years they are based on the previous census figures adjusted to take account of new house building and demolition.
Water Pollution
Mr. Gareth Wardell : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if the Welsh water authority has implemented the recommendation in paragraph 7.49 of the 11th report of the Royal Commission on environmental pollution by consulting the relevant industries in their area with a view to increasing the removal of metals from industrial discharges at source and reducing the metal content of sewage.
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Mr. Grist : The Welsh water authority in exercising its responsibilities for the disposal of sewage sludge takes every opportunity to achieve, by consultation with dischargers, the application of best technology so as to reduce the levels of metal contaminants in sewage and sewage sludge.
Grant-related Expenditure (Clwyd)
Mr. Martyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) what assumptions he used about the pupil-teacher ratio in his calculation of grant-related expenditure for the county of Clwyd ;
(2) what assumption he made about the sum to be allocated for the local element of educational supplementary grant for in-service training in his calculation of grant-related expenditure for the county of Clwyd ;
(3) what assumptions he made about the sum to be allocated for special needs provision in his calculation of grant-related expenditure for the county of Clwyd ;
(4) what assumption he made about the sum to be allocated for nursery provision in his calculation of grant-related expenditure for the county of Clwyd.
Mr. Wyn Roberts : Grant-related expenditure calculations for local authorities in Wales do not form a basis for calculating notional allocations of GRE to any particular service. The GRE determined for each county council is constructed using indicators of need such as numbers of pupils (including those in special schools) rather than indicators of provision such as pupil/teacher ratios. The portion of costs associated with the local education authority training grants scheme not met by specific grant is accounted for in counties' GREs, using pupil numbers as an indicator of need. Nursery provision is part of the component of GRE relating to all children aged one and over but under five, and the indicator used is the population in this age group. All GRE formulae are agreed in consultation with the local authority associations. Full details of the indicators used or the current year are given in the Welsh rate support grant report 1988-89.
TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Ministerial Designation
Mr. Mudd : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if, on his Department's personalised stationery, he will cause to be printed that his hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Industry and Consumer Affairs is a Member of Parliament.
Mr. Forth : I am grateful to my hon. Friend for bringing this important matter to my attention.
Having thoroughly investigated the matter and established that the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Industry and Consumer Affairs is indeed a Member of Parliament, I have arranged for the Department's stationery to be altered appropriately.
Mr. Morton Graham
Mr. Bill Michie : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what action the Office of Fair Trading proposes to take in the case of Mr. Morton Graham, who has been named on the consumer credit licence issued by the Office of Fair Trading, in spite of a criminal conviction for conspiracy to defraud.
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Mr. Maude : The day-to-day operation of the consumer credit licensing system is the responsibility of the Director General of Fair Trading and I shall ask him to write to the hon. Member.
FIMBRA (Suspensions)
Mr. Nicholas Winterton : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (1) if he will make a statement outlining the information which must be given to members of FIMBRA if they are suspended by that body ;
(2) what steps he has recently taken to ensure that cases of suspension dealt with by FIMBRA are treated efficiently, courteously and discreetly by that organisation ;
(3) if he will make a statement outlining the requirements which are placed upon FIMBRA to provide suspended members with a full and fair hearing at which to put forward their case against suspension ; (4) if he has any plans to ensure that FIMBRA does not make public the knowledge that individual members have been suspended without providing to the affected member full details of the reasons for that suspension.
Mr. Maude : It is a criterion for recognition of a self-regulating organisation under the Financial Services Act 1986 that the organisation's rules and practices relating to the discipline that it exercises over its members must be fair and reasonable and include adequate provisions for appeals. The Securities and Investments Board is responsible for recognising self-regulating organisations and has recognised FIMBRA. I am not aware of any evidence that FIMBRA's rules and practices do not meet the relevant criterion.
National Engineering Laboratory
Mr. Ingram : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will list the consultants who were asked to quote for the study into the operation of the national engineering laboratory at East Kilbride.
Mr. Forth : The consultants who were asked to quote for the restructuring study into the national engineering laboratory at East Kilbride are as follows :
a. Touche Ross
b. PA Consulting Group
Mr. Ingram : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what is the cost of the contract announced on 29 November given to the consultants Touche Ross for their study into the national engineering laboratory at East Kilbride.
Mr. Forth : It is not customary to publish the cost of consultancy contracts. This information is commercially confidential.
World Trade
Mr. Macdonald : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what is his latest estimate of the United Kingdom's share of world trade.
Mr. Alan Clark : In the first six months of 1988 the United Kingdom share of the 12 main manufacturing countries' exports of manufactures was 8.2 per cent. It is estimated that our share of total world trade in manufactures in 1988 will be a little over 6 per cent. Our share of world invisible earnings has been rising steadily and our receipts are second only to the United States of America.
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Growish Limited
Mr. Campbell-Savours : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what progress has been made on investigations into offences under the Companies Act 1985 in respect of Growish Ltd.
Mr. Maude : I am not aware of any Companies Act offences committed by Royel Investments Ltd, formerly Growish Ltd, but I shall consider any information the hon. Member may have about the matter.
Restrictive Practices (Industrial Action)
Mr. Alton : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will introduce legislation to amend the restrictive practices legislation to allow the self-employed and small firms to act together when pursuing industrial action.
Mr. Maude [holding answer 1 December 1988] : In its Green Paper on restrictive trade practices policy (CM331) the Government have proposed fundamental changes to restrictive trade practices legislation.
Under the proposals, agreements which have significantly anti-competitive effects would be prohibited but controls on agreements with no such effects would be relaxed. There would also be provision for restrictive agreements which meet certain criteria to be exempted from the prohibition. It is too early to say how the proposed new legislation will apply to co-operation arrangements between the self-employed and small firms ; this will depend to an extent on the object or effect of the particular arrangements. My Department is currently developing the proposals in the Green Paper in the light of comments received from interested bodies and the views of organisations representing the self-employed and small firms are being taken into account.
OVERSEAS DEVELOPMENT
Aid
Miss Lestor : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the outcome of the latest OECD development assistance committee's review of the United Kingdom aid programme.
Mr. Chris Patten : This review took place on Thursday 1 December. I shall arrange for a copy of the press release to be placed in the Library of the House.
Tanzania (Aid)
Mr. Cox : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what aid projects are at present being discussed with the Government of Tanzania ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Chris Patten : We have just signed a new grant agreement with the Government of Tanzania for £16 million of balance of payments support to help with the implementation of agreed economic reforms. These funds will be used in the agriculture, transport, industry and health sectors.
I have also approved the offer of an £8 million grant as cofinancing for the World Bank's industrial rehabilitation
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and trade adjustment credit. This will be available as soon as the credit is signed, which I expect will be early next month. In addition to this assistance, my officials are continuing talks on identifying projects for the use of an £18 million project aid grant.Sub-Saharan Africa
Mr. Franks : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he next intends to make a visit to sub-Saharan Africa.
Mr. Chris Patten : I hope to visit sub-Saharan Africa early next year.
Buses (Sri Lanka)
Mr. Bill Walker : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he can yet give the date when the 40 London double deck buses will be sent to Sri Lanka as part of the United Kingdom aid programme.
Mr. Chris Patten : The buses are being shipped from Sheerness on 15 December, to arrive in Sri Lanka in early January.
AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD
Export Refund Computer System
Mr. Allen : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) what is the cost of the International Board for Agricultural Produce computer scheme to date ; and if he will make a statement ; (2) whether the IBAP export refund scheme computer system is still working ; and if he will make a statement ;
(3) whether private contractors have been brought in to devise a replacement system for the IBAP export refund computer ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Donald Thompson : The costs incurred in developing and implementing the intervention board's external claims computer system from its inception in 1982 to date are estimated at just under £4 million. The bulk of the system covering most commodity sectors was delivered in July to September 1987. This then required substantial modification when new Customs and Community documentation came into effect on 1 January 1988. The system currently in use was delivered in March to July 1988. Before this became available substantial payment delays had built up, and recovering these has been handicapped by technical problems with the software in the system. Substantial progress has however been made. In the first nine months of this year the board processed some 540,000 transactions valued at £440 million. 70 per cent. of commodity sectors and of export refund claims by value are now being paid within two months of becoming payable, and the board is working to extend this to the remaining sectors as soon as possible.
In August 1988 the board brought in external consultants to assist with the recovery. They recommended that substantial enhancement of the current system was required in the short to medium term. Work to that end is now being undertaken by these consultants.
The consultants also recommended that this system should be succeeded by a new system able to respond flexibly and effectively to the intervention boards needs in
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the longer term. The board has accepted this recommendation and is initiating a full business and systems analysis which will be undertaken by private sector consultants.Mr. Allen : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether any redundancies have been caused by the workings of the export refund system in the current year.
Mr. Donald Thompson : I am not aware of any redundancies in exporting firms which can be attributed to the payment delays resulting from this year's changes in the intervention board's external claims computer system.
Salmonella
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what information he has about the relationship between salmonella poisoning in eggs and current conditions in battery farms with particular respect to the methods of disposal of dead fowls ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Donald Thompson : Modern intensive farming methods pose no more threat of introducing salmonella into eggs than do traditional farming methods. Dead fowls are disposed of in a manner which does not contribute to the problems of salmonella dissemination.
Departmental Dp Division
Mr. Allen : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many system professionals are employed in his Department's Dp division ; and what is the turnover rate.
Mr. Donald Thompson : Currently there are 170 functional specialist computing staff at programmer level and above, employed in the Ministry's computer services division at Guildford, of whom some 135 are fully trained. Since the beginning of the current financial year 37 trained staff have left and 40 trainee programmers have joined the division. These are comparable figures to those of previous years.
Sewage Sludge
Mr. Gareth Wardell : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will publish in the Official Report the volume of sewage sludge deposited in each sea dump around the United Kingdom coast over each of the last five years.
Mr. Donald Thompson : The information requested is as follows :
'000 wet tonnes Location |1983 |1984 |1985 |1986 |1987 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Off the Tyne |364.4 |480.5 |456.8 |498.9 |485.0 Off the Tees |8.1 |2.0 |7.5 |1.3 |1.6 Spurn Head |91.2 |78.3 |89.0 |114.9 |95.1 Roughs Tower |138.3 |85.4 |127.1 |112.2 |132.4 Barrow Deep |4,150.0 |4,200.0 |4,240.4 |4,543.3 |3,637.6 South Falls |98.3 |105.0 |88.4 |50.2 |134.1 Nab Tower |202.2 |231.8 |291.8 |288.6 |243.0 Lyme Bay |47.7 |44.0 |49.5 |45.4 |48.3 Off Falmouth 63.7 (use of dumpsite discontinued) Off Plymouth |83.0 |103.0 |85.0 |76.9 |81.6 Bristol Channel |230.2 |305.2 |262.5 |257.4 |237.9 Liverpool Bay |1,299.2 |1,282.9 |1,499.0 |1,541.4 |1,626.0 Firth of Forth |219.9 |230.2 |209.6 |172.9 |248.5 Firth of Clyde |1,574.5 |1,714.2 |1,686.8 |1,698.7 |1,689.6 Off Belfast |289.8 |299.1 |314.4 |275.9 |309.5 Off Coleraine |10.5 |11.0 |11.6 |9.5 |-
Mr. Gareth Wardell : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if his Department has considered ways and means of assisting the further reduction of the heavy metals load in sewage sludge.
Mr. Donald Thompson : In recent years substantial reductions have been achieved in heavy metal concentrations, which are well within the trace limits permitted by the international dumping conventions. The levels of heavy metals in sewage sludge for sea disposal have been strictly controlled by the provisions of the Dumping at Sea Act 1974 and its successor legislation, part II of the Food and Environment Protection Act 1985. The Government are seeking further reductions in metal concentrations ; water authorities are required to draw up action plans incorporating reviews of authorisations that they have granted for discharge to sewers of industrial effluent containing heavy mentals.
The Government also intends to improve the control of sewage sludge spread on agricultural land by introducing statutory regulations next year backed up by a code of practice, both designed to provide an appropriate level of environmental protection.
Agriculture White Paper
Mr. Boswell : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the future of the annual review of the Agriculture White Paper.
Mr. MacGregor : My right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and I have decided to extend and improve the information which has up to now been published in the White Paper on the annual review of agriculture. The new publication will be designed to give data on the state of the agricultural industry in the United Kingdom. It will contain enhanced information on commodities and on the general financial situation of the industry. The new document will be published annually and copies will be made available in the Library of the House.
It will, however, no longer be published as a White Paper. The origin of that practice is that, before our accession to the European Community, the annual review led to the determination of commodity price guarantees for the coming year, which we published as part of the White Paper. Since our accession, the emphasis has shifted towards the annual negotiation of agricultural prices in the European Community, and the annual review White Paper has effectively become a compendium of agricultural statistics. It is therefore appropriate to discontinue publication in the form of a White Paper.
HOME DEPARTMENT
Missing Persons
Mr. Janner : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) men, (b) women, (c) boys under 18 years of age and (d) girls under 18 years of age
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were reported as missing during each of the last five years for which records are available ; and how many and what percentage in each category were subsequently traced.Mr. Douglas Hogg : The only readily available information relates to persons recorded by the Metropolitan police missing persons bureau. I understand from the commissioner that these records are incomplete in respect of persons who are reported missing to other police forces and persons who reappear within a short time of being reported missing. The information for the Metropolitan police district is given in the following table. Further details of missing persons are given in the commissioner's annual report.
Persons reported missing during the year and proportion of each
yearly total who were traced by the end of that year.
Metropolitan Police District Number of persons
Under 18 18 and over
Year |Number reported missing |Percentage traced end of|Number reported missing |Percentage traced by end
|year |of year
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Males
1983 |1,340 |93 |682 |92
1984 |1,416 |92 |1,007 |83
1985 |1,283 |96 |1,009 |87
1986 |1,291 |92 |1,069 |81
1987<1> |1,504 |92 |1,719 |78
Females
1983 |1,534 |90 |642 |89
1984 |1,733 |93 |950 |88
1985 |1,699 |94 |931 |88
1986 |1,586 |95 |964 |85
1987<1> |1,623 |91 |1,609 |80
<1> New counting procedures were introduced from the beginning of 1987: hence the figures for previous years are not comparable.
Mr. Janner : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will ask chief officers of police in England and Wales to supply him with such information regarding missing persons and their subsequent tracing, alive or dead, as is conveniently available.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : Responsibility for investigating reports of missing persons is an operational matter for individual chief officers of police. Records of missing persons are held locally, and may be circulated to other forces or to the missing persons bureau at New Scotland yard as chief officers consider necessary. There is no requirement upon chief officers to provide the Home Office with statistics relating to missing persons. Information could be collated only by means of a special exercise which would involve disproportionate expense.
Security Services
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what consideration he has given to the need for authorisations for the security services to access computer records and systems ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Hurd : The conditions under which personal data may be disclosed for the purpose of safeguarding national security are provided in section 27 of the Data Protection Act 1984. It would be for the data user to respond to any request for access made in accordance with the Act.
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Schizophrenia
Mr. Fearn : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many inmates in Her Majesty's prisons are known, and diagnosed, to be schizophrenia sufferers.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : This information is not available centrally.
Mr. Mohammed Arshad Mehar
Mr. Teddy Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department why Mr. Mohammed Arshad Mehar, date of birth 1 March 1958 and Ref : C 484704, of 45C Park Street, Southend-on-Sea, Essex, a Pakistani national who applied in September 1987 for an extension of his visa, 888760, to enable him to continue with his work as a specialist chemical worker, had his passport returned by hand to his wife a few days ago without any visa extension or any indication of the Home Office decision on his application ; if he will consider the application for the extension of stay in the United Kingdom ; if he will complete this in order that Mr. Mehar can return to Pakistan for an urgent family matter and then return to the United Kingdom thereafter ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Renton : Mr. Mehar's passport was returned without further endorsement because he wished to travel urgently and it was not possible to complete his application. Inquiries in this case have not yet been completed but I shall write to the hon. Member as soon as a decision is reached.
NUS (March)
Mrs. Clwyd : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis's estimate of the number of Socialist Workers party members present in the breakaway section of the National Union of Students march of Thursday 24 November.
Mr. Hurd : As I said in my reply on 29 November to the hon. Member for Newham, South (Mr. Spearing) at column 174, the faction which first broke away amounted to about 1,000 demonstrators many of whom were thought to be members of the Socialist Workers' party. The action of this group encouraged several thousand others to follow suit.
Mrs. Clwyd : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis's estimate of the number of police officers injured during the National Union of Students march of 24 November, the types of injury and the numbers that had to go to hospital, and the numbers of students injured, the types of injury and the numbers that had to go to hospital.
Mr. Hurd : As I said in my reply on 29 November to the hon. Member for Newham, South (Mr. Spearing) at column 174, it is estimated that 72 police officers were injured, and seven demonstrators of whom the commissioner is aware. There is no central record available of how many were taken to hospital, but it is understood that most injuries were minor. One woman police constable suffered concussion, spent four nights in hospital, and is
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now experiencing severe memory loss. I have received separately a letter describing a serious leg injury to one of the demonstrators.Security Service
Mr. Richard Shepherd : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department under what statutory powers members of the Security Service have, in the past, entered on or interfered with property as defined in the Security Service Bill.
Mr. Hurd : It is not the practice to comment on the operations of the Security Service.
There have been no statutory provisions giving the Security Service special powers in this respect.
Smoke Detectors
Mr. Thurnham : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he has any plans to encourage pensioners to install smoke detectors in their homes ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : A television advertising campaign to encourage the public, including pensioners, to install smoke alarms in their homes is planned to start on Boxing day.
THE ARTS
Ethnic Minority Support
30. Mr. Robert G. Hughes To ask the Minister for the Arts what measures he has taken to promote the arts and culture of black and Asian British people.
Mr. Luce : I fully support the Arts Council's action plan for ethnic minority arts, which provides for a minimum of 4 per cent. of the council's expenditure to be committed in this field.
43. Mr. Boateng : To ask the Minister for the Arts how many ethnic minority musicians or musical organisations the Arts Council funded on a revenue or annual basis in 1987-88.
Mr. Luce : Fourteen organisations.
49. Mr. Vaz : To ask the Minister for the Arts what proportion of total Arts Council expenditure was spent on ethnic minority arts in 1987- 88.
Mr. Luce : The Arts Council report on ethnic minority arts, due in the new year, will show the exact proportion.
51. Ms. Abbott : To ask the Minister for the Arts how many ethnic minority film, video and broadcasting projects were funded on a revenue basis by the Arts Council in 1987-88.
Autumn Statement
31. Mr. Knapman : To ask the Minister for the Arts what representations he has received following his recent arts settlement announcement following the Autumn Statement.
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Mr. Luce : The arts organisations which I sponsor welcomed my three- year funding strategy and its recent extension to 1991-92, and they are responding positively to the opportunities which the strategy presents.
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