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Written Answers to Questions
Monday 12 December 1988
ATTORNEY-GENERAL
Patrick Ryan
64. Mr. Baldry : To ask the Attorney-General if he will make a statement as to the progress of the extradition of Patrick Ryan from the Republic of Ireland.
The Attorney-General : I refer my hon. Friend to the answers which I gave to the private notice question tabled by the right hon. and learned Member for Aberavon (Mr. Morris) on 1 December and on 7 December to my hon. Friend the Member for Eastbourne (Mr. Gow). At present, I have no further developments to report.
Extradition
65. Mr. Harry Greenway : To ask the Attorney-General if he will make a statement on the operation of extradition procedures between the United Kingdom and other countries ; and if he will make a statement.
The Attorney-General : Where the United Kingdom has an extradition treaty with a foreign state other than a member of the Commonwealth, the provisions of that treaty and of the Extradition Act 1870 presently apply. With effect from a day to be appointed by my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary provision for new extradition arrangements with foreign states will be made by part I of the Criminal Justice Act 1988.
Extradition procedures involving a fugitive from a Commonwealth country apprehended here are governed by the Fugitive Offenders Act 1967, and those sought by our own prosecuting authorities who are within the jurisdiction of one of our Commonwealth partners are subject to reciprocal legislation in substantially the same terms. Finally, the position of the Republic of Ireland is different again and is unique. Extradition procedures depend upon reciprocal legislation enacted by both nations in 1965. The Irish Extradition Act was amended in certain significant respects at the end of last year. Our own legislation has not been altered correspondingly. The Government are satisfied that the procedures under the United Kingdom legislation and associated treaties with foreign states provide the basis for satisfactory extradition arrangements.
66. Mr. Mullin : To ask the Attorney-General what is the number of outstanding extradition warrants against residents of the Irish Republic who are wanted in connection with terrorist offences.
The Attorney-General : Warrants issued in the United Kingdom for the arrests of 24 fugitives believed to be in the Republic of Ireland are presently outstanding. I do not think it would be in the public interest to specify how many of these warrants have been issued in connection with terrorist offences.
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Entry Clearances
Mr. Darling : To ask the Attorney-General what is the average cost to public funds of all work in connection with an appeal against refusal of entry to the United Kingdom including the time expended in preparing the entry clearance officers' report, the appeal hearing and the ultimate determination of the case.
The Attorney-General : The average cost to public funds of all work in connection with an appeal against refusal of entry to the United Kingdom is not readily identifiable. The Home Office, Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Lord Chancellor's Department all incur expenditure in relation to such appeals but it is not possible for those Departments to identify separately costs attributable to particular types of work related to appeals against refusal of entry only.
However, the average cost to the FCO of preparing an entry clearance officers' explanatory statement in 1987-88 (the last complete year for which figures are available) was estimated to be £85. The average cost to the Lord Chancellor's Department of the work done by the immigration appelate authorities in hearing and determining an appeal against refusal of entry is currently estimated to be £113.
The Coventry Four
Mr. Campbell-Savours : To ask the Attorney-General what discussions took place between his Department and the office of Mr. Justice Leonard in the case of those persons known as the Coventry four.
Mortgage Fraud
Mr. Sean Hughes : To ask the Attorney-General whether, in view of the recent court judgments which prevented the police restraining convicted defendants from profiting from assets obtained as a result of mortgage fraud, there are any legislative measures proposed to close this loophole.
Mr. John Patten : I have been asked to reply.
Part VI of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 empowers the courts to restrain and confiscate property in proceedings for serious offences, including offences of the kind alleged in this case. We expect to bring these provisions into force in April 1989.
EDUCATION AND SCIENCE
Disabled Students
Mr. Hannam : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if the disabled students' allowance will remain index linked following the recent Government announcement to introduce top up loans for students.
Mr. Jackson : The amount of the allowance is at the discretion of local education authorities, subject to a ceiling--at present £730. That ceiling is not index linked. No decision has been taken on what it should be in the future.
Student Grants
Mr. Macdonald : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will give the figures for the
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percentages of (a) full-time students receiving the full grant from their local educational authority, (b) students receiving (i) 1 to 9 per cent., (ii) 10 to 19 per cent., (iii) 20 to 29 per cent., (iv) 30 to 39 per cent., (v) 40 to 49 per cent., (vi) 50 to 59 per cent., (vii) 60 to 69 per cent., (viii) 70 to 79 per cent., (ix) 80 to 89 per cent., (x) 90 to 99 per cent., respectively, of their grant from their local educational authority and (c) students receiving minimum grant from their local educational authority.Mr. Jackson : The available data are as follows :
Mandatory awards (England and Wales) 1986-87
|Student numbers |Percentage of award
|holders
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Full maintenance |<1>145,307 |36.9
Maintenance reduced by assessment:
(i) Numbers of dependent students
with parental contributions of:
Under £200 |26,255 |6.7
£201-£400 |23,573 |6.0
£401-£600 |19,114 |4.8
£601-£800 |17,625 |4.5
£801-£1,000 |15,932 |4.0
£1,001-£1,200 |14,140 |3.6
£1,201-£1,400 |11,924 |3.0
£1,401-£1,600 |9,491 |2.4
£1,601-£1,800 |7,600 |1.9
£1,801-£2,000 |5,331 |1.4
Over £2,001 |4,323 |1.1
(ii) Dependent students who
contribute to grant from their
own income |509 |0.1
(iii) Indpendent students |4,954 |1.3
Nil maintenance<2> |<1>88,188 |22.4
<1> Includes dependent and independent students.
<2> The minimum grant was abolished with effect from 1985-86. For these students only the course
fees are paid.
Teachers (Exchanges)
Mr. Cartwright : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what steps he is taking to encourage the development of the overseas teachers exchange scheme with particular reference to the Commonwealth.
Mrs. Rumbold : The Department continues to encourage the development within available resources of the teacher exchange schemes administered by the Central Bureau for Educational Visits and Exchanges and the League for the Exchange of Commonwealth Teachers. An evaluation of teachers exchange commissioned from the National Foundation for Educational Research is currently under consideration by the Department.
Mr. Cartwright : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what advice he is giving to local education authorities on the formation of local financial management schemes to ensure that the costs of teachers' exchange schemes do not fall
disproportionately on individual schools.
Mr. Butcher : My Department's officials have indicated that it will be open to local education authorities to propose, as part of their local management schemes, to retain as an exception from delegation the additional costs incurred by individual schools participating in teacher exchange schemes.
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Arts (Young People)
Mr. Fisher : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science which bodies will take over responsibility for the present arts projects for young people after the abolition of the Inner London education authority.
Mrs. Rumbold : The inner London councils will be responsible for all aspects of their education service, including relevant arts activities, from 1 April 1990. Boroughs have an opportunity to set out their development plans, to be published by 28 February 1989, proposals for this aspect of their service. Certain arts projects, including theatres, have already been discussed jointly by the boroughs.
Student Loans
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) what is his policy on providing timely information to local education authorities in order to enable them to respond to individual inquiries about the proposed introduction of top-up loans for students ;
(2) what arrangements he made for the distribution of copies of the White Paper "Top-up Loans for Students" to local education authorities ; whether there was any delay in this distribution ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Jackson : The Department sent copies of the White Paper to the local authority associations and copies were available for purchase by individual authorities when it was published on 9 November. The Department does not normally distribute copies of priced publications to local education authorities. Local education authorities received copies of the Department's press notice announcing the publication.
Science Base
Mr. Straw : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science when he expects to publish a policy statement on science in the light of discussions on the document "A Strategy for the Science Base" by the Advisory Board for the Research Councils.
Mr. Kenneth Baker : When I am ready to do so.
Capital Spending
Mr. Straw : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what allocations for capital spending, by local education authorities in respect of maintained schools, including voluntary schools, and in respect of grant maintained schools, he is making for 1989-90.
Mr. Kenneth Baker : I expect to announce allocations shortly.
Teachers (Ethnic Minorities)
Mr. Rowe : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what progress he has made towards finalising the guidance given by his Department to education authorities on monitoring the numbers of teachers recruited from ethnic minorities, their promotion pattern and related matters ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Butcher : We expect to issue a circular on the collection of ethnically based statistics on teachers shortly. The circular will require authorities to make first returns to the Department in January 1990.
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Bradford City Technology College
Mr. Madden : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what are the estimated revenue costs for the city technology college in Bradford over each of the 10 years from 1990 ; and who is going to pay the revenue expenditure over this period.
Mrs. Rumbold : My right hon. Friend will pay a per capita grant to meet the normal running costs of each city technology college in line with average costs in local education authority maintained secondary schools in similar areas. It is too early to say what grant will be payable to the city technology college proposed for Bradford since this will depend on factors yet to be decided, such as the size of the city technology college and the rate at which pupils will be recruited.
PRIME MINISTER
Retired Officers
Dr. Thomas : To ask the Prime Minister (1) what restrictions exist on emigration to a Communist country of retired security service officers.
(2) what restrictions exist covering the emigration of retired officers from the British independent nuclear deterrent programme to the Soviet Union.
The Prime Minister : I refer the hon. Member to my reply to the hon. Member for Newport, West (Mr. Flynn) on 8 December 1988 at column 268.
Nuclear Accidents
Dr. Thomas : To ask the Prime Minister if any progress has been made in plans to produce a comprehensive co-ordinated arrangement to deal with emergencies arising from nuclear accidents in the United Kingdom, or in nearby countries.
The Prime Minister : Following the Chernobyl accident, extensive consultations were held with emergency services and those authorities who would be involved in dealing with a nuclear accident in the United Kingdom. These consultations have confirmed the availability of contingency plans which would permit an effective response to be made to any nuclear accident, including those with more widespread effects than the specific site and off-site plans are designed to cater for. These plans are kept under continuous review and are regularly exercised.
The procedures for responding to an accident in nearby countries are set out in the Department of the Environment booklet "The National Response Plan and Radioactive Incident Monitoring Network (RIMNET) : A Statement of proposals" published by HMSO, copies of which have been placed in the Library of the House. Forty six monitoring stations throughout the United Kingdom became operational in June. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment expects to accept the associated computer and telecommunications systems for phase 1 of RIMNET from the contractor shortly.
Nuclear Initiatives
Dr. Thomas : To ask the Prime Minister if, during her recent visit to Washington DC, she discussed with the President and
President-elect Bush any new initiatives to
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be developed by the Western Alliance on nuclear proliferation, the 1990 non-proliferation treaty review conference, and methods to combat nuclear terrorism.The Prime Minister : These are subjects which are frequently discussed between the United States and ourselves.
Radioactive Fallout
Dr. Thomas : To ask the Prime Minister if she will make it her policy to request President Gorbachev, during his forthcoming visit to the United Kingdom, to provide financial compensation for British farmers who have suffered economic hardship following contamination of their land and livestock by radioactive fallout from the Chernobyl nuclear accident.
The Prime Minister : President Gorbachev's planned visit to the United Kingdom has had to be postponed because of the devastating earthquake in Armenia. The position with regard to compensation remains as stated in the reply to the hon. Member of 21 July 1986 at column 5.
Nurses and Midwives (Pay)
Mr. Corbyn : To ask the Prime Minister what representations she has received on the nurses and midwives pay award for the coming year ; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Corbyn : To ask the Prime Minister when she expects to receive the report of the nurses and midwives pay review body for 1989.
The Prime Minister : The review body has been asked to submit its report to me in time for decisions to be made on its recommendations by mid -February.
Official Gifts
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Prime Minister how much has been spent by her office on official gifts for presentation to Heads of Government, Heads of State and officials in each of the three financial years.
The Prime Minister : I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 8 December at columns 267-8.
CPRS (Costs)
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Prime Minister how much of the cost of £1,109,000 for the Central Policy Review Staff in 1982-83 was wholly attributable to staffing costs ; how many staff were employed ; and what were the costs in 1979-80, 1980-81 and 1981-82.
The Prime Minister : Actual figures for the cost of the CPRS are not available and it is not possible, therefore, to identify actual staffing costs. The estimated figure of £1,109,000 quoted in my answer of 1 December 1988 at column 348 is based on a staff-in-post figure for 1982-83 of 35. The estimated costs of the CPRS, on the same basis, for the years prior to 1982-83 are :
|£
------------------------
1979-80 |662,000
1980-81 |797,000
1981-82 |932,000
No. 10 Downing Street (Furnishing and Decoration)
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Prime Minister if competitive tenders were sought for the current programme of furnishing and decorating of No. 10 Downing street.
The Prime Minister : Schedules of rates for the redecoration of No. 10 Downing street were obtained from two firms, on the basis of which one of them was invited to tender. The tender was evaluated by an independent consultant, and the contract price was determined in further negotiations with the tenderer.
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Prime Minister if she will give a breakdown of the expenditure on (a) furnishing and (b) decoration at No. 10 Downing street for all items over £500 in the current financial year to date.
The Prime Minister : No. The information is not readily available in the form requested and cannot be provided except at
disproportionate cost.
South Africa
Mr. Wilson : To ask the Prime Minister if she will list the occasions on which, during the course of her official duties, she has expressed the view of Her Majesty's Government over the failure of the South African authorities to return four alleged criminals to the United Kingdom to stand trial.
The Prime Minister : This matter was thoroughly aired in the House at the time. I refer the hon. Member to the statement made by the then Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on 23 October 1984 at columns 559-569.
WALES
Health Service (Grading)
Mrs. Clwyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what percentage of clinical nursing and midwifery staff have been assimilated to each of the new clinical grades by district health authority.
Mr. Grist : I refer the hon. Lady to the reply given to my hon. Friend the Member for Vale of Glamorgan (Sir R. Gower) on 1 December 1988 at columns 349-50 by my right hon. Friend.
Acid Rain
Mrs. Clwyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what steps he is taking to limit acid rain deposition in Wales ; and whether he is taking any special measures to limit acid deposition in the Snowdonia national park.
Mr. Grist : Limitation of acid deposition over Wales is dependent upon the reduction of emissions throughout the United Kingdom and Europe. The United Kingdom is party to a European Community directive which commits us to significant reductions in emissions from large combustion plants and sets stringent standards for emissions from new plans. Compliance will entail a substantial effort over and above the existing £1 billion programme by the Central Electricity Generating Board to
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retrofit 6,000 megawatts of generating capacity with flue gas desulphurisation, and all 12 major coal-fired power stations with low nitrogen oxide burners.We are also introducing more stringent standards for car exhaust emissions following agreement on a European Community directive in December 1987 and the meeting of Environment Ministers in November this year.
These measures will affect deposition in all parts of Wales including the Snowdonia national park.
Gwent-Glamorgan Archaeological Trust
Mr. Gareth Wardell : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will sanction the grant of £50,000 by the Welsh Development Agency to the Gwent-Glamorgan archaeological trust to enable the wall surrounding the Salt house at Port Eynon, Gower, to be rebuilt.
Mr. Peter Walker : The Welsh Development Agency has been given approval to include the project in its programme.
Mental Health
Mr. Roy Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what provisions the National Health Service in Wales has made for back-up services for mentally ill patients who have been discharged from hospitals.
Mr. Grist : The provision of appropriate services for people with mental illnesses who have been discharged from hospital is a matter for district health authorities in collaboration with a range of other bodies, including social services departments, housing bodies and the primary health care and voluntary sectors. The Welsh Office provides central support for the development of community-based mental illness services. In 1988-89 some £2.4 million of additional central funds have been allocated to Welsh health authorities for new projects for the care of people with mental illnesses.
Mr. Roy Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what proposals he has to deal with those mentally ill patients in Wales discharged from hospitals without alternative accommodation.
Mr. Grist : The Department's draft mental illness strategy makes it clear that patients should only be discharged when appropriate alternative services are available to meet their individual needs.
Marketing Initiative
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is the cost to public funds of his Welsh agricultural and food products marketing initiative announced on 19 July at the Royal Welsh show.
Mr. Peter Walker : I am delighted that all three of the marketing advisers have agreed to carry out their work without salary.
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what are the terms of reference of his Welsh agricultural and food products marketing initiative announced on 19 July at the Royal Welsh show.
Mr. Peter Walker : The marketing advisers have an open remit to use their extensive commercial expertise to
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examine the broad range of Welsh agriculture and food processing in Wales and to come forward with as many constructive ideas and proposals as they see fit without any bureaucratic control or direction from me.Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what have been the achievements of his Welsh agricultural and food products marketing initiative announced on 19 July at the Royal Welsh show.
Mr. Peter Walker : So far, the marketing advisers have been examining and evaluating the structure of Welsh production and marketing systems. More specifically they are looking at : the development of the image of Wales and high quality Welsh products ;
the marketing of Welsh lamb and associated products ;
the marketing of milk-based products ;
fresh foods and farm-scale food speciality operations.
I am confident that the results of this work will become apparent in due course.
Planning Applications
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales whether his Department will now start collating statistics on planning applications in national parks in the same way as the Department of the Environment.
Mr. Grist : The Welsh Office already collates and makes available statistics on planning applications in national parks in Wales.
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what information he has on the percentage of planning applications to his Department granted on appeal ; and what percentage of these relate to national parks.
Mr. Grist : I refer the hon. Gentleman to the replies I gave him on 2 December at columns 418-19.
Rate Support Grant
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) whether he is reconsidering the level of rate support grant to be paid to Cardiff city council for the 1987-88 financial year ;
(2) whether he will restore to Cardiff city council the £2.3 million which was due to that council until the moment of his rate support grant statement on 7 July ;
(3) in what circumstances the undertaking, made to the House in his statement of 8 December on the rate support grant in Wales, to consider amended figures that local authorities might submit in respect of the 1987- 88 financial year and to amend their actual grant as a consequence will apply ; and in what circumstances it will not apply.
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