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EDUCATION AND SCIENCE
Publicity Campaigns
4. Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will list all current publicity campaigns being conducted by or for his Department or ones planned for the first three months of 1989- 90, indicating those which involve television advertising and the starting and finishing dates of each campaign.
Mrs. Rumbold : The Department is not currently involved in any publicity campaigns. However, a teacher recruitment publicity campaign mounted by the teaching as a career unit has recently been completed. This included newspaper advertising but not television advertising. The campaign has attracted over 10,000 responses. There are no plans at present for any Departmental publicity campaigns in the first three months of the financial year 1989-90.
Under-Fives
Mr. Ken Hargreaves : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science when he proposes to reply to the report of the Select Committee on Education, Science and Arts entitled "Educational Provision for the Under Fives".
Mr. Kenneth Baker : I have sent the Government's response to this report to the Chairman of the Committee today. A copy has been placed in the Library.
ATTORNEY-GENERAL
Land Registry (Security)
Mr. Allen : To ask the Attorney-General what steps are taken to ensure that the security arrangements at the land registry in Nottingham are sufficient to ensure that documents remain confidential and are not disposed of in public places ; and if he will make a statement.
The Attorney-General : All the normal security arrangements to be found in government offices obtain for the Nottingham district land registry. Those arrangements at Nottingham, as at all district registries, remain under constant review to ensure that documents are in safe custody. A small number of papers stolen from the Nottingham district land registry have recently been recovered. An urgent, independent investigation is being conducted into the loss of these documents, and the circumstances of their recovery.
Commonhold
Mr. Atkinson : To ask the Attorney-General when he expects to make a decision on implementation of the recommendation of the working group of the Law Commission on commonhold, Cm. 179 ; and if he will make a statement.
The Attorney-General : The Lord Chancellor hopes to be in a position to announce a decision on the implementation of the Law Commission working group report on commonhold during the summer. Work is continuing at the Law Commission on the preparation of draft legislation to give effect to the report.
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PRIME MINISTER
Hospitals (Norwich)
Mr. John Garrett : To ask the Prime Minister if, in the last three years, she has met medical consultants concerning the location of the second district general hospital in the Norwich health district.
The Prime Minister : As the House is aware, my normal practice is and will continue to be neither to confirm nor to deny whether meetings with private individuals have taken place, even in those cases where no such meeting has occurred.
ENERGY
Efficiency Expenditure
Mr. Fraser : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy how much will be spent by his Department in the next financial year in energy efficiency work ; and what was the expenditure of his Department five and 10 years ago.
Mr. Parkinson : Expenditure by my Department on energy efficiency programmes was £2.4 million in 1979-80 and £17.5 million in 1984- 85. The provision for expenditure by the energy efficiency office in 1989- 90 is £15 million as published in the supply estimates.
Equal Opportunities
Mr. Janner : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy how many and what percentage of officers in grades 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7, respectively, and overall in his Department are (a) women and (b) members of ethnic minorities.
Mr. Parkinson : As at 1 April 1989 there were no women in grades 1 to 4 ; three (7 per cent.) at grade 5 ; one (5 per cent.) at grade 6 ; and 18 (12.5 per cent.) at grade 7. Information on ethnic origin in these grades is not yet available.
Mr. Janner : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy when his Department last conducted a survey of the ethnic origin of its employees ; when it next plans to do so ; and whether he will make a statement.
Mr. Parkinson : A survey was completed in 1986 and a further survey is planned later this year.
Mr. Janner : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what steps he has taken to recruit members of ethnic minorities in top grades of employment at his Department.
Mr. Parkinson : My Department, which is an equal opportunities employer, does not itself recruit to senior posts. The Civil Service Commission recruits to these positions, following equal opportunities procedures.
Publicity Campaigns
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will list all current publicity campaigns being conducted by or for his Department or campaigns planned for the first three months of 1989-90, indicating those which involve television advertising and the starting and finishing dates of each campaign.
Mr. Parkinson : There is a continuing programme of publicity to promote the work of the Department's energy
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efficiency office, offshore supplies office and the use of renewable sources of energy. None of these campaigns will involve television advertising.CIVIL SERVICE
Recruitment and Training
Mr. Jack : To ask the Minister for the Civil Service when he next plans to visit the Fylde coast area to discuss matters relating to Civil Service recruitment and training.
Mr. Luce : I have no plans to do so. However, I am pleased to note that, in terms of the north-western region as a whole, numbers of civil servants have been increasing in recent years, a period when overall numbers in the service and numbers in the south-east have declined. I am sure that the relative attractiveness of the region for departmental recruitment has been an important factor in this.
THE ARTS
Equal Opportunities
Mr. Janner : To ask the Minister for the Arts how many and what percentage of officers in grades 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7, respectively, and overall in his Office are (a) women and (b) members of ethnic minorities.
Mr. Luce : The number, and percentage, of women officers in grades 2, 5, 6, 7, and overall, in the Department, are given in the table. The Department does not employ anyone at grades 1, 3 and 4.
|Number of women in grade|Percentage
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Grade 2 |- |-
Grade 5 |1 |25
Grade 6 |1 |100
Grade 7 (and equivalent) |4 |33
Departmental total |27 |45
My information is that none of the staff of the Office of Arts and Libraries is a member of the ethnic minorities.
Mr. Janner : To ask the Minister for the Arts when his Office last conducted a survey of the ethnic origin of its employees ; when it next plans to do so ; and whether he will make a statement.
Mr. Luce : The last survey was conducted in 1986. There are no plans to repeat it, but the ethnic origins of all new entrants to the Office of Arts and Libraries are monitored on a continuous basis by the Cabinet Office.
NATIONAL FINANCE
Balance of Trade
84. Mr. Dunnachie : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he now expects Britain's trade to be in balance.
88. Mr. Wareing : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he next expects the balance of trade to be positive.
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89. Mrs. Clwyd : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he now expects Britain's trade to be in balance.
91. Mr. Graham : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he now expects Britain's trade to be in balance.
Mr. Major : The Financial Statement and Budget Report for 1989-90 shows a forecast of a deficit in visible trade in 1989. Forecasts of the balance in later years are not published.
85. Mr. Marlow : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his estimate of the level of the parameters of inaccuracy for the balance of trade.
Mr. Major : The estimates for trade in goods are generally considered to be of fairly high quality. Figures for trade in services are subject to much wider margins of error.
There are considerable difficulties in measuring the United Kingdom's balance of payments account as a whole, and over the last three years, the "balancing item" has averaged £14 billion per year. The "balancing item" reflects errors and omissions in both the current and capital account.
Trade Deficit
86. Mr. Harry Barnes : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what he now expects to be the trade deficit in 1989.
Mr. Major : The Financial and Budget Report for 1988-89 shows a forecast deficit for visible trade in 1989 of £21 billion.
Manufacturing Trade Deficit
87. Mr. Bell : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his latest estimate of the manufacturing trade deficit in 1989.
Mr. Major : The Financial Statement and Budget Report for 1989-90 shows a forecast deficit in manufactured trade in 1989 of £15 billion.
90. Mr. Beith : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his latest estimate of the deficit in trade in manufactures for 1990-91.
Mr. Major : The Financial Statement and Budget Report for 1989-90 provides a forecast of the manufactured trade balance for 1989 only. Forecasts of the balance in later years are not published.
EC Budget
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will bring up to date the information in his reply dated 28 July 1988, Official Report, columns 497-98, concerning the United Kingdom net contribution to the European Community budget ; and if he will add forecasts for 1989, 1990 and 1991, drawing attention to any differences between these figures, and those used for the estimates in table 21.2.2 of Cm 21.
Mr. Brooke [holding answer 18 April 1989] : The updated figures are set out in the table. An estimate of the
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United Kingdom's net contribution in 1989 will be contained in the statement on the 1989 Community budget, to be published later in the month. It is not the Government's practice to publish calendar year forecasts for future years.Column 169
£ million
Year |Net contribution before|Negotiated-refunds |VAT abatements |Net contribution after |Net contribution after
|refunds or VAT |refunds and abatements |refunds and abatements
|abatements (cash) |(cash)<1> |at constant 1988
|prices<2>
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1975 |-56 |- |- |-56 |-180
1976 |167 |- |- |167 |467
1977 |369 |- |- |369 |908
1978 |822 |- |- |822 |1,813
1979 |947 |- |- |947 |1,828
1980 |804 |98 |- |706 |1,138
1981 |1,090 |693 |- |397 |574
1982 |1,625 |1,019 |- |606 |815
1983 |1,454 |807 |- |647 |827
1984 |1,184 |528 |- |656 |802
1985 |2,035 |61 |166 |1,808 |2,090
1986 |2,273 |- |1,701 |572 |639
1987 |2,866 |- |1,153 |1,713 |1,827
1988 |2,956 |- |1,594 |1,362 |1,362
<1>United Kingdom figures show payments to the Community budget on a cash flow basis. Budget refunds and abatements are credited to the year they are paid.
<2>Constant prices have been constructed using the GDP deflator at market prices.
Third World Debt
Mr. Andrew Smith : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what information he has on what percentage of the capital of British banks was represented by outstanding loans by major Third world borrowers in each of the last five years.
Mr. Lilley [holding answer 11 April 1989] : The percentage of the capital of major British clearing banks with exposure to highly indebted Third world countries represented by outstanding loans to those countries in each of the last five years is as follows :
Year |Figures ------------------------ 1984 |179 1985 |128 1986 |103 1987 |81 1988 |65
The figures for exposure do not take account of the provisions made by the banks against their loans to these countries. Net of provisions the banks' exposure to these countries represented 44 per cent. of their capital in 1988 (56 per cent. in 1987).
Equal Opportunities
Mr. Janner : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many and what percentage of officers in grades 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7, respectively, and overall in his Department are (a) women and (b) members of ethnic minorities.
Mr. Brooke : The information is as follows :
Women Ethnic minorities<1>
|Number |Percentage of staff in|Ethnic Number<2> |Percentage of staff in
|grade |grade
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Grade 1 |0 |0 |0 |0
Grade 1a |1 |25 |0 |0
Grade 2 |0 |0 |0 |0
Grade 3 |3 |13 |0 |0
Grade 4 |0 |0 |0 |0
Grade 5 |9 |13 |0 |0
Grade 6 |0 |0 |<2> |3.5
Grade 7 |43 |16 |0 |0
|--- |--- |--- |---
Total for
Department<3> |1,241 |39 |115 |<4>4.8
<1> Information on ethnic origins was provided on a voluntary basis.
<2> In accordance with the Department's Code of Practice governing the use of ethnic data, figures for ethnic minorities have been
rounded to the nearest 5 to preserve confidentiality; the <2> denotes less than 3. The percentages have been calculated on the basis of
unrounded data.
<3> Equivalent information on ethnic origins of industrial staff is not available.
<4> Because of <3> above, the percentage quoted is based on the figure for non-industrial staff only.
Mr. Janner : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when his Department last conducted a survey of the ethnic origin of its employees ; when it next plans to do so ; and whether he will make a statement.
Mr. Brooke : My department conducted an ethnic survey of all its non -industrial staff during 1986 ; updating and monitoring information on the ethnic origins of our staff is a continuous process.
Mr. Janner : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps he has taken to recruit members of ethnic minorities in top grades of employment at his Department.
Mr. Brooke : The Civil Service Commission is responsible for recruitment to the top grades in my Department.
Internal Market
Mr. Sillars : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the total value to the latest available full year of public sector contracts in England of a character which will make them open to Community-wide bidding as part of the creation of the internal market.
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Mr. Brooke : None. The cost of assessing the value of public contracts in England to be opened to Community-wide bidding would not be justified. The European Commission is currently investigating the effect of applying procurement rules to contracts above various value thresholds in sectors excluded from the existing Community directives.
AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD
Pollution
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many farms in England were advised by agricultural development advisory service staff about methods of controlling agricultural pollution in each of the last five years.
Mr. Donald Thompson : This information is not available in the form requested.
Grain Stores
Sir Eldon Griffiths : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many grain stores the intervention board owns and manages on his behalf ; if he
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will publish in the Official Report the location, size in square feet or volume, the capacity and the approximate value of each ; how and by whom each of these stores is managed ; how and by whom the managers are recruited and appointed and how much they are paid ; and which of the stores has returned a profit or a loss and of what order, in each of the financial years 1980 to 1988.Mr. Donald Thompson : The intervention board does not own any intervention grain stores but rents eight Government-owned properties from the Property Services Agency estates. Details of the locations, volumes, capacities, values and managing companies are given in the table. Managing companies are contracted by the intervention board after selection by competitive tender. Information on amounts paid to individual companies is commercially confidential. The stores are used exclusively to store intervention grain or oilseeds and the intervention board derives no income from their use other than the European Community's contributions at standard rates towards handling and storage costs. In terms of the cost per tonne of grain or oilseeds handled and stored, they are fully competitive with the commercial stores contracted for intervention storage.
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Location and managers |Storage area ('000 sq.|Capacity (tonnes wheat|Value<1> (£'000)
|ft.) |equivalent)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Driffield (North Humberside)
Fishers Seeds and Grain Ltd. |180 |74,000 |650
2 Hartlebury (Hereford and Worcester)
Anglia Agricultural Merchants Ltd. |214 |67,000 |900
3 Hemswell (Lincolnshire)
William Gleadell and Sons Ltd. |180 |75,000 |800
4 Locharbriggs (Dumfries)
Storage Services (Leith) Ltd. |135 |71,000 |960
5 Manby (Lincolnshire)
Wilsons Corn and Milling Ltd. |155 |53,000 |800
6 Prees Heath (Shropshire)
Wilsons of Hadleigh |144 |59,000 |600
7 Tangmere (Sussex)
John Bryant (Romsey) Ltd. |86 |29,000 |1,320
8 Yorkshire (Yorkshire)
Fishers Seeds and Grain Ltd. |230 |78,000 |2,750
<1>As advised in 1988 by the Inland Revenue district valuers with the intervention board as sitting tenants.
MV Perintis
Dr. Godman : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food on what information he based his opinion recorded in the preamble to the Food Protection (Emergency Prohibitions) (Sea Fish) (Revocation) Order 1989, S.I., 1988, No. 619, that the toxic substances which escaped as a result of the sinking of the MV Perintis were not in the area designated in the schedule to the Food Protection (Emergency Prohibitions) (Sea Fish) Order, S.I., 1989, No. 529.
Mr. Donald Thompson : The precautionary ban on fishing was lifted after the French navy had completed an intensive search of the sea-bed in the area concerned. I understand their search operation extended over two weeks and involved a number of specially equipped surface ships and submersibles at a cost of over 8 million French francs but they were unable to find the lindane container in the area where they previously suspected it had sunk. In addition, the results of fish and water sampling which we and the French authorities were carrying out revealed no evidence of lindane leakage in this area.
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Dr. Godman : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will indicate the types and approximate number of fishing vessels registered in the United Kingdom and other countries, which have been, or are likely to be, affected by the precautionary fishing ban, invoked by the Minister, under the Food and Environment Protection Act 1985 following the foundering of the vessel Perintis on 13 March.
Mr. Donald Thompson : The precautionary fishing ban, which applied to United Kingdom and Channel Islands vessels between 21 March and 7 April, covered an area of sea lying within a radius of seven nautical miles, centred on the position where the container of lindane was presumed to have sunk.
For part of the period the area was unsuitable for fishing because of poor weather and tidal conditions.
The area is used for potting by six vessels from Alderney. No English or other Channel Island vessels are understood to take significant catches from the area.
Dr. Godman : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will indicate the methods of
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monitoring instituted by his Ministry, following the loss of the MV Perintis in the Channel on or about 13 March ; and if he will make a statement.Mr. Donald Thompson : Immediately following the sinking of the MV Perintis, my Ministry undertook a programme of monitoring of water and biological material (fish and crabs) from around the wreck of the vessel and from the area in which the container of lindane was presumed to have sunk. This programme has since been extended to include fish landed at south coast ports. The results of the monitoring indicate that there has been no leakage of the permethrin, cypermethrin or lindane being carried by the vessel.
Dr. Godman : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what consultations are taking place regarding the retrieval of the container containing five tonnes of organochlorine insecticide, lindane, which was lost when the vessel Perintis foundered north-west of Guernsey on or about 13 March ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Donald Thompson : My officials have kept in close touch with the Department of Transport, the Home Office, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Department of Health and the Department of the Environment in connection with the search by the French authorities for the container of lindane lost from the MV Perintis on 13 March. Contacts were maintained with the French authorities both directly and through the Department of Transport, which has lead responsibility for marine pollution control operations. Officials from my Department participated in a meeting with French and Channel Island experts on 4 April to review the degree of threat to the marine environment posed by this container of lindane.
Piper Alpha Platform
Dr. Godman : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will outline the role performed by his Department in the monitoring of the area above and on the seabed surrounding the wreckage of Piper Alpha ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Donald Thompson : Monitoring in the area concerned is the responsibility of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland.
Beef Special Premium
Mrs. Ray Michie : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he has any plans to switch the beef special premium from its present administration to on-farm administration.
Mr. Donald Thompson : The beef special premium scheme has been in operation for just over two weeks. I have no plans to change its administration in Great Britain at present. However, as my right hon. Friend announced on 6 March we shall be reviewing the operation of the scheme with my colleagues in other Departments to assess the practicability and cost-effectiveness of moving to an on-farm operation in due course.
Mrs. Ray Michie : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food why he established the beef special premium as an off-farm administration.
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Mr. Donald Thompson : We have had only a very short time in which to make arrangements for the operation of the beef special premium scheme in Great Britain. As my right hon. Friend announced on 6 March, we concluded that in the first instance it was desirable to build on the arrangements then in place for the operation of the beef variable premium scheme and thus to operate the scheme at live markets and abbatoirs. This method of operation has the further advantage of enabling producers to apply for premium under the new scheme in much the same way and at the same marketing stage as they like to apply for beef variable premium. In practice, the transition to the new arrangements has been effective relatively smoothly, largely in consequence of this decision.
Fishing Vessels
Dr. Godman : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps he is taking to ensure that those British owners of fishing vessels who have not yet been issued with full or temporary certificates despite submission of bona fide applications are not in any way disadvantaged in terms of access to fishing quotas and grounds.
Mr. Donald Thompson : I understand that the Department of Transport has now issued full or temporary certificates to all applicants fulfilling the necessary requirements. Fishing entitlements for such vessels have not been affected by the introduction of the new registration arrangements.
Publicity Campaigns
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list all current publicity campaigns being conducted by or for his Department or ones planned for the first three months of 1989-90, indicating those which involve television advertising and the starting and finishing dates of each campaign.
Mr. Donald Thompson : The current publicity campaigns being conducted by my Department and planned for the first three months of 1989- 90 are as follows :
On-going campaigns :
Imports
Rabies
additives
Food labelling
\C\
surveillance
Farm and conservation grants scheme
Recruitment
Farm woodlands
Environmentally sensitive areas
Diversification
\C\
Planned campaigns:
Plant health-May 1989 to October 1989
Colarado beetle-May 1989 to June 1989
Food nutrition-April 1989 ongoing
Food safety (joint with Department of Health)-May 1989 ongoing. No campaigns use paid TV advertising.
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