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Nuclear Submarines
Mr. John Evans : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what has been the amount spent by the Ministry of Defence in each year since the start of the nuclear submarine programme on repairs as a result of fire aboard nuclear submarines.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : While there have been occasional fires aboard nuclear-powered submarines, it is not possible to identify separately all the repair costs attributable to this cause. However, in the vast majority of cases the fires were so minor that the sums involved would have been minimal in relation to the overall expenditure on submarine repairs or refits.
Mr. John Evans : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Library the technical details on which his Department bases its evaluation of the consequences of a nuclear submarine accident in or near dock with regard to 550 m limits and radiation spread.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The predictions of consequences of accidents involving Royal Navy nuclear-powered submarines are carried out by experts from both within and outside this Department, and are assessed by independent consultants. The technical information upon which the predictions are based cannot be released, since it would enable conclusions to be drawn about classified aspects of the design of submarine nuclear reactors.
Mr. John Evans : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list in the Official Report (a) all fires aboard nuclear submarines whilst in dock since the start of the nuclear submarine programme, (b) how these fires started, (c) the location of the fires within the submarine, (d) the time of day the fires started and how long they burned, (e) whether civilian police, fire services and ambulance services were informed, (f) under what conditions civil emergency personnel were allowed on board, (g) if there were any military or civilian casualties, (h) what inquiries were instigated into the cause and consequences of any fires, what subsequent recommendations were made, and which have been put into practice and (i) the guidelines governing the involvement of civilian fire personnel in fighting fires aboard nuclear submarines.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The majority of the detailed information requested is not readily available and could not be provided without disproportionate effort and cost. I shall write to the hon. Member about the guidelines for the involvement of civil fire personnel in fighting fires aboard nuclear submarines.
Zirconium
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what contracts have been placed with United Kingdom universities for the research on zirconium for fuel cladding for submarine nuclear fuel by the atomic weapons establishment at Aldermaston in the past five years.
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Arms Reduction
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the definition of (a) tanks and (b) artillery and (c) armoured personnel carriers adopted by the Western Alliance at the conventional force reduction talks in Vienna.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : I refer the hon. Member to the document "Conventional Forces in Europe : The Facts" published by NATO in November 1988, a copy of which is in the Library. The NATO proposals tabled at the negotiation of conventional forces in Europe (CFE) deal with main battle tanks and artillery which fall within those categories in that document, and with armoured troop carriers. The latter include armoured personnel carriers and armoured infantry fighting vehicles.
NATO
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he has received any recent communication from the British American Security Information Council over its report on the comprehensive concept of defence and disarmament for NATO.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : As far as I can ascertain, the Ministry of Defence has received no recent communication from the British American Security Information Council.
Defence Export Services Organisation
Mr. Battle : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if the proceedings of the Defence Export Services Organisation's annual symposia with industry can be made available to (a) hon. Members and (b) the public.
Mr. Sainsbury : No. The proceedings of the DESO symposium are commercial in confidence and circulated only to those companies taking part.
Nuclear Bomber (Emergency Landing)
Mr. Andrew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the emergency landing of a United States Air Force F111 nuclear bomber at Upper Heyford and the fireball caused by the jettisoning of fuel ; and what implications this has for the safety of the local population.
Mr. Neubert : An F111E aircraft developed an engine problem shortly after take-off on a routine training mission from RAF Upper Heyford just after 7 pm on May. The pilot immediately decided to return to base. Shortly before landing he jettisoned excess fuel to reduce the weight of the aircraft and ensure a safe landing. the jettisoned fuel was ignited by the exhaust plume of the aircraft's engine, causing a brief flame. The pilot performed the routine operational procedures designed to cope with a problem of this sort exactly as he is trained to do and the aircraft landed without further incident. At no time was there any danger to local residents. The incident is being investigated by the USAF authorities at the base to determine the cause of the problem.
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Victoria Barracks, Windsor
Dr. Glyn : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what conclusions have been reached with regard to the rebuilding of Victoria barracks since the joint visit of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence for the Armed Forces and the hon. Member for Windsor and Maidenhead, on 1 September 1988 ; if he will give an indication of the dates when the rebuilding will commence and finish ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Neubert : Approval to proceed with the rebuilding of Victoria barracks on the site of the old barracks at Windsor has now been given. Formal tenders will be
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invited shortly and it is hoped to start work on site towards the latter part of 1989. Work is expected to take about three years.Premature Voluntary Release
Mr. Brazier : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what are the Army premature voluntary release figures for the fourth quarter of each year from 1983 to 1988 and the first quarter of each year from 1983 to 1989 ; and if he will provide the information in the form as in his reply of 15 December 1988, Official Report, columns 685-86.
Mr. Neubert : The information that my hon. Friend has requested is set out in the table :
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Army PVR figures for 1st and 4th quarters 1983-1st quarter 1989
|Male Officers |Female Officers|Service men |Service women |Total
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1983
1st quarter |69 |2 |417 |19 |507
4th quarter |130 |5 |563 |21 |719
1984
1st quarter |83 |2 |569 |23 |677
4th quarter |155 |8 |700 |21 |884
1985
1st quarter |128 |9 |730 |19 |886
4th quarter |190 |15 |779 |36 |1,020
1986
1st quarter |128 |6 |686 |28 |848
4th quarter |136 |6 |807 |36 |985
1987
1st quarter |116 |7 |618 |30 |771
4th quarter |178 |12 |839 |34 |1,063
1988
1st quarter |120 |7 |861 |42 |1,030
4th quarter |154 |3 |1,024 |24 |1,205
1989
1st quarter |103 |9 |1,042 |27 |1,181
ENERGY
Coal Reclamation Scheme (Garw Valley)
Mr. Ray Powell : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will publish in the Official Report the estimated volume and value of coal to be extracted from the proposed reclamation scheme in the upper Garw valley.
Mr. Michael Spicer : The Welsh Development Agency and Mid Glamorgan county council are jointly responsible for the proposed reclamation scheme in the upper Garw valley. However, I understand that the British Coal Corporation retained mineral rights to the coal and that the landscaping proposals involve about 3 million cu m of colliery tips containing about 0.5 million tonnes of recoverable coal. The value of the coal is a matter for commercial negotiation and will reflect future market conditions.
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TRANSPORT
Air Transport (Belfast-Dublin)
25. Mr. Alex Carlile : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the level of passenger air transport between Belfast and Dublin.
Mr. Peter Bottomley : There is a small amount of charter traffic between Belfast and Dublin. In addition, the Irish airline Iona National Airways operated scheduled services on the route during the period May- September 1988. A total of 1,007 passengers were carried in 1988. Our liberal air services arrangements with the Irish authorities apply to this route, but there are currently no scheduled services.
Airports
Mr. Heddle : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport further to his answer to the hon. Member for Mid-Staffordshire of 2 March, Official Report, column 291, what further steps he proposes to take to encourage local authorities to involve the private sector in the ownership, development, management and running of airports.
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Mr. Peter Bottomley : A number of authorities are now involving the private sector. Before considering further steps, the Government need to assess how far the objectives of their policy are being achieved.
A1 (North Yorkshire)
Mr. Curry : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he intends to make an announcement about further improvements to the A1 in north Yorkshire.
Mr. Peter Bottomley : Schemes to improve the A1 for the majority of the length in north Yorkshire are already included in the national trunk road programme. The following announcements about these are expected before the end of the summer :
(i) the joint decision by the Secretaries of State for Transport and the Environment on whether to make the published orders for the Wetherby to Dishforth section ; and
(ii) the publication of draft orders for a new junction at Gatenby lane.
The remaining lengths were considered as part of the review of the trunk road programme. My right hon. Friend announced the results of that review earlier today.
Motor Accidents (Deaf Drivers)
Mr. Tony Lloyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many motor vehicle accidents resulting in (a) death, (b) injury and (c) other have taken place each year since 1980 where deaf drivers have been involved and deafness has been (i) the main cause or (ii) a contributory cause.
Mr. Peter Bottomley : The information requested cannot be obtained as the STATS19 road accident report form records neither cause of accident nor the incidence of deaf drivers involved in road accidents.
There is no reason to believe that a deaf person is more at risk of causing, or being involved in, a crash than any other driver.
Hazardous Materials (Transport)
Mr. Rooker : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement regarding the sealing off of part of the Corley service station area on the M6 motorway on Thursday 23 March in connection with a lorry carrying hazardous materials, and what information he has as to what consideration had been given to escort provision for this load.
Mr. Peter Bottomley : A lorry carrying explosives broke down on the M6 and was towed to the nearest service area for replacement of an alternator before continuing its journey. It was isolated from other vehicles and a fire engine was called to stand by as a precautionary measure.
For the type and quantity of material involved an escort was not required. Pre-arranged routes have to be agreed with the police and followed where a vehicle carries large quantities of certain types of explosive material.
Leeds-Bradford Airport
Mr. Battle : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he will make a decision and an announcement on the Leeds-Bradford airport's application for an extension of operating hours.
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Mr. Peter Bottomley : A joint decision by my right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Transport and for the Environment will be made as soon as possible.
Drivers (Eye Tests)
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what is the total number of people required to take regular eyesight tests in order to retain their driving licences ; and what proportion fail on average every year.
Mr. Peter Bottomley : There is no information about the number of people required to take regular eyesight tests. In 1988-89 the total number of people required to take a prescribed eyesight test to determine their fitness to drive was 2,981.
Eyesight problems account for around 8 per cent. of the medical declarations on applications and notifications (during the currency of the licence), and around 8 per cent. of referrals and revocations relate to eyesight. In 1987-88 there were 10,442 revocations/refusals in all and in 1988-89 there were 10,891 revocations/refusals in all, resulting in over 800 revocations/refusals on eysight grounds in each year.
Road Improvements (North-East)
Mr. Trotter : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he will summarise the progress made by his Department in (a) improving the A1 link to the north-east and (b) other major road improvements in the north- east.
Mr. Peter Bottomley : The trunk road and motorway plans announced earlier today in the White Paper "Roads for Prosperity" provide for the conversion to motorway of the Redhouse to Hook Moor section of the A1 in Yorkshire, and for a comprehensive review of the route, including investigation of the possibility of full motorway status from London to Tyneside.
The A1 between Newcastle and Morpeth and the A69 between Newcastle and Hexham are now dual carriageway throughout. The construction of the £88 million Newcastle western bypass is well advanced. Improvement schemes are in various stages of preparation for the A1 north of Morpeth, the A69 west of Hexham, the A66 west of Bowes and the A19 at Peterlee.
Coal Imports
Mr. Gareth Wardell : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will place in the Library details of the volume and value of (a) anthracite coal, (b) bituminous coal and (c) other coal, imported through the port of Cardiff for each month since January 1986, separately distinguishing the countries of origin.
Mr. Portillo : The data readily available are as follows :
Imports of coal through the port of Cardiff
|Tonnes |Value
|000s |£ million
----------------------------------------------------
1986
January to March |47.0 |2.00
April to June |57.0 |2.37
July to September |78.0 |3.29
October to December |75.0 |3.36
1987
January to June |96.0 |3.85
July to December |125.6 |4.81
1988
January to June |145.6 |5.10
July to December |148.2 |7.72
1989
January to March |99.0 |3.85
For more detailed information the hon. Member should contact a marketing agent of Customs and Excise data. A list of these agents is given in Business Monitor MM20 "Overseas Trade Statistics of the United Kingdom" or in "The Integrated Tariff of the United Kingdom", copies of which are in the Library.
Special Constables
Mr. Shersby : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will publish in the Official Report in tabular form a list of those harbours, docks and piers which employ persons sworn as special constables in accordance with the provisions of the Harbours, Docks and Piers Clauses Act 1847 together with the name of the undertakers who are the employers in each case and the number of specials employed in each location.
Mr. Portillo : The harbour undertakings in Great Britain where there are special constables sworn in under the provisions of the 1847 Act, incorporated into local legislation, are :
Harbour undertaking |Number employed ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Port of London Authority |47 Mersey Docks and Harbour Company |102
There are also two in Northern Ireland :
Harbour undertaking |Number employed ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Port of London Authority |47 Mersey Docks and Harbour Company |102
Two undertakings employ police under local legislation which is fuller than the 1847 Act provisions :
Harbour undertaking |Number employed ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Port of London Authority |47 Mersey Docks and Harbour Company |102
Air Traffic Distribution Rules
Mr. Allan Stewart : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Eastwood on 8 May, Official Report, column 343, when,
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and in what form, he intends to publish the new air traffic distribution rules for Scotland, and under what statutory authority.Mr. Peter Bottomley : The new rules ("Traffic Distribution Rules 1989 for Prestwick and Glasgow" and "Traffic Distribution Rules 1989 for Prestwick and Edinburgh") were made on 9 May under section 31 of the Airports Act 1986. Copies were sent to interested parties, and have been placed in the Library.
Lowland Airport Policy (Scotland)
Mr. Allan Stewart : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list those organisations he consulted representing (a) Scottish industry and commerce and (b) the airline and travel industries who were (i) for and (ii) against a review of Scottish lowland airport policy as requested by BAA plc.
Mr. Peter Bottomley : My right hon. Friend initiated no such consultations, but he received a variety of representations, both for and against a review of Scottish lowland airports policy.
Road Schemes
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the test discount rate for road schemes.
Mr. Peter Bottomley : In reply to a question on 5 April from the hon. Member for Daventry (Mr. Boswell), my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced a new required rate of return for nationalised industries of 8 per cent. As a result, British Rail intends to adopt a test discount rate of 8 per cent. for investment projects. In order to ensure that road and rail projects continue to be appraised on a comparable basis, the test discount rate for road projects will be increased from 7 to 8 per cent.
Road and Rail Statistics
Mr. Dunn : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will give figures for investment in British Rail for 1978-79 and 1989-90 ; investment in national roads in 1978-79 and 1989-90 and the figures for road deaths in 1978 and 1988.
Mr. Channon : The information is :
|1978-79 outturn|1989-90 plans
|£ million |£ million
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cash
Investment by British Rail in the
railway |<1>208 |740
Capital expenditure on national
roads in England |327 |1,190
Real terms (1987-88 prices)
Investment by British Rail in the
railway |<1>425 |654
Capital expenditure on national
roads in England |668 |1,052
<1> Calendar year 1978.
Road deaths in Great Britain totalled 6,831 in 1978. The provisional figure for
1988 is 5,041.
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Cash Limits
Mr. Haselhurst : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what changes he proposes to make to the cash limits on his votes.
Mr. Channon : Subject to parliamentary approval of a revised Estimate, the cash limit on class VIII, vote 2 is to be reduced by £800,000 from £235,013,000 to £234,213,000 to reflect the transfer to the Ministry of Defence of responsibility for the costs of royal flights in civil aircraft.
NORTHERN IRELAND
South Africa (Arms Embargo)
8. Mr. Wall : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps is he taking to prevent Northern Ireland firms contributing inadvertently to the circumvention of the arms embargo on South Africa.
Mr. Tom King : Security arrangements are a primary responsibility of every company in Northern Ireland. Since the theft in October last year from a Short's factory there has been a review of security at all Short's establishments and a number of additional measures have been, or are being, implemented. I maintain a close interest in such matters.
NHS Review
17. Rev. Martin Smyth : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what representations expressing support for the proposals contained in "Working For Patients" he has received from individuals or organisations in Northern Ireland ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Needham : I have had representations both orally and in writing. Many have supported aspects of the proposals. I welcome the constructive nature of most of the representations.
Fair Employment
19. Mr. Duffy : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what consideration he is giving to a strengthening of the fair employment laws.
Mr. Viggers : The Fair Employment (Northern Ireland) Bill, which was introduced in this House in December last year, has now completed its Committee stage and will be brought before the House for further consideration at any early date. The Bill will strengthen significantly the existing law in Northern Ireland relating to fair employment.
Women (Pressure Groups)
20. Mr. Fatchett : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what recent meetings he has held with women's groups.
Mr. Viggers : I refer the hon. Member to the answer that I gave earlier today to the hon. Member for Durham, North-West (Ms. Armstrong).
Advertising
Mr. Grocott : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much has been spent by his Department on advertisements on commercial television in each of the last five years, listed by each television company.
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Dr. Mawhinney : Information on television advertisements in the form requested is commercially confidential.
HEALTH
Pain
Mr. George Howarth : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what provision exists for research into the alleviation of pain for cancer sufferers as distinct from the research into the causes and cure.
Mr. Jackson : I have been asked to reply.
The Medical Research Council, which receives its grant in aid from this Department, is the main agency through which the Government support medical research. The council supports a considerable amount of basic research into pain, some of which is of relevance to cancer sufferers. In 1987-88, the last financial year for which figures are available, the council's expenditure for research into pain was £398, 000. The council is also conducting clinical cancer trials to evaluate the efficacy of new treatments not only in curing disease but in relieving symptoms, including pain.
In addition, university departments and medical schools support a range of basic research from public funds, some of which may be relevant to the relief of pain of sufferers from cancer and other diseases.
Agency Staff
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will give for 1987-88, for each district health authority, regional health authority, and special health authority the total expenditure on agency staff, expressed at current prices, 1986-87 prices, and as a percentage of each health authority's budget.
Mr. Mellor : Information directly derived and revalued to 1986-87 prices from the 1987-88 annual accounts of district and regional health authorities in England and the special health authorities for the London postgraduate teaching hospitals has been placed in the Library.
Computer and Management Consultants
Mr. Sean Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the cost to his Department of employing (a) computer consultants and (b) management consultants, for each financial year from 1983 to date.
Mr. Mellor : Expenditure by the Department of Health and Social Security on computer and management consultancy in 1983-84 was £3.623 million. We cannot apportion this accurately between the two Departments or between computer and management consultancy. The estimated expenditure on health-related computer and management consultancy in 1984-85 was £0.613 million. It is not possible to separately identify the cost of computer consultancy.
The estimated expenditure from 1985-86 onwards on fees and expenses for computer and management consultants on health matters is as follows :
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|Computer consultants |Management consultants
|£ million |£ million
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1985-86 |0.880 |0.479
1986-87 |2.067 |2.103
1987-88 |1.950 |1.244
1988.89 |1.792 |1.584
The figures are approximate since expenditure up to and including the 1988- 89 year was from a joint health and social security budget. In some cases expenditure has been apportioned where consultants have been engaged on both health and social security matters. The figures for management consultancy include social services consultancy and some computer consultancy where these cannot be identified separately.
NHS (Pay)
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what have been the percentage increases in pay of administrative and clerical staff in the National Health Service in each of the past five years.
Mr. Mellor : Percentage settlements for administrative and clerical staff throughout Great Britain since 1984 are shown in the table. Pay increases have been effective from 1 April in each year.
Year |Percentage --------------------------------- 1984 |4.5 1985 |4.7 1986 |6.0 1987 |5.0 1988 |5.5
Community Care
Mr. Thurnham : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the contribution made to community care by the voluntary sector.
Mr. Mellor : The voluntary sector makes a very valuable contribution to the provision of health and personal social services, including community care. The Department encourages the complementary role of volunteers and voluntary organisations and has given practical assistance through central funding, including the "Helping the Community to Care" and "Opportunities for Volunteering" initiatives.
Treatment Costs
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the variations in cost of treatment between different health districts.
Mr. Freeman : There are often good reasons for variations in the cost of treatment between different health districts. It is for district and regional management to consider whether costs are reasonable and how performance could be improved.
The Department publishes Health Service indicators and other costing information each year to assist local management in that task, It is hoped to publish performance indicators for 1988-89 at the end of this year or early next year. The proposals in the White Paper
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