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Mr. McLoughlin : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how much money has been paid by his Department to the Peak Park planning board over the last six years.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley [pursuant to her reply, 22 February 1989, c. 702] : A total of £10,834,400 in national parks supplementary grant has been allocated in respect of the board's net expenditure over the period 1983-84--1988-89.
Water Supply (Nitrates)
Mr. Morley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment which water abstraction plants for domestic use in the Anglian water region are complying with EEC limits on the nitrate levels in water supply ; which are not ; and on what dates each of the plants which are not complying will comply with the limits.
Mr. Moynihan : With the exception of the following :
Isleham
Bircham
Fring
Sedgeford
Beachamwell
Gayton
Marham
Moulton
Bedford
Congham
Waneham Bridge
Drove Lane (Clayhill)
Barrow
Ulceby
Otby/Bully Hills
Aswarby
Binbrook
Haborough
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Little LondonBranston Booths
Thorpe
Bowthorpe
Lyng Forge
Harpley
all remaining water treatment plants in the Anglian water authority region comply with the nitrate standard in the EC drinking water directive.
Programmes of improvement have been submitted to my Department and, depending on the progress of the development work now in hand, all plants should comply with the directive standard by 1995.
Cryptosporidia
Mr. Andrew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what action he is taking to tackle the outbreak of cryptosporidia contamination in the Thames water authority's Farmoor reservoir ; if he will initiate a full inquiry into the causes of this outbreak ; what action will be taken to prevent a recurrence of this outbreak ; how far the levels of cryptosporidia contamination exceeded normal safety standards ; and when this contamination was first discovered.
Mr. Howard : A possible link between a diarrhoeal illness called cryptosporidiosis in the Oxford and Swindon areas and the water supply from Thames water authority's Farmoor treatment works was first identified a little over a week ago.
On finding cryptosporidia organisms in the treatment works and the distribution system on 20 February, Thames Water, in conjunction with local health authorities, immediately advised the public to take certain precautionary steps including boiling water for one minute before use by young children and immuno-compromised people. The water authority took urgent steps to remove the organisms from the water and tests over the last few days indicate that there has been a substantial improvement in the water leaving the works. Thames Water cannot yet be certain that there are none of these organisms left in the water and it is, therefore, maintaining the advice to boil water for the time being.
I understand that Thames Water also proposes to undertake an independently led review at learning lessons from the experience. I am entirely satisfied that Thames Water has behaved in a very responsible manner throughout this incident and is taking all the necessary steps.
Until 1985 there had been no confirmed connection anywhere in the world between cryptosporidiosis and water supplies. However, it is extremely difficult to detect the organism and complex new analytical techniques are only now being developed. Thames Water is in the forefront of these developments. For both these reasons, there is no routine sampling for this organism in water supplies.
Mr. Simon Coombs : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he will make a statement on the response of the Thames water authority to the possible threat to the public water supply in the Swindon area from the organism cryptosporidia ; (2) what information he has on routine testing by water authorities for the organism cryptosporidia in the public water supply ; and if he will make a statement ;
(3) what information he has on the incidence of the organism cryptosporidia, in the public water supply ; and if he will make a statement.
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Mr. Moynihan : I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given today by my hon. and learned Friend the Minister for Water and Planning to the hon. Member for Oxford, East (Mr. Smith).
TRANSPORT
Railways (Electrification)
Mrs. Dunwoody : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will hold talks with the chairman of British Rail about the closure of the longsight overhead line department and the alternative provision of emergency electrification problems in the new region.
Mr. Portillo : No, I see no reason to do so. These are management matters for the British Railways board.
London Underground (Automatic Ticket Barriers)
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Leyton of 8 February, Official Report, column 707, what information he has as to the total expected cost of the automatic ticket barriers programme on London Underground.
Mr. Portillo : LRT estimates that the total cost of installing automatic ticket barriers at 63 stations will be £22.2 million at current prices.
Accidents
Mr. Adley : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list for each year since 1980 the number of (a) fatalities and (b) serious injuries on Britain's roads and railways, respectively.
Mr. Peter Bottomley : The information requested is given in the table ; 1987 is the most recent year for which complete data are available.
|c|Fatal and serious casualties on roads and railways: GB 1980-87|c|
Road accidents Rail accidents<1>
|Killed |Seriously injured|Killed |Seriously injured
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1980 |6,010 |79,390 |69 |807
1981 |5,846 |78,259 |76 |319
1982 |5,934 |79,739 |57 |251
1983 |5,445 |70,623 |69 |264
1984 |5,599 |73,059 |76 |259
1985 |5,165 |70,980 |74 |322
1986 |5,382 |68,752 |72 |372
1987 |5,125 |64,293 |104 |434
<1> All accidents, comprising train accidents, movement accidents, and non-movement accidents. Casualties
comprise passengers, railway staff and other persons.
Road Signs
Sir John Farr : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he intends to include in the relevant regulations, for use within the highway, speed-activated signs.
Mr. Peter Bottomley : Speed-activated signs may already be authorised by the Secretary of State for appropriate locations. Further experience and research is required before such signs are generally prescribed in the Traffic Signs (Speed Limit) Regulations for use by local highway authorities.
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Sir John Farr : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what progress has been made in installing speed-activated signs on roads for which he has responsibility in Leicestershire.
Mr. Peter Bottomley : There are no current plans to install speed- activated signs on trunk roads in Leicestershire.
A427 (Leicestershire)
Sir John Farr : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will designate the A427 in Leicestershire a trunk road.
Mr. Peter Bottomley : No. The proposed M1-A1 Link, a new trunk road, will serve the movement of longer distance traffic in that area. Work on that scheme is expected to start later this year.
Rural Transport Facilities
Miss Widdecombe : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what will be the rate of grant for rural bus services in 1989-90.
Mr. Portillo : Rural bus grant will be paid at the rate of 1p per eligible bus mile.
Miss Widdecombe : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what measures he is taking to encourage the provision of transport facilities in rural areas not well served by public transport.
Mr. Portillo : The Rural Development Commission is provided with £1 million a year from the Department of Transport to encourage new transport facilities in rural areas inadequately served by public transport. To date 194 grants, totalling £1.8 million, have been made. Funds are still available to support worthwhile projects. To assist that process the Rural Development Commission and the National Advisory Unit have jointly produced a new booklet to promote new approaches to the transport needs of rural communities. The booklet describes the scope for encouraging more flexible commercial services as well as self-help options, such as community buses and social car schemes as well as other solutions. The booklet points the way to sources of advice and financial incentives available. It should prove a valuable guide to the development of transport facilities for rural communities. A copy of the booklet entitled "Promoting Transport for Rural Communities" has been placed in the Library.
Traffic Commissioners
Mr. Ken Hargreaves : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when the annual reports of the Traffic Commissioners for 1987-88 will be published.
Mr. Portillo : The reports will be published on 28 February and I am placing copies in the Library.
Severn Bridge
Mr. Robert G. Hughes To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will now announce the shortlisted tenderers for the provision of a second crossing of the river Severn.
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Mr. Peter Bottomley Yes. We received preliminary proposals from eight private sector consortia in response to the invitation published in the Official Journal of the European Communities on 7 December 1988 for proposals for the provision of a second crossing over the River Severn. This initial selection process was aimed to avoid abortive tendering costs being incurred by the construction industry.We are grateful to all those who responded.
The shortlist of consortia selected as full tenderers is Costain/Amec/Wimpey ; John Laing/GTM Entrepose ; Tarmac/HBM/Fairfield Mabey ; and Trafalgar House/Balfour Beatty.
TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Sanitary Towels
Ms. Walley : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will introduce guidelines to ensure manufacturers remove the words "fully flushable" from packets of sanitary towels pending further research on the problem of blocked drains and contamination at sea. Mr. Forth I have no plans to do so. I understand that the industry has its own rigorous flushability test code and that it continues to work closely with the Water Research Council to ensure that any non-degraded waste material is effectively screened by water and sewage authorities.
Post Offices
Mr. Matthew Taylor : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will list in the Official Report (a) the main post offices and (b) the sub-post offices in the areas of Colchester borough and Maldon district which have opened or closed since 1979.
Mr. Forth The Post Office has supplied the following information. There has been no change since 1979 in the provision of main post offices in the Colchester Borough and Maldon district. During the same period one sub- office has been opened, at Fiveways (Colchester) ; and four sub-offices have been closed, at Lee road, Greenstead road, St. Botolph's (all in Colchester borough) and Mill road (Maldon district).
Money Lenders
Mr. Frank Field : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he intends to remove the £30 limit on agreements on the licensing of money lenders.
Mr. Forth As part of the review of the consumer credit licensing system, it is proposed that the exemption from licensing of traders lending money for sums not exceeding £30 shall be removed.
Product Standards
Mr. Gordon Brown : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (a) how many British Standard Institute technical committees exist to advise on drawing up product standards and (b) how many of these committees have a representative of a consumer organisation, defined as a member of an organisation belonging to the consumers in the European community group sitting as one of their members.
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Mr. Forth : [holding answer 24 February 1989] : The British Standards Institution informs me that BSI has 3,160 technical committees and sub-committees, of which about 1,200 are active at any one time, and the great bulk of which have work programmes which include product standards. Of these, about one quarter are concerned with consumer products. The consumer policy committee of BSI, which brings together most United Kingdom members of the consumers in the European Community group and others, is represented on 305 BSI technical committees and sub-committees.
Trade Deficit (International Comparisons)
Mr. Wray : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many of the European countries which have a larger trade deficit than the United Kingdom are oil producers.
Mr. Alan Clark [holding answer 27 February 1989] : With the exception of Norway no other western European country produces significant quantities of oil. The United Kingdom trade deficit is larger than that of Norway.
HOUSE OF COMMONS
Health and Safety
Ms. Walley : To ask the Lord President of Council if he will seek to initiate a review of all offices occupied by right hon. and hon. Members and their staff, to establish whether guidelines laid down under health and safety legislation in respect of space per person are being exceeded.
Mr. Wakeham : I refer the hon. Lady to the Services Committee's second report of Session 1986-87 : "New Parliamentary Building (Phase 2)", HC378, and its first report of Session 1987-88 : "New Parliamentary Building (Phase 2) : The Next Steps", HC561. Those reports, which were recently considered by the House, recommend certain standards of accommodation for Members and their staff.
OVERSEAS DEVELOPMENT
Ethiopia
Mr. Faulds : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) if, in view of reported atrocities by the Ethiopian armed forces against civilians in Eritrea and Tigray, he will seek to procure the termination of support for the present Ethiopian regime through the Lome conventions ;
(2) whether he will consult his European partners in the Twelve as to the propriety of continuing Lome aid to Ethiopia in the light of its activities in the north of that country ;
(3) if he will take steps to reduce by £25.3 million the United Kingdom component of long-term aid to Ethiopia under Lome III until the Ethiopian regime ceases its operations against civilians.
Mr. Chris Patten : I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 27 February at column 1.
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PRIME MINISTER
Rugby
Q60. Mr. Pawsey : To ask the Prime Minister if she has any plans to make an official visit to Rugby.
The Prime Minister : I have at present no plans to do so.
Storm Damage (Clear-up)
Q93. Dr. Godman : To ask the Prime Minister what is the latest estimate of the cost of clearing up operations after the storm of 13 February ; and if she will make a statement.
The Prime Minister : It is too soon to assess the extent and cost of damage and restoration work arising from the recent storms. My right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland has sought detailed reports directly from those authorities affected in order to make an assessment of the situation as soon as possible.
Consumer Protection
Q98. Mr. Harry Ewing : To ask the Prime Minister if she will appoint a Minister for the Protection of Consumers.
The Prime Minister : I have no plans to do so.
10 Downing Street (Chief Press Officer)
Q116. Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Prime Minister if she will make a statement on the regrading of the post of chief press officer at Number 10 Downing street ; and what staff inspection procedures were conducted prior to this regrading.
The Prime Minister : This post has not been regraded.
Modern Language Teaching
Q118. Sir David Price : To ask the Prime Minister if she has any plans, in view of the increasing needs of the single European market, to seek to increase the emphasis being placed by schools and colleges upon the teaching of modern European languages.
The Prime Minister : The Government attach importance to improving the nation's skills in modern foreign languages. Our policies aim to make all levels of the education system more responsive to national needs and consumer demand.
ILEA (Abolition)
Mr. Fatchett : To ask the Prime Minister (1) whether she has any plans to meet representatives of the borough of Wandsworth to discuss funding for 1990-91, following the abolition of the Inner London education authority ;
(2) whether she has received any representations from the borough of Wandsworth about the level of funding following the abolition of the Inner London education authority in 1990 ; and if she will make a statement.
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Engagements
Mr. David Shaw : To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 28 February.
Mr. McLoughlin : To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 28 February.
Mr. Stern : To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 28 February.
Mr. Pike : To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 28 February.
The Prime Minister : This morning I had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others. In addition to my duties in the House, I shall be having further meetings later today. This evening I hope to have an audience of Her Majesty the Queen.
THE ARTS
Business Sponsorship
Mr. McLennan : To ask the Minister for the Arts if he will publish in the Official Report a table showing the breakdown of awards to arts organisations under the business sponsorship incentive scheme by regional arts association areas, Wales and Scotland for each year since its inception.
Mr. Luce : A regional breakdown from October 1984 to 1987-88, in descending order of awards under the business sponsorship incentive scheme, is as follows :
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