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Dr. Thomas : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment pursuant to the reply to the hon. Member for Meirionnydd Nant Conwy of 9 February, Official Report, column 769, on United Kingdom generated toxic waste exports, if he will initiate an investigation into plans by Hamilton Resources Ltd. and the Sesco Company of London to dispose of 5 million tons of hazardous wastes in Benin, West Africa.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : No. The transfrontier shipment of hazardous waste regulations of 1988 require, inter alia, that before any consignment of hazardous waste is transported from this country to Benin, the holder of the waste sends a copy of the completed consignment note to the Secretary of State. The Department has received no such consignment note to date.
Afforestation
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the sites of special scientific interest damaged or destroyed since 1983 by afforestation (a) grant-aided by the Forestry Commission and (b) without grant aid.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : I am advised by the Nature Conservancy Council that the information requested is only readily available since 1985 :
(a) Craigs of Succoth (1985-86). One hectare damaged in error by an adjoining landowner ploughing in preparation
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for afforestation. No trees were planted on the SSSI. The afforestation proposal was granted aid by the Foresty Commission. (b) Abernethy forest (1986-87) 270 hectares planted with the benefit of grant aid from the Forestry Commission.(c) Glen Feshie (Cairngorms SSSI) (1986-87). Two hectares affected by planting without the benefit of grant aid.
No sites have been lost.
Development Corporations
Mr. Thornton : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the end-of-contract date of each urban development corporation and the London Docklands Development Corporation ; and if he will make a statement of his policy on the future management of these areas after the termination dates.
Mr. Trippier : It was envisaged that the duration of the first two urban development corporations (London Docklands and Merseyside) would be about 15 years ; the duration of the second generation of UDCs (black country, Teeside, Trafford park, and Tyne and Wear) is expected to be about a decade and the third generation (Bristol, Central Manchester, Leeds and Sheffield) about five to seven years. No dates have been fixed for the dissolution of any corporation.
Clay Pigeon Shooting
Mr. David Nicholson : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, referring to the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State's letter to the hon. Member for Taunton of 15 December 1988, what consultations have taken place on the Town and Country Planning General Development Order 1988 ; and whether he now proposes to amend this order to allow a maximum of 28 days permitted use rights for clay pigeon shooting.
Mr. Chope : The General Development Order 1988 allows land to be used for clay pigeon shooting without planning permission for up to 14 days a year. The Department's consultation paper of 16 December invited views on whether the order should be amended to alter the limit to 28 days. We are now considering the responses to the consultation, and expect to reach a decision within the next few weeks.
National Pet Week
Dame Janet Fookes : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he has any plans to offer support to national pet week.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : No. The question of pet welfare is one primarily for my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary. This Department's responsibilities extend only to the conservation of endangered species, dog licensing and registration matters.
Supermarket Trolleys
Sir Michael McNair-Wilson : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what discussions he has had with senior managers of supermarket chains about introducing a pay scheme to encourage shoppers to return their trolleys to their local store after unloading.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : None. Abandonment of trolleys may cause a financial loss to the companies and
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expense in collection and disposal to local authorities. It is for the parties involved to consider the best approach to the problem.Churston Golf Club
Mr. Steen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he plans to publish the result of the planning appeal with regard to Churston golf club, Torbay ; what was the date of the hearing of the appeal ; when the Churston golf club was visited by the planning inspector ; and when the report was completed.
Mr. Chope : The appeal is being dealt with by an exchange of written representations and no public local inquiry was held. An inspector visited the site on 22 August 1988 and his report was submitted to my right hon. Friend on 12 September 1988. A decision will be made as soon as possible.
National Parks
Mr. Crowther : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he has any plans to introduce new laws giving extra protection to the landscape of the national parks.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : We see no need for any further legislation on this subject at present.
Nitrate Pollution (Nottingham)
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what information his Department has concerning the level of nitrate pollution in the sandstone aquifers north of Nottingham.
Mr. Moynihan : I understand that six out of 41 public supply groundwater abstractions in the Trent catchment north of Nottingham currently exceed 50 mg/litre nitrate.
Capper Pass Factory
Mr. Cran : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he expects to publish Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution's report on investigations into the disposal of wastes from the Capper Pass factory on north Humberside.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : This report is being published today and copies are being placed in the Library of the House.
The report concludes that there is no evidence from environmental monitoring data, predicted atmospheric dispersion patterns, radiological assessments and epideniological studies to link the reported childhood leukaemia excesses in villages to the west of Hull with discharges to atmosphere of polonium 210 or arsenic from Capper Pass. It also concludes that concentrations of antimony, lead, copper, tin and zinc in the locality are low and unlikely to cause any adverse health effects. Further attention should be given to limiting cadmium discharges, although the concentration of cadmium in the atmosphere close to Capper Pass has steadily reduced since 1978.
Nirex
Mr. Baldry : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he has yet received proposals from United
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Kingdom Nirex concerning the choice of sites for the disposal of radioactive waste ; and if he will make a statement.Mr. Ridley : Nirex's report and recommendations on the disposal of low and intermediate-level radioactive waste in a deep repository were submitted to Government on 28 February. Nirex recommends that a repository should be constructed in the form of a mine under the land, and that the next steps should be to carry out detailed geological studies, including the sinking of boreholes, in the vicinity of Sellafield and Dounreay. In arriving at these recommendations Nirex has concluded that it would be best to explore first those sites where there is some measure of local support for civil nuclear activities. The further evaluation of the geology of these two areas will enable Nirex to decide on their suitability for construction of a repository, or whether it will be necessary to evaluate other sites.
The Government, having consulted the radioactive waste management advisory committee accept the report and note that Nirex, having examined the arguments for storage rather than disposal of radioactive waste, has endorsed the Government's policy of disposal. The Government agree that further exploratory work is necessary before any particular site can be decided upon, and that it is for Nirex to obtain the necessary planning permissions through the normal procedures. Only when these investigations have been undertaken will Nirex be in a position to submit proposals for a substantive development and to seek the necessary approvals.
I have today decided to accept the recommendations made to me by the inspector, that the appeal by British Nuclear Fuels plc against Cumbria county council's refusal of planning permission to drill an exploratory geological borehole at Sellafield should be allowed. Copies of the decision letter on the borehole drilling at Sellafield have today been placed in the Libraries of both Houses. Copies of the Nirex report will be placed in the Libraries shortly. Further copies of the report will be available from Nirex.
Ecclesiastical Exemption
Mr. Key : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he has any proposals for an order under section 58AA of the Town and Country Planning Act 1971, which provides for the restriction of the ecclesiastical exemption.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : The Department has today issued a consultation paper to interested parties setting out our proposals. A copy has been placed in the Library.
Water Pollution
Mr. John Garrett : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he will list in the Official Report the number and location of breaches in 1988 in the EEC guide and mandatory levels for (a) phenols, (b) mineral oils, (c) enteroviruses, (d) salmonella, (e) faecal streptococci, (f) phosphates and (g) nitrates in bathing waters which were the responsibility of the Anglian water authority ;
(2) if he will list in the Official Report the number and location of breaches in 1988 in the EEC guide and mandatory levels for (a) cyanides, (b) lead and (c) chrome in bathing waters which were the responsibility of the Anglian water authority.
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Mr. Moynihan [holding answer 16 March 1989] : I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on Monday 20 March 1989.
Miss Pamella Bordes
Mr. Campbell-Savours : To as the Secretary of State for the Environment if an official ministerial car has been used to transport (a) Miss Pamella Bordes or (b) any other person to or from 6 Stockton court, Greycoat street, London SW1 or 69 a--Winchester street in (i) 1988 or (ii) 1989.
Mr. Chope : To the best of my knowledge no official ministerial car has ever been used to transport Miss Pamella Bordes or any other person to or from either address.
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DEFENCE
Falkland Islands
Mr. George : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will publish the outturn level of expenditure, or latest estimate where necessary, of the Falkland Islands in each year for 1983-84 to 1989-90 ; and if he will break the total down into (a) the cost of the airfield, (b) garrison running costs, (c) other garrison costs and (d) campaign costs.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The estimated total extra cost of the Falklands commitment from 1983-84 to 1989-90, and the campaign costs, garrison running costs, garrison capital costs, and the element of the garrison capital costs which is for the airfield construction, are set out in the table :
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Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if, in his discussions with his counterpart, and other Ministers of the Federal German Government, in Frankfurt on 21-22 February, he specifically addressed the implications for article VI compliance of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty of any modernisation programme of short-range nuclear missiles for NATO member states party to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.
Armed Services (Movements)
Mr. Steen : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence on what criteria he selects (a) airlines and (b) airports for the movement of members of the armed services.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The air transport force (ATF) of the RAF meets a large proportion of the armed forces' air movements needs and is used in preference to commercial airlines for economic reasons. ATF capacity is insufficient to provide for all these requirements, however, and commercial airlines are contracted to provide regular services over a number of routes. Normal competitive tender arrangements are used to select them.
For the movement of personnel using the ATF, the RAF employs its own airfields. Where personnel move by commercial airline, the airports used are those which are most cost-effective given the start and destination points of those travelling, and the operating practices of the contractor.
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FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS
USSR
Mr. John Marshall : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations have been made to the Russian Government about their continued failure to grant an exit visa to Malka Prilutzkaya.
Mr. Waldegrave : The case of Malka Prilutzkaya has not previously come to our attention. If the hon. Member can supply full details about this case, we can add it to those cases about which we consistently press the Soviet authorities.
Indebted Countries
Mr. Tom Clarke : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what was the net financial transfer of resources to the 17 most indebted countries for the last year for which figures are available ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Waldegrave : According to World Bank statistics, in 1987 (the latest date for which figures are available), there was a net financial transfer from the 17 highly indebted countries of $21.8 billion.
This is a misleading figure. The bank has measured the difference between repayments of loans (principal and interest) and new lending. They take no account of other flows such as grant aid. Before interest payments, there was a positive net resource transfer of $6.2 billion to the highly indebted countries in 1987.
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Afghanistan
Sir John Farr : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list those countries which currently have (a) full diplomatic representation, (b) lower diplomatic representation at consular level, etc., and (c) no representation at all in Afghanistan.
Mr. Eggar : Since Her Majesty's embassy in Kabul is temporarily closed and since we have no substantive dealings with the Kabul regime, we cannot provide the detailed information requested. We do know that Turkey is the only NATO member still currently represented in Kabul.
Sir John Farr : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he anticipates that Britain will have diplomatic representation again in Afghanistan ; and at what level.
Mr. Eggar : British diplomats will return to Kabul as soon as circumstances permit them to do a useful job. It is too early to predict when this will be.
THE ARTS
New Audiences
Mr. Bowis : To ask the Minister for the Arts what plans he has to encourage the arts to attract new audiences.
Mr. Luce : I have been greatly encouraged by the response of arts organisations to my marketing initiatives over the last two years and I believe that there is now an increased appreciation of the importance of good marketing. In 1989-90 I intend to build on previous experience by offering (i) extended consultancies to arts organisations trying a new marketing approach and (ii) to
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support the work of arts marketing consortia in offering new services to their members. Both schemes aim to bring in new audiences to introduce more people to the arts, and to encourage particular audience groups, such as young people, multi-cultural groups and the retired. I shall contribute 75 per cent. of the cost in both cases. I am grateful for the continued support of the Arts Council whose own marketing activities these schemes are intended to complement. It has agreed to run both schemes on my behalf.I hope that arts organisations will find these new initiatives a valuable means of extending access to the arts, particularly to new and wider audiences.
Victoria and Albert Musuem
Mr. Fisher : To ask the Minister for the Arts whether he will publish a table showing the monthly attendance figures of the Victoria and Albert museum for the last three years.
Mr. Luce [holding answer 8 March 1989] : I understand that the monthly attendance figures of the Victoria and Albert museum, including outstations, for the last three years are as follows :
|1986 |1987 |1988
------------------------------------------
January |126,345|99,814 |115,020
February |100,874|121,956|115,478
March |147,252|124,611|116,611
April |134,022|109,494|108,242
May |110,133|99,904 |117,967
June |94,628 |112,228|97,224
July |122,854|126,792|136,842
August |146,625|134,220|154,032
September |110,874|107,199|95,979
October |127,551|129,830|126,139
November |115,537|132,673|129,772
December |102,941|99,947 |117,331
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PRIME MINISTER
Wolston
Mr. Pawsey : To ask the Prime Minister if she has any plans to make an official visit to Wolston, near Coventry.
The Prime Minister : I have at present no plans to do so.
Rain Forests
Q96. Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Prime Minister if she will seek an invitation from the President of Brazil to visit central Amazonia and Brasilia in order to discuss United Kingdom technical support and debt-for- nature agreements with the Brazilian authorities, leading to an alleviation in the destruction of the rain forests.
The Prime Minister : I have no plans to do so. Through meetings at ministerial and official level, the Government of Brazil are well are of our concern about the rain forests. We are supporting joint reseach into forestry regeneration and allied subjects at the Maraca rain forest project and have been asked by Brazil to develop further proposals to help in this sector. Our co-operation is highly valued.
President Bush
Q131. Mr. Wood : To ask the Prime Minister when she next expects to meet President Bush.
Q135. Mr. Carrington : To ask the Prime Minister when she next expects to meet President Bush.
The Prime Minister : I expect to see President Bush when he comes to Europe for the NATO summit at the end of May.
President Gorbachev
Q133. Mr. Colin Shepherd : To ask the Prime Minister when she next expects to meet President Gorbachev.
Q141. Mr. Michael Brown : To ask the Prime Minister when she next expects to meet President Gorbachev.
Q146. Mr. Cash : To ask the Prime Minister when she next expects to meet President Gorbachev.
The Prime Minister : On 5 April, when he arrives in Britain for a two-day visit.
Nuclear Weapons
Q170. Mr. Corbyn : To ask the Prime Minister what current action Her Majesty's Government are taking to eliminate all nuclear weapons.
The Prime Minister : The United Kingdom fulfils her obligations as a party to the treaty on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons. Article VI of the treaty requires the parties to it to pursue negotiations on effective measures connected with nuclear disarmament. Since the United States and the Soviet Union possess between them the overwhelming preponderance of nuclear weapons it is universally recognised that the primary responsibility for negotiations falls to them. The United States and Soviet Union are currently engaged in such negotiations which aim at 50 per cent. reductions in their strategic nuclear weapons.
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NHS Hospitals
Q214. Mr. Charles Wardle : To ask the Prime Minister when she most recently visited a National Health Service hospital.
The Prime Minister : I visited Mayday hospital in Croydon on 5 March 1989 following the rail tragedy at Purley.
Engagements
Mr. Andrew F. Bennett : To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 21 March.
Mr. Pike : To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 21 March.
Mr. Tredinnick : To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 21 March.
Mr. McGrady : To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 21 March.
Mr. Harry Greenway : To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 21 March.
Mr. Stern : To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 21 March.
Mr. Barry Field : To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 21 March.
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.
Interception of Communications Act 1985
Mr. Wheeler : To ask the Prime Minister when the commissioner appointed under the Interception of Communications Act 1985 will present his annual report ; and if she will make a statement.
The Prime Minister : A copy of the 1988 annual report by Lord Justice Lloyd has been laid before the House today in accordance with section 8(7) of the Interception of Communications Act 1985. The confidential appendix to the report has been excluded from that copy in accordance with section 8(8) of the Interception of Communications Act 1985. I am grateful to the commissioner for his work on the report and the reassurance it contains, that care is taken by all concerned to observe not only the letter but also the spirit of the Act. The commissioner's report suggests a small number of improvements to the procedures observed in dealing with these cases. Careful consideration is being given to ways of implementing these suggestions.
AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD
Liscombe Experimental Husbandry Farm
Mr. David Nicholson : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what representations he has received regarding the possible closure of Liscombe experimental husbandry farm, near Dulverton, Somerset,
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and its current contribution to research into pollution control measures, conservation techniques and other environmental issues ; when he expects to reach a decision ; and if he will make a statement.Mr. Ryder : I have received a number of letters and a large number of copies of a circular letter together with a petition.
Today my noble Friend, the Baroness Trumpington, wrote to industry organisations and to the chairmen of the advisory committees for Ministry experimental husbandry farms to provide more information for the industry to assist it in determining what near market research it will fund. That letter also announced the Ministry's proposal to close the Liscombe experimental husbandry farm, but final decisions will not be taken until Ministers have considered the industry's response. Local interests have already approached the Department with a proposal and discussions are continuing.
Poultry Industry
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what information he has as to whether any measures similar to those he has recently introduced to secure the wholesomeness of the British poultry industry apply in any other EEC countries.
Mr. Donald Thompson : Several member states of the European Community have introduced a range of controls to combat salmonella, though none is as comprehensive as the measures which I set out on 18 January. The United Kingdom is pressing for further action to tackle the problem throughout the Community.
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what information he has about recent changes in employment totals in the poultry industry.
Mr. Donald Thompson : I have no figures relating to total employment in the poultry industry.
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