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Lockerbie Air Disaster
Mr. Foulkes : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what assessment he has made of the emergency arrangements of British Nuclear Fuels for Chapelcross nuclear power station if the Pan American airliner had crashed there or any part of it had fallen on Chapelcross ; what discussions he has had with British Nuclear Fuels following the crash ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Lang : [holding answer 12 January 1989] : The emergency arrangements at Chapelcross are prepared by
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the operators, British Nuclear Fuels plc, and approved by Her Majesty's nuclear installations inspectorate (NII) of the Health and Safety Executive, under the terms of the site licence, on a basis similar to that used at all other civil nuclear power stations in Great Britain. I am advised that the NII regards the probability of a direct strike by an aircraft or significant part of one leading to an uncontrolled release of radiation as extremely low and considers that no change in current emergency arrangements to cater specifically for aircraft crashes would be appropriate.ENVIRONMENT
Housing Co-operatives (Funding)
Mr. McFall : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment further to his reply to the hon. Member for Nottingham, East (Mr. Knowles) Official Report, 14 December, column 629, how much of the funding made available to the Housing Corporation in the next three years he expects to be spent on housing co-ops, showing separately the amount he expects to be spent on tenant management co-ops and transferred ownership co-ops.
Mr. Trippier : This information is not held by the Department. The Housing Corporation is responsible for allocating its capital programme to housing associations, including housing co-operatives, within the broad framework agreed by my right hon. Friend. I have therefore asked the chairman of the Housing Corporation to respond to the hon. Member direct. The hon. Member may care to note that, with effect from April, the Housing Corporation's responsibilities will relate to associations in England only.
Rating Reform
Mr. Chris Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, what is (a) the amount and (b) the proportion of net income after rebates, adjusted for family size, households' pay in domestic rates in 1988--89, broken down into decile groups ; and what is his estimate of what the equivalent figures would be if the community charge was being paid.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : The analysis is not available in the form requested.
I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer given to the hon. Member for Leeds, West (Mr. Battle) by my right hon. Friend the Member for Suffolk, Coastal (Mr. Gummer) on Thursday 12 January 1989, Official Report, columns 742-4. This provides figures by equivalent income bands.
Vocational Skill Training
Mr. Madden : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will arrange to modify the funding criteria under the urban programme to enable vocational skill training, such as that offered by the Bradford Contact Club, to receive funding ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Trippier : No change is required. Schemes to improve the skills and employability of inner city residents are an important part of the urban programme and they will continue to be funded according to the individual
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merits of each application. Such schemes should be seen as complementary to those administered by the Department of Employment.Energy Conservation
Mr. O'Brien : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what advice and assistance he offers to housing authorities on energy conservation ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Trippier : The homes insulation scheme, administered by housing authorities and funded by the DOE, provides 90 per cent. grants for loft insulation in qualifying dwellings where householders are recipients of income support, family credit or housing benefit. A DOE booklet for scheme applicants, distributed to all authorities, includes detailed guidance to those who wish to carry out the work themselves.
Estate Action provides advice and financial assistance to local authorities based on the Department's publication "Energy Efficient Renovation of Housing", and research at the Building Research Establishment. In addition advice is available to housing authorities from BRE through its newly launched technical consultancy and through seminars, workshops and its many publications. These include information papers, defect action sheets and digests as well as reports such as the planned design guides on cavity wall insulation and LPS buildings and the BRE video on the remedies for condensation and mould. Housing authorities can also use BREDEM (BRE's domestic energy model) to evaluate all aspects of energy conservation, including insulation, heating, ventilation and the likely behaviour of householders.
Housing Action Trusts
Mr. Matthew Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he has discussed with any local authorities the possibility of alterations in capital spending restrictions following the establishment of a housing action trust in their area ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Trippier : Section 74 of the Housing Act 1988 provides that any money received by an authority following transfer of property to a HAT will be treated as a capital receipt under whatever capital finance system is in place. I have had no discussions with any local authorities about altering this provision.
Mr. Matthew Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he has had discussions with local authorities other than Leeds, Sunderland, Sandwell, Southwark, Tower Hamlets and Lambeth regarding the establishment of housing action trusts ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Trippier : I discuss all kinds of housing issues which authorities choose to raise when I come in contact with them. And I discussed housing action trusts with representatives of the local authority associations at the Housing Consultative Council on 25 November 1988.
Mr. Matthew Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he has any proposals to alter the current criteria for establishment of housing action trusts so that higher quality public sector stock can be included in one.
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Mr. Trippier : Section 60 of the Housing Act 1988 lists matters to which the Secretary of State may have regard in deciding whether to include a particular area of land in an order designating a housing action trust area. We have no plans to amend this section.
National Rivers Authority
Mr. Conway : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether a decision has been reached on the location of the headquarters of the National Rivers Authority. Mr. Howard : The great majority of National Rivers Authority staff will be based in the regions where the authority's main activities will take place. But we have concluded that, at least for an initial period, the small central policy unit of not more than 60 people should occupy the same London offices as the National Rivers Authority advisory committee. This will ensure continuity between the advisory committee and the NRA itself in the busy period up to vesting and flotation. Other headquarters support functions of the NRA, such as computers, payroll, and information technology work, will be located in the regions from the establishment of the NRA. We shall keep under review the scope for further regionalisation of these London-based staff.
Home Loss Payments
Mr. Burt : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will make an order to increase the level of home loss payments.
Mr. Howard : My right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for the Environment and for Wales have today laid before Parliament the Home Loss Payments Order 1989, under which a home loss payment will be 10 times the rateable value of the dwelling concerned subject to a minimum of £1,200 and a maximum of £1,500. The order will come into effect on Monday 16 January.
These changes will result in a substantial increase in the average value of home loss payments : at present the minimum payment is £150 and the multiplier is three times rateable value.
This is an interim provision. Further provision will be necessary as a consequence of the abolition of domestic rateable values on 1 April 1990. My Department and the Welsh Office will shortly be publishing a consultation paper on land compensation issues which will refer to this matter.
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Rating Reform
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what the average community charge would be if it were in place in 1988-89 for income support claimants.
Mr. Gummer [holding answer 15 December 1988] : No information is available for income support claimants which enables the hon. Member's question to be answered in the form requested. However, based on data contained in the family expenditure survey and the illustrative community charge figures published on 23 June 1988, I estimate that the average community charge, after rebates, payable by people entitled to income support in England would have been about £1 per week in 1988-89. This assumes that those entitled to claim income support will in fact claim it. This sum would be fully covered by the specific increases in income support to cover community charge payments, which have already been announced.
EMPLOYMENT
Employment Training
Mr. Meacher : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the total number of places so far filled on employment training schemes in each area manpower board area ; what was the target number of places to be filled at this time in each area ; and how many of these places in each area were filled by transfers from the community programme.
Mr. Nicholls : Information on the number of filled places in each area manpower board area is not readily available but the following table gives this information for each training agency area office area. I am not able to supply information on the Training Agency's estimated profile of filled places as this figure is for internal management purposes only and is not normally published.
I am afraid that I cannot give reliable information on the number of places in each area filled by those people transferring from the community programme. However, in September and October a national total of about 6,000 people transferred from the community programme to employment training, so the numbers in any area are not likely to be large.
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--------------------------------------------------------------------
South East Region
Berkshire and Oxfordshire |223 |372 |483 |563
Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire |623 |853 |1,001|1,110
Essex |455 |642 |772 |1,006
Hampshire and Isle of Wight |1,005|1,315|1,523|1,730
Kent |760 |1,068|1,365|1,521
Surrey |146 |200 |267 |289
Sussex |587 |714 |842 |928
London Region
Inner London north |1,280|2,258|3,043|3,484
Inner London south |956 |1,268|1,698|1,936
London east |832 |1,098|1,421|1,593
London north |897 |1,271|1,813|2,100
London south |389 |431 |614 |613
London west |248 |431 |631 |758
South West Region
Avon |484 |642 |1,037|1,230
Devon and Cornwall |1,627|2,209|2,939|3,535
Dorset and Somerset |598 |876 |1,058|1,273
Gloucester and Wiltshire |278 |539 |708 |797
West Midlands Region
Birmingham and Solihull |1,228|2,086|2,998|3,555
Coventry and Warwickshire |551 |838 |1,134|1,280
Dudley and Sandwell |926 |1,231|1,410|1,589
Staffordshire |769 |1,296|1,748|2,051
The Marches, Hereford/Worcester |616 |980 |1,279|1,590
Wolverhampton and Walsall |863 |1,263|1,672|1,874
East Midlands and Eastern Region
Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire |309 |489 |835 |1,035
Derbyshire |726 |1,154|1,520|1,702
Leicestershire and Northamptonshire |707 |1,015|1,352|1,530
Lincolnshire |428 |540 |673 |802
Norfolk and Suffolk |755 |1,188|1,404|1,786
Nottinghamshire |973 |1,318|1,785|1,929
Yorkshire and Humberside Region
Bradford, Calderdale and Kirklees |1,400|1,676|2,506|2,925
Humberside |2,016|2,662|3,267|3,542
North Yorkshire and Leeds |907 |1,424|2,154|2,474
Sheffield and Rotherham |1,490|2,294|3,024|3,461
Wakefield, Doncaster and Barnsley |1,561|2,126|2,913|3,389
North West Region
Cheshire |850 |1,298|1,699|1,958
Cumbria |235 |382 |600 |773
Lancashire |1,465|1,865|2,420|2,773
Central Manchester |1,346|1,809|2,372|2,500
Greater Manchester north |714 |1,103|1,469|1,677
Greater Manchester east |848 |1,224|1,589|1,747
Merseyside |1,210|2,197|3,264|3,889
Northern Region
Cleveland |1,520|2,247|2,984|3,444
County Durham |898 |1,629|2,259|2,538
Northumberland,
North Tyneside and Newcastle |954 |1,130|1,538|2,022
Sunderland,
South Tyneside and Gateshead |1,053|2,063|2,886|3,538
Wales
Dyfed and West Glamorgan |944 |1,518|1,943|2,283
Gwent |198 |621 |868 |1,051
Gwynned, Clwyd and Powys |436 |993 |1,251|1,582
Mid and South Glamorgan |735 |1,305|1,934|2,351
Scotland
Ayrshire, Dumfries and Galloway |451 |700 |1,060|1,408
Central and Fife |753 |974 |1,267|1,567
Glasgow City |836 |1,201|1,621|2,052
Grampian and Tayside |739 |1,078|1,256|1,409
Highlands and Islands |161 |214 |287 |340
Lanarkshire |406 |748 |1,104|1,311
Lothian and Borders |490 |992 |1,558|2,005
Renfrew, Dumbarton and Argyll |525 |701 |942 |1,197
Mr. Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what criteria are being used in assessing the quality of employment training programmes.
Mr. Nicholls [holding answer 22 December 1988] : The criteria used in assessing quality on employment training have been published by the Training Agency in "Achieving
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Quality--Approved Status Criteria". Copies of the publications for both training managers and training agents have been placed in the Library.Mr. Andrew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what provision has been made for ensuring the quality of placements with employers sub-contracted by training managers.
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Mr. Nicholls [holding answer 22 December 1988] : All training managers are required to include provisions in their contracts with sub-contractors which require those sub-contractors to meet satisfactory standards. The criteria which a training manager will have to meet to secure approved status includes a number of requirements in relation to the role of the sub-contractors they use. In addition Training Agency staff have right of access to all employment training providers and officials are already monitoring standards including those of subcontractors.
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Labour Statistics
Mr. Battle : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will publish a table showing the total percentage of the economically active population employed, in a part-time capacity, in each sector of the economy, set out by age and gender, for the years 1979, 1983 and the latest available date.
Mr. Lee : Estimates from the 1979, 1983 and 1987 labour force survey of employees in part-time employment as a percentage of the economically active in Great Britain, by industry sector, age and sex, are presented in the following table :
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Employees in part-time<1> employment as a percentage of economically active by industry sector, sex and age
Great Britain, Spring 1979, 1983 and 1987
per cent.
Men Women
Industry sector |16 to 29 |30 to 44 |45 to 59 |60 plus |All ages |16 to 29 |30 to 44 |45 to 59 |60 plus |All ages
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1979
Agriculture, forestry
and fishing |<3>- |<3>- |<3>- |<3>- |2.5 |<3>- |51.4 |33.8 |<3>- |39.4
Production |<3>- |<3>- |<3>- |10.2 |1.0 |8.6 |37.2 |31.9 |58.1 |25.9
Construction |<3>- |<3>- |<3>- |<3>- |0.8 |<3>- |54.4 |40.6 |<3>- |37.1
Services |2.2 |<3>- |0.9 |21.1 |2.8 |17.1 |54.4 |51.9 |65.1 |42.3
All sectors<2> |1.2 |0.3 |0.5 |15.2 |1.8 |13.7 |48.8 |45.6 |62.0 |36.6
1983
Agriculture, forestry
and fishing |<3>- |<3>- |<3>- |<3>- |3.0 |<3>- |38.0 |43.0 |<3>- |36.1
Production |<3>- |<3>- |<3>- |9.0 |4.0 |6.6 |30.1 |26.0 |50.6 |20.8
Construction |<3>- |<3>- |<3>- |<3>- |0.7 |<3>- |51.8 |45.4 |<3>- |34.6
Services |5.8 |0.9 |1.7 |17.2 |3.9 |19.3 |49.2 |49.3 |62.1 |39.9
All sectors<2> |2.9 |0.5 |1.0 |12.7 |2.3 |15.2 |44.0 |43.5 |58.8 |34.4
1987
Agriculture, forestry
and fishing |<3>- |<3>- |<3>- |<3>- |3.0 |<3>- |41.0 |28.4 |<3>- |34.5
Production |1.6 |<3>- |<3>- |9.0 |1.3 |8.2 |28.7 |26.3 |60.7 |20.3
Construction |<3>- |<3>- |<3>- |<3>- |0.7 |<3>- |49.8 |44.4 |<3>- |36.9
Services |8.4 |1.4 |2.3 |18.7 |5.2 |23.7 |51.5 |51.4 |67.0 |42.4
All sectors<2> |4.8 |0.9 |1.4 |13.8 |3.2 |19.6 |46.1 |45.5 |64.5 |37.0
<1> The definition of part-time is based on the respondent's own assessment, not on the numbers of hours usually worked.
<2> Includes those who did not state current or previous industry.
<3> Less than 10,000 in cell, percentage based on this estimate not shown.
Mr. Patchett : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the current level of unemployment in the Barnsley, East constituency.
Mr. Lee : The information is in the Library. In November 1988, the latest available date, there were 4,039 unemployed claimants in the Barnsley, East parliamentary constituency.
Mr. Patchett : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many people under the age of 21 years are currently unemployed in Barnsley, East.
Mr. Lee : Following is the available information, which is also in the Library. Unemployment figures are not available for the requested age group. However, in October 1988, the latest available date, the number of unemployed claimants aged under 20 in the Barnsley, East parliamentary constituency was 433.
Training and Enterprise Councils
Mr. Clelland To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what proportion of the budget for training and enterprise councils would come from (a) Government funds, (b) private sector contributions and (c) others.
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Mr. Cope : Training and enterprise councils (TECs) will receive substantial funding from the Government through the Training Agency. They will also be encouraged to stimulte private sector investment in training and enterprise. It is too early to gauge what proportion of TEC's funding will come from non-Government sources.
Training (Agriculture)
Mr. Ron Davies To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many trainees under YTS and ET are currently in training in agriculture.
Mr. Nicholls : At the end of November 1988 there were 427,900 young people in training on YTS. Of these, 18,600 were training in agriculture and related occupations. Information on the number of ET trainees training in agriculture is not available.
Youth Training Scheme
Mr. Patchett To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many young people in south Yorkshire are currently on YTS.
Mr. Cope : At 31 December 1988, there were 14,806 young people in training on YTS in south Yorkshire.
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AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD
Subsidies
Mr. Allen : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how much subsidy has been paid to farmers in the Nottingham, North constituency on each of the categories for which subsidy is available for the last year for which figures are available.
Mr. Donald Thompson : None. So far as my Department is aware there are no farms in the Nottingham, North constituency.
Salmonella Enteriditis
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is his latest estimate of the extent of salmonella enteritidis infection in the national laying flock.
Mr. Donald Thompson : The reporting of isolations of salmonella in food producing animals is required under the Zoonoses Order 1975. During 1988 there were 20 reports of the isolation of salmonella enteritidis in commercial table egg producing flocks.
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is his estimate of the current level of egg consumption ; and what was the level of consumption on 1 December 1988.
Mr. Ryder : Based on reports from retailers, egg packers and producers, I estimate that overall demand for eggs fell below normal levels for the time of year by under 10 per cent. in the week ending 3 December, by about 30 per cent in the week ending 10 December and by about 50 per cent. in the week ending 17 December. I estimate that overall demand is now about 10-20 per cent. below normal levels.
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is his estimate of the number of hens still within the laying cycle that have been culled weekly since 1 December 1988 ; and what is the total number of hens culled for which compensation has been claimed since the inauguration of the scheme to date.
Mr. Donald Thompson : I am aware that producers have been culling hens earlier in the laying cycle, but I have no firm information on the number involved. Culling under the slaughter of hens scheme commenced this week. By Wednesday evening 11 January, 54,000 hens had been slaughtered.
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he has received any representations concerning compensation for laying hens culled before his announcement of the compensation scheme on 19 December.
Mr. Donald Thompson : Yes. Only applications submitted under the scheme, over which proper financial control can be exercised, may be considered for assistance.
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many inspections were carried out by his officials of (a) feed processing plants, (b) feed processing plants producing chicken food and (c) egg-producing farms in each of the last five years ; how
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many were found to be sub-standard, for each of the last five years ; and how many prosecutions there were for each category in each of the last five years.Mr. Donald Thompson : Details of inspections carried out at processing plants producing animal protein for incorporation into animal feedingstuffs, including for chickens, and the samplings found to be salmonella postive over the last five years are as follows :
P
|Inspections |Number of first and
|subsequent postive
|samples
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1984 |240 |80
1985 |217 |52
1986 |122 |26
1987 |181 |26
1988<1> |140 |19
<1>Provisional.
If sampling of a plant's production reveals salmonella contamination a notice is served requiring compliance with the bacteriological standard within a time limit. Failure to comply without lawful authority or excuse constitutes an offence. In the cases where resampling still revealed contamination this was not considered to be wilful failure and was therefore not appropriate to bring prosecutions.
Regarding egg producing farms, since there is currently no simple, rapid and sensitive test available for salmonella there is no routine monitoring carried out. However, the recently issued code of practice for commerical layers sets out routine procedures for bacteriological monitoring of birds and hygienic production of eggs.
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what procedures are currently being followed to test for salmonella in the egg-laying flock.
Mr. Donald Thompson : Since there is currently no simple, rapid and sensitive test available for salmonella there is no routine monitoring of laying flocks carried out by officials.
The recently issued code of practice for commerical laying flocks, a copy of which is available in the Library of the House, sets out routine procedures for the bacteriological monitoring of birds and hygienic production of eggs.
Mr. Fisher : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether it is his intention to review the specification for salmonella contamination in eggs and poultry.
Mr. Donald Thompson : There is no specification for salmonella contamination in eggs and poultry. The reporting of isolations of salmonella in food producing animals is required under the Zoonoses Order 1975.
Marine Fish Farming
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assessment his Department has made of the potential for the expansion of marine fish farming off the coast of England and Wales ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Donald Thompson : Ongoing assessments are made of the feasibility of farming species of marine fish and
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shellfish in the coastal waters of England and Wales. For the foreseeable future, it is likely that salmon, sea-reared trout and certain shellfish will continue to offer the best prospects for commercial development.Raspberry Flavouring
Mr. Fisher : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will publish his Department's definitions of (a) raspberry flavour and (b) raspberry flavoured.
Mr. Ryder : "Raspberry flavoured" can be used to describe a food only if its flavour comes wholly or mainly from real raspberries. "Raspberry flavour" may be used if the food tastes of raspberries but the flavour does not come mainly from raspberries. The relevant provisions can be found in schedule 7 of the Food Labelling Regulations 1984 and are explained in our free booklet "Look at the Label".
Food (Water Content)
Mr. Fisher : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will publish a table showing the maximum permitted levels of water that can be added to (a) bread, (b) ham, (c) poultry, (d) bacon and (e) pork.
Mr. Ryder : There are no statutory maximum permitted levels of added water for these products. However, the Food Labelling Regulations 1984 require that where added water comprises more than 5 per cent. of the finished product, water shall be declared in its appropriate place in the list of ingredients given on the label. In addition, the Meat Products and Spreadable Fish Products Regulations 1984 require that any added water in cooked cured meat products (ham) and any added water in excess of 10 per cent. in uncooked cured meat products (bacon) shall be declared on the label in close proximity to the name of the food ; this declaration is to be given in multiples of 5 per cent. By virtue of European Community legislation, wet-chilled and dry-chilled frozen chickens may absorb up to 7.4 per cent. and 2.9 per cent. added water respectively before any declaration of added water needs to be made.
Food (Children)
Mr. Fisher : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what plans he has to restrict the use of non-nutritive additives in confectionery and other foods intended for young children.
Mr. Ryder : The Food Advisory Committee is in process of sending me further advice on the use of colouring matter in food in the light of public comments on its published report on this matter. I shall be making an announcement of my conclusions on this in due course. The committee is also currently examining the use of additives in food specially prepared for babies and young children and will report to me when that review is concluded.
Pesticides
Mr. Fisher : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what information he has on the number of instances of fruit and vegetables polluted by pesticides in each of the past 10 years.
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Mr. Ryder : As part of the Government's controls on pesticides, samples of a range of foods and agricultural products are monitored for pesticide residues. The results of this monitoring are published periodically in the reports of the working party on pesticide residues. Copies of the reports covering the period 1977 to mid-1985 (food surveillance papers 9 and 16) are available from HMSO. A third report covering the period 1985 to 1988 will be published shortly. Analytical methods for detecting pesticides are extremely sensitive and small traces can be identified. Such residues as are found in food in the United Kingdom are, in virtually all instances, well below internationally agreed maximum limits, which are themselves designed to incorporate a large margin of safety.
Milk
Mr. Patchett : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the findings of the National Audit Office report on subsidised Common Market milk and milk products ; and if he will end the imbalance whereby pupils in independent schools are receiving an average of three times as much subsidised milk as state schools.
Mr. Donald Thompson : The Department's accounting officer was examined by the Public Accounts Committee on 7 December 1988 on the Comptroller and Auditor General's report on implementation of the common agricultural policy in Great Britain, and the Ministry now awaits the views of that Committee.
The school milk subsidy scheme makes no distinction between different types of school ; it is for each independent school or local education authority to decide whether or not to take advantage of the scheme. Nevertheless, steps have already been taken to identify those local education authority areas where uptake under the scheme is low in order that greater use of the subsidy may be encouraged.
Water
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many occasions since the coming into force of the Water Act 1973, he has issued directions under the provisions of section 5(1) of that Act to water authorities ; and for what purpose each such direction was made.
Mr. Ryder : The power has never been used.
TRANSPORT
Gatwick Airport (Night Flying)
Mr. Gardiner : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what use has been made of the night-time quota period at Gatwick airport in the summer of the 1988 season, 1 April to 23 October ; how many movements were carried out in this period (a) under quota and (b) by dispensation ; and whether he will place on record details of the airlines and aircraft type concerned, and the reason for dispensation in each case.
Mr. Peter Bottomley : The following were the total number of quota movements made by aircraft in each
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night noise category at Gatwick during the period 1 April 1988 to 23 October 1988. Movement information broken down by aircraft type is not readily available.
Aircraft night noise category
|NN/A (delayed)|NN/B |NN/C
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Quota |60 |3,300 |1,130
Usage |57 |3,300 |1,130
The NN/B and NN/C usage figures include 176 movements unavoidably delayed into the night period because of runway resurfacing works. The quota movements were used by individual airline operators as follows :
Airline |NN/A |NN/B |NN/C
|(delayed)
---------------------------------------------------------------
Air Europe |1 |55 |334
Air Malta |- |23 |-
Athiaca |- |8 |-
American Transair |- |4 |-
ATI |- |65 |-
Anglo Cargo |- |3 |-
Aviogenex |- |3 |-
Austrian Airlines |- |7 |1
BCal/Cal Air |18 |317 |7
British Air Ferries |- |86 |-
British Island Airways |7 |303 |99
Britannia |1 |369 |314
BAL Air |- |8 |-
British Airways |- |1,035 |18
Cathay Pacific |- |74 |-
Continental Airlines |- |4 |-
Dan Air |19 |633 |52
Delta Airlines |- |10 |-
Hispania |- |8 |-
Inex Adria |- |3 |-
JAT |- |3 |-
Monarch |- |108 |237
Nation Air |- |4 |-
North West Airlines |- |2 |-
Orion |1 |113 |65
Philippines |- |4 |-
TAP |- |- |1
TWA |- |6 |2
Tunis Air |- |29 |-
Uganda Airlines |- |2 |-
Virgin Atlantic |- |2 |-
Ward Air |- |3 |-
Yemen Airways |- |2 |-
ZAS |- |4 |-
Other Airlines (Pool) |10 |- |-
During the course of the last summer season widespread and prolonged air traffic disruption affected operations at the airport. Gatwick Airport Ltd. (GAL) used its powers under the Civil Aviation Act 1982, S78 to disregard 1,581 movements delayed into the night period as a result of this disruption. Dispensations may also be granted for delays to aircraft which are likely to lead to serious congestion at the airport or serious hardship or suffering to passengers or animals. A further 13 dispensations were granted under this category. The numbers of movements disregarded by GAL, grouped by night noise category and airline were as follows :
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Aircraft night noise category
Airline |NN/A |NN/B |NN/C |Total
--------------------------------------------------------
Air Europe |2 |18 |314 |334
Britannia |0 |56 |37 |93
BIA |30 |119 |57 |206
BA/BCal/Cal Air |0 |205 |0 |205
Monarch |1 |5 |242 |248
Orion |0 |61 |149 |210
Dan Air |104 |163 |26 |293
ATI |0 |5 |0 |5
|-------
|1,594
All movement statistics have been supplied by Gatwick Airport Ltd.
British Rail Rolling Stock
Mr. Spearing : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will request the British Railways Board to ensure that the future withdrawal of older but proven passenger coaching stock from service, other than for reasons of safety, will not prejudice the running of timetabled services to maximum passenger capacity.
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