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OVERSEAS DEVELOPMENT
Tanzania
Mr. Cox : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussion his Department is having with the Government of Tanzania to develop a joint project for the mining of coal in that country.
Mr. Chris Patten : No such discussions are taking place at present. The Government of Tanzania have not raised this issue with us.
Kampuchea
Mrs. Clwyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what guarantees he has received that the United Kingdom aid provided for the Kampuchean refugee camps in Thailand goes only to those camps to which the United Nations has access and that no United Kingdom aid, either bilateral or multilateral, goes to camps controlled by the Khmer Rouge.
Mr. Chris Patten : Our assistance, which is provided through the relevant United Nations agencies, is subject to the stipulation that it should go only to the occupants of those camps controlled by the non- Communist elements of the Cambodian resistance. We have received assurances that this stipulation is observed.
Mrs. Clwyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will increase the United Kingdom contribution to the UNBRO education and training for Kampuchean refugees in camps in Thailand.
Mr. Chris Patten : I did so last month by increasing our 1988-89 contribution to UNBRO by £100,000 to £350,000 following an appeal for additional funds based on increased requirements in the camps.
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SCOTLAND
Funding Sources
Mr. Sillars : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list sources of funding to which organisations previously funded by the Manpower Services Commission may apply for assistance.
Mr. Lang : The availability of assistance for any particular organisation will depend on its functions and the particular projects in which it is involved.
Community Charge
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he will list the uses and disclosures of personal data that can currently be made by charging authorities and community charges registration officers for purposes other than those directly related to the community charge ; and whether he will make a statement.
Mr. Lang : Personal data collected for community charges purposes can only be disclosed through inspection of community charges register. The register is available for inspection to the extent specified and for the purposes set out in section 20 of the Abolition of Domestic Rates Etc. (Scotland) Act 1987, as amended by the Local Government Finance Act 1988, and in regulation 16 of the Community Charges (Registration) (Scotland) (No. 2) Regulations 1988.
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many people in Scotland have (a) registered and (b) not registered for the poll tax ; how many have (i) paid and (ii) not paid the poll tax ; and how many are currently undergoing court proceedings.
Mr. Lang : Registration for and payment of the community charges are matters for individual community charges registration officers and levying authorities (regional and islands councils) respectively and the information requested is not held centrally. However, I understand from figures provided by them that registration is estimated to be approaching 99 per cent. of the adult population. Local authorities have published no figures regarding payment levels.
Head Teachers
Mr. Bradley : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland over each of the 10 years from 1978 to 1988 how many (a) male and (b) female head teachers of schools in Scotland have left for the following reasons : (a) normal retirement, (b) early retirement, specifying the various reasons for this, (c) death in service, and (d) death within five years of retirement ; and how many in each category were from (i) primary schools, (ii) secondary schools, (iii) special schools and (iv) other schools.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : The information requested is not available.
Sports Clubs
Mr. Pendry : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) what provision is made for rates relief for sports clubs in Scotland ; (2) what additional funds have been made available to Scottish local authorities to enable sports clubs to obtain 100 per cent. rate relief.
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Mr. Lang : Full account is taken of the relief that each local authority plans to give to sports clubs when calculating that authority's entitlement to revenue support grant. The cost of such relief in rate income forgone and in extra grant for 1989-90 is estimated to be £3 million.
Rating Reform
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what meetings he has had since 1 April on the implementation, registration and collection of the poll tax in England and Wales.
Health Boards
Mr. Galbraith : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he last met the chairmen and general managers of health boards ; and what subjects were discused.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : As part of my regular pattern of meetings I met the chairmen of health boards and of the Common Services Agency on 10 March, when we discussed a wide range of issues relating to the National Health Service in Scotland. I do not regularly meet the general managers as a group, though the Scottish Home and Health Department does.
Children's Playgrounds
Mr. Kirkwood : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) if he will list in the Official Report those regulations which govern safety requirements in children's playgrounds belonging to local authorities ;
(2) what requirements are imposed on local authorities to ensure that local authorities play areas have yielding ground surfaces below playground equipment including swings and climbing frames ; (3) what guidance has been given to local authorities regarding safety surfaces in local authority play areas ;
(4) what plans he has to introduce requirements to lay safety surfaces on local authority playgrounds.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : There are no regulations governing safety requirements or safety surfaces in children's playgrounds belonging to local authorities. The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 requires all playground operators to take all reasonable measures to ensure the safety of such facilities and to report certain accidents to the Health and Safety Executive, which enforces the Act. Additionally, a number of British standards apply to playground surfaces and equipment. I have no plans for further requirements or guidance to local authorities.
Historic Churches
Mr. Kirkwood : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he has any plans to introduce a scheme to assist the Church of Scotland to retain historic churches no longer used for acts of worship and which would otherwise be liable to be demolished ; and if he will make a statement.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : Churches in Scotland of any denomination may receive historic building repair grant for repairs and restoration, if they are of outstanding
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architectural merit or historic interest. Where a church is no longer used for worship, grant is available to encourage a prospective purchaser to restore the building for a new purpose. Over the past 10 years repair grants awarded to former churches for which new uses have been found have amounted to about £2 million.Road Signs
Mr. Kirkwood : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement outlining current criteria used to determine which forward destinations are shown on road direction signs on primary routes in Scotland.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : First, places are selected as being of traffic importance because of their value as reference points for drivers to assist them to find the most satisfactory route on long journeys. They are then classed as either super-primary destinations (Edinburgh, Glasgow and Inverness only) or primary destinations (all others). As a rule advance direction signs should contain only one place name for each direction and on primary routes this should be the next primary destination along the immediate route. A super-primary destination may also appear. This rule is not applied so rigidly as to impair the effectiveness of the signing system and occasionally additional primary destinations may appear.
Mr. Kirkwood : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list in the Official Report all places of traffic importance in the Borders region.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : They are Coldstream, Galashiels, Hawick, Jedburgh and Peebles.
Mr. Kirkwood : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he expects the road signposting of the town of Hawick on that part of the A7 in the Dumfries and Galloway region and on the M6 to be carried out.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : When the proposal to signpost Hawick was agreed in June 1986 it was on the basis of a gradual programme to implement the necessary sign changes over five years, with priority for replacement of these groups of signs that were in the worst state of repair.
Mr. Kirkwood : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list in the Official Report locations of primary route signs situated to the south of the town of Hawick which show (a) Hawick and (b) Galashiels as a place of traffic importance.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : Work on amending signposting to the south of Hawick to show Hawick as a place of traffic importance has not yet started in Dumfries and Galloway or Cumbria. However, Hawick has been added to a route confirmatory sign 1 miles south of Hawick and to an advance direction sign at the A7/B711 junction, both in Borders region. Galashiels appears on primary route signs at the following locations :
Cumbria
M6/A7 Junction 44 (for travellers on A7 northbound, A74 southbound and approaching from Brampton/Carlisle Airport). A7 Harker Park.
A7 Blackford (south end and St. John the Baptist Parish Church).
A7 West Linton.
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A7/A6071 Longtown (north and south).A7 Oakbank.
Dumfries and Galloway
A7/B7201 Canonbie.
A7/B6357 Canonbie.
A7/B720 Hollows.
A7/B6318 Skipper's Bridge.
A7/B7068 Langholm.
A7/C76A Whitsheils.
A7/C78A Sorbie.
A7/C77A Fiddleton Toll.
Mr. Kirkwood : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what plans he has to list the town of Hawick as a place of traffic importance alongside the town of Galashiels on road signs from the north within the Lothian region.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : I agreed last month that Hawick should be included alongside Galashiels on road signs from the north within Lothian region.
Petrochemical Development (Peterhead)
Mr. Salmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what information he has on the development of the North Collielaw site in Peterhead by petrochemical companies ; and if he will make a statement.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : My right hon. and learned Friend is not aware of any such proposals at present. Any proposal would be subject to normal planning procedures and, in the first instance, would be the responsibility of Banff and Buchan district council as planning authority.
Sexual Assaults
Mr. Menzies Campbell : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many people have been tried in Scotland for sexual assaults of all kinds for each of the past five years for which figures are available.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : The information available is given in the table :
Year |Persons called to court |Persons tried following a
|plea of not guilty
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1983 |197 |103
1984 |182 |94
1985 |221 |126
1986 |234 |127
1987 |225 |116
The term "sexual assaults" includes rape, assault with intent to rape and indecent assault.
Toll Charges
Mr. Home Robertson : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what consideration he is giving to private funding for a new motorway between Edinburgh and the English border ; and what is his policy concerning the imposition of toll charges on any part of the national road network.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : No Government consideration is being given to private funding for a new motorway from the border to Edinburgh. My right hon. and learned Friend is aware that a possible extension to
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Scotland of a proposed east coast motorway project from Cambridge to Teesside was mooted to Scottish local authorities by the group of promoting local authorities in England. He understands that the Scottish authorities approached are unlikely to favour considering an extension.As to toll charges on any part of the national road network, there are, of course, charges already on, for example, the Forth, Tay and Erskine bridges. Tolls can be an appropriate means of meeting all or part of capital costs.
Prisoners
Mr. Moss : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many (a) successful escapes and (b) unsuccessful escape attempts there have been from prisons in Scotland by category A prisoners in each of the last 10 years.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton [holding answer 4 April 1989] : The information is set out in the table.
Year |Prison |Escapes |Attempted escapes ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1979 |Perth |1 |- 1980 |- |- |- 1981 |- |- |- 1982 |Peterhead |3 |1 1983 |Peterhead |- |1 1984 |- |- |- 1985 |Peterhead |- |3 1986 |Inverness |- |2 1987 |- |- |- 1988 |- |- |-
WALES
Valleys Initiative
Dr. Thomas : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) what representations he has received concerning the voluntary work content of the valleys initiative programme ; and if he will make a statement ;
(2) what consultations his Department has undertaken with regard to the voluntary effort content of the valleys initiative programme ; (3) if he will make a statement on the progress of the voluntary effort content of the valleys initiative programme.
Mr. Peter Walker : Representations have been received from the Wales Council for Voluntary Action and the Mid Glamorgan Association of Voluntary Organisations about community development activity and the development of voluntary services generally in the valleys. Consultations are taking place with the county associations of voluntary organisations in Gwent, Mid Glamorgan and West Glamorgan to agree a programme of action for which £100,000 has been set aside in 1989-90. This is in addition to the substantial voluntary sector funding already made available under other headings.
The urban programme is continuing to provide very substantial support for a wide range of voluntary schemes including those concerned with social services, environmental improvement and business support and advice. In 1989-90 allocations to voluntary schemes benefiting the valleys will total £3 million.
Good progress is also being made with other schemes identified in the programme and being undertaken by the
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Community Projects Foundation, Groundwork Foundation, Prince of Wales Committee and UK2000, all of which are expected to make an important contribution in the valleys.Housing
Dr. Thomas : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what measures his Department is taking to ensure that changes in his Department's financial provision for housing associations allow the associations in Wales to continue to provide housing for rent to tenants on low wages ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Grist : The Welsh Office is particularly concerned about the situation facing people on low incomes in Wales. We have accordingly secured Treasury agreement that there will be no maximum rate of housing association grant in Wales this year. This will give Housing for Wales the flexibility that it needs to progress schemes which reflect local needs and costs in every area in Wales and for all categories of people in housing need.
Dr. Thomas : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is his policy with regard to the promotion of low-cost home ownership schemes in Wales ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Grist : We have asked Housing for Wales for this year to give particular attention to low-cost home ownership schemes, particularly in rural areas. Welsh Office officials have also recently secured a significantly higher value limit for shared ownership schemes as it is important that this type of development should continue throughout the Principality.
Dr. Thomas : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list (a) the number of dwellings owned, (b) the number of dwellings built, (c) the number of dwellings sold and (d) the number of dwellings purchased from the private sector, in each year since 1980 by each housing authority in Wales.
Mr. Grist : The information requested is not readily available and I will reply as soon as possible.
Dr. Thomas : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will give the details of each request he has received from housing authorities for special loans to allow them to purchase dwellings from the private sector.
Mr. Grist : The Welsh Office has received bids totalling £1.2 million from the following district authorities :
Aberconwy
Arfon
Ceredigion
Dwyfor
Isle of Anglesey
Montgomeryshire
Preseli (Pembs)
We are currently considering the applications and hope to announce the actual allocations shortly.
Dr. Thomas : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many second homes there are in each district authority area in Wales ; and in each case what percentage of the total housing stock they represent.
Mr. Grist : Estimates of the number of second homes alone are not available. The Welsh inter-censal survey,
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however, provides an assessment of the percentage of homes identified as definite or presumed second/holiday homes. These figures are given in the following table :
|c|Second and Holiday Homes 1986|c|
|Number of Second and |Second and Holiday Homes
|Holiday Homes |as per cent. of District
|Stock (a)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alyn and Deeside |50 |-
Colwyn |960 |4
Delyn |280 |1
Glyndwr |690 |4
Rhuddlan |480 |2
Wrexham Maelor |100 |-
Carmarthen |490 |2
Ceredigion |1,570 |6
Dinefwr |290 |2
Llanelli |120 |-
Preseli |1,950 |7
South Pembrokeshire |1,510 |9
Blaenau Gwent |50 |-
Islwyn |20 |-
Monmouth |130 |-
Newport |100 |-
Torfaen |80 |-
Aberconwy |2,040 |9
Arfon |1,380 |6
Dwyfor |2,860 |21
Meirionnydd |3,200 |20
Ynys Mon |1,760 |6
Cynon Valley |70 |-
Merthyr Tydfil |0 |-
Ogwr |50 |-
Rhondda |20 |-
Rhymney Valley |20 |-
Taff-Ely |100 |-
Brecknock |650 |4
Montgomeryshire |1,040 |5
Radnor |410 |4
Cardiff |50 |-
Vale of Glamorgan |260 |1
Lliw Valley |70 |-
Neath |0 |-
Port Talbot (Afan) |40 |-
Swansea |460 |1
Wales |23,340 |2
(a)-indicates 0.5 per cent. or less.
Source: Welsh Inter-Censal Survey 1986.
Dr. Thomas : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many people are on the waiting lists for accommodation of each housing authority in Wales.
Mr. Grist : The information is not collected centrally.
Dr. Thomas : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many people are on each housing authority's waiting list for improvement grants in Wales.
Mr. Grist : The number of home improvement grant applications outstanding at the end of December 1988 is given in the following table :
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|c|Grant applications outstanding at 31 December 1988|c|
|Improvement and|Repairs |Intermediate |Special |All grants
|conversion
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Aberconwy |29 |21 |4 |6 |60
Alyn and Deeside |26 |72 |0 |0 |98
Arfon |97 |239 |1 |1 |338
Blaenau Gwent |1,206 |3,153 |156 |0 |4,515
Brecknock |62 |342 |31 |0 |435
Cardiff |1,888 |2,994 |334 |159 |5,375
Carmarthen |220 |372 |4 |2 |598
Ceredigion |131 |866 |36 |0 |1,033
Colwyn |172 |77 |0 |4 |253
Cynon Valley |180 |1,774 |1,581 |0 |3,535
Delyn |12 |62 |4 |0 |78
Dinefwr |23 |276 |1 |0 |300
Dwyfor |55 |388 |23 |2 |468
Glyndwr |174 |184 |60 |0 |418
Islwyn |14 |157 |0 |0 |171
Llanelli |24 |327 |7 |0 |358
Lliw Valley |45 |207 |23 |0 |275
Meirionnydd |1 |4 |2 |0 |7
Merthyr Tydfil |10 |235 |50 |0 |295
Monmouth |3 |0 |0 |0 |3
Montgomeryshire |21 |71 |16 |0 |108
Neath |221 |472 |20 |1 |714
Newport |632 |1,554 |47 |24 |2,257
Ogwr |300 |774 |36 |48 |1,158
Port Talbot (Afan) |178 |1,196 |14 |0 |1,388
Preseli |904 |1,009 |2 |2 |1,917
Radnor |89 |190 |21 |0 |300
Rhondda |1,196 |3,461 |1,229 |0 |5,886
Rhuddlan |63 |19 |1 |0 |83
Rhymney Valley |374 |2,237 |78 |0 |2,689
South Pembrokeshire |161 |72 |6 |0 |239
Swansea |891 |658 |45 |27 |1,621
Taff-Ely |141 |151 |26 |41 |359
Torfaen |229 |719 |293 |0 |1,241
Vale of Glamorgan |8 |926 |3 |2 |939
Wrexham Maelor |65 |260 |22 |0 |347
Ynys Mon |19 |25 |9 |0 |53
|--- |--- |--- |--- |---
Wales Total |9,864 |25,544 |4,185 |319 |39,912
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Dr. Thomas : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is the average price of each category of dwelling in each district authority area in Wales ; and what are the corresponding figures for each year since 1979.
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Mr. Grist : Average dwelling prices are not available by district. The average dwelling prices by type of dwelling for Wales as a whole are shown in the following table :
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|c|Average private sector dwelling prices by type of dwelling: Wales|c|
000's
Year |Bungalow |Detached house |Semi-detached house |Terraced house |Flat or maisonette in|Purpose built flat or|All dwellings
|converted house |maisonette
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1979 |18.5 |26.0 |15.6 |11.4 |13.2 |11.5 |17.1
1980 |21.5 |29.6 |18.3 |13.6 |16.1 |17.0 |19.4
1981 |23.5 |32.1 |18.7 |14.5 |12.0 |17.0 |20.2
1982 |22.8 |33.7 |18.3 |14.6 |17.1 |13.1 |19.7
1983 |26.7 |36.5 |20.5 |15.9 |19.5 |16.5 |22.5
1984 |27.1 |37.2 |22.0 |17.6 |15.4 |19.2 |23.7
1985 |30.2 |41.4 |22.3 |18.3 |17.1 |19.8 |25.0
1986 |34.8 |42.4 |25.5 |19.8 |18.9 |25.2 |27.4
1987 |36.8 |48.7 |26.3 |21.3 |22.6 |26.5 |29.7
1988 |42.4 |59.3 |30.1 |25.7 |24.3 |27.3 |34.2
Source: Sample Survey of Building Society Mortgages, DOE.
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