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Mr. Ryder : The direction was served under section 2(3) of part I of the Food and Environment Protection Act 1985.
EC Structural Funds
Ms. Quin : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what criteria were used by the Government in selecting the United Kingdom agricultural areas to benefit under section 5(b) of the European Economic Community's proposed new rules for the reform of European Economic Community structural funds.
Mr. Atkins : I have been asked to reply.
Objective 5(b) is
"promoting the development of rural areas".
The European Commission is to determine which areas are eligible ; it has already assured us that they will include the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, rural Wales, and the assisted areas of Devon and Cornwall. The criteria for the selection are in article 4 of Council regulation (EEC) No. 4253/88.
Common Agricultural Policy
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will estimate the net cost to the United Kingdom for each of the last three years of the common agricultural policy.
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Mr. Donald Thompson [holding answer 30 January 1989] : Public expenditure in the United Kingdom under the Common Agricultural Policy in the last three years has been as follows :--
Year |£ million ------------------------------ 1986-87 |1,400 1987-88 |1,610 1988-89 |<1>1,470 <1> Forecast.
These figures include all expenditure under Community market support and structural aid schemes for agriculture, but exclude related expenditure such as national aid schemes, disease prevention, advice, research and development and administration.
This expenditure is funded entirely by the United Kingdom, either directly or indirectly through the Community budget. In addition, the Exchequer supports spending under the CAP elsewhere in the Community through our net contribution to the EC budget, which in the same three years is estimated at £1,079 million, £1,164 million and £950 million. Over that period CAP spending has made up over two thirds of the EC budget.
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what information he has about the cost of common agricultural policy intervention buying and storage during 1988 in each of the European Economic Community member states and for each commodity for which an intervention regime exists.
Mr. Donald Thompson [holding answer 30 January 1989] : Provisional figures for 1988 Community expenditure on private storage (sugar, wine and grape must, butter, beef, sheepmeat and pigmeat) and on public intervention (cereals, sugar, olive oil, oilseeds, wine alcohol, tobacco, skimmed milk powder, butter and beef, are given in the table.
The purchase of stock into public intervention is funded by the member states, which are reimbursed by the Community for storage in addition, for the first time in 1988, there was significant expenditure on depreciation of newly-farmed stocks (cereals, alcohol, tobacco, butter and beef) under arrangements agreed by the European Council in February 1988.
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Mecu<1>
|Belgim |Denmark |Germany |Greece |Spain |France |Ireland |Italy |Luxembourg |Netherlands |Portugal |United Kingdom
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cereals
Storage/financing costs |1.7 |10.9 |134.9 |9.0 |23.3 |55.1 |1.3 |48.7 |<2> |0.2 |- |33.7
Losses on sale |12.0 |60.8 |744.0 |-20.9 |99.9 |235.6 |8.7 |336.5 |0.1 |1.3 |- |225.2
Sugar
Private storage |23.5 |12.6 |102.7 |2.5 |18.1 |133.5 |5.8 |62.9 |- |40.0 |0.9 |27.1
Public storage |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |-0.8 |- |- |- |-
Olive oil
Storage costs |- |- |- |- |43.6 |- |- |24.3 |- |- |1.2 |-
Losses on sale |- |- |- |- |2.0 |- |- |15.9 |- |- |-1.0 |-
Oilseeds
Storage costs |- |- |<2> |- |1.8 |0.9 |- |- |- |- |-0.1 |-0.2
Wine and grape must
Private storage |- |- |0.5 |4.3 |15.5 |30.1 |- |35.1 |- |- |- |-
Wine/alcohol
Intervention costs |- |- |- |0.1 |85.5 |175.1 |- |185.6 |- |- |- |-
Depreciation of stocks |- |- |- |- |46.9 |33.7 |- |65.1 |- |- |- |-
Tobacco
Storage/financing costs |- |- |- |8.3 |- |0.2 |- |2.9 |- |- |- |-
Losses on sale/depreciation of stocks |- |- |- |11.2 |- |0.1 |- |5.0 |- |- |- |-
Skimmed milk powder
Storage/financing costs |<2> |0.1 |45.6 |0.3 |1.6 |- |<2> |- |- |- |- |0.2
Losses on sale |<2> |-0.3 |-54.5 |1-.5 |-0.7 |- |-0.4 |<2> |- |- |- |-0.8
Butter
Private storage |8.9 |0.2 |11.3 |- |- |12.5 |5.4 |0.5 |.01 |12.5 |- |2.1
Storage/financing costs |5.8 |2.2 |89.3 |- |6.6 |39.5 |48.3 |4.7 |0.1 |68.8 |- |64.4
Losses on sale/depreciation of stocks |8.9 |19.2 |243.4 |- |29.2 |171.7 |34.1 |-45.5 |- |86.0 |- |84.1
Beef
Private storage |0.8 |0.9 |15.4 |- |- |2.7 |31.0 |5.7 |- |1.5 |- |2.2
Storage/financing costs |3.0 |11.2 |66.9 |- |6.6 |76.0 |46.9 |34.0 |- |14.8 |- |19.6
Losses on sale/depreciation of stocks |8.4 |43.9 |262.6 |<2> |14.4 |298.6 |206.0 |108.4 |<2> |61.1 |- |89.5
Sheep/goats
Private storage |- |- |- |- |0.8 |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
Pigmeat
Private storage |6.8 |8.9 |7.0 |- |2.6 |2.6 |0.1 |7.7 |- |7.1 |- |0.4
<1> 1 mecu is approximately £670,000.
<2> less than 0.05.
Radioactive Waste
Mr. George Foulkes : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will give the latest figures for principal discharges of liquid radioactive waste from United Kingdom nuclear establishments for 1987 and 1988 in the form of table 1 of the report on "Radioactivity in Surface and Coastal Waters of the British Isles", published by the directorate of fisheries research.
Mr. Donald Thompson [holding answer 30 January 1989] : The 1987 figures for principal discharges of liquid radioactive waste from United Kingdom nuclear establishments were published in the form requested by my Ministry last October in a report entitled "Radioactivity in Surface and Coastal Waters of the British Isles, 1987". A copy of the report was placed in the Library of the House at that time. Figures for 1988 will be published later this year.
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HEALTH
Mental Illness
Ms. Abbott : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if there are plans to introduce ethnic monitoring of admissions under section 136 of the Mental Health Act 1983.
Mr. Freeman : We have no plans, although the subject is kept under review by the Department.
Radiotherapy
Mr. Cousins : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many radiation machines were within the National Health Service ; and at what locations in (a) 1983 and (b) 1988.
Mr. Freeman : Information in respect of 1983 is not readily available centrally, but at the end of 1988 the number of items of specified radiotherapy machines in major NHS centres in England by region were as follows :
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Region |Linear Accelerators|Cobalt Units |Orthovoltage Units |Afterloading Units |Total
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
East Anglian |5 |3 |5 |4 |17
Mersey |5 |0 |3 |2 |10
North East Thames |10 |9 |14 |4 |37
Northern |5 |3 |4 |5 |17
North-Western |6 |1 |1 |3 |11
North-West Thames |7 |10 |13 |3 |33
Oxford |3 |4 |7 |0 |14
South-East Thames |4 |11 |17 |6 |38
South-West Thames |1 |3 |3 |not known |7
South-Western |9 |6 |13 |5 |33
Trent |9 |4 |11 |4 |28
West Midlands |8 |7 |10 |3 |28
Wessex |8 |1 |8 |2 |19
Yorkshire |5 |3 |3 |3 |14
Special Health Authorities |9 |5 |6 |3 |23
|--- |--- |--- |--- |---
|94 |70 |118 |47 |329
Mr. Cousins : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information is available to him on the costs of
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purchasing and maintaining radiation machines within the National Health Service either by district, region or generally for each year since 1983.Mr. Freeman : The costs of purchase and maintenance of equipment are matters for regional and district health authorities within their overall allocation of resources. Limited information on the cost of X-ray equipment and chemicals purchased and of maintenance contracts for X-ray equipment are set out in the published annual accounts of health authorities, as available in the Library.
Cook-chill Catering
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the district health authorities and hospitals which are currently operating cook-chill catering.
Mr. Freeman : I regret that health authorities are not required to submit, on a regular basis, details of the catering systems being used in their hospitals.
Neomycin
Mr. Ashley : To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many claims have been made against health authorities because of deafness alleged to be due to the use of neomycin spray ; and how many have been successful.
Mr. Mellor : We do not hold this information centrally.
Project 2000
Mr. Fearn : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how the bursaries allocated to student nurses under Project 2000 will be administered ; and whether they will be administered regionally or centrally ;
(2) what is the anticipated amount of the bursary for a student nurse enrolling when the Project 2000 reform of nurse education is introduced ;
(3) how many bursaries he intends to make available by region under the Project 2000 nursing education reforms ; and if he will list them ;
(4) whether, where student nurses are enrolled under Project 2000 with 80 per cent. supernumerary status and a 20 per cent. service contribution, the bursary will cover 100 per cent. of costs.
Mr. Mellor : No decisions have yet been made on the level of bursary to be offered to students undertaking project 2000-style training but we hope to make a statement shortly. In deciding the level of bursary we will need to have regard to the level of current student nurse salaries and the existing rules for mandatory student awards.
Initially, bursaries will be administered by those district health authorities selected to introduce project 2000 courses later this year. Arrangements for the longer term have yet to be determined. Funding for project 2000 courses will be provided against carefully costed plans, and the examination of these plans will seek to identify all the necessary additional costs arising as a result of project 2000. It is not our intention in meeting these costs to allocate specific numbers of bursaries or a region by region basis on separately to identify particular aspects of the funding. The number of student nurses will continue to depend on health authorities' future demand for staff and the ability to recruit.
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Ministerial Advisers
Mr. Cryer : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the total expenditure on salaries of ministerial advisers in his Department for each completed year since 1979 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Kenneth Clarke : I have nothing to add to the information that I gave to the hon. Member in my reply of 16 January at column 35.
Hospital Services, Liverpool
Mr. Alton : To ask the Secretary of Health (1) if he will make a statement on the future of geriatric services at Sefton general hospital, Liverpool ;
(2) if he will make a statement on the future of Olive Mount hospital, Liverpool.
Mr. Mellor : The planning and development of hospital services in Liverpool is a matter for the Liverpool health authority. The hon. Member may therefore wish to contact the district chairman for the information he requires.
Mr. Alton : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the provision of beds in the intensive care unit at Liverpool royal hospital.
Mr. Freeman : The Mersey regional health authority and Liverpool health authority are presently giving consideration to relocating and expanding the intensive care unit within the Royal Liverpool hospital.
Down's Syndrome
Mr. Alton : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many A-V canal defect operations were carried out on children with Down's syndrome in each of the past five years ; and in which hospitals these operations took place.
Mr. Freeman : This information is not identifiable from data collected centrally. Returns of the United Kingdom cardiac surgery register show that 137 A-V canal operations were performed in 1985. We do not have information on the proportion of these operations which involved children with Down's syndrome, or the hospitals in which such operations took place.
Mr. Alton : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many children suffering from A-V canal defect died in each of the past five years ; and how many of these also had Down's syndrome.
Mr. Freeman : Information is not available in exactly the form requested. Table 1 shows the number of deaths of children aged 0-14 registered in England and Wales in 1983-87 to which endocardial cushion defects (International Classification of Diseases 9th revision 745.6), which includes A-V canal defect, was assigned as the underlying cause of death.
For 1985 and 1986 all causes of death were coded, and information on the number of certificates mentioning endocardial cushion defects is consequently available. Table 2 shows, for those deaths registered in 1985 and 1986, how many death certificates for 0-14 year olds contained a mention of ICD 745.6 (irrespective of whether or not it was assigned as the underlying cause of death), and how many of those also contained a mention of Down's syndrome (ICD 758.0). Similar information is not available for the other data years.
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Table 2
Number of death registrations containing a mention of endocardial
cushion defects (ICD code 745.6) and the number of these also
mentioning Down's syndrome (ICD code 758.0)
ages 0-14 years, England and Wales 1985-86
Year |Total mentions of ICD |Number also mentioning
|745.6 |ICD 758.0
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1985 |65 |29
<1>1986 |56 |24
<1> Deaths at ages 28 days and over.
Table 2
Number of death registrations containing a mention of endocardial
cushion defects (ICD code 745.6) and the number of these also
mentioning Down's syndrome (ICD code 758.0)
ages 0-14 years, England and Wales 1985-86
Year |Total mentions of ICD |Number also mentioning
|745.6 |ICD 758.0
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1985 |65 |29
<1>1986 |56 |24
<1> Deaths at ages 28 days and over.
Mental Health Review Tribunals
Mr. Fearn : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many mental health review tribunals were held (i) in the five years preceding the enactment of the Mental Health Act 1983 and (ii) in all subsequent years for which he has information (a) in special hospitals and (b) in other mental hospitals and units.
Mr. Freeman [pursuant to his reply, 23 January 1989, c. 413] : The information is not available in the form requested prior to 1983. However the table provides the information for the years 1983-88 and, for the earlier years, shows the total number of tribunals heard in all hospitals.
Mental health review tribunals. Cases heard Year |Special hospitals|Other hospitals |Total ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1978 |n/k |n/k |696 1979 |n/k |n/k |780 1980 |n/k |n/k |692 1981 |n/k |n/k |697 1982 |n/k |n/k |876 1983 |628 |1,313 |1,941 1984 |625 |1,508 |2,133 1985 |647 |1,756 |2,403 1986 |668 |2,161 |2,829 1987 |691 |2,237 |2,928 1988 |769 |2,399 |3,168
Homoeopathy
Mr. Alton : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what provision is made for homoeopathic services within the Liverpool health authority area ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Freeman : Homoeopathic services for both in-patients and out- patients are provided at Mossley Hill hospital, where 10 in-patient beds are available.
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SOCIAL SECURITY
Benefit Fraud
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how much benefit fraud has cost his Department in each of the years since 1979 ; and how many prosecutions have resulted (a) in the United Kingdom as a whole and (b) in his Department's area covering Nottingham for these purposes.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : No reliable estimate is available of the cost of social security benefit fraud. The numbers of prosecutions undertaken by the Department for fraudulent claims to social security in (a) Great Britain for each year since 1979-80 and (b) the area covered by the Department's four local offices in Nottingham since 1981-82 are as follows. Figures for Northern Ireland are a matter for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and those for Nottingham prior to 1981-82 are not available.
|(a) |(b)
|Great Britain|Nottingham
--------------------------------------------------------
1979-80 |16,635 |-
1980-81 |18,801 |-
1981-82 |14,206 |73
1982-83 |11,334 |166
1983-84 |5,997 |127
1984-85 |6,702 |97
1985-86 |6,679 |140
1986-87 |6,603 |132
1987-88 |7,231 |169
Child Abuse
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what involvement his Department has had in the Broxtowe child sex abuse case ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : In this case the Department disclosed to the police, in confidence, details held about named individuals. This is in accordance with its policy that disclosure may be made to the police in any case which involves serious crime. Also, the Department provided information, including a written statement, to the police in connection with alleged associated offences in which the Department has an interest.
Mr. Viraj Mendis
Mr. John Townend : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what has been the cost of social security payments during the period that Viraj Mendis was resident in the United Kingdom.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : I refer my hon. Friend to my reply to my hon. Friend, the Member for Pembroke (Mr. Bennett) on 24 January at column 521.
Departmental Staff (Child Care)
Ms. Richardson : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what child care provision his Department provides for pre-school-age children of employees ; what child care provision for school holidays or after-school care is provided for employees' children aged five years and over ; what plans there are for increasing provision in the next five years ; and how these are to be funded.
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Mr. Peter Lloyd : At present no provision for the child care of the pre-school age children of staff is made in this Department, although preliminary discussions on such facilities have taken place.
The Department's central office at Newcastle operates a scheme of finding day care parents for employees's children. It also runs holiday play schemes for them in the Easter and summer holidays. A holiday play scheme has been organised for the forthcoming Easter holidays for the children of staff working in HQ buildings in central London. Additionally staff working in the Whitehall area can make use of the centrally organised holiday play schemes.
Child care provision is one of the areas being examined in a review of opportunities available to women employees in the Department. We hope to base any further holiday play schemes on the experience we are gaining.
The schemes are intended to be self-supporting, but the Department has provided funding to prime them.
Departmental Offices (Closure)
Ms. Abbott : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make a statement on his Department's proposals to close its offices in London.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : We have no such proposals.
Pensions
Mr. Wray : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will take urgent steps to ensure that pensions increase in real terms at the same rate as inflation.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : We have fully honoured our pledge to protect the value of the state retirement pension against price increases and shall continue to do so.
Sir Ian Gilmour : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is his estimate of the net cost, after taking into account savings in existing benefits, of paying a non-contributory old age pension of £41.15 to each man and woman aged 65 years or over.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : I regret that the information requested cannot be provided without incurring disproportionate cost.
Benefits
Mr. Win Griffiths : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what representations he has received to date either in favour of, or broadly opposed to, his consultative document proposing the replacement of board and lodging payments and personal allowances with housing benefit and income support ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : I refer the hon. Member to my reply to the hon. Member for Halifax (Mrs. Mahon) on 23 January at columns 417-18.
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Mobility Allowance
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will extend the payment of mobility allowance to parents with children over two years of age, in line with attendance allowance payments ; and if he will estimate the number of children who would be eligible for mobility allowance, if the regulations were changed to allow such payments.
Mr. Scott : We shall consider whether mobility allowance should be extended to children below the age of five when we are examining the findings of the surveys undertaken by the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys. We estimate that the reduction of the lower limit to two years of age would enable about 5,000 children to become eligible for the allowance.
Disabled People (Benefits)
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will consider an extra costs allowance, for payment to disabled persons who incur extra costs as a result of their efforts to overcome their disability, in line with recommendations made in the Social Security advisory committee's report entitled "Benefits for Disabled Persons : a Strategy for Change."
Mr. Scott : I refer the hon. Member to my reply to the hon. Member for Carmarthen (Mr. Williams) on 19 December 1988 at columns 114-15.
Attendance Allowance
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will abandon the six months qualifying period for attendance allowance in respect of persons who are terminally ill ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Scott : We shall look at this feature of the attendance allowance scheme when we consider the future of disability benefits in the light of the results of the OPCS disability surveys.
Benefit Offices (Staff)
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the present staffing by grades at the benefit offices in Doncaster and Mexborough ; what was the staffing five years ago ; and if he will make a statement about the projected operational strategy of these three offices for the future and its effect on the various staff grades.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : The information requested is as follows :
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Office |Principal |SEO |HEO |LOI |LOII |AA |Typing manager |Typist |Telephonist |Security officer|Messenger |Total
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Present Staffing
Doncaster (East) ILO |1 |1 |7 |40 |78.5 |22.0 |0 |3.0 |1 |1 |1 |155.5
Doncaster (West) ILO |1 |1 |9 |50 |94.0 |24.5 |1 |2.5 |0 |2 |1 |186.0
Mexborough NIO |0 |0 |1 |4 |10.5 |2.0 |0 |1.0 |0 |0 |0 |18.5
Staffing in 1984
Doncaster (East) ILO |1 |0 |6 |35 |70 |16 |0 |3 |1 |1 |1 |134
Doncaster (West) ILO |1 |1 |7 |43 |90 |27 |1 |4 |0 |2 |1 |177
Mexborough NIO |0 |0 |1 |4 |15 |3 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |23
The regionally calculated estimates of staff savings due to operational strategy in the year April 1990 to March 1991 are as follows. At this stage they are subject to change and as yet we cannot give the grades involved :
|Number
---------------------------------
Doncaster East ILO |23.520
Doncaster West ILO |29.170
Mexborough NIO |00.674
Abbreviations:
ILO=Integrated Local Office.
NIO=National Insurance Office.
Disabled People
Mr. Wareing : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what plans he has to improve the position of disabled people facing a higher cost of living as a consequence of their disability.
Mr. Scott : In the period up to July 1989 the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys is publishing a series of reports on the findings of the surveys of disability in Great Britain carried out between 1985 and 1988. Two reports have already been published covering the prevalence of disability amongs adults and the financial circumstances of disabled adults in private households. Four more reports will follow. Taken together, the six reports will bring together the most comprehensive and detailed information ever collected about disabled people in this country.
I have explained that we will wait until all the results of these surveys are available before reaching any conclusion as to whether there are better ways of providing help for disabled people.
Departmental Correspondence
Mr. Kirkwood : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if will list in the Official Report the number of his Department's letters (Form No. CH (A) 1702 REV) sent in each region of the United Kingdom ; what is his Department's existing budget for this mailing campaign ; how many such messages are planned to be sent in future ; which benefits other than child benefit will receive the same attention in this way ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : Forms CH(A) 1702 REV are issued centrally to recipients of child benefit. Information is not available of numbers sent by region, but a total of some 3.6 million have been issued. No specific budget is allocated to promoting automated credit transfer and the costs are met from the social security publicity budget of £12.77 million for 1988-89. The issue of similar letters to all retirement pensioners who were not already paid by automated credit transfer has been completed and the child benefit exercise is due to finish in April 1989. We have no current plans to extend the issue of these letters to other beneficiaries.
Column 196
Ministerial Advisers (Salaries)
Mr. Cryer : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what was the total expenditure on salaries of ministerial advisers in his Department for each completed year since 1979 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Moore : I have nothing to add to the information which I gave to the hon. Member in my reply on 16 January at column 45.
Rating Reform
Mr. Sillars : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what income is taken into account in assessing a person's right to a rebate of poll tax.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : A person who expects to be liable for a personal community charge or for collective community charge contributions in Scotland may claim housing benefit in the form of community charge rebate from the appropriate authority. In assessing his entitlement to rebate, the authority will calculate his income in accordance with the provisions of the Housing Benefit (Community Charge Rebates) (Scotland) Regulations 1988. All earned and unearned income is taken into account, except where the regulations provide for all or part of it to be disregarded. The rules for the calculation of income are carried forward unchanged from the Housing Benefit (General) Regulations 1987.
TRADE AND INDUSTRY
East Midlands
Mr. Allen : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what assessment his Department has made of the advantages and disadvantages for trade and industry in the east midlands arising from (a) the establishment or failure to establish a rail freight interchange in the east midlands and (b) the advent of 1992 and the Channel tunnel.
Mr. Atkins : My officials have extensive contact with industry and commerce in the east midlands on all matters affecting the region's economic development, including those related to transport infrastructure, which are discussed regularly with the Department of Transport.
Supermarket Profits
Mr. Sheerman : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will refer supermarket profit levels to (a) the Office of Fair Trading or (b) the Monopolies and Mergers Commission.
Mr. Maude : No. It falls to the Director General of Fair Trading to monitor commercial activities under the competition legislation for which he is responsible. He published a review of developments in competition in retailing in June 1985, and continues to keep the matter under close review. If the hon. Member has evidence to suggest that supermarket profit levels indicate that
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