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Mrs. Rumbold : The Department issued general advice in its circular 10/88, "Grant-Maintained Schools", and in a booklet "School Governors : How to Become A Grant-Maintained School". These were sent to the chairmen of governors of all maintained schools in England, including secondary schools in Trafford, in autumn last year.
Mr. Tony Lloyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what information has been given by his Department to interested groups about plans of the local authority to reorganise secondary education in Trafford.
Mr. Butcher : The Department has informed interested parties that, in view of my right hon. Friend's role in relation to statutory proposals, it is not possible for the Department to comment on the matter. Information on the procedure for rationalising school provision was given in the Department's circular 3/87.
AFRC Bristol
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what are his reasons for reducing the operation of AFRC Bristol in view of the need to conduct heart and related research.
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Mr. Jackson : The total resources available for science are distributed taking into account the needs of individual institutions, but that distribution is not determined by my Department.
ENVIRONMENT
Council and New Town Properties
Mr. French : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will state the total spending by local authorities and new towns in England and Wales on repairs to council and new town properties in (a) cash and (b) real terms for such financial year for the most recent 20-year period for which figures are available.
Mr. Trippier : Available figures for English local authorities and new towns are given in the table. For Welsh figures, I refer the hon. Member to the Secretary of State for Wales.
Capital and revenue expenditure on renovation<1>
£ million
|Cash |1987-88 prices
------------------------------------------------------------
1981-82 |1,550 |2,085
1982-83 |2,025 |2,545
1983-84 |2,360 |2,835
1984-85 |2,550 |2,930
1985-86 |2,640 |2,860
1986-87 |2,860 |3,000
1987-88 |<2>3,060 |<2>3,060
<1> Excluding estimates of revenue expenditure by
Northampton, Redditch and Washington new towns.
<2> Provisional.
Figures for earlier years could be provided only at
disproportionate cost.
Public Sector Tenants
Mr. French : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will state, for the most recent 20 year period for which figures are available, the annual rate of transfer of public sector tenants from council and new town homes to (i) owner-occupation in the private sector, not including sales of council houses, (ii) private sector flats and (iii) housing association properties.
Mr. Trippier : Estimated numbers of local authority and new town tenants who had moved to other tenures in the previous 12 months, other than by purchase as sitting tenants, are available from two national movers surveys carried out in the 1970s and from the 1984 labour force survey housing trailer. Estimates for England and Wales in 1971 and for England in 1977-78 and 1984 are as follows :
Present tenure and type |1971 |1977-78
of accommodation
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Owner occupier}
House} |66,000 |46,000 |32,000
Flat} |5,000
Private renter}
House |12,000}
Flat} |25,000 |25,000 |5,000
}
Housing association renter} |3,000
Type of accommodation is not available for 1971 and 1977-78.
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Urban Development Corporations (Report)
Mr. Corbyn : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he intends to respond to the House of Commons Employment Committee's report on urban development corporations.
Mr. Trippier : I sent the Government's response to the Committee's chairman on 29 November 1988.
Paid Appointments
Mr. Mullin : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many paid appointments to official bodies were within his gift (a) in 1979 and (b) now.
Mr. Ridley : Paid appointments to public bodies for which my Department is currently responsible are shown in the HMSO publication " Public Bodies 1988". Since it went to print, urban development corporations have been established at central Manchester, Leeds and Sheffield and each has 10 paid members.
Publications in the series did not start until 1982 and there was no comparable publication in 1979. However, appointments in the gift of the Secretary of State for the Environment in 1978 are listed in the HMSO publication "A Directory of Paid Public Appointments made by Ministers 1978".
Housebuilding (Wakefield)
Mr. Lofthouse : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list by year for the last 15 years for which figures are available the annual number of completions within Wakefield metropolitan district council area of (i) private sector houses and flats, (ii) council and new town houses and flats, and (iii) housing associations' housing and flats.
Mr. Trippier : Housebuilding completions as reported by Wakefield district council for 1986 and 1987 are as follows :
|Local authority |Housing association|Private sector
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1986 |59 |58 |251
1987 |54 |- |427
Figures for 1980 to 1985 appear in table 1 of "Housebuilding in England by local authority areas : 1980 to 1987". For earlier years figures appear in the following issues of "Local Housing Statistics" :
Year |Issue No.|Table ---------------------------------------- 1974 |33 |5 1975 |37 |5 1976 |41 |5 1977 |45 |5 1978 |49 |5 1979 |59 |4
Copies of these publications are available in the Library. Comparable figures for 1973 are not available because of the reorganisation of local government in 1974.
Channel Tunnel (Terminal)
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make it his policy to call in any application to locate the second London terminal for the Channel tunnel at King's Cross.
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Mr. Chope : The usual means of proceeding with the development of new railway schemes is by private Bill procedure. It is British Rail's intention to use this procedure for the development of the second London terminus for the Channel tunnel at King's Cross. There would, therefore, be no planning application for my right hon. Friend to call in. Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what contribution has been made by his Department to the selection process for the site of the second London terminal for the Channel tunnel ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Chope : None. It is for the promoters to put forward proposals.
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what environmental impact studies have been made by his Department on the siting of the second London terminal for the Channel tunnel ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Chope : None. However, I would expect any Select Committee to take the environmental aspects of a second London terminus at King's Cross into account when considering a private Bill.
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what representations have been made to his Department against the possible location of the second London terminal for the Channel tunnel at King's Cross.
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will name the organisations which have expressed an opinion in favour of (a) Stratford, (b) King's Cross, and (c) another site, as the preferred location for the second London terminal for the Channel tunnel.
Mr. Chope : One favourable opinion has been expressed to my right hon. Friend by the London borough of Newham in respect of Stratford.
Bristol Channel (Pollution)
Mr. Speller : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Devon, North of 21 December 1988, Official Report , column 269, if he will now take steps to collect and publish the information relating to discharges of sewage into the Bristol channel.
Mr. Moynihan : The information sought is already available on the public registers which the water authorities concerned are required to maintain. Registers are open to inspection free of charge at all reasonable hours.
Water (Privatisation)
Mr. Rooker : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if any discussions have been held or arranged with the suppliers or manufacturers of those chemicals added to the public water supply at the request of health authorities in respect of any changes in liability for the effects of these chemicals following privatisation.
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Housing
Mr. Marlow : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the average length of time taken to construct a unit of accommodation, the average cost and the average interest costs arising during construction, assuming all construction costs throughout the construction period are based on borrowed money (a) for direct labour organisations pertaining to inner London authorities and (b) for the private sector in inner London.
Mr. Trippier : This information is not available.
Football Clubs (Membership Scheme)
Mr. Harry Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether it is his intention to extend the proposed national identity scheme to non-league football clubs who have a record of football violence should the scheme operate successfully with Football League clubs.
Mr. Moynihan : I hope that it will not be necessary for the national membership scheme to be extended to non-league football but the possibility is one that the Government and the Football Membership Authority would need to consider if there was evidence of a serious problem of hooliganism at non-league football clubs.
Mr. Mullin : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the organisations which have made representations in favour of his proposed national membership scheme for football supporters.
Mr. Moynihan [holding answer 12 January 1989] : I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to him on 22 December at column 433 . I shall be writing to him very shortly.
Mr. Pendry : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what representations the Minister for Sport has received from the Bedfordshire police regarding identity cards for football supporters ; whether they support his proposals for identity cards for football supporters ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Moynihan [holding answer 13 January 1989] : The acting chief constable of Bedfordshire police wrote to me on 16 December asking whether the national membership scheme for football supporters would preclude Luton Town football club from continuing to operate its home members only scheme. My present view is that the scheme should be a national one, allowing all members to attend any match, subject to the right of the owner or occupier of any ground to exclude people whom they do not wish to admit. The Football Membership Authority will wish to look at this issue in drawing up the scheme.
Local Authorities (Economic Development)
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, pursuant to his answer of 21 December to the hon. Member for Battersea (Mr. Bowis) on local authority economic development, what is his policy with regard to the future funding by local authorities of support and advisory staff for new businesses.
Mr. Gummer [holding answer 10 January 1989] : Local authorities have an important role in providing advice and
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suitable back-up support for new businesses in their area. The new general economic development power will enable them to do this. We are discussing with the local authority associations the precise scope of the power which will be embodied in regulations in due course.Luton Town FC
Mr. Pendry : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the source of his information on the number of arrests during the 1987- 88 football season at Luton Town football club which took place (a) outside and (b) inside the ground ; and if he will seek to provide a similar breakdown of arrest figures for the other Football League clubs.
Mr. Moynihan [holding answer 10 January 1989] : I am aware from information provided by the club that the one arrest for a drugs- related offence, made at Luton Town's home Football League matches last season was outside the ground. Arrest figures for Football League clubs are collated by the Association of Chief Police Officers. They do not differentiate between arrests inside and outside grounds.
Football (Statistics)
Mr. Harry Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment pursuant to his answer on football statistics in the Official Report on 19 December 1988, columns 55-60 , whether there is any overlap in numbers between those arrested and those ejected from grounds.
Mr. Moynihan [holding answer 10 January 1989] : No. The figures for ejections are in respect of ejections other than those following arrest.
Mr. Harry Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment pursuant to his answer on football statistics in the Official Report for 19 December 1988, columns 55-60, if he will list similar tables for matches played to date in the 1988-89 season showing clubs according to the proportion of arrests at their grounds, with the clubs with the smallest proportion of arrests first.
Mr. Moynihan [holding answer 10 January 1989] : I refer the hon. Member to the reply from my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under- Secretary of State for Home Affairs to a question from my hon. Friend the Member for Northampton, North (Mr. Marlow) on 10 January at column 492 .
Oil Pollution
Mr. Atkinson : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the recent pollution of the south coast by oil.
Mr. Moynihan [holding answer 12 January 1989] : I refer my hon. Friend to the statement made by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under -Secretary of State, my hon. Friend the Member for Surrey, South-West (Mrs. Bottomley), in reply to the hon. Member for Newham, North-West (Mr. Banks) on 10 January 1989 at column 510.
Water Authorities (Land)
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the total area of land disposed of by each of the water authorities in England since 1983.
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Mr. Moynihan [holding answer 12 January 1989] : I have nothing to add to the information which I gave to the hon. Member in my reply of 12 December at column 415.
Mr. Pachett : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he will be in a position to provide information on water authority land which is designated as (a) of special scientific interest, (b) national parks and (c) areas of outstanding beauty ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Moynihan [holding answer 13 January 1989] : I have no plans to make such information available. I refer the hon. Member to the recent publication by the Countryside Commission, "Sites of Conservation and Recreation value currently in the ownership of Water Authorities", which provides most of the information he seeks.
Local Authorities (Capital Receipts)
Dr. Cunningham : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish the information he has collected on the accumulated capital receipts held by local authorities at the end of 1987-88.
Mr. Ridley [holding answer 12 January 1989] : The information requested is not yet available. I shall write to the hon. Member when it is available and place a copy of the information requested in the Library at that time.
Rates
Mr. Battle : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list, using 1988-89 prices, for each charging authority area (a) the revenue support grant which would be payable to that area in the first year of safety netting if there was no upper limit to contributions from authorities to the safety net, (b) the revenue support grant which would be payable without safety nets, (c) the difference between (a) and (b) and (d) the average rate payment per adult in 1988-89, showing aggregates, or, where appropriate, averages, for each class of charging authority, for each county or metropolitan area and for each region, respectively.
Mr. Gummer [holding answer 22 December 1988] : The information requested has been placed in the Library of the House.
National Rivers Authority (Correspondence)
Mr. Livsey : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish his correspondence with the chairman of the National Rivers Authority advisory committees.
Mr. Moynihan : [holding answer 13 January 1989] : No.
Radioactive Waste (South Yorkshire)
Mr. Patchett : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he is yet in a position to name the sites identified by United Kingdom Nirex Ltd. for deep disposal facility for radioactive waste in south Yorkshire ; and if he will make a statement.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley [holding answer 13 January 1989] : We have asked Nirex to put forward proposals for a radioactive waste disposal facility. My right hon. Friend expects a report shortly.
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Water (South Yorkshire)
Mr. Patchett : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution last monitored south Yorkshire's drinking water ; and what were the resulting findings.
Mr. Moynihan [holding answer 13 January 1989] : Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution does not monitor drinking water as it has no responsibility for this subject. Yorkshire water authority is responsible for monitoring the quality of its supplies.
Water Act 1973
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) on how many occasions since the coming into force of the Water Act 1973 disputes have been submitted to him for determination under the provisions of section 11(4) of that Act ; and if he will specify the local authority area in which such disputes have arisen ; (2) on how many occasions since the coming into force of the Water Act 1973 he has issued directions under the provision of section 4(10) of that Act to the National Water Council ; and what was the purpose of each such direction ;
(3) on how many occasions since the coming into force of the Water Act 1973 he has issued directions under the provisions of section 17(5) of that Act, to water authorities ; and for which estuary each such direction was made ;
(4) on how many occasions since the coming into force of the Water Act 1973 he has issued directions under the provisions of section 5(2) of that Act to water authorities ; and for what purpose each such direction was made.
Mr. Moynihan [holding answer 13 January 1989] : So far as I am aware, none of these powers has been used.
Water Pollution
Mr. Rooker : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish the form of the current undertakings as to liability regarding the effects of any additional chemicals added to the public water supply at the request of health or other authorities.
Mr. Freeman : I have been asked to reply.
I have today placed in the Library a copy of the model agreement dated November 1987 which provides the basis for discussions between health authorities and water undertakers on the terms under which fluoridation of domestic water supplies may be carried out. This includes a copy of the terms of the indemnity which is provided for water undertakers operating fluoridation schemes.
DEFENCE
Royal Air Force Exercises
Mr. Fearn : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the Royal Air Force will continue to exercise its legal right under a supplement to the 1963 North Atlantic Treaty Organisation status of forces agreement to conduct exercises outside its normal bases ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Neubert : The Royal Air Force will continue to exercise in the Federal Republic of Germany in accordance
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with the provisions of the supplementary agreement to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation status of forces agreement.British Army of the Rhine (Drunkenness)
Mr. Sean Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many British Army of the Rhine personnel were convicted by courts martial of drunkenness offences in each year from 1979 to 1987.
Mr. Neubert : The numbers of British Army of the Rhine personnel convicted by courts martial of drunkenness offences in the period specified were as follows :
|Total |Officers |Servicemen/women
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1979 |24 |1 |23
1980 |19 |1 |18
1981 |14 |- |14
1982 |22 |- |22
1983 |18 |- |18
1984 |9 |- |9
1985 |5 |- |5
1986 |5 |- |5
1987 |6 |- |6
HMS Bronington
Mr. Churchill : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the future of HMS Bronington.
Mr. Sainsbury : Following a competitive tender, a consortia of business men have purchased HMS Bronington. They will be placing the vessel in the hands of a charitable trust, which will ensure its permanent preservation. HMS Bronington will be leased to the Trafford Park development corporation and it proposes to preserve, maintain and use the vessel as a floating museum, representing to the general public life on board one of the Royal Navy's mine hunters. The vessel will be sited for the foreseeable future within or adjacent to the corporation's most prestigious development area, Wharfside, Manchester Docks.
Lockerbie Air Disaster
Mr. Menzies Campbell : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many service personnel, from which services and of what ranks, have been engaged in operations at Lockerbie, following the Pan Am aircraft crash.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : A total of 7,442 man-days of assistance were provided by the three Services during the operation at Lockerbie up to 12 January. The majority of this effort was directed towards the search for bodies and wreckage. A breakdown by Service is given below :
Service |Man-days ---------------------------------- Royal Navy |357 Army |2,836 Royal Air Force |4,249
This assistance included a considerable number of formed units ; the precise number deployed for each rank
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is not held. In the immediate aftermath of the incident, up to a dozen RAF and RN helicopters carried out daily salvage and transport tasks. This commitment was subsequently reduced to two helicopters, which continued operations until 12 January. A number of photo-reconnaissance flights have been flown by the RAF to assist in the difficult task of locating the remaining salvage and the Royal Engineers assisted with the removal of the cockpit wreckage. The RAF repair and salvage squadron will continue to support the air accident investigation branch and 100 service men are still assisting with the search for wreckage.Mr. Menzies Campbell : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what additional payments are to be made to service personnel engaged in operations at Lockerbie following the Pan Am aircraft crash, specifying the amounts of such additional payments and the ranks to which they are to be paid.
Mr. Neubert : Service personnel are liable for duty at all times and do not receive extra pay for working overtime or on public holidays. The Armed Forces Pay Review Body takes account of this in recommending levels of service pay, which incorparate a 10 per cent. enhancement (9 per cent. in the case of service women) known as the X-factor, in recognition of the disadvantages of service life, including liability for duty at all times without extra pay. There is, however, provision for a small additional payment to be made where the work undertaken is of an objectionable nature. Those service men who were involved in the recovery of bodies at Lockerbie will be eligible for this payment which is set by the Armed Forces Pay Review Body at 90p a day. In addition, modest welfare payments have been authorised : service men may make free telephone calls up to £2 in value a week and units can claim the equivalent of 50p per man per week to provide recreational facilities.
NORTHERN IRELAND
Long-term Unemployed
Mr. Mallon : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many long-term unemployed there are presently in each of the 26 district council areas in Northern Ireland.
Mr. Viggers : The latest unemployment figures available relate to 10 November 1988. The numbers of claimants in each district council area of Northern Ireland, who had been continuously unemployed for more than one year at that date, are as follows :--
|District Council Area
------------------------------------------------------------------
Antrim |1,395
Ards |1,275
Armagh |1,845
Ballymena |1,450
Ballymoney |960
Banbridge |714
Belfast |15,967
Carrickfergus |760
Castlereagh |1,276
Coleraine |2,019
Cookstown |1,348
Craigavon |2,527
Derry |5,525
Down |1,162
Dungannon |2,087
Fermanagh |2,265
Larne |825
Limavady |1,458
Lisburn |2,626
Magherafelt |1,450
Moyle |779
Newry and Mourne |3,801
Newtownabbey |2,067
North Down |1,157
Omagh |1,720
Strabane |2,067
Northern Ireland |60,525
Teachers (Premature Retirement)
Mr. Beggs : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list for the years ending 31 March 1978, 1983, 1987 and 1988 the total number of teachers in Northern Ireland who were granted premature retirement on grounds of ill health.
Dr. Mawhinney : The information is as follows :--
|Number
----------------------------------------
Year ending 31 March 1978 |23
Year ending 31 March 1983 |47
Year ending 31 March 1987 |58
Year ending 31 March 1988 |82
Further Education
Mr. John D. Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what proposals he has for the future development of further education in Newtownards and Bangor ; and if he will make a statement.
Dr. Mawhinney : The South-Eastern Education and Library Board has plans at an advanced stage for a major extension to North Down college of further education. It has been agreed with the board of governors that this should be at the Bangor campus.
Mr. John D. Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many temporary classrooms there are at the further education colleges in Bangor and Newtownards.
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