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28. Sir Raymond Gower : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is his latest information regarding the level of egg production in Wales ; and what variations have occurred in the past two months.
Mr. Wyn Roberts : 315 million eggs were produced in Wales for human consumption in 1987. Prior to the recent disruption of the market, it was expected that 1988 production would be about 339 million. No information is yet available concerning recent fluctuations.
Mudiad Ysgolion Meithrin
20. Mr. Butler : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make it his policy to increase the headquarters grant to Mudiad Ysgolion Meithrin to a level sufficient to enable it to purchase an appropriate headquarters building.
Mr. Wyn Roberts : A core grant is made to Mudiad Ysgolion Meithrin each year, under section 64 of the Health Services and Public Health Act 1968 as a contribution to its headquarters expenditure. Careful consideration will be given to the application which Mudiad Ysgolian Meithrin has submitted for grant aid next year in the light of its needs, including its need for a new headquarters, the resources available and the demands from other organisations for grant assistance.
Phurnacite Plant, Cynon Valley
21. Mrs. Clwyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a further statement on the proposed mild heat treatment process at the phurnacite plant in the Cynon Valley.
Mr. Peter Walker : I have nothing to add to the reply I gave the hon. Lady on this matter in the House on 5 December.
Welsh Language Teaching
22. Mr. Nicholas Bennett : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what representations he has received in recent months on the compulsory teaching of Welsh as a foundation subject in the national curriculum.
Mr. Wyn Roberts : Since the Education Reform Act received Royal Assent last July, I have received a small number of letters about the teaching of Welsh. The
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majority have been supportive of the place of Welsh in the national curriculum, although several have had reservations about resource implications or about the impact on the teaching of other subjects, particularly in the later years of secondary school.Economic Prospects
23. Mr. Alan W. Williams : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will give an assessment on the prospects for the Welsh economy for 1989.
Mr. Peter Walker : There is every reason to suppose that the current year, like 1988, will be extremely successful for Wales and the Welsh economy.
NHS Land
24. Mr. Coleman : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what are the total proceeds from the sale of National Health Service land and property in (a) Wales and (b) West Glamorgan since 1979.
Mr. Grist : Proceeds from the sale of surplus NHS land and property in Wales from 1979-80 to 1987-88 have amounted to £10.722 million, of which £0.722 million arose from sales by West Glamorgan Health Authority.
Government policy encourages district health authorities in Wales to dispose of surplus land and property ; the receipts from which may be reinvested to the benefit of patient care.
Housing Need
25. Mr. Foot : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what assessment he has made of present housing need in Blaenau Gwent and in Wales as a whole ; and what impact the valleys initiative will have in meeting those needs.
Mr. Grist : Local authorities have the statutory responsibility for assessing the housing needs of their area. Blaenau Gwent will benefit substantially from the Programme for the Valleys which in total ought to provide 10,000 new homes with a further 32,000 homes improved.
Training and Enterprise Councils
26. Mr. Raffan : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement on the establishment of the proposed training and enterprise councils in Wales.
Mr. Wyn Roberts : The Government will shortly be inviting local groups, led by employers, to submit proposals for the establishment of training and enterprise councils in England and Wales. A national training task force will advise on the establishment of TECs in England and Wales, and my right hon. Friend will be appointing a separate body to advise him on training and related enterprise and education matters, including the establishment of TECs, in the Principality.
Interest Rates
27. Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what assessment he has made of the likely effect on Welsh industry of the recent rises in interest rates.
Mr. Peter Walker : The impact of high interest rates in other parts of the United Kingdom may well make firms
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carefully consider their overhead costs and take advantage of the very positive regional policies that are being pursued in Wales. I am much encouraged that the regional assistance offers made in 1988 provide the promise of 31,500 new jobs, and inward investment in 1988 has been at an all-time high, promising 13,600 jobs.Potato Marketing Board
29. Mr. Geraint Howells : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he is satisfied with the operations of the Potato Marketing Board in Wales ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Peter Walker : The Government are considering the industry's response to the recent consultation paper about the future of the Potato Marketing Board. Welsh interests will be fully taken into account.
Water Privatisation
30. Sir Anthony Meyer : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what arrangements he has made for the privatisation of water so as to ensure the protection of the environment of Wales and the interests of Welsh consumers.
Mr. Peter Walker : I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Ogmore (Mr. Powell), earlier today.
Hormone Replacement Therapy
Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he proposes to make available hormone replacement therapy on a Wales-wide basis ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Grist : Hormone replacement therapy is already prescribable through the NHS by registered medical practitioners in circumstances which in the exercise of clinical judgment they consider appropriate.
Cervical Cancer Screening
Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what measures he is taking to extend facilities for screening for cervical cancer ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Grist : Computerised call and recall for cervical screening is now operational in all parts of Wales. The Welsh Office has allocated over £800,000 a year of recurring funds to district health authorities in support of the screening programme. Subject to parliamentary approval, we shall be announcing the allocation of further significant funding later this year.
Lamb
Sir Raymond Gower : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what success has attended the measures taken to improve the marketing of Welsh lamb ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Peter Walker : In an expanding United Kingdom market for lamb over recent years, Welsh lamb has increased its market share and quality Welsh lamb continues to command a price premium.
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Welsh lamb producers are also taking advantage of the export opportunities which have arisen through improved marketing.Set-aside
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many applications and registrations he has received under the set-aside scheme (a) within and (b) outside, less favoured areas ; and within each category how many applications he has received for (i) permanent fallow, (ii) rotational fallow, (iii) farm woodland and (iv) non agricultural use.
Mr. Peter Walker : The number of applications and registrations received under the set-aside scheme in Wales are as follows :
|Within LFA |Outside the LFA|Total
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Number of applications |9 |26 |<1>35
Number of registrations |132 |201 |333
For each category the number of applications received is:
(i) Permanent Fallow |8 |17 |25
(ii) Rotational Fallow |2 |7 |9
(iii) Woodland |- |1 |1
(iv) Non-agricultural use |- |6 |6
|<1>41
<1> Some applications include more than 1 category.
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many applications and registrations he has received under the set-aside scheme on a county by county basis ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Peter Walker : The number of applications and registrations received under the set-aside scheme in Wales on a county by county basis is as follows :
:
|Applications |Registrations
----------------------------------------------------------
Clwyd |1 |14
Dyfed |18 |111
Gwynedd |6 |46
Powys |2 |51
South Glamorgan |1 |12
Mid Glamorgan |- |12
West Glamorgan |1 |7
Gwent |6 |50
Agriculture (Divisional Offices)
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he has any plans to reduce the number of Welsh Office Agriculture Department and the Agricultural Development Advisory Service divisional offices in Wales.
Regional Grants
Mr. McLeish : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what was the total number of applications (a) received and (b) approved for innovation grants from 1 April 1988 to 31 December 1988 and the total estimated expenditure planned for that period.
Mr. Peter Walker : Under the regional enterprise grant scheme, 84 applications for innovation projects were received by my Department and 21 offers of grant made in the period 1 April 1988 to 31 December 1988. The total provision for the 1988-89 financial year is £600,000.
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Mr. McLeish : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what was the total number of applications (a) received and (b) approved for investment grants from 1 April 1988 and 31 December 1988 and the total estimated expenditure planned for that period.
Mr. Peter Walker : Under the regional enterprise grant scheme 186 applications for investment projects were received by my Department and 78 offers of grant made in the period 1 April 1988 to 31 December 1988. The total provision for the 1988-89 financial year is £1.8 million.
Mr. McLeish : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what was the total estimated expenditure on regional development grant and regional selective assistance in each of the years 1988-89, 1989-90 and 1990-91.
Mr. Peter Walker : Total provision in 1988-89 for expenditure on regional development grants and regional selective assistance in Wales is £109.4 million. Expenditure plans for 1989-90 and 1990-91 will be shown in the 1989 public expenditure White Paper and details of the regional selective assistance and regional development grants provision for 1989-90 in the Supply Estimates published in March. Note :
(1) The figures given for 1988-89 are net of recoveries and domestic receipts, but gross of EC receipts.
(2) RSA includes industrial and training grants, and expenditure under the business improvement services and exchange risk guarantee scheme.
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Rate Support Grant
Dr. Cunningham : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will show for each local authority in Wales the rate support grant paid in each year since 1978-79, expressed in (a) cash terms and (b) real terms at 1988- 89 prices ; and what percentage of each council's total expenditure in each year this represented.
Mr. Peter Walker : The information requested is given in the following tables for all years from 1981-82 to 1988-89. It is not possible to provide meaningful figures for 1978-79 to 1980-81 on a comparable basis as the arrangements for paying rate support grant to each tier of local authorities in Wales were different and these grants were not directly linked to the expenditure of individual councils. Rate support grant comprises a block grant paid to individual county and district councils, and domestic rate relief grant, which is a direct subsidy to ratepayers, paid to district councils in order to reduce total domestic rate poundages, including county precepts, by 36p in 1981-82 and 18.5p from 1982-83 onwards. Domestic rate relief grant cannot sensibly be compared with districts' total expenditure. Block grant entitlements are compared with individual district expenditure figures in table (c) and rate support grant entitlements are compared with expenditure for county areas in table (d).
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(d) Rate Support Grants as a percentage of Total Expenditure by county area<1> County area |1981-82 |1982-83 |1983-84 |1984-85 |1985-86 |1986-87 |1987-88 |1988-89
(d) Rate Support Grants as a percentage of Total Expenditure by county area<1> County area |1981-82 |1982-83 |1983-84 |1984-85 |1985-86 |1986-87 |1987-88 |1988-89
(d) Rate Support Grants as a percentage of Total Expenditure by county area<1> County area |1981-82 |1982-83 |1983-84 |1984-85 |1985-86 |1986-87 |1987-88 |1988-89
(d) Rate Support Grants as a percentage of Total Expenditure by county area<1> County area |1981-82 |1982-83 |1983-84 |1984-85 |1985-86 |1986-87 |1987-88 |1988-89
DUCHY OF LANCASTER
Justices of the Peace
Mr. Andrew F. Bennett : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will list the number of justices of the peace in Stockport and Tameside by electoral ward and sex.
Mr. Newton [ pursuant to his answer, 22 December 1988 c. 390-91 ] : Following is the information for Tameside
|Male |Female
------------------------------------------------------------
South Tameside PSD
Dukinfield |2 |2
Dukinfield Stalybridge |4 |1
Hyde Godley |- |1
Hyde Newton |4 |1
Hyde Werneth |7 |1
Longdendale |11 |6
Stalybridge North |2 |1
Stalybridge South |2 |7
Within North Tameside PSD
Aston Hurst |- |2
Denton West |1 |-
Mossley |- |2
Outside both PSDs |9 |9
|-- |--
|42 |33
North Tameside (Ashton-Under-Lyne PSD)
Ashton St. Michael's |4 |1
Ashton St. Peter's |4 |1
Ashton Waterloo |2 |2
Ashton Hurst |7 |7
Audenshaw |3 |-
Denton South |1 |2
Denton West |4 |3
Denton North East |4 |1
Droylsden West |5 |1
Droylsden East |1 |1
Mossley |4 |2
Within South Tameside PSD
Dukinfield |1 |1
Dukinfield Stalybridge |- |1
Hyde Werneth |- |1
Longdendale |2 |2
Stalybridge South |7 |7
Outside both PSDs |11 |10
|-- |--
|60 |43
TRADE AND INDUSTRY
GATT
Sir Richard Body : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will set out details of the agreement on tropical agricultural products reached at the recent GATT mid-term review in Montreal ; and if he will specify decisions taken about the treatment of processed agricultural products from less-developed countries.
Mr. Alan Clark : Provisional agreement was reached among 32 developed and developing countries * to contribute to an initial package of measures liberalising trade in tropical products. This, like the other provisional agreements reached in Montreal, is subject to confirmation by the trade negotiations committee of the GATT meeting in Geneva early in April. In the meantime some importing countries are implementing parts of the tropical products package unilaterally.
The European Communities' contribution to the package covers the reduction of elimination of duty in 153 product categories including cut flowers, tropical fruits and nuts, tea, coffee, spices, vegetable oils for industrial purposes, fruit juices, essential oils, tropical woods, ropes and cordage and jute products. Elimination of import duties is proposed for certain raw materials, and reductions of up to 50 per cent. are proposed for others and for processed and semi-processed products. Import quotas will also be ended for woven fabrics of jute and other bast fibres. These concessions will apply equally to all GATT member countries. The EC offer also included reductions in import duty on tobacco products from developing countries. Those reductions, together with reductions in duty on fresh pineapples and mixtures of tropical fruits and nuts from the least developed countries, were implemented on 1 January 1989 through the Community's generalised scheme of preferences for developing countries.
*Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, the Central American Countries (Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua), Colombia, the members of the European Communities, Finland, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand.
Malta
Mr. Harry Barnes : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will make a statement on current trading relations with Malta.
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Mr. Alan Clark : United Kingdom-Malta trade relations are very good. Provisional trade figures for January-November 1988 show United Kingdom exports of £110 million and imports of just over £37 million.
Takeovers
Mr. Robert B. Jones : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster whether he will set out in the form of a table for the most recent available 12-month period, the information he has on the value and number of companies acquired (a) in the United Kingdom by European companies, (b) in Europe by United Kingdom companies, (c) in the United States of America by United Kingdom companies and (d) in the United Kingdom by United States companies.
Mr. Alan Clark : The information required in respect of United Kingdom cross-border acquisitions and mergers for the latest available 12 month period is as follows :
|Quarter 4 1987 |Quarter 3 1988
|Value £ million|Number
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(a) European acquisitions in the
United Kingdom |4,111 |30
(b) United Kingdom acquisitions
in Europe |1,587 |184
(c) United Kingdom acquisitions
in the United States |9,046 |260
(d) United States acquisitions in
the United Kingdom |649 |17
An article on cross-border acquisitions and mergers in the third quarter of 1988 was published in British Business on 9 December 198.
Motor Vehicles
Mr. David Shaw : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will publish a table showing the number and value of motor vehicles imported into the United Kingdom by country of origin and manufacturing company in respect of manufacturers importing over 1, 000 motor cars into the United Kingdom for each of the last 15 years' and the overall total for all those manufacturers importing fewer than 1,000 motor cars.
Mr. Alan Clark : The information is not available.
Mr. David Shaw : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what is his estimate of (i) the proportion of United Kingdom imports, (ii) the trade deficit represented by such imports, and (iii) the deficit in the trade, of motor vehicles and accessories in the current year ; and what are the comparable figures for the previous 15 years.
Mr. Alan Clark : The required information is given in the following tables :
Table 2
Value in £ millions
Exports Imports
|Total trade |Division 78 |Total trade |Division 78 |Crude balance of trade|Crude balance of trade
|for division 78
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1973 |12,087.0 |1,168.7 |15,723.6 |668.1 |-3,636.6 |+500.6
1974 |16,309.2 |1,397.6 |23,138.9 |668.7 |-6,829.7 |+728.9
1975 |19,606.9 |1,854.0 |24,046.4 |909.8 |-4,439.5 |+944.2
1976 |25,276.6 |2,376.9 |31,084.1 |1,431.6 |-5,807.5 |+945.3
1977 |31,990.1 |2,871.9 |36,219.1 |2,133.5 |-4,229.0 |+738.4
1978 |35,380.3 |3,070.3 |39,533.0 |2,796.9 |-4,152.7 |+273.4
1979 |40,637.0 |3,148.1 |46,924.9 |3,943.2 |-6,287.9 |-795.1
1980 |47,357.1 |3,158.0 |49,772.9 |3,351.6 |-2,415.8 |-193.6
1981 |50,998.1 |3,170.5 |51,168.6 |3,408.1 |-170.5 |-237.6
1982 |55,557.8 |3,109.0 |56,978.2 |4,489.6 |-1,420.4 |-1,380.6
1983 |60,684.3 |3,092.2 |66,101.1 |5,753.8 |-5,416.8 |-2,661.6
1984 |70,488.3 |3,318.8 |78,967.4 |5,957.6 |-8,479.1 |-2,638.8
1985 |78,391.8 |3,910.6 |85,027.0 |6,800.6 |-6,635.2 |-2,890.0
1986 |72,987.7 |3,953.5 |86,175.5 |7,938.8 |-13,187.8 |-3,985.3
1987 |79,851.4 |4,876.8 |94,015.7 |8,807.2 |-14,164.3 |-3,930.4
1988<1> |74,029.1 |4,457.1 |97,874.4 |10,328.0 |-23,845.3 |-5,870.9
<1> January to November.
Source: Overseas Trade Statistics.
Notes:
1. Motor vehicles and accessories defined as Division 78 of the Standard International Trade Statistics.
2. Imports cif, exports fob.
3. 1987 and 1988 data are provisional.
Table 2
Value in £ millions
Exports Imports
|Total trade |Division 78 |Total trade |Division 78 |Crude balance of trade|Crude balance of trade
|for division 78
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1973 |12,087.0 |1,168.7 |15,723.6 |668.1 |-3,636.6 |+500.6
1974 |16,309.2 |1,397.6 |23,138.9 |668.7 |-6,829.7 |+728.9
1975 |19,606.9 |1,854.0 |24,046.4 |909.8 |-4,439.5 |+944.2
1976 |25,276.6 |2,376.9 |31,084.1 |1,431.6 |-5,807.5 |+945.3
1977 |31,990.1 |2,871.9 |36,219.1 |2,133.5 |-4,229.0 |+738.4
1978 |35,380.3 |3,070.3 |39,533.0 |2,796.9 |-4,152.7 |+273.4
1979 |40,637.0 |3,148.1 |46,924.9 |3,943.2 |-6,287.9 |-795.1
1980 |47,357.1 |3,158.0 |49,772.9 |3,351.6 |-2,415.8 |-193.6
1981 |50,998.1 |3,170.5 |51,168.6 |3,408.1 |-170.5 |-237.6
1982 |55,557.8 |3,109.0 |56,978.2 |4,489.6 |-1,420.4 |-1,380.6
1983 |60,684.3 |3,092.2 |66,101.1 |5,753.8 |-5,416.8 |-2,661.6
1984 |70,488.3 |3,318.8 |78,967.4 |5,957.6 |-8,479.1 |-2,638.8
1985 |78,391.8 |3,910.6 |85,027.0 |6,800.6 |-6,635.2 |-2,890.0
1986 |72,987.7 |3,953.5 |86,175.5 |7,938.8 |-13,187.8 |-3,985.3
1987 |79,851.4 |4,876.8 |94,015.7 |8,807.2 |-14,164.3 |-3,930.4
1988<1> |74,029.1 |4,457.1 |97,874.4 |10,328.0 |-23,845.3 |-5,870.9
<1> January to November.
Source: Overseas Trade Statistics.
Notes:
1. Motor vehicles and accessories defined as Division 78 of the Standard International Trade Statistics.
2. Imports cif, exports fob.
3. 1987 and 1988 data are provisional.
Sarin (Sales to Iraq)
Mr. Peter Hardy : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many kilos of Sarin methyl phosphonyl difluoride were sold (a) to Iran and (b) to Iraq ; whether this substance is known to be a nerve gas of lethal character ; and what controls there are on such sales.
Mr. Atkins : Methyl phosphonyl difluoride is not itself a nerve gas of lethal character : it can however be used in the preparation of the nerve gas Sarin.
Following the first confirmation in March 1984 of the use of chemical weapons in the Gulf conflict, controls were imposed on exports of methyl phosphonyl difluoride from the United Kingdom to all destinations under the Export of Goods (Control) Order. No licences have been issued for the export of this substance to Iran or Iraq since the imposition of controls in 1984.
Betting
Mr. Tim Smith : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if, in the light of the recent takeover in the off-course betting market, the Director General of the Office of Fair Trading will look again at the monopoly position of the big three bookmakers.
Mr. Maude : I understand that the Director General of Fair Trading is continuing to monitor developments in the off-course bookmaking market under the competition legislation for which he is responsible.
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Libya
Mr. Ron Brown : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what was the value of British goods and services exported to Libya in 1988 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Alan Clark : For the 11 months January to November 1988 the United Kingdom exported goods to the value of £209.3 million. Information on the value of services is not available.
House of Fraser plc
Mr. Teddy Taylor : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster when he now expects to hear from the serious fraud office about the inquiries which it has initiated into the implications of the report on the acquisition of House of Fraser plc ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Teddy Taylor : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what is the last day on which he can refer the House of Fraser acquisition report to the Monopolies and Merger Commission ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Maude : Sunday 22 January 1989.
Innovation and Investment Grants
Mr. McLeish : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (1) what is the total estimated expenditure on (a) innovation grants and (b) investment grants for each of the years 1988-89, 1989-90 and 1990-91 ;
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(2) if he will give for innovation grants and investment grants the total number of applications (a) received and (b) approved from 1 April 1988 to 31 December 1988, and the total estimated expenditure for that period.Mr. Atkins : Between 1 April 1988 and 31 December 1988 my Department received 1,054 applications, and made 509 offers of regional enterprise grants. The offers are valued at £4.1 million, and payments of £331,217 have been made.
Current Estimates provision for regional enterprise grants is £12.3 million in 1988-89. This figure is gross of any receipts, or expected receipts, from the European regional development fund. Information about planned expenditure on regional assistance in 1989-90 and 1990-91 will shortly be published in the Public Expenditure White Paper.
Business Development Consultancy Initiative
Mr. McLeish : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what was the total estimated expenditure on the business development consultancy initiative in each of the years 1988-89, 1989-90 and 1990-1991 for England, Scotland and Wales.
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Mr. Newton : The current Estimates provision for 1988-89 for the consultancy initiatives in England, Scotland and Wales is £74 million. Details of estimated expenditure for 1989-90 and 1990-91 will shortly be published in the Public Expenditure White Paper.
Mr. McLeish : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what was the total number of applications (a) received and (b) approved for business development consultancy initiatives from 1 April 1988 to 31 December 1988, the total amount of expenditure involved and the total estimated expenditure for that period for Scotland, Wales and and each of the standard regions. Mr. Newton : In the period from 1 April to 31 December 1988 a total of 13,461 applications was received for the six business development consultancy initiatives. In the same period 10,352 applications were approved for consultancy. The Department's contribution to the cost of completed consultancies totalled £5.9 million. It is estimated that those consultancies not completed by 31 December 1988 will cost the Department £21.3 million. A breakdown of numbers and cost for each DTI region* and for Scotland and Wales is as follows :
Column 445
|(a) |(b) |(c) |(d)
DTI Region<1>/Country |No. of applications |No. of applications |DTI Expenditure on |Estimated expenditure on
|received |approved for consultancy|completed consultancies |outstanding
|consultancies
|(£'000) |(£'000)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
North East |659 |529 |282 |1,125
North West |2,093 |1,783 |1,159 |4,115
Yorkshire and Humberside |1,351 |990 |671 |2,234
West Midlands |1,399 |993 |672 |2,497
East Midlands |785 |657 |400 |1,594
South West |1,337 |852 |353 |1,498
South East:
Cambridge |943 |688 |247 |1,147
London |1,432 |1,124 |582 |1,918
Reading |772 |631 |224 |1,322
Reigate |724 |580 |282 |983
Scotland |1,105 |903 |724 |1,770
Wales |861 |622 |288 |1,110
|------ |------ |------ |------
Total |13,461 |10,352 |5,884 |21,313
Data is collected for DTI regions and for Scotland and Wales. DTI regions are similar to standard economic regions except that DTI north west includes Cumbria and the High Peak district which are in the north and east midlands standard economic regions respectively, and DTI south east includes the East Anglia standard economic region.
Regional Assistance
Mr. McLeish : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what was the total estimated expenditure on regional development grant and regional selective assistance in England for each of the years 1988-89, 1989-90 and 1990-91.
Mr. Atkins : Department of Trade and Industry current Supply Estimates provision for expenditure on regional development grant (RDG) and regional selective assistance (RSA) in England in 1988-89 is £157.9 million and £154.2 million, respectively. The RDG figure covers both the original and revised schemes. The RSA figure incorporates expenditure on industrial and training grants, as well as assistance under the business improvement services and exchange risk guarantee schemes. Both figures are net of domestic receipts but gross of expected receipts from the European regional development fund.
Column 446
Information about planned expenditure on regional assistance in 1989-90 and 1990-91 will shortly be published in the Public Expenditure White Paper.Asian Community Radio
Mr. Cox : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what action has been taken by his Department over the last 12 months against the radio station broadcasting in south London called Asian Community Radio.
Mr. Atkins : No action has been taken by my Department's radio investigation services (RIS) in the last 12 months against an unlicensed broadcasting station in south London calling itself Asian Community Radio. However, on 16 January a station of that name broadcasting in north London was raided and the transmitter seized.
Column 447
DEFENCE
Emergencies (Food Distribution)
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence under what circumstances military personnel are used to distribute food to the civil population during disasters or emergencies.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : Under the military aid to the community scheme, the use of military personnel to distribute food to the civil population during a disaster or civil emergency would be considered where there is a danger to life and no alternative means of food distribution are available. An example might be the use of service helicopters to reach a community cut off by flooding or a heavy snowfall.
Emergencies (Liaison)
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what liaison is undertaken by military personnel with the police, fire service, health authorities and local government in the event of civil emergencies.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The precise form of liaison would depend on the circumstances, but when service assistance is provided, a liaison officer from the operational headquarters which is co-ordinating the service response would be sent as soon as possible to the incident centre set up by the civil emergency services. Advice on the initial point of contact for any request for service assistance is contained in a pamphlet issued for the guidance of civil authorities ; I shall place a copy of this pamphlet in the Library of the House.
Lockerbie Air Disaster
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the estimated cost to date of the use of military personnel in the Pan Am Lockerbie air disaster.
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