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Mr. Archie Hamilton : Guns which have been withdrawn from Regular Army service are not used by the Army in operations in Northern Ireland.
Hong Kong
Mr. Wilson : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans exist for further troops and equipment withdrawals from Hong Kong.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The Government intends to retain until 30 June 1997 a garrison in Hong Kong to demonstrate British sovereignty and assist the Hong Kong Government in maintaining the stability, and security of the territory. We plan, however, to reduce the strength of the garrison during the period to 1997, as the Royal Hong Kong police become capable of resuming full responsibility for anti-illegal immigration. Adjustments to the strength of the garrison will be made in consultation with the Hong Kong Government and in the light of the security situation at the time.
Harwell
Mrs. Clwyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the nature of the work being carried out by the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority's Harwell research centre for (a) his Department and (b) any other institutions or Governments ; and what is the value of any contracts on which Harwell is engaged under those categories.
Mr. Sainsbury : I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Leyton (Mr. Cohen) on 14 December at column 581 by my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State for Energy regarding work undertaken at UKAEA Harwell for MoD. I am not in a position to comment upon work undertaken at Harwell for other institutions or governments. It is not our policy to provide commercial details of contracts.
Procurement
Mr. Menzies Campbell : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many people are employed in the procurement division of his Department ; and at what grades and remuneration.
Mr. Sainsbury [holding answer 6 December 1988] : The information requested is as follows :
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Fraud
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many suspected frauds involving £500,000 or more are currently being investigated by his Department's investigators ; and what is the average time elapsing between the commencement of an investigation and the matter being brought to court.
Mr. Sainsbury : Three cases each involving more than £500,000 are currently being investigated by the Ministry of Defence police fraud squad. The time needed to complete an investigation, to the satisfaction of the Serious Fraud Office where appropriate, depends on a variety of factors, including the nature and complexity of the alleged offences.
If, on the evidence obtained, it is then considered that criminal procedures should be instituted, the case will have to come to trial--this is a matter for my right hon. and learned Friend the Attorney-General.
AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD
Farm Interpretation Project
Dr. Thomas : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make it his policy to support the national farm interpretation project, based at the Open University, Milton Keynes, after its present funding ends in January 1989.
Mr. Donald Thompson : I understand that the Open university's new countryside interpretation unit will absorb the work of the farm interpretation project when that project ceases at the end of January 1989. The countryside interpretation unit will, unlike the farm interpretation project, be able to raise its own income by operating on a fully commercial basis.
EC (Breeders' Rights Registrations)
Mr. Nigel Griffiths : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what account he will take of the proposed new European Community breeders' rights registrations, when considering the recommendations of his Department's review of plant variety rights and seed certification systems in the United Kingdom ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Ryder : The EC Commission has not yet forwarded any proposal to the Council for a Community plant breeders' rights scheme. However, in anticipating such a proposal, the review report recommended that the United Kingdom should support the principle of such a scheme and ensure that the testing systems operate in a practical and efficient way.
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Egg Production
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the total number of (a) breeders of laying chickens and (b) egg producers in England and Wales at the latest available date.
Mr. Ryder : The total number of agricultural holdings in England and Wales at June 1987 with breeding fowls was 9,877, but at least 90 per cent. of those will have breeding fowls only for meat production. The number of agricultural holdings in England and Wales with laying fowls at June 1987 was 34,200. Very small holdings, which make only occasional returns, are excluded from these figures.
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the estimated value of the egg industry, including the breeding of laying chickens and food production in England and Wales in 1988.
Mr. Ryder : The value of United Kingdom output of eggs in 1987 is now estimated to have been £511 million. The first estimate for 1988 will be published early in the new year. The breeding of laying chickens is an input to egg production and is covered within the above valuation. Consumers' expenditure on eggs for household consumption in 1987 is estimated to have been about £660 million. However, substantial volumes of eggs are used in catering and food manufacture and the total value of the United Kingdom egg market is probably well over £1 billion.
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what estimate he has as to the likely loss of egg production in England and Wales in 1988 following recent publicity about possible salmonella infection.
Mr. Ryder : It is too early to make such an estimate.
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what representations he has received from the egg industry and farming unions concerning financial compensation for lost production, the destruction of laying chickens and other associated costs occasioned following recent publicity about the possibility of salmonella infection in eggs ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Fearn : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he has any plans to assist the egg industry to overcome its current problems by (a) buying eggs off the market, (b) assisting in a hen culling scheme, and (c) providing facilities for the disposal of unwanted eggs and carcases.
Mr. Ryder : The Government have already embarked upon an advertising campaign giving clear advice to consumers and putting the salmonella problem in eggs into its proper perspective. The other requests from the egg industry are being considered.
Mr. Fearn : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether any regulations will be introduced to prevent the feeding of dead creatures to grain eating creatures of the same type ; and if he will make a statement.
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Mr. Donald Thompson : The Government have no plans to introduce further legislation to prevent the feeding of animals on material derived from other animals of the same type.
Feed derived from carcases may not be fed to other animals unless the material has been processed in accordance with statutory requirements. The Diseases of Animals (Waste Food) Order 1973 requires plants which process waste material intended for use as animal feed to be licensed. Under the Diseases of Animals (Protein Processing) Order 1981 all rendering plants are subject to monitoring for salmonella contamination in processed animal protein. The correct application of heat and other treatment in the course of processing will desroy all salmonella organisms.
The feeding to ruminant animals of feed derived from the carcases of ruminant animals is statutorily forbidden in accordance with the advice of the expert working party on bovine spongiform encephalopathy under the chairmanship of Professor Southwood.
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will introduce a system of random sampling of the output of each egg producer in order that where eggs are found to be free of infection the public may be so informed at the point of sale.
Mr. Ryder : The number of eggs which have been found to be contaminated with salmonella enteritidis to date is very small, particularly when compared with the large overall number of eggs consumed in this country. In these circumstances random sampling of eggs would be unlikely to produce any meaningful results. A far more fruitful use of resources is the investigations which my officials conduct into all outbreaks of salmonella food poisoning which are traceable to particular farms.
Hormone Growth Promotion
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food under the provisions of which Act he issued the Medicines (Hormones Growth Promoter) (Prohibition of Use) Regulations 1986.
Mr. Donald Thompson : The Medicines (Hormone Growth Promoters) (Prohibition of Use) Regulations 1986 were made under section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972.
Nephrops
Dr. Godman : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he has any plans to designate nephrops contained in ICES VIa area a pressure stock for licensing purposes ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Donald Thompson : On the basis of traditional fishing effort, I see no reason for doing so. In 1987 we caught 72 per cent. of our quota in an unrestricted fishery ; so far for 1988 (3 December) we have caught 75 per cent. Looking ahead we have maintained the precautionary TAC for 1989 at the current level of 15.620 tonnes.
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SCOTLAND
Health Service (Grading)
Mr. Robin Cook : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list by health board the number of midwives on each grade of the previous grading structure
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and the number of midwives on each grade of the new grading structure, identifying separately hospital-based midwives and community midwives.Mr. Michael Forsyth : The information requested is given in the tables. Data which would permit separate identification of hospital-based and community midwives are not held centrally.
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Midwives on new grades Health Board |A |B |C |D |E |F |G |H |I -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argyll and Clyde |- |- |- |- |80.61 |68.25 |98.24 |8.40 |10.00 Ayrshire and Arran |- |- |- |0.56 |76.01 |83.71 |78.27 |4.00 |6.00 Borders |- |- |- |- |26.25 |8.54 |3.00 |- |- Dumfries and Galloway |- |- |- |- |38.61 |11.86 |58.60 |10.00 |2.00 Fife |- |- |- |- |84.03 |9.24 |54.17 |2.00 |- Forth Valley |- |- |- |- |69.55 |34.17 |12.83 |8.00 |4.00 Grampian |- |- |- |- |98.80 |77.44 |58.56 |3.00 |4.00 Greater Glasgow |- |- |- |3.06 |299.93 |144.96 |77.03 |34.00 |23.00 Highland |- |- |- |- |45.55 |46.24 |65.60 |- |4.00 Lanarkshire |- |- |- |- |65.00 |94.00 |68.00 |9.0 |6.00 Lothian |- |- |- |- |126.81 |96.75 |113.52 |15.00 |15.00 Orkney |- |- |- |- |3.00 |- |4.35 |- |- Shetland |- |- |- |- |6.00 |3.80 |3.80 |- |- Tayside |- |- |- |- |102.54 |46.34 |38.80 |13.00 |6.00 Western Isles |- |- |- |- |10.20 |6.50 |- |0.50 |1.00 Totals |- |- |- |3.62 |1,132.89 |731.80 |734.77 |106.90 |81.00 Note: Data reflect Boards' assimilation of posts to new scales based on duties and responsibilities as at 1 April and are correct as at 31 October 1988.
22
Midwives on new grades Health Board |A |B |C |D |E |F |G |H |I -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argyll and Clyde |- |- |- |- |80.61 |68.25 |98.24 |8.40 |10.00 Ayrshire and Arran |- |- |- |0.56 |76.01 |83.71 |78.27 |4.00 |6.00 Borders |- |- |- |- |26.25 |8.54 |3.00 |- |- Dumfries and Galloway |- |- |- |- |38.61 |11.86 |58.60 |10.00 |2.00 Fife |- |- |- |- |84.03 |9.24 |54.17 |2.00 |- Forth Valley |- |- |- |- |69.55 |34.17 |12.83 |8.00 |4.00 Grampian |- |- |- |- |98.80 |77.44 |58.56 |3.00 |4.00 Greater Glasgow |- |- |- |3.06 |299.93 |144.96 |77.03 |34.00 |23.00 Highland |- |- |- |- |45.55 |46.24 |65.60 |- |4.00 Lanarkshire |- |- |- |- |65.00 |94.00 |68.00 |9.0 |6.00 Lothian |- |- |- |- |126.81 |96.75 |113.52 |15.00 |15.00 Orkney |- |- |- |- |3.00 |- |4.35 |- |- Shetland |- |- |- |- |6.00 |3.80 |3.80 |- |- Tayside |- |- |- |- |102.54 |46.34 |38.80 |13.00 |6.00 Western Isles |- |- |- |- |10.20 |6.50 |- |0.50 |1.00 Totals |- |- |- |3.62 |1,132.89 |731.80 |734.77 |106.90 |81.00 Note: Data reflect Boards' assimilation of posts to new scales based on duties and responsibilities as at 1 April and are correct as at 31 October 1988.
Mr. Wilson : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff from each of the old grades have been assimilated to each of the new grades in the recent clinical grading structure in Ayrshire and Arran health board.
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Mr. Michael Forsyth : The information is given in the table :
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Percentages
transferred to each new
clinical grade
Previous grade |Staff in post whole time|A |B |C |D |E |F |G |H |I
|equivalents
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nursing Auxiliary |934.57 |94.30 |5.70 |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
Hospital Staff NNEB |16.34 |- |100.00 |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
Enrolled Nurse |457.37 |- |- |65.20 |34.80 |- |- |- |- |-
Enrolled District Nurse |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
Senior Enrolled Nurse |16.86 |- |- |4.20 |95.80 |- |- |- |- |-
Staff Nurse |713.71 |- |- |- |24.60 |63.00 |12.40 |- |- |-
Staff Midwife |138.87 |- |- |- |0.40 |54.70 |44.90 |- |- |-
Deputy Sister |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
Nursing Sister II |284.23 |- |- |- |- |- |38.50 |59.70 |1.80 |-
Midwifery Sister II |99.68 |- |- |- |- |- |21.50 |78.50 |- |-
District Nurse (Sister II) |100.09 |- |- |- |- |- |- |100.00 |- |-
Nursing Sister I |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
Midwifery Sister I |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
Health Visitor |78.20 |- |- |- |- |- |- |100.00 |- |-
Senior Nurse 8 |29.00 |- |- |- |- |- |- |3.40 |10.30 |86.20
Senior Nurse 8 (Midwife) |6.00 |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |66.70 |33.30
Senior Nurse 7 |10.00 |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |100.00
Senior Nurse 7 (Midwife) |1.00 |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |100.00
Clinical Teacher |16.00 |- |- |- |- |- |- |12.50 |87.50 |-
Fieldwork Teacher |16.00 |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |100.00 |-
Practical Work Teacher |14.00 |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |100.00 |-
Tutor |13.00 |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |100.00
Tutor Midwife |3.00 |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |100.00
Post Basic Students
Enrolled Nurse |36.00 |- |- |100.00 |- |- |- |- |- |-
Staff Nurse |86.00 |- |- |- |94.20 |5.80 |- |- |- |-
Deputy Sister |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
Sister II |8.00 |- |- |- |- |- |37.50 |62.50 |- |-
Others |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
|-------
Totals |3,077.92 |28.60 |2.30 |10.90 |14.10 |17.20 |9.30 |14.10 |1.80 |1.70
Exploration for Gold
Mr. Wilson : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will define the licensing and planning requirements associated with exploration for gold in Scotland.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : Most of the gold rights in Scotland belong by ancient right to the Crown and are dealt with by the Crown Estate Commissioners in Edinburgh. There are some exceptions. Certain gold rights are owned by individual landowners.
Applicants for a Crown Estate prospecting licence must convince the Commissioners that they have the necessary financial and technical backing to carry through a comprehensive exploration and eventually an exploitation programme. The applicant will be required to obtain any other necessary consents including that of the landowners. Planning permission is required from the relevant planning authority as for any mineral working.
Mr. Wilson : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the gold exploration work (a) in progress and (b) proposed in Scotland at present ; and if he will name the companies involved.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : The majority of gold prospecting licences are granted by the Crown Estate Commissioners. The information requested is commercially confidential to the companies concerned. Separate records are not kept of licences granted by private individuals who possess gold rights.
Mr. Wilson : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he has any plans to tighten up environmental controls over gold exploration ; and if he will make a statement.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : My right hon. and learned Friend has no plans for special controls for gold-mining. Developments of this kind are subject to the existing controls which apply, for example, to discharges to rivers and to the disposal of waste.
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Wildlife and Countryside Act
Mr. Wilson : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the payments made to date under the Wildlife and Countryside Act in compensation for the non-planting of trees.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : Details of individual payments made by the Nature Conservancy Council are confidential. Information on the numbers and costs of payments are published in the council's annual report, copies of which are in the Library.
Student Allowances
Sir Hector Monro : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement about the levels of students' allowances and parental contributions for session 1989-90.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : I propose to increase the main rates of allowances by 5 per cent. in the 1989-90 academic year, as previously indicated. In addition, I propose to increase the differential in the rate paid to students studying in London. The new rate for Scottish students will be as follows (rates for 1988-89 are shown in brackets) :
|£ |£
------------------------------------------------------
Student in the parental home |1,575 |(1,500)
Student living away from home
- outside London |2,090 |(1,990)
- in London |2,585 |(2,365)
Students in receipt of maintenance allowances will be eligible for reimbursement of travelling expenses in excess of the £55 included in the main rates.
The threshold for parental contributions, and the points on the contribution scales at which the rate of contribution changes will be uprated to reflect the movement of earnings. Parents whose residual income is below £10,600 will not be assessed for a contribution. The minimum contribution will be increased from £50 to £60 for parents whose contribution is assessed on scale 1 and from £37 to £45 for those assessed on scale 2. The
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maximum contribution, which applies to parents with more than one award-holding child, will increase from £4,900 to £5,300. The full contribution scales for session 1989- 90 are as follows :Income |Scale 1 |Scale 2 --------------------------------------------------------------------- From £10,600 to £13,500 |By £1 in £7 |By £1 in £9.33 From £13,501 to £19,800 |By £1 in £5 |By £1 in £6.67 From £19,801 |By £1 in £4 |By £1 in £5.33 (3) The contribution payable may be less than the amount shown in the relevant table, particularly at the top of the scale where the contribution is in respect of one award holder only. It will depend on the level of grant against which the contribution is to be set and whether or not any of the assessed contribution is itself offset by allowances for other dependent children.
Income |Scale 1 |Scale 2 --------------------------------------------------------------------- From £10,600 to £13,500 |By £1 in £7 |By £1 in £9.33 From £13,501 to £19,800 |By £1 in £5 |By £1 in £6.67 From £19,801 |By £1 in £4 |By £1 in £5.33 (3) The contribution payable may be less than the amount shown in the relevant table, particularly at the top of the scale where the contribution is in respect of one award holder only. It will depend on the level of grant against which the contribution is to be set and whether or not any of the assessed contribution is itself offset by allowances for other dependent children.
Remand
Mr. Favell : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the average time spent on remand in custody by those who had completed their period of remand during the three months prior to 1 April.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : This information is not available.
Woodland Grant Scheme
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is his assessment of the achievement of the woodland grant scheme in maintaining the planting rates of (a) coniferous forest and (b) broadleaved woodland.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : The woodland grant scheme has only been open to applicants since the middle of June. It is too early to say how successful it will be in terms of planting rates.
Language Teachers
Mrs. Margaret Ewing : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what plans there are to revise the draft review of secondary school staffing standards to take into account the inclusion of modern languages in the core curriculum.
Mr. Michael Forsyth [holding answer 12 December 1988] : The draft proposals for staffing levels in secondary schools are not affected by the precise pattern of curriculum entries, but by the breadth of the curriculum offered. In the longer term there should be no overall effect on the number of staff required by schools but rather an adjustment in the balance between teachers of modern languages and of other subjects.
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