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Column 6
(b) Imputed rent(c) Fuel and electricity
Source : Instituto Nacional de Estadistica, Espan a Anuario Estadistico .
Sweden (26) :
(a) Rent
(b) Depreciation, imputed rent, insurance and repairs
(c) Fuel and power
Source : Statistics Sweden, Statistical Abstract for Sweden 1989 .
Switzerland (17) :
(a) Rent
(b) --
(c) --
Source : OECD, Main Economic Indicators December 1988. Turkey :
(a) n/a
(b) n/a
(c) n/a
Australia (14) :
(a) Rent
(b) Interest payments, rates, insurance and repairs
(c) --
Source : Australian High Commission.
Note : The Australians have just altered the way the housing component of their consumer price index is calculated. The changed calculation reflects the fact that once the mortgage rate is above a certain level further increases do not lead to increased interest payments for the many homeowners who hold mortgages with interest rate ceilings.
New Zealand (21) :
(a) Rent
(b) Land and house prices, interest payments, rates, insurance and repairs
(c) --
Source : Department of Statistics, Monthly Abstract of Statistics .
Civil Service Manpower
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give the figures for total Civil Service manpower in 1959, 1964, 1970, 1974, 1979 and 1989, giving the percentage of the total working population which these figures represented in each of these years.
Mr. Brooke [holding answer 28 April 1989] : The information requested is as follows :
Civil Service manpower Year |Thousands |Percentage of work force ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1959 |647 |2.7 1964 |658 |2.7 1970 |701 |2.8 1974 |692 |2.8 1979 |732 |2.8 1989 |572 |2.0
Nationalised Industries (Work Force)
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give the figures for the total work force employed in the nationalised industries in 1959, 1964, 1970, 1974, 1979 and 1989, giving the percentage of the total working population which these figures represented in each of these years.
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Mr. Norman Lamont [holding answer 28 April 1989] : The table gives employees in the nationalised industries on a head count basis for 1961, 1964, 1970, 1974, 1979 and 1988. Figures for 1959 and 1989 are not available.
Nationalised industry employees
|Thousands |Percentage of working
|population
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1961 |2,152 |8.7
1964 |1,949 |7.7
1970 |1,879 |7.4
1974 |1,777 |6.9
1979 |1,849 |6.9
1988 |798 |<1>2.8
<1> The term working population was replaced in July 1988 by estimates of work force.
The latter includes participants in work-related Government training programmes.
Notes:
1. All data are for the United Kingdom.
2. The number of employees in the nationalised industries is given as in Q2 of the
relevant year. Working population data are for June of each year.
CIVIL SERVICE
Executive Agencies
Mr. Sean Hughes : To ask the Minister for the Civil Service if he will list both those executive agencies for the Civil Service already set up and those announced as candidates, together with the number of staff in each agency or prospective agency.
Mr. Luce : The current list of those Government activities already established as executive agencies under the next steps initiative and those announced by Departments as candidates, together with the number of staff employed, is as follows :
Executive Agencies |<1>Approximate Numbers
Established
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Vehicle Inspectorate |1,600
Companies House |1,100
Her Majesty's Stationery Office |3,000
National Weights and Measures Laboratory |50
Warren Spring Laboratory |300
Executive agency candidates announced
Building Research Establishment |700
Central Statistical Office |1,100
Central Office of Information |850
Central Veterinary Laboratory |600
Civil Service College |200
Civil Service Commission Recruitment Service |300
Civil Service Occupational Health Service |150
Crown Suppliers Fuel Branch |30
Defence non-Nuclear Research Establishments |15,000
Department of Registers of Scotland |900
Driver and Vehicle Licensing Directorate |5,400
Driver Testing and Training |2,000
Employment Service |41,000
Historic Buildings and Monuments Directorate
(Scottish Office) |650
Historic Royal Palaces |300
Intervention Board for Agricultural Produce |1,000
Insolvency Service |1,500
Laboratory of the Government Chemist |350
Land Registry |8,250
Meteorological Office |2,500
National Physical Laboratory |850
Passport Department |1,000
Patent Office |1,000
Planning Inspectorate |500
QEII Conference Centre |60
Radiocommunications Division, DTI |500
Resettlement Units |600
Royal Parks |600
Social Security Operations |87,000
Training Agency |12,000
Vehicle Component Approval Division, DTp |70
Veterinary Medicines Directorate |70
Northern Ireland Civil Service:
Employment and Training Services,
Agricultural Research Establishments, Social
Security Operations |6,000
<1> Figures are target 1.4.88 figures and are approximate.
Pensions (Retail Prices Index Error)
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Minister for the Civil Service, pursuant to his reply of 10 April to the hon. Member for Don Valley, Official Report, column 321, when parliamentary approval was given for funds arising from the retail prices in respect of pensions index error to be repaid.
Mr. Luce : Parliamentary approval was given on 15 March for the payment of awards from the RPI error funds to each of the Civil Service pension organisations.
THE ARTS
European Parliament
Sir Geoffrey Finsberg : To ask the Minister for the Arts what is the role of the European Parliament in the fields of arts and culture ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Luce : The European Parliament is itself responsible for its involvement in the field of arts and culture, and has established a committee on youth culture, education, information and sport. The Parliament has the right to make alterations to certain aspects of the annual budget of the European Community.
Council of Europe
Sir Geoffrey Finsberg : To ask the Minister for the Arts what is the role of the Council of Europe in the spheres of arts and culture ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Luce : The Council of Europe has cultural co-operation as one of its agreed objectives. It brings the member states of the European Community into a wider framework of European countries, which all share the desire to maintain and enhance the European cultural dimension.
The council has appointed a standing council for cultural co-operation and its programme and direction in the field of culture are periodically discussed by the Ministers responsible for these matters. It promotes active involvement in cultural affairs by encouraging the appreciation of the European heritage and individual creativity.
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TRANSPORT
Vehicles (Safety Devices)
Sir Anthony Grant : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what progress is being made in fitting devices to vehicles, especially heavy goods vehicles, to prevent them driving too close together ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Peter Bottomley : The most effective device is the driver, exercising judgment about a proper distance in the light of speed and driving conditions. Some vehicle manufacturers incorporate useful devices to improve driver awareness, for example of slippery road surfaces. Industry has long-term research in hand in Britain and abroad into electronic control devices. The safety of those has yet to be proven in real traffic conditions. In the meantime we are developing a performance standard for front guards on heavy goods vehicles to prevent under-running by cars. These have been shown to be capable of saving the lives of up to 60 car occupants per year if fitted to all HGVs.
Yacht Construction
Mr. Barry Field : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what representations he has had on the European Community draft proposals for categories of yacht construction ; and if he will make it his policy to resist any attempt to link categories of construction with restrictions on use in the United Kingdom or European Community waters.
Mr. Portillo : There is no such draft EC directive at present, although I understand that the EC Commission has discussed with the International Council of Marine Industry Associations whether it would be useful to bring forward proposals for a directive to establish minimum standards and to remove barriers to trade in the boat construction industry within the EC. My right hon. Friend would look very carefully at any proposals for construction and use regulations for boats.
Plutonium
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he has given any safety assurances to (a) the Belgian authorities or (b) Belgian Members of the European Parliament about the dangers posed by the overflights of plutonium between Japan and the United Kingdom.
Mr. Peter Bottomley : We know of no request for such an assurance ; nor is one necessary.
Plutonium flights to Japan, if they take place, will be made in full compliance with international regulations, which require safety for both normal and accident conditions to be built into the design of the container.
Ms. Ruddock : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list all airports used for the export of quantities of plutonium in consignments of 1 g or less ; and how often each year such quantities are exported from each airport.
Mr. Peter Bottomley [holding answer 22 March 1989] : No. The Department does not collect this information on a routine basis.
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But I am advised that since 1984 a total of 404 sources or samples of plutonium in quantities of less than 1 g were exported. The large majority of these were sent via Heathrow, with occasional movements via Gatwick and Stansted. Less than 10 samples per year have also been sent from Manchester.Fawley (Coal Jetty)
Mr. Colvin : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if the Central Electricity Generating Board has withdrawn its application to build a coal jetty and related works at Fawley ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Portillo : I refer my hon. Friend to the answer that I gave him on 28 April.
Seaborne Garbage
Mr. David Porter : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he is taking to monitor the amount of seaborne garbage on United Kingdom beaches since 1 January.
Mr. Portillo : The Merchant Shipping (Prevention of Pollution by Garbage) Regulations 1988 entered into force on 31 December 1988. The Department is considering, together with the Department of the Environment, the most effective way to monitor its impact.
Mr. David Porter : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list all local authorities which have supplied extra disposal facilities at ports since 1 January for handling shipborne garbage.
Mr. Portillo : The information requested is not available. The Merchant Shipping (Reception Facilities for Garbage) Regulations 1988 which came into force on 31 December 1988 require all ports and terminals, including those under local authority control to provide adequate reception facilities for garbage from ships. The Department will shortly complete a survey on what facilities are provided to receive garbage, and at what cost.
FV Inspire
Mr. Foulkes : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what information he has regarding all the circumstances of the sinking of the FV Inspire on 5 September 1988 ; what is the result of any inquiry that has been undertaken ; whether any Royal Navy submarines or submarines of any NATO country are known to have been in the vicinity at the time ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Portillo : The Inspire foundered off the west coast of Wales on 5 September 1988 with the loss of three lives. A marine surveyor from the Department was appointed to conduct an investigation into the loss. A summary report of his findings is being produced and I will send the hon. Member a copy. I am advised that there were no United Kingdom or NATO country submarines in the vicinity at the time of the casualty.
Oil Pollution
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has as to the total cost of the oil spillage caused by the El Omar in December 1988 in the Milford Haven, including clean-up costs and insurance claims ; and what costs have been received from the ship's owners.
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Mr. Portillo : The Milford Haven port authority is responsible for oil pollution control within the port area. The Department was not directly involved in the clean-up operations and has no information as to the total costs incurred or compensation received.
Clean-up was undertaken and costs were incurred by the Milford Haven port authority ; Texaco, the operators of the terminal where the El Omar was discharging cargo ; and the local authorities bordering the haven. It is for them and any other parties suffering damage as a result of the spillage to each seek reimbursement from the owners of the vessel, who are statutorily liable and must have a contract of insurance to cover that liability.
Mr. Macdonald : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what contingency plans he has to cope with a major oil spillage off the west coast of Scotland ; what equipment he has stored on the west coast for such an eventuality ; and where this is stored.
Mr. Portillo : Because it is impossible to predict where or when a tanker accident may occur, the contingency arrangements to combat pollution at sea developed following the Amoco Cadiz incident in 1978 consist of a dedicated contingency response unit on constant standby to direct and control clean-up operations, together with highly mobile resources positioned at various locations around the United Kingdom, from where they can be deployed quickly to the west coast of Scotland or any other part of the United Kingdom that may be threatened by a major oil spillage.
Included in those resources are dispersant spraying aircraft, two of which are permanently based at Inverness ; stocks of dispersant at strategic locations including Paisley, Oban, and Stornoway ; oil recovery equipment at Aberdeen ; cargo transfer equipment ; DAFS fishery protection vessels and commercial tugs fitted with spraying equipment and carrying stocks of dispersant ; and stockpiles of specialised beach cleaning equipment, one of which is at Cambusbarron, near Stirling. If necessary, Royal Navy and Royal Maritime Auxiliary vessels in the Clyde, with dispersant spraying equipment, would be called on, together with whatever resources might be available in the private sector, including those owned by oil companies in connection with their responsibilities for clean-up of port terminal and offshore installation spillages.
Local authorities on the west coast of Scotland all have their own contingency plans for dealing with coastal clean up and can call on advice and assistance from this Department.
Port authorities generally have their own contingency plans and again, advice and assistance would be provided by this Department in the event of a major spill.
Air Transport
Mr. Stewart : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he has considered the implications for his policy on air transport of the judgment by the Court of Session in the case brought by Air 2000 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Peter Bottomley : My right hon. Friend will consider the judgment of the court and will make an announcement shortly.
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Roads (Efficiency Scrutiny)
Mr. Janman : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects to publish the report of the efficiency scrutiny of his Department's activities in relation to local authorities' capital expenditure on roads ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Peter Bottomley : My right hon. Friend is arranging for this report to be published today. Copies will be sent to the local authority associations and placed in the Library. Twenty-seven of the 38 recommendations have been accepted. We propose to discuss the implications of a further seven with the associations later in the year.
Roads (Staffordshire)
Ms. Walley : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what allocation his Department gave Staffordshire county council for (a) capital road building programmes, (b) the maintenance of existing trunk roads and (c) other works relating to pedestrian safety for the years 1987-88, 1988- 89 and 1989-90 ; and what was the imputed amount assigned for works within Stoke-on-Trent boundaries in each of these years.
Mr. Peter Bottomley [holding answer 27 April 1989] : It is not possible to separate expenditure on work solely related to pedestrian safety. Pedestrian safety is one objective of the programme of new construction and maintenance on national roads in Staffordshire. It is also an objective of the highway authority's programme of new construction and maintenance on its own roads.
The capital allocations for new construction of local roads in Staffordshire are as follows :
|£ million
------------------------------
1987-88 |10.21
1988-89 |8.67
1989-90 |7.66
The council received about £3 million of transport supplementary grant in each of these years.
Expenditure on local roads maintenance is the responsibility of the county council.
Its expenditure on this function has however fallen short of its grant- related expenditure assessment in each of the last three years.
The national roads programme is not analysed by local authority areas.
No separate figures are available for expenditure within Stoke-on-Trent.
Underground Railways (Safety)
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what simulated tests were made by London Underground Ltd of evacuation of a full length tube train carrying a rush hour overload in a single line tunnel and supervised by a single member of the railway staff, prior to the extension of one person operation ; and if he will list any such occasions since that adoption, carried out in the course of an exercise or in an emergency.
Mr. Portillo [holding answer 26 April 1989] : No simulated evacuations with a rush hour overload have been carried out, though exercises with non-capacity loadings have been undertaken from time to time, most
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recently at Aldwych in summer 1988. London Underground Ltd. assures me that train operators have been, and will continue to be, trained in the techniques of evacuation. It tells me, too, that modifications are in progress to prevent the automatic application of train brakes when the passenger-operated alarm system is used, thereby minimising the risk of trains stopping away from stations in an emergency.OVERSEAS DEVELOPMENT ADMINISTRATION
Lome IV
Mr. Andrew F. Bennett : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the progress of negotiations for Lome IV.
Mr. Chris Patten : Following the ACP/EC ministerial meeting in Brazzaville in February, work on the renegotiation of Lome has continued. It is important to make progress in preparation for the next ministerial negotiating meeting at the beginning of June.
Interdependence and Cultural Development"
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on Her Majesty's Government's response to the Council of Europe's European public campaign on North-South interdependence and its solidarity colloquy entitled "Interdependence and Cultural Development", organised by the secretary- general of the Council of Europe in the framework of the World Decade for Cultural Development, held in Lisbon, Portugal, from 7-8 April 1988 ; and what input Her Majesty's Government have made to this colloquy.
Mr. Chris Patten : The Government supported the aims of the Council of Europe's campaign and gave it a grant of £70,000. The Government also met the expenses of the British representative to the European organising committee. In February last year I addressed a round table on developing country debt organised as part of the campaign. The Government made no input to the colloquy on interdependence and cultural development, which took place in Lisbon last April.
Aid Policy
Mr. Nellist : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what proposals he has to increase aid, particularly in the areas of primary health care and education, which would specifically improve conditions for women in recipient countries ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Chris Patten : I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Birmingham, Erdington (Mr. Corbett) on 24 April, at column 371.
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PRIME MINISTER
Delors Report
Mr. Soames : To ask the Prime Minister what is Her Majesty's Government's response to the Delors report.
The Prime Minister : The Delors report envisages a transfer of sovereignty from member states to a new central monetary institution and central control of fiscal policy. It states that economic and monetary union would not be possible within the terms of the existing treaty and that a new treaty would be needed. Paragraph 39 of the report states that economic and monetary union must be viewed as a single process and that the decision to enter upon the first stage should be a decision to embark on the entire process.
The Government's views on the matters dealt with in the report were set out in the speech given by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer to the Royal Institute of International Affairs on 24 January and in his remarks following the meeting of the ECOFIN Council in Luxembourg on 17 April. My right hon. Friend made it clear that we cannot accept the transfer of sovereignty which is implied by the Delors report. Economic and monetary union as spelt out in the report would in effect require political union, a United States of Europe. That is not on the agenda now or for the foreseeable future. My right hon. Friend also made it clear that the Government do not believe there should be further treaty amendment as proposed by the Delors report.
Environment Seminar
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Prime Minister if she will publish in the Official Report the agenda and list of invited participants for the seminar on the environment at Chequers on 26 April.
The Prime Minister : Those attending included Ministers and representatives of universities, scientific and research institutes and industry. The agenda included a discussion on scientific assessment of climatic change and its impact, measures to mitigate the greenhouse effect, and the international context.
World War 2 (Anniversary)
Mr. Speller : To ask the Prime Minister if she will make it her policy to arrange for 3 September 1989, the 50th anniversary of the outbreak of world war 2 to be commemorated as either a British or a European day of thanksgiving for peace.
The Prime Minister : No. I do not think that the anniversary of the outbreak of war would be an appropriate occasion to commemorate the achievement and continuation of peace.
European Social Charter
Mr. Wray : To ask the Prime Minister what support Her Majesty's Government are giving to the proposals for a European social charter, drawn up by the Economic and Social Committee of the European Community.
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