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Mr. Chris Patten : Britain's net official bilateral development assistance to sub-Saharan Africa between
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1980 and 1987 amounted to $2.7 billion. In the same period disbursements by the other 17 DAC members totalled $44.8 billion.Aid (Distribution)
80. Mr. Patrick Thompson : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is his policy with regard to the geographical distribution of British overseas aid.
Mr. Chris Patten : Policy on the geographical allocation of bilateral aid is governed principally by the needs of recipient countries, how effectively the aid can be used, what other donors are doing and the United Kingdom's historical links with many developing countries, particularly in the Commonwealth.
Forestry
82. Mr. Bowis : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on British aid for forestry in developing countries.
Mr. Chris Patten : Details of our existing forestry activities are given in a supplement to this month's British Overseas Development, a copy of which I am placing in the Library. In future we will encourage recipient countries to direct more of our aid to forestry and will increase commitments through international research and British charities.
Central African Federation
83. Mr. Favell : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans he has to enable increased pensions to be paid to former public servants of the Central African Federation.
Mr. Chris Patten : The Governments of Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi and the United Kingdom, as joint guarantors of the central African pension fund, have agreed that pension increases averaging 300 per cent. should be paid, with effect from 1 October 1988. The cost of financing these increases is approximately £9 million, which the trustees of the fund would like to see funded in sterling. In response to requests from the three African Governments, I have agreed that the British Government should meet the full cost of the increase.
We are considering what further action is necessary to assist those central African pensioners whose pensions have been particularly eroded by currency depreciation.
European Integration
84. Miss Lestor : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment has been made by his Department of the effects of European economic integration in 1992 on the Third world ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Chris Patten : The Commission in its statement of 19 October made clear that the single market should be seen as a contribution to the global liberalisation of trade. The economic growth resulting from completion of the Single Market should benefit Community and non-Community countries alike, including developing countries. We share this view. At their meeting in Rhodes, Heads of Government declared that Europe after 1992 will be a partner and not a "Fortress Europe".
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Bangladesh
85. Mr. Squire : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make a statement on the current level of British aid to Bangladesh.
Mr. Chris Patten : I expect total expenditure in the current financial year to exceed £50 million. This includes £7.5 million of emergency relief aid provided following the recent disastrous floods.
Bilateral Aid
86. Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the use of British bilateral aid to bring political trade or military advantages to the United Kingdom.
Mr. Chris Patten : The basic aim of the aid programme is the promotion of sustainable economic and social progress and the alleviation of poverty. That aim is entirely compatible with serving our political and commercial interests. It is not Her Majesty's Government's policy to use the aid programme for military purposes.
China
87. Mr. Yeo : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on official aid to the People's Republic of China.
Mr. Chris Patten : Britain has a growing aid programme to China. In September I visited Peking to sign a new agreement which will provide aid and trade provision support for development projects to a total value of £300 million. Grant aid for technical co-operation in the current financial year is likely to be about £5 million.
Rain Forest
88. Mr. Wallace : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will meet the chairman of the World bank to discuss the possibility of writing off debts of developing countries in return for guarantees about the protection of areas of tropical rain forest.
Mr. Chris Patten : I hope to meet the president of the World Bank in 1989 and to discuss the bank's increasing concern with environmental issues, including the protection of areas of tropical rain forest. I do not have specific plans to discuss the introduction of any direct linkage between the protection of rain forests and the wider question of measures to deal with developing countries' debt difficulties.
UN (Voluntary Funds)
89. Mr. Waller : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what contributions Her Majesty's Government will make in 1989 to the voluntary funds of the United Nations system.
Mr. Chris Patten : So far I have made the following pledges for 1989 :
E
|£
---------------------------------------------------------------------
UN Development Programme (UNDP) |26 million
UN Children's FundUNICEF) |8 million
UN Population Fund (UNFPA) |5.5 million
UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) |50,000
UN High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR) |3.6 million
Industrial Development Fund of the UN
Industrial Development Organisation (IDF) |500,000
Contributions to special appeals are decided during the course of the year. They add considerably to our funding of United Nations agencies.
International Debt
90. Mr. Alex Carlile : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has received regarding the problem of international debt.
Mr. Chris Patten : I receive a number of letters on this subject from hon. Members and their constituents, as well as from representatives of non-governmental organisations. International debt is a frequent topic of discussion at the international meetings I attend.
Aid (Ecology)
91. Mr. Harry Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he has plans to increase the amounts of aid for projects which restore, protect and improve the ecological basis of development in Third world nations.
Mr. Chris Patten : Allocations to particular projects and sectors within our country programmes are agreed with recipient Governments and this involves weighing up competing priorities. I aim to agree with interested Governments more support to the forestry sector.
Senegal
92. Mr. Wells : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what development assistance he is giving in support of Senegal's economic reform programme.
Mr. Chris Patten : During the state visit of President Diouf last month my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister offered a grant of £2 million. The grant is in the form of balance of payments finance in support of Senegal's continuing IMF-backed economic reform programme. It is in addition to our ongoing technical co-operation programme.
New Zealand Dairy Imports
Sir Geoffrey Johnson Smith : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what would be the impact on the United Kingdom dairy producers quota, in percentage terms, if all New Zealand dairy imports were stopped.
Mr. Donald Thompson : Community rules do not provide for any increase in United Kingdom milk quotas if New Zealand imports of dairy products were eliminated.
Common Agricultural Policy
Dr. Hampson : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what proportion of the European budget is devoted to the common agricultural policy and what was the figure in 1979.
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Mr. MacGregor : In 1988 it is currently estimated that spending under the common agricultural policy will take up 71 per cent. of the Community's budget, of which 3 per cent. is for depreciating old agricultural stocks and therefore relates to liabilities incurred in previous years. The equivalent figure for 1979 is 76 per cent.
Bovine Somatotropin
Mr. Jopling : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will estimate how much land would be no longer needed (a) in the EEC as a whole, (b) in the United Kingdom and (c) in each of the four countries to support milk production in the event of bovine somatotropin being freely available and universally used in the EEC.
Mr. Donald Thompson : No. To produce an estimate of any value would require detailed data, which are not available, and a variety of assumptions about the commercial application of bovine somatotropin were it to be approved.
Mr. Wallace : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what information he has on the progress being made in compiling additional scientific information on each of the seven areas detailed by the chairman of the Farm Animal Welfare Council in his letter to him dated 26 October 1987, Official Report, 17 December 1987, column 740, regarding the use of bovine somatotropin to increase milk production.
Mr. Donald Thompson : The information necessary to allow a full exploration of the areas identified by the Farm Animal Welfare Council is being generated in field trials conducted under the terms of animal test certificates issued by my Department.
Chernobyl
Mr. Wallace : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what information he has about steps taken by the European Community to guard against the export to developing nations of foodstuffs contaminated as a result of the Chernobyl accident.
Mr. Ryder : I am satisfied of the safety of all United Kingdom foodstuffs exported following the Chernobyl accident. At EC level, I understand that the Commission has taken administrative action to ensure that all food aid consignments to developing countries meet the same standards as those applied to post-Chernobyl imports from third countries.
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what proposals he has to protect agriculture and fisheries in the area of Cumbria which were found by the post-Chernobyl aerial survey to have radioactivity readings in excess of 300,000 bq/sq m.
Mr. Ryder : The figures from the aerial survey need to be put in perspective. They relate to total caesium in the rocks and soil as well as in the vegetation. Monitoring on a regular basis of foodstuff in Cumbria area has shown there is no need to take additional measures to protect agriculture and fisheries.
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Furnace Ships
Mr. Wallace : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether his Department has undertaken any studies to monitor the environmental impact in the North sea of furnace ships moored there.
Mr. Donald Thompson : Two incineration vessels are currently approved to use the internationally agreed incineration site in the Dutch sector of the North sea. The environmental impact of the emissions from the vessels is kept under review by the Oslo and London dumping conventions. They are advised by a group of experts who include representatives of my Department.
Chickens
Mr. Corbyn : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list, for each year since 1983, the apparent number of egg- producing chickens and the number of establishments that they are kept in by (a) battery methods, (b) deep litter and (c) free range.
Mr. Donald Thompson : Details of the size of the laying flock and number of holdings in the United Kingdom, taken from the UK annual agricultural census, are given in the table below. Very small holdings which only make occasional returns are excluded from these figures.
|Number of fowls |Number of holdings
|(millions) |(thousands)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1983 |40.760 |51.9
1984 |40.304 |48.1
1985 |39.268 |46.4
1986 |37.827 |44.6
1987 |38.229 |41.9
Separate census data are not collected on the type of farming system used. However, I estimate that the number of birds kept in deep litter and free range systems over the last three years are :--
|Number of fowls on|Number of fowls on
|deep litter |free range
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1985 |25,000 |319,000
1986 |11,000 |908,000
1987 |17,000 |1,148,000
Information for earlier years is not available.
Salmonella
Mr. Corbyn : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many cases of salmonella have been reported for each year since 1983 in (a) battery chicken farms, (b) deep litter chicken farms and, (c) free range eggs for sale to the consumer and carcases for sale to the consumer.
Mr. Ryder : The reporting of salmonella in food producing animals is required under the zoonoses order 1975. The total number of incidents reported in live chickens in Great Britain since 1983 is as follows :
|Incidents
------------------------------
1983 |514
1984 |446
1985 |456
1986 |519
1987 |497
It is not possible to distinguish between incidents occurring under different management systems.
There is no statutory requirement to test poultry carcases or eggs specifically for salmonella and therefore no firm information on the number of cases is available.
Environmentally Sensitive Areas
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will outline the work he is doing to monitor the effects of environmentally sensitive area designation on (a) farm incomes and (b) employment ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Ryder : I have commissioned the universities of Manchester and Newcastle to carry out a detailed examination of the economic impact of ESA designations. I shall be publishing a report which will cover progress on this and a number of other fronts early in the new year.
Fruit Orchards
Mr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) if he will list the hectares of fruit orchards that have been replaced on a county by county basis for each year since 1985 as a result of farmers receiving payment under the capital grant scheme ; and if he will make a statement ;
(2) if he will list the reduction in hectares of fruit orchards on a county by county basis for each year since 1985 as a result of farmers receiving payment under the capital grant scheme ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Ryder : I regret that this information is not available and could not be provided except at disproportionate cost.
Fisheries Council
Sir Michael Shaw : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the outcome of the Fisheries Council meeting in Brussels on the 9 and 10 December ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. MacGregor : I refer my hon. Friend to the statement that I gave earlier today.
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Wheat
Mr. Ralph Howell : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the average price paid to producers for wheat in each country of the EEC in 1986 and 1987 and that period in 1988 for which figures are available.
Mr. Ryder [holding answer 9 December 1988] : Annual average producer prices for wheat in 1986, 1987 and the first quarter of 1988 are as follows :
National |1986 |1987 |198 currency/tonne --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Belgium (BFR) |8,301 |8,016 |7,678 Denmark (DKR) |1,469 |1,401 |1,365 France (FF) |1,152 |1,107 |1,053 Germany (DM) |410 |396 |386 Greece (DR) |21,720 |22,360 |26,530 Ireland (IRL) |105 |120 |<1> Italy (LIT) |339,490 |325,100 |335,220 Luxembourg (LFR) |7,650 |7,483 |7,250 Netherlands (HFL) |449 |412 |<1> Portugal (ESC) |<1> |47,100 |<1> Spain (PTA) |<1> |<1> |<1> United Kingdom (UK) |111 |111 |107 <1> Figures not available. Source: Eurostat-Agricultural prices.
Mr. Ralph Howell : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will state the average prices paid to producers for wheat in each year from 1979 to 1987 and also for the period of 1988 for which figures are available ; and if he will express these at 1979 prices and 1987 prices.
Mr. Ryder [holding answer Friday 9 December 1988] : The price information requested for each of the years 1979 to 1987 is set out in the table. Final figures for 1987 and forecast figures for 1988 will not be available until published in "Agriculture in the United Kingdom" early next year.
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|Weighted average |At 1979 prices<2> |At 1987 prices<2>
|price of United
|Kingdom wheat of
|point of first sale
|£ per tonne |£ per tonne |£ per tonne
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1979 |95.92 |95.92 |174.00
1980 |99.30 |82.92 |150.44
1981 |108.92 |81.58 |147.91
1982 |113.74 |79.16 |143.54
1983 |124.80 |82.62 |149.88
1984 |114.58 |72.41 |131.31
1985 |112.25 |67.24 |121.79
1986 |111.18 |64.26 |116.52
1987<1> |112.35 |61.90 |112.35
<1> Forecast.
<2> Using the GDP deflator (at market prices).
Source: Annual Review of Agriculture.
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Pollen Beetle
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what research is being sponsored by his Ministry into the damage caused by, and control of, the metogethes, or pollen beetle ; whether such research will be affected by the transfer of responsibility for funding from the public to the private sector ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Ryder [holding answer 9 December 1988] : My Department is supporting work by the Agricultural and
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Food Research Council (AFRC) on the pollen beetle as part of a research programme on the ecology, behaviour and control of pests of oilseed rape. The Agricultural Development and Advisory Service (ADAS) is also monitoring the pollen beetle under the pest monitoring service and for crop intelligence reports. A very small proportion of the AFRC work and most of the ADAS work is regarded as appropriate for industry funding and we are seeking such support for it.Column 437
SCOTLAND
VAT
Mr. Heddle : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what assessments he has made as to the likely effect on (a) his Department's capital building programme and (b) the rent the Department will pay under occupational leases of implementation of the European Court of Justice's judgment on value added tax on non-domestic buildings.
Mr. Rifkind : Implementation of the European Court of Justice's judgment on VAT will have no effect on my Department's capital building programme, since compensating adjustments have been made to the relevant expenditure provisions. At this stage, before landlords have decided whether to exercise their option to tax rents, it is not possible to offer meaningful estimates of the effects of the judgment on rental costs.
Sir Hector Monro : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether, following the European Court's judgment that value added tax should be applied to new non-domestic buildings with effect from 1 April 1989, he has reviewed the levels of grant available under the local capital grants scheme.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : I have reviewed the levels of grant available and have decided to increase the maximum grant from £80,000 to £100, 000 with effect from 1 April 1989. In addition our 1989-90 allocation for this scheme has been fixed at £1.045 million representing an increase of 17 per cent. over the 1988-89 amount. This increase takes into account both the imposition of value added tax on new buildings and increased costs.
Disabled Persons (Staff)
Mr. Sean Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what percentage of his Department's staff are classed as disabled.
Special Educational Needs
Mrs. Margaret Ewing : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list in the Official Report the total number of pupils in special schools who are neither ascertained nor recorded, giving the breakdown by region and by division.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : The numbers of these pupils in special schools and departments at September 1987 are set out in the table.
|Number
--------------------------------
Borders |30
Central |0
Dumfries/Galloway |50
Fife |190
Grampian |190
Highland |20
Lothian |960
Strathclyde |780
Tayside |90
Orkney |-
Shetland |-
Western Isles |-
|---
All Scotland |2,320
Argyll and Bute |20
Ayr |100
Dunbarton |110
Glasgow (City) |290
Lanark |150
Renfrew |110
Mrs. Margaret Ewing : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list in the Official Report the total number of ascertained or recorded students in primary schools and secondary schools with significant special educational needs arising from (a) severe/profound hearing impairment, (b) pronounced visual impairment, (c) severe physical impairment, (d) severe pervasive communication difficulties, (e) social and emotional difficulties and (f) moderate, severe or profound learning difficulties ; and if he will give the breakdown by region and by division.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : Information on the range of impairments of pupils in primary and secondary schools was collected for the first time in the 1988 school census and I will write to the hon. Member early next year when it has been collated.
Language Teachers
Mrs. Margaret Ewing : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) what plans there are to revise the draft review of staffing standards to include primary school language specialists ; (2) what is the number of primary school language specialists which the Government projects is needed for 1989-90, 1990-91, 1991-92 and 1992-93.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : There are no such plans. Pilot studies on the inclusion of a foreign language in the primary curriculum will start in 1989.
Mrs. Margaret Ewing : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many modern language teachers have been employed in Scottish secondary schools in 1985, 1986, 1987 and 1988.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : There were the equivalent of 1,856 full-time teachers of modern languages employed in Scottish secondary schools in 1987. Figures for 1985 and 1986 are not available, while those for 1988 are still being processed.
Mrs. Margaret Ewing : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many modern language teachers have been employed in Scottish primary schools in 1985, 1986, 1987 and 1988.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : With the exception of specialist teachers of Gaelic, it is not usual to employ modern language teachers in that capacity in Scottish primary schools. There are some 15 specialist teachers of Gaelic who visit primary schools.
Mrs. Margaret Ewing : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many modern language specialists are in training in Scottish colleges of education or Stirling University for (a) primary education and (b) secondary education.
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Mr. Michael Forsyth : There are 45 students training at Scottish colleges of education or at Stirling university to teach modern languages at secondary level. This figure does not include students in colleges of education whose main teaching qualification is not in modern language, but who may be taking a subsidiary teaching qualification in one. There is no separate qualification for specialist modern language teachers in primary schools.
Health Service (Expenditure)
Mrs. Margaret Ewing : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the additional planned expenditure on the National Health Service in Scotland for 1989-90 showing the amount of new cash and the amount of savings in each of (a) hospital and community services, (b) primary health care and (c) centralised services.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : My right hon. and learned Friend will announce shortly his plans for expenditure on the National Health Service in Scotland for the years 1989-90 to 1991-92.
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Legal Aid
Mrs. Margaret Ewing : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list in the Official Report for each of the last 25 years (a) the hourly rate of remuneration payable under the section one legal aid scheme for time occupied in performance of all work other than attendance at court, conducting proof or formal debate, (b) the hourly rate of remuneration payable under the criminal legal aid scheme for time occupied in performance of all work other than attendance at trial and (c) the value of 10 units, being the level of hourly charges recommended by the Law Society of Scotland except in so far as prescribed by or under statute ; and if he will show (a) as a percentage of (c) and (b) as a percentage of (c) .
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : The table provides the information for the last 13 years. Before then the Law Society of Scotland did not recommend a unit charge.
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Legal Aid Rates Law Society Rate Percentages
Date |Column A Civil<1> |Column B Criminal<1>|Column C |Column A as a |Column B as a
|percentage of |percentage of
|Column C |Column C
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
15 September 1976 |8.57 |9.52 |18.00 |47.6 |52.9
1 January 1977 |8.57 |9.52 |18.00 |47.6 |52.9
1 January 1978 |8.57 |9.52 |18.00 |47.6 |52.9
1 January 1979 |11.09 |12.32 |25.00 |44.4 |49.3
1 January 1980 |11.09 |12.32 |30.00 |37.0 |41.1
1 January 1981 |14.41 |16.02 |33.50 |43.0 |47.8
1 January 1982 |15.12 |16.80 |35.00 |43.2 |48.0
1 January 1983 |21.17 |23.52 |38.00 |55.7 |61.9
1 January 1984 |22.18 |24.64 |40.00 |55.5 |61.6
1 January 1985 |22.18 |24.64 |42.50 |52.2 |58.0
1 January 1986 |23.41 |25.98 |45.00 |52.0 |57.7
1 January 1987 |24.42 |27.10 |48.50 |50.4 |55.9
1 January 1988 |25.62 |30.60 |52.50 |48.8 |58.3
1 August 1988 |26.77 |31.60 |52.50 |51.0 |60.2
<1> Inclusive of an additional 12 per cent. to cover posts and incidents. An increase to the rates in Column C to cover such items may be charged
by the solicitor according to the circumstances of the case.
Student Grants
Mr. Macdonald : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give the percentage of full-time students in Scotland receiving (a) 1 to 9 per cent., (b) 10 to 19 per cent., (c) 20 to 29 per cent., (d) 30 to 39 per cent., (e) 40 to 49 per cent., (f) 50 to 59 per cent., (g) 60 to 69 per cent., (h) 70 to 79 per cent., (i) 80 to 89 per cent., (j) 90 to 99 per cent., (k) and 100 per cent. respectively, of the student grant.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : The latest available complete figures, which relate to session 1987-88, are as follows. The analysis is based on Scottish domiciled full-time students in receipt of maintenance grants under the students' allowances scheme. The figures show the percentage of such students whose actual maintenance grant entitlement falls within each of the defined proportions of their full standard maintenance allowance.
|Percentage
---------------------------------
a) |2.5
b) |3.3
c) |3.9
d) |4.2
e) |4.7
f) |5.1
g) |5.4
h) |6.2
i) |7.7
j) |7.8
k) |49.2
Accident and Emergency Treatment
Mrs. Margaret Ewing To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what representations he has received from the Royal College of Surgeons about avoidable deaths in rural areas due to delays in transporting accident victims for emergency treatment ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Galbraith : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what information he has on the future provision of accident and emergency departments in the Greater Glasgow Health Board.
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