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Written Answers to Questions
Tuesday 28 February 1989
WALES
Cervical Cytology
Mr. Gareth Wardell : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, if he will publish in the Official Report the latest available figures of the failure of take-up of cervical cytology appointments for each health authority in Wales.
Mr. Grist : The information is not available at this stage. However, the relevant computer package is now in place on all family practitioner committee computers and the Welsh Office will be monitoring the position as soon as meaningful data are available.
Civil Servants (Political Activity)
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many staff within his Department in each of the following categories : (a) politically restricted, (b) intermediate and (c) politically free as defined by the Civil Service pay and conditions of service code, are local authority councillors.
Mr. Peter Walker : The figures are (a) none, (b) three and (c) one.
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many staff within his Department in each of the years 1979 to 1988 in the categories (a) politically restricted, (b) intermediate as defined by the Civil Service pay and conditions of service code, have (a) successfully and (b) unsuccessfully appealed to the Civil Service appeal tribunal against a refusal of permission to take part in local or national political activity.
Mr. Peter Walker : The totals are In 1987 one member of staff in the intermediate group unsuccessfully appealed to the Civil Service appeal tribunal. There have been no other cases.
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many staff within his Department fall within each of the categories : (a) politically restricted, (b) intermediate and (c) politically free as defined by the Civil Service pay and conditions of service code.
Mr. Peter Walker : The totals are (a) 313.5, (b) 1,596 and (c) 256.5.
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many staff within his Department in the category intermediate, as defined by the Civil Service pay and conditions code, have permission to engage in local or national political activity.
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many staff within his Department in the category politically restricted, as defined by the Civil Service pay and conditions code, have permission to engage in local political activity.
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Departmental Staff (Voluntary Public Service)
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is his Department's policy with regard to (a) paid and (b) unpaid leave for staff to undertake voluntary public service.
Mr. Peter Walker : My Department follows the Civil Service pay and conditions of service code and each application is considered sympathetically on its merits.
HOME DEPARTMENT
Prison Officers
Mr. Butler : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the cost of the removal allowances granted to prison officers in the last year before their abolition.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : Since May 1984 newly joined prison officers have not qualified for payment of removal allowances on taking up their first appointment after initial training. The cost of removal allowances paid to new entrant prison officers in the last year before abolition was £2.3 million. Removal allowances are still paid to established prison officers in accordance with the Civil Service pay and conditions of service code when they are transferred at public expense.
Mr. Butler : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many early resignations there have been from the prison service by area in the latest available year ; and what reasons were given for such resignations.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : During 1988 a total of 319 staff of all grades resigned from the prison service before minimum retirement age. The figures for each region were :
|Number
-------------------------
Midland |46
North |81
South-East |144
South-West |48
Information about reasons for resignation is not available.
Mr. Butler : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the average annual number of hours worked by prison officers prior to the introduction of Fresh Start ; and what is the figure for prison officers working under Fresh Start at the latest available date.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : Before the introduction of Fresh Start, prison officers worked on average 56 hours per week. The equivalent figure for 1988-89 is 46.6 hours. From 1 April this year no prison officer will work more than an average of 45 hours per week and this will reduce progressively in subsequent years so that from 1 April 1992 all officers will work an average 39-hour week.
Mr. Butler : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects increases in prison officer staffing levels to reach a level equivalent to half the capacity represented by the reduction in annual working hours of prison officers to be achieved.
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Mr. Douglas Hogg : The undertaking under the framework agreement to replace with additional staff half of the hours lost as a result of the transition to a shorter working week is already being implemented. We are making additonal new recruits available annually before each decrease in hours. This process will continue until the end of the framework period on 1 April 1992.
Mr. Butler : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many newly trained prison officers applied for a posting (a) in London and were posted elsewhere and (b) outside London and were posted in London in the latest available year.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : Of the 2,743 officers who joined the prison service in the year ending 31 January 1989, 441 were posted to London, having expressed a preference to be posted to another part of the country. All those who expressed a preference for a London posting were posted there.
Prisons (Lay Visitors)
Mr. Hanley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what is the provision for compensation for lay visitors injured in the course of their duties ;
(2) whether nationwide insurance cover is provided by his Department for prison lay visitors.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : I refer my hon. Friend to the reply to a question from the hon. Member for Tooting (Mr. Cox) on 17 January at column 138.
Mr. Hanley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prison lay visitors have been registered in the United Kingdom for each of the last 10 years ; and how many for each year have been injured in the course of their duties.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : Appointments of lay visitors to police stations are made by the appropriate police authority. No central register is kept.
We are not aware that any lay visitor to police stations in the Metropolitan police division has been injured in the course of his or her duties. Information about lay visitors outside the metropolitan area is a matter for the police authority concerned.
South Yorkshire Police
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will call for a report from the chief constable of South Yorkshire as to what, by territorial division and sub-division for the South Yorkshire police, the present establishment manning levels are ; what is the actual figure ; what are the comparable national figures ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : Information on South Yorkshire is set out. Comparable information about other police forces is not held centrally.
|c|South Yorkshire Police (as at 22 February 1989)|c|
Force |Establishment |Actual strength
----------------------------------------------------------------
|2,951 |2,903
A Division |510 |504
Divisional HQ |48 |57
A1 Sub Division |169 |166
A2 Sub Division |137 |131
A3 Sub Division |156 |150
B Division |402 |392
Divisional HQ |44 |44
B1 Sub Division |177 |170
B2 Sub Division |181 |178
C Division |402 |391
Divisional HQ |40 |45
C1 Sub Division |150 |144
C2 Sub Division |105 |102
C3 Sub Division |107 |100
D Division |472 |454
Divisional HQ |42 |44
D1 Sub Division |274 |259
D2 Sub Division |156 |151
E Division |311 |305
Divisional HQ |34 |35
E1 Sub Division |140 |137
E2 Sub Division |137 |133
F Division |315 |297
Divisional HQ |40 |40
F1 Sub Division |142 |131
F2 Sub Division |133 |126
Complaints Against the Police
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list by year and by police force the number of complaints that the Police Complaints Authority has received since its inception in April 1985 ; how many have been substantiated ; how many prosecutions have been instituted ; what was the result ; if found proved, what was the sentence ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : The numbers of complaints against each police force dealt with by the Police Complaints Authority are contained in the authority's annual reports for 1985 (Cmnd 307), 1986 (Cmnd 295) and 1987 (HC 465). Copies have been placed in the Library of the House. The report for 1988 will be published later this year. The reports also contain other details of the authority's casework, including analyses by category of the disciplinary outcome of all complaints, the reasons for the authority's decisions that no disciplinary charges should be preferred and for 1987 the total number of criminal charges brought.
Totals of the numbers of all complaints which were substantiated and the type of proceedings that resulted are published annually in the reports of Her Majesty's chief inspector of constabulary and the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis.
Football-related Offences (London)
Mr. Menzies Campbell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many exclusion orders have (a) been sought and (b) been granted against persons convicted of football-related offences in the Metropolitan police area in the last five years for which information is available ;
(2) what is the current policy of the Metropolitan police Commissioner towards seeking exclusion orders against persons convicted of football- related offences in the Metropolitan police area ; and if he will make a statement.
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Mr. Douglas Hogg : Since 1 August 1987, when the exclusion order provisions of the Public Order Act 1986 came into force, the Metropolitan police have recorded 254 exclusion orders made against persons convicted of a football-related offence in the Metropolitan police district. The decision to make an exclusion order is a matter for the courts, who may exercise their power if they are satisfied that the making of an order will help to prevent violence or disorder at, or in connection with, prescribed football matches.
DEFENCE
NATO (Anniversary)
Mr. Robert Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether he has planned any local celebrations for the celebration of the 40th anniversary of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation in areas where there is a prominent military presence.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The Ministry of Defence and NATO are sponsoring a NATO briefing tour and a touring exhibition to mark the 40th anniversary of NATO. They will visit 21 locations throughout the United Kingdom between April and September. There is a prominent military presence in most of the localities covered.
RAF Upper Heyford
Mr. Baldry : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he expects the report on noise levels to the east of RAF Upper Heyford to be complete ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Neubert : The report is being prepared but it cannot be finalised until further noise measurements to assess the effect of an alternative take-off pattern have been completed. A short period of settled weather with winds from an easterly direction would allow completion of this exercise.
Mr. Baldry : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he expects the study into the possible realignment of the runway at RAF Upper Heyford or other ways of reducing aircraft noise to be complete ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Neubert : I hope to be in a position to publish the results of the study shortly after Easter.
Royal Fleet Auxiliary
Mr. Cash : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a further statement on his proposals to change the status of Royal Fleet Auxiliary vessels.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : My right hon. Friend the Member for Tonbridge and Malling (Sir John Stanley) announced on 18 April 1985 at column 251 that we were considering a change in the status of FRA vessels which
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would have meant their ceasing to be registered as British merchant ships for the purpose of the Merchant Shipping Acts, and operating instead as Government-owned vessels on non- commercial service. We gave an undertaking that full consultation would follow that announcement and during that process it became clear that this proposal could have had unwelcome implications for the legal rights of RFA personnel. We have therefore decided to prepare instead a new Order in Council to replace the 1911 Order in Council which now governs all RFA vessels. The new Order in Council will enable RFA vessels to be designed and operated in a way which will meet military requirements, and to remain as British-registered vessels.Air Combat Manoeuvering
Mr. Macdonald : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what agreements or understandings he has reached with British Aerospace to make use of its proposed air combat manoeuvering facility in the North Sea.
International Military Services
Mr. Alton : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if International Military Services still maintains its office in Tehran.
Mr. Sainsbury : I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave the hon. Member for Hamilton (Mr. Robertson) on 13 January 1988 at column 200. The position is unchanged.
ENVIRONMENT
Pensioners
Mr. Andrew Bowden : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will reproduce the figures 7, 8, 10 and 11 of his Department's note on the relationship between local taxes and income and the distributional impact of the community charge, published on 15 December 1988, to show the impact on pensioner couples.
Mr. Gummer : The information requested has been placed in the Library. The figures show that 55 per cent. of married pensioner couples stand to pay less with the introduction of the community charge.
Improvement Grants (Bolton)
Mr. Thurnham : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how much funding has been provided by Bolton council for improvement grants for owner-occupied homes over each of the last five years ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Trippier : Bolton metropolitan borough council has reported the following information :
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|c|Renovations: Grants paid to owner occupied dwellings|c|
Conversion and Intermediate Repairs
improvement
|Number of dwellings |Amount<2> (£ thousand)|Number of dwellings |Amount<2> (£ thousand)|Number of dwellings |Amount<2> (£ thousand)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1984 |573 |4,174 |298 |1,041 |128 |405
1985 |550 |4,517 |213 |615 |144 |497
1986<1> |429 |3,016 |140 |348 |79 |256
1987 |510 |2,984 |271 |663 |111 |384
1988<1> |356 |2,073 |246 |498 |83 |294
<1> Figures cover nine months since returns for the June quarters of 1986 and 1988 have not been received.
<2> Up to and including the March quarter 1986 includes amounts paid to landlords (including housing associations). Of all amounts reported paid to owner-occupiers and landlords since
March 1986 owner-occupiers accounted for 88 per cent. of conversion and improvement grants, 94 per cent. of intermediate grants, and 99 per cent. of repairs grants.
Heveningham Hall
Mr. Faulds : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement about the latest position on the ownership of and the intended developments at Heveningham hall.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : Heveningham hall is owned by ID Investment Development AG, which purchased it in 1981. Gulfpark Property Management Ltd, which manage the hall on the behalf of the owners, have stated publicly that rebuilding of the fire-damaged east wing will start this spring.
Housing
Mr. Harry Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Derbyshire, North-East, Official Report, 20 December 1988, column 191, how many foam slag houses in each of the areas listed in that answer are owner-occupied, council houses and alternatively owned.
Mr. Trippier : North East Derbyshire district council has now identified 196 poured concrete houses using foam slag aggregate : 178 are council-owned, and 18 owner-occupied. Ownership details for the Scottish properties are not readily available.
Mr. Harry Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he has plans to include foam slag houses within the categories covered by the Housing Defects Act.
Mr. Trippier : We have no evidence justifying designation of foam slag properties under the housing defects legislation.
Mr. Harry Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Derbyshire, North-East, Official Report, 20 December, column 191, on foam slag and no-fines houses, he anticipates that the Building Research Establishment will be able to publish its forthcoming technical guidance.
Mr. Trippier : The Building Research Establishment hopes to publish its report on Wimpey no-fines houses this summer. It expects to issue technical leaflets on the other, less common, no-fines types at intervals over the next year.
Severn-Trent Water Authority
Mr. Harry Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the performance targets set for the chairman of the
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Severn-Trent water authority in 1987-88 ; and if he will specify the annual bonus received by the chairman in each of the last four years.Mr. Moynihan : Information about Government controls on the Severn- Trent water authority, including performance aims and achievement against them, is set out in the authority's report and accounts for 1987-88 on pages 60 and 61. A copy is available in the Library.
Water authority chairmen and executive board members were first eligible for performance bonuses in respect of 1986-87. The chairman of the Severn- Trent water authority received a bonus of 7.5 per cent. of his annual salary for that year and 9 per cent. for 1987-88.
Industrial Pollution Control
Mr. Page : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what responses he has received to his consultation document on a new system of industrial pollution control for industry ; and if he will make a statement.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : We have received responses from 91 organisations and individuals. A list of these has been placed in the Libraries of both Houses. Respondents gave a broad welcome to our proposals. In particular, there was a widespread acceptance of the idea that processes subject to control should be operated according to the best available technology not entailing excessive cost ; and of our proposal that the new system should adopt a consent-based approach for authorising discharges, but with a residual duty remaining with the operator to carry out all other functions not specified in the consent in accordance with best practice. A clear majority of respondents to the Department's separate consultation document on the inputs of dangerous substances to water also agreed with our proposal that the responsibility for authorising the discharge of substances from prescribed processes to water should rest with Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution acting in consultation with the proposed National Rivers Authority. The Department therefore proposes to proceed on this basis. We shall make a further announcement about the results of this consultation exercise shortly.
Our proposals, which will mark a significant advance in industrial pollution control in this country, have been welcomed in this way, and will be introduced into legislation at the earliest opportunity.
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Insulation
Sir Michael McNair-Wilson : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment why loft and roof insulation are not included in statutory building regulations ; and if he has plans to add them to present requirements.
Mr. Trippier [holding answer 27 February 1989] : The Building Regulations 1985 include a requirement for the insulation of the roof or loft. A consultation paper issued last July porposed that the existing thermal insulation requirements (including those for the roof) should be upgraded. Responses to the consultation are being considered. It was also proposed that the form of this part of the regulations should be brought more into line with that of other parts, by requiring reasonable provision to be made for the conservation of fuel and power, and by including guidance on insulation standards in the approved document. Experience has shown that this approach enables effective control to be maintained, but in a clearer and more flexible way
Rating Reform
Dr. Cunningham : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what advice he plans to issue to community charges registration officers on how to register (a) submariners spending alternate periods of four weeks at sea and four weeks on shore, (b) members of the armed forces on four months tours of duty in Northern Ireland, (c) Gurkhas, (d) Royal Navy personnel on sea-going vessels and (e) members of the armed forces attached to foreign forces and serving abroad with them.
Mr Ridley [holding answer 27 February 1989] : My Department is consulting the local authority associations, and we shall issue guidance shortly.
Dr. Cunningham : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment is he has any proposals to seek to exempt from community charge residents of (a) homes for elderly persons run by the Abbeyfield Society or (b) other homes run by other organisations including local authorities and charities of the same type of accommodation and level of care as Abbeyfield.
Mr. Ridley [holding answer 27 February 1989] : I intend to amend the definition of a residential care home in paragraph 9(2) of the Local Government Finance Act 1988 (using the power conferred by paragraph 9(6) ) to include any home run by the Abbeyfield society. This will bring the definition of a residential care home, for community charge purposes, more closely into line with the definition used for income support purposes.
People receiving care or treatment in a home run by any organisation will be exempt from personal community charge liability, if they have their sole or main residence in the home, and if the home falls within the description in the 1988 Act of a residential care home, a nursing home, a mental nursing home or a hostel providing a high level of care.
Dr. Cunningham : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what instructions he proposes to give to valuation and community charge tribunals concerning the provision of material in ethnic minority languages and translation facilities.
Mr. Ridley [holding answer 27 February 1989] : The Government are making available to local authorities
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translations of the notes to the community charge canvass form in five important minority languages. These explain the right to appeal. Most members of valuation and community charge tribunals will have been members of local valuation panels, and will have experience of appeals from people whose first language is not English. Anyone appealing to a tribunal may be accompanied by a friend or representative, who may speak on their behalf.Water Pollution
Dr. Cunningham : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment why there has been a delay in the publication of the first report of Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution on river water quality containing data collected in 1987 ; when he expects the report to be published ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Ridley [holding answer 27 February 1989] : The first annual report of Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution covering the period 1 April 1987 to 31 March 1988 is due for publication before Easter. The issue of the Department's annual digest of environmental protection and water statistics published on 24 February contains information on river water quality based on data collected in 1987.
Dr. Cunningham : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will provide details of the financial target percentages and external financing limits for each water authority for the year 1989-90.
Mr. Ridley [holding answer 27 February 1989] : The external financial limits for water authorities in England (DOE services) are given in the table, on a full-year basis. They will be adjusted to take account of the privatisation of the water authorities, due to take place in the year. It is not the intention to set financial targets by statutory instrument for the year 1989-90 because the water authorities will have been privatised before it is over.
|c|External finance limits for
water authorities in England
1989-90|c|
|c|DoE services only|c|
|£ million
---------------------------------
Anglian |29
Northumbrian |12
North-West |50
Severn-Trent |24
Southern |28
South-West |3
Thames |-65
Wessex |12
Yorkshire |25
Civil Servants (Political Activity)
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many staff within his Department fall within each of the categories (a) politically restricted, (b) intermediate and (c) politically free, as defined by the Civil Service pay and conditions of service code.
Mr. Ridley : [holding answer 27 February 1989] : The numbers are as follows :
|DOE (Central) |Property Services Agency
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Politically restricted |1,385 |974
Intermediate |5,000 |13,650
Politically free |1,285 |8,600
Part-time and casual staff are included in these figures.
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many staff within his Department in each of the years 1979 to 1988 in the categories (a) politically restricted and (b) intermediate, as defined by the Civil Service pay and conditions of service code, have (i) successfully and (ii) unsuccessfully, appealed to the Civil Service appeal tribunal against a refusal of permission to take part in local or national political activity.
Mr. Ridley [holding answer 27 February 1989] : One officer in the politically restricted category of staff appealed in 1986 to the Civil Service appeal board against the Department's refusal to permit him to stand for election to a local authority. The board upheld the Department's decision. No other appeals have been made.
Departmental Staff (Voluntary Public Service)
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is his Department's policy with regard to (a) paid and (b) unpaid leave for staff to undertake voluntary public service.
Mr. Ridley [holding answer 27 February 1989] : My Department's policy on these matters accords with paragraphs 870-873 of the Civil Service pay and conditions of service code, a copy of which is available in the Library.
Peak Park Planning Board
Mr. McLoughlin : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what information he has as to how many people have been appointed by Derbyshire county council to serve on the Peak Park planning board ; and how many of them live in the board's area.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley [pursuant to her reply, 22 February 1989, c. 702] : Eight members of the board are appointed by Derbyshire county council. At present one of these lives within the national park.
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