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Second Reading deferred till Friday 14 April.
ABOLITION OF DOMESTIC RATES ETC. (SCOTLAND) ACT (AMENDMENT) BILL
Order for Second Reading read.
Second Reading deferred till Friday 17 March.
Mr. James Wallace (Orkney and Shetland) : On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker. Can you confirm that it was the hon. Member for Penrith and The Border (Mr. Maclean) who objected to the Bill?
FIRE SAFETY INFORMATION BILL
Order for Second Reading read.
Second Reading deferred till Friday 28 April.
CONTROL OF SMOKE POLLUTION BILL
Bill read a Second time.
Bill committed to a Committee of the whole House.-- [Mr. Hunter.] Bill immediately considered in Committee ; reported, without amendment.
To be read the Third time on Friday 14 April.
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PUBLIC SAFETY INFORMATION BILL
Order for Second Reading read.
Second Reading deferred till Friday 28 April.
LONDON GOVERNMENT BILL
Order for Second Reading read.
Mr. Deputy Speaker : Second Reading what day?
Mr. Jeremy Corbyn (Islington, North) : I wish to move the Bill. I make no objection.
Mr. Deputy Speaker : I asked for a day for the Second Reading.
Mr. Corbyn : I could not hear what you were saying, Mr. Deputy Speaker ; there was some mumbling from Conservative Members.
Mr. Deputy Speaker : Second Reading what day? We must deal with that first.
Mr. Corbyn : I am quite happy for the Bill to be debated now ; or, failing that, next Friday.
Second Reading deferred till Friday 10 March.
AGE OF LEGAL CAPACITY (SCOTLAND) BILL
Order for Second Reading read.
Second Reading deferred till Friday 7 April.
HOUSING ASSOCIATIONS (ACCESS TO INFORMATION) BILL Order for Second Reading read.
Second Reading deferred till Friday 7 April.
DEFINITIVE MAP MODIFICATION BILL
Order for Second Reading read.
Mr. Deputy Speaker : Second Reading what day? Not moved.
RIDERS OF EQUINE ANIMALS (WEARING OF PROTECTIVE HEADGEAR) BILL Order for Second Reading read.
Second Reading deferred till Friday 17 March.
JUNIOR HOSPITAL DOCTORS (REGULATION OF HOURS) (No. 2) BILL Order for Second Reading read.
Second Reading deferred till Friday 14 April.
HARE COURSING BILL
c Order for Second Reading read. Hon. Members : Object.
Mr. Deputy Speaker : Second Reading what day? Not moved.
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STATUTORY INSTRUMENTS, &c.
Motion made, and Question put forthwith pursuant to Standing Order No. 101(5) (Standing Committees on Statutory Instruments, &c.).
Overseas Development and Co-Operation
"That the draft African Development Bank (Further Subscription to Capital Stock) Order 1989, which was laid before this House on 20th December, be approved.
That the draft African Development Fund (Fifth Replenishment) Order 1989, which was laid before this House on 20th December, be approved.-- [Mr. Alan Howarth.]
Question agreed to.
Mr. Gerald Bermingham (St. Helens, South) : On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker. While there was a slight noise during the Hare Coursing Bill, I sought to get to my feet to tell you the adjourned date for the Bill, being one of its supporters.
Mr. Deputy Speaker : It was not moved. No one said "Now" when the title of the Bill was read out, so it proceeded no further.
Mr. Bermingham : I was getting up to move it on behalf of my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Erdington (Mr. Corbett), but, unfortunately, you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, moved so quickly that objection was made before we had time to say anything.
Mr. Deputy Speaker : We cannot take the matter any further at present, but I can advise the hon. Gentleman that the Bill can be restored on Monday by an instruction to the Table.
Mr. Bermingham : I am grateful, Mr. Deputy Speaker.
Miss Ann Widdecombe (Maidstone) : On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker. My point of order is exactly the same as that of the hon. Member for St. Helens, South (Mr. Bermingham), but it is on the Definitive Map Modification Bill. I tried to rise, but you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, did not take note of that. There was too much noise.
Mr. Deputy Speaker : I must remind the House that an hon. Member must say, "Now, Sir." Unless an hon. Member says that, I can, according to the rules, proceed no further. No one said, "Now, Sir" on the Bill. I can give the hon. Lady the same advice as I gave the hon. Gentleman.
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House of Commons Members' Fund
Mr. Alfred Morris (Manchester, Wythenshawe) : I beg to move, That in pursuance of the provisions of Section 3 of the House of Commons Members' Fund Act 1948 and Section 2 of the House of Commons Members' Fund and Parliamentary Pensions Act 1981 the maximum annual amounts of the periodical payments which may be made out of the House of Commons Members' Fund under the House of Commons Members' Fund Act 1939, as amended and the annual rate of any payments made under Section 1 of the said Act of 1981 shall be varied as from 1st April 1989 as follows :
(a) for paragraph 1 of Schedule 1 to the said Act of 1939, as amended, there shall be substituted the following paragraph : 1. The anual amount of any periodical payment made to any person by virtue of his past membership of the House of Commons shall not exceed £2,709 or such sum as, in the opinion of the Trustees, will bring his income up to £4,983 per annum, whichever is the less : Provided that if, having regard to length of service and need, the Trustees think fit, they may make a larger payment not exceeding £5, 220 or such sum as, in their opinion, will bring his income up to £7, 494 per annum, whichever is the less :
(b) for paragraph 2 of that Schedule there shall be substituted the following paragraph :
2. The annual amount of any periodical payment to any person by virtue of her being a widow of a past Member of the House of Commons shall not exceed £1,359 or such sum as, in the opinion of the Trustees, will bring her income up to £3,633 per annum, whichever is the less :
Provided that if, having regard to her husband's length of service or to her need, the Trustees think fit, they may make a larger payment not exceeding £2,610 or such sum as, in the opinion of the Trustees, will bring her income up to £4,884 per annum, whichever is the less :
(c) in paragraph 2A of that Schedule for the words the annual amount of any periodical payment' to the end of the paragraph, there shall be substituted the words :
the annual amount of any periodical payment made to any such widower shall not exceed £1,359 or such sum as, in the opinion of the Trustees, will bring his income up to £3,633 per annum, whichever is the less :
Provided that if, having regard to his wife's length of service or to his need, Trustees think fit, they may make a larger payment not exceeding £2,610 or such sum as, in the opinion of the Trustees, will bring his income up to £4,884 per annum, whichever is the less :' (
(d) in Section 2(1) of the said Act of 1981, for the words from the beginning to the end of paragraph (b) there shall be substituted the words :
the annual rate of any payments made under Section 1 shall be-- (a) £1,578 if the payments are made to a past Member ; and (b) £789 if the payments ar made to the widow or widower of a past Member.'
The motions on the Order Paper are in the names of right hon. and hon. Members on both sides of the House who share with me the responsibility as trustees of administering the House of Commons Members' fund.
The purpose of the first resolution is to increase the levels of grants which may be made in accordance with the Members' fund legislation. Those were last revised in April 1988 and the proposal now is that they be increased from 1 April 1989 by approximately 5.9 per cent. in line with the increases approved for public service and state retirement pensions in April this year.
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As the House is aware, pension arrangements for Members were first introduced in 1964. In the intervening years many improvements have been secured and, although much remains to be achieved, today Members of the House can at least look forward to retirement pensions, as of right, which reflect their length of service in this House. Former colleagues who left the House before 1964 had no such provision and some of them, now of advanced years, are living in straitened circumstances. The Members' fund is able, within stringent limits, to make a modest contribution to their incomes and thus help to ease financial hardship.It will not have escaped your notice, Mr. Deputy Speaker, that the Members' fund was established 50 years ago this year to provide : "grants to persons who have been members of the House of Commons or to their widows or widowers".
The House of Commons Members Fund Act 1939 required a qualifying period of at least 10 years' service, but trustees were empowered : "in special circumstances to make payments"
even though service was less than 10 years. The Act provided that the annual grant should not exceed £150 or such lesser sum as would bring income up to £225 a year. The corresponding figures for a widow or widower were £75 and £125 a year, respectively.
Higher levels of grant and income, reflecting length of service and need, were introduced in 1961. The House of Commons Members Fund and Parliamentary Pensions Act 1981 introduced grants "as of right" to past Members who had at least 10 years' service, all before 1964, and to the widows and widowers of such past Members.
Mr. Allen McKay (Barnsley, West and Penistone) : As a result of the 1981 Act, how many "as of right" recipients have there been?
Mr. Morris : At the present time the number of recipients of payments "as of right" under the 1981 Act is as follows : ex-Members 41, widows 42. There are 83 recipients in all.
Extensive efforts have been made in recent years to identify and then to contact past Members or widows and widowers in need of help from the fund. Right hon. and hon. Members can assist the trustees by drawing to our attention the names of any past Members or widows and widowers of former Members who might benefit from the fund. Inquiries are pursued with the utmost discretion and in the strictest confidence.
I need not detain the House at length as the provisions for which we seek approval are set out in detail in the resolutions on the Order Paper. They may be summarised as follows : first, grants to past Members. Subparagraph 1(a) seeks to increase the basic annual grant for former Members to £2,709, subject to an income limit, including the grant, of £4,983. In the case of former Members with longer service and in need, the grant may be increased to a maximum of £5,220, subject to an income limit of £7,494.
Grants to the widows and widowers of past Members are dealt with in sub- paragraphs 1(b) and 1(c). They seek to increase the basic annual grant for them to £1,359, subject to an income limit, including the grant, of £3,633. In the case of longer service and where there is need, the grant may be increased to a maximum of £2,610, subject to an income limit of £4,884.
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With regard to "as of right" payments under the 1981 Act, to which reference has already been made, sub-paragraph 1(d) seeks to increase the grants paid under the 1981 Act to £1,578 a year in the case of past Members and to £789 a year in the case of widows and widowers. The additional annual cost of those proposed increases is estimated to amount to £7,400.The second resolution relates to the House of Commons Members' Fund Act 1948, section 4 of which authorises the trustees to make : "such periodical or other payments as they think fit"
to past Members or the widows, widowers and children of past Members :
"for the purpose of alleviating special hardship"
Section 4 of the 1948 Act, together with section 1 of the 1957 Act, as amended, provides that in any year, for the purpose of making such payments, the House of Commons may, by resolution, direct that the whole or any part of the amount contributed by Members in that year, together with up to £22,000 of the Treasury's contribution in the year, be appropriated. The total which may be appropriated under this provision is £37,600. Currently, there are eight beneficiaries receiving grants totalling £13,100 a year under this section and the moneys to be appropriated are needed to continue these grants and to fund any further cases which may arise.
Finally, I wish to record our warm appreciation to Mr. J. L. G. Dobson and his colleagues in the Fees Office for their skilled and unstinting help to the trustees and for their always humane concern for those whom we seek to serve [ Hon. Members-- : "Hear, hear".]. I commend the resolution to the House in the confident expectation that they will receive unanimous support.
Question put and agreed to.
House of Commons Members Fund
Resolved,
That the whole or any part of the sums deducted or set aside in the current year from the salaries of Members of Parliament under Section 1 of the House of Commons Members' Fund Act 1939, and the whole or any part of the contribution determined by the Treasury for the current year under Section 1 of the House of Commons Members' Fund Act 1957, as amended by the House of Commons Members' Fund and Parliamentary Pensions Act 1981, be appropriated for the purposes of Section 4 of the House of Commons Members' Fund Act 1948, as amended by Section 12 of the Parliamentary Pensions etc. Act 1984.-- [Mr. Alan Howarth.]
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
Ordered,
That, at the sitting on Monday 6th March, notwithstanding the provisions of Standing Order No. 15 (Prayers against statutory instruments, &c. (negative procedure)), Motions in the name of Mr. Neil Kinnock relating to Community Charges (Scotland) may be proceeded with, though opposed, for one and a half hours after the first of them has been entered upon ; and if proceedings thereon have not been previously disposed of, Mr. Speaker shall then put the Question already proposed from the Chair.
Ordered,
That, at the sitting on Tuesday 7th March, the Motion in the name of the Prime Minister for the Adjournment of the House may be proceeded with, though opposed, after the expiration of the time for opposed business ; and shall lapse two hours after it has been made, if not previously disposed of.
Ordered,
That, at the sitting on Wednesday 8th March, notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (1)(b) of Standing Order No. 14 (Exempted business), Mr. Speaker shall put--
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(1) the Questions on the Motions in the name of Mr. Secretary King relating to the draft Northern Ireland (Emergency Provisions) Acts 1978 and 1987 (Continuance) Order 1989 and the draft Northern Ireland (Emergency Provisions) (Amendment) Regulations 1989 not later than Seven o'clock ; and(2) the Question on the Motion in the name of Mr. Secretary King relating to the draft Appropriation (Northern Ireland) Order 1989 not later than Ten o'clock.-- [Mr. Alan Howarth.]
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Petty Officer John Black
Motion made, and Question proposed, That this House do now adjourn.-- [Mr. Alan Howarth.]
2.46 pm
Mr. Michael Latham (Rutland and Melton) : On 27 June 1986, I initiated an Adjournment debate about the death in Spain of Petty Officer John Black. The reply was given by my hon. Friend the Member for Kettering (Mr. Freeman), who was then a junior Minister in the Ministry of Defence. I should like to pay tribute to him for the help and support he has always given to me and to the late Mr. Black's mother and stepfather, Mr. and Mrs. Crane, who live in Melton Mowbray, in my constituency.
The fact that I have sought a second Adjournment debate on the matter two and three quarter years later shows that I remain dissatisfied with the outcome of events since then. I hope that my hon. and learned Friend the Solicitor-General, whom I welcome to the debate, will be able to give further help today.
I do not want to go over the same ground as in 1986, but I should give some brief background. Petty Officer Black was in Spain on leave with a friend, Miss Pat Jeffs, over Christmas 1983. On Christmas day he died suddenly in her rented apartment in Sabinillas. Two Spanish pathologists examined his body. An inquest held at Portsmouth in May 1985, 18 months after his death, found that he was unlawfully killed.
Following pressure from me and the Leicester Mercury, which has played a noble part in this sad case, the Ministry of Defence agreed to fund two visits--the first to Gibraltar and the second to Spain--by two senior Scotland Yard police officers. Those visits took place at either end of 1987. Without dwelling on it, I must express regret that it was nearly six months before the Spanish Government allowed the second visit to Spain itself.
On 2 March 1988, I was allowed to read the full police report in the office in the House of my hon. Friend the Member for Kettering. I was not allowed to take a copy of it. Despite specific requests from me, neither Mr. and Mrs. Crane nor their solicitors have been allowed to see the report, on the ground that such police reports remain confidential. I cannot understand such a rigid rule in this case because my hon. Friend the Member for Kettering wrote to me officially on 23 March 1988 summarising the report fully. It would certainly breach no confidences if Mr. and Mrs. Crane had seen the report. They have, of course, seen my hon. Friend's letter to me. The report of the British police says that Petty Officer Black died accidentally as a result of carbon monoxide poisoning caused by a faulty water heater with no gas discharge or ventilator system. It is accompanied by a statement from the Home Office pathologist, Dr. Iain West. Dr. West, who had not seen Petty Officer Black's body but had seen photographs of it and read the Spanish reports, stated that the level of poisoning found in Petty Officer Black's body was entirely consistent with accidental carbon monoxide poisoning and that the injuries on his body were consistent with his collapse in the bath. The British police did not, so far as I am aware, interview the Spanish pathologists, and it is not clear to me whether they ever sought to do so. I find it difficult to consider that report as entirely complete without such interviews.
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To illustrate how crucial the views of the Spanish pathologist were, I shall read out the text of the British inquest in Portsmouth on 23 May 1985. I shall quote some answers given by one of the Spanish pathologists, Dr. Antonio Garcia de Galvez, to Mr. Howard Partridge, the solicitor for my constituents, Mr. and Mrs. Crane. Mr. Partridge asked :"If John Black had died from carbon monoxide from an appliance in the flat, would the doctor accept that there would be a much lower level of cabon monoxide in the blood?
Answer : With any domestic accident of this type the level would never be so high.
Question : Are you of the opinion that John Black did not die from carbon monoxide from that water heater?
Answer : I am of that opinion."
Another solicitor Mr. West, acting on behalf of Miss Jeffs, asked :
"Is there a report which indicates the percentage of carbon monoxide in the blood?"
Dr. Galvez said :
"Yes--72 per cent. I do not know where the carbon monoxide came from but it was not from the heater."
A little later he added :
"The concentration of carbon monoxide which John Black received was not accidental. This was not a domestic accident. It is my opinion that Black died too quickly for the heater to have been the cause, and furthermore the level was too high."
Later, the coroner asked the other Spanish pathologist, Dr. Francisco Alvarez Gonzalez :
"regarding the heater, did you agree with your colleague that the carbon monoxide in its intensity could not have been caused by the heater?"
He replied :
"I agree with my colleague. It is completely impossible." Summing up for the jury, the coroner said :
"The death was caused by carbon monoxide poisoning. Did it come from the water heater? The opinions of the Spanish Pathologists indicate it would be impossible."
The jury then returned a verdict of unlawful killing.
In the Scotland Yard report, as summarised by my hon. Friend the then Under -Secretary of State for the Armed Forces, the officers stressed the following points. First, no examination was made of the original water heater in the flat at the time of death. Secondly, following Petty Officer Black's death, the owner of the apartment seems to have disposed of the water heater and to have had a new one fitted and only then was a ventilator fitted. Thirdly, the British police are puzzled about how the Spanish pathologists could have been so definite about the faulty water heater because, they say, the original one was never examined. Fourthly, the police point out that none of the Spanish reports and photographs show the water heater, which was apparently positioned at the point furthest from the kitchen window.
It might be thought that the British police newly discovered that the heater had been changed and that there was no proper ventilation system before the change. However, that is not so. The Spanish legal proceedings, dated 8 May 1984, state :
"In the said apartment they have replaced the previous heater with a similar one and no check can be carried out, although originally it did not have the obligatory gas discharge system and ventilator." That was repeated to me in a ministerial letter from Lord Trefgarne on 6 July 1984, and presumably the information was available to the British coroner at the inquest in May 1985.
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