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|Number of enterprises
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Manufacture of craft items |12
Food processing:
Dairy |77
Meats |25
Vegetables |8
Fish |9
Drinks |8
Other |12
Timber processing |8
Non-food agricultural produce |19
Repair of agricultural machinery |6
Farm shops:
Food |98
Other |30
Pick-your-own sales |16
Accommodation:
Serviced |151
Self catering |334
Caravanning |56
Camping sites |8
Camping and bunkhouse barns |4
Catering:
Restaurant |22
Other |25
Recreation and education:
Fishing |93
Sports |20
Play areas |21
Leisure parks |8
Farm visitors |46
Environmental facilities (eg nature trails) |23
Other |37
Horses:
Livery |139
For hire |4
Letting of farm units |37
Meat and Bone Meal
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his answer of Friday 5 May, Official Report, column 279, what additional certification accompanying meat and bone meal exported from the United Kingdom is required by France, West Germany and Israel ; what arangements have been agreed for use by exporters of meat and bone meal to France ; what requirements have been stipulated by Israel ; and what assurances have been sought by West Germany.
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Mr. Donald Thompson : France and West Germany have requested confirmation of heat treatment in accordance with their requirements. This certification can be provided. Germany and Israel have asked for clearance from BSE which can be supplied. Israel has also asked for freedom from scrapie and we are entering into discussions with the Israeli authorities on a form of assurances which would be acceptable.
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Caerphilly, of 5 May, Official Report, column 279 , whether he knows of any plans by the European Commission to introduce rules applying to the production of meat and bone meal.
Mr. Donald Thompson : Commission proposals for a Council regulation laying down veterinary rules for the disposal and processing of animal waste are currently being discussed in Brussels.
State Veterinary Service
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) how many veterinary officers he has employed in the state veterinary service, by grade, in each of the last 10 years ; (2) how many veterinary officers he has employed in the state veterinary investigation service, by grade, in each of the last 10 years ;
(3) how many animal health officers he has employed in the state veterinary field service, by grade, in each of the last 10 years.
Mr. Donald Thompson : The information is as follows :
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|1980 |1981 |1982 |1983 |1984 |1985 |1986 |1987 |1988 |<1>1989
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chief veterinary officer |1.0 |1.0 |1.0 |1.0 |1.0 |1.0 |1.0 |1.0 |1.0 |1.0
Grade 3 |2.0 |2.0 |2.0 |2.0 |2.0 |2.0 |2.0 |2.0 |2.0 |2.0
Grade 4 |8.0 |8.0 |7.0 |7.0 |7.0 |6.0 |7.0 |7.0 |7.0 |7.0
|(1) |(1) |(1) |(1) |(1) |(1) |(1) |(1) |(1) |(1)
Grade 5 |23.0 |23.0 |22.0 |21.0 |21.0 |21.0 |20.0 |17.0 |15.0 |17.0
|(1) |(1) |(1)
Grade 6 |15.0 |14.0 |14.0 |14.0 |15.0 |13.0 |11.0 |11.0 |11.0 |12.0
Deputy regional |24.0 |22.0 |22.0 |22.0 |21.0 |23.0 |13.0 |12.0 |13.0 |14.0
veterinary officer |(8) |(6) |(6) |(6) |(6) |(6) |(3) |(2) |(3) |(3)
Divisional veterinary |128.0 |128.0 |125.0 |129.0 |129.0 |121.0 |115.0 |99.0 |93.0 |91.0
officer |(23) |(22) |(24) |(23) |(24) |(22) |(24) |(19) |(19) |(19)
Veterinary officer |298.0 |286.0 |287.0 |285.5 |282.0 |274.0 |274.0 |257.0 |244.0 |247.5
|(58) |(58) |(61) |(62) |(61) |(57) |(58) |(53) |(52) |(49)
Senior research officer |44.0 |43.0 |42.0 |39.0 |40.0 |36.0 |41.0 |40.0 |37.0 |33.0
grade II
Veterinary research |35.5 |36.5 |35.0 |28.5 |23.5 |30.5 |22.5 |18.5 |21.5 |14.5
officer
Senior animal health |77.0 |74.0 |70.0 |71.0 |72.0 |71.0 |68.0 |49.0 |48.0 |45.0
officer
Animal health officer |162.0 |150.0 |139.0 |129.0 |128.0 |127.0 |126.0 |120.0 |123.5 |122.5
Note.-Figures in brackets relate to the veterinary investigation service, which is part of the state veterinary service.
<1>The 1989 figures include staff of the professional unit of the veterinary medicines directorate, who prior to 3 April 1989 belonged to the state veterinary service.
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what additional resources have been provided for the state veterinary service in order to accommodate the increased workload resulting from bovine spongiform encephalopathy and salmonella.
Mr. Donald Thompson : Seventy four additional posts have been approved to deal with salmonellosis ; consideration is still being given to the additional requirements for dealing with BSE.
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Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the annual budget of the state veterinary service for each of the last five years and for the financial year 1989-90, showing capital, pay and non-pay current cost votes.
Mr. Donald Thompson : The information is as follows, in terms of initial allocations under decentralised budgetary control :
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£'000
|1984-85|1985-86|1986-87|1987-88|1988-89|1989-90
----------------------------------------------------------------
Pay |<1>- |<1>- |19,644 |22,316 |21,823 |24,805
Non-pay |<1>- |<1>- |5,525 |7,343 |7,594 |9,565
Capital |<1>- |<1>- |605 |1,086 |775 |966
<1>DBC not applied: no separate data available.
Note:
Figures ar not comparable year by year because of changes in
the coverage in the service's decentralised budget.
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) what are his estimates of the additional number of veterinary surgeons needed by his Department following the completion of the European Community internal market in 1992 ;
(2) what steps he is taking to ensure that the state veterinary service is adequately staffed to deal with emergencies and, in particular, to cope with additional workloads leading up to and following completion of the European Community internal market in 1992 ;
(3) which areas of work in the state veterinary service are not being carried out as a result of the additional workload relating to bovine spongiform encephalopathy and salmonella.
Mr. Donald Thompson : Priorities within the state veterinary service are continually reassessed to ensure that adequate resources are devoted to all essential tasks. Staffing requirements are also kept under review and recruitment drives are held regularly. It would however be premature to attempt an estimate of the manpower required as a result of the establishment of the single market as negotiations on the arrangements are still in progress.
Farm Incomes
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will publish a table showing the average farm income in the United Kingdom for each of the last five years for which figures are available and adjusted for inflation.
Mr. Donald Thompson : Indices of net farm income per farm at current prices and in real terms by type of farm in the United Kingdom for the years 1983-84 to 1988-89 are published in "Agriculture in the United Kingdom, 1988". A copy of this is available in the Library of the House.
County Council Farms
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is his policy on the sale of county council farms.
Mr. Ryder : It is the Government's policy to leave decisions on the sale of smallholdings to the smallholdings authorities concerned.
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many county council farms there are in respect of each county of England and Wales.
Mr. Ryder : The 38th annual report to Parliament on smallholdings in England (1 April 1987 to 31 March 1988) is now available in the Library of the House. Table 3 gives details of the number of smallholdings provided by county councils. A similar report for Wales is also available.
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Blowfly
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether his Department has issued any advice on the technique of using pour-on products for the control of blowfly infestation in sheep.
Mr. Donald Thompson : Licences for such products require that the proper conditions of use are spelt out on the product labels and accompanying literature. My Department has not issued supplementary guidance.
Co-responsibility Levy
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how much was paid by British dairy farmers last year as co- responsibility levy ; and what is his estimate of their liability in the current year.
Mr. Donald Thompson : United Kingdom dairy farmers paid some £53 million in milk co-responsibility levy in 1988-89. Following the reductions in the levy agreed in this year's farm price negotiations, it is currently estimated that their liability will be reduced to about £32 million in 1989-90.
Beef Premium
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what measures he intends to take to ensure that the beef special premium is paid to producers as an addition to, and not incorporated within, the market price of finished animals.
Mr. Donald Thompson : Payment of the beef special premium in Great Britain is made direct to the producer presenting the animals for slaughter or for sale for slaughter.
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement indicating in full the documentary evidence required to be produced by claimants of the beef special premium ; and which of these will be mandatory prerequisites.
Mr. Donald Thompson : The mandatory prerequisites for those applying for the beef special premium in Great Britain are that they shall have registered, prior to application and on the form provided, details of all their production units and that they complete an application form for each claim made. In addition, they must keep records sufficient to verify the claims for premium and to substantiate the means of production. Applicants are also required to keep records of the purchases and sales of animals which have been marked for premium as follows :
(1) The date of transaction.
(2) Numbers and descriptions of animals, and the weight of each animal.
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(3) In the case of a purchase or sale by auction at an auction market, the name and address of the auctioneer, and in any other case the name and address of the other party to the transaction. ((4) Where applicable the dates by which any marked animals bought or sold are to be slaughtered.
(5) Where applicable, the dates of slaughter of marked animals in their possession at the time of slaughter.
Most of these requirements are in fact met by the scheme documentation.
Applicants are required to retain such records for a period of three years from the end of the calender year to which they relate and to produce them for inspection if so required by an authorised officer.
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how he intends to enforce the headage limit of 90 in respect of the beef special premium.
Mr. Donald Thompson : On each application form claimants for premium are required to declare that they have not exceeded the headage limit. Claims will be monitored by the computer program processing claims for payment and verification will be made on holding of claim details.
Encephalopathies
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what research his Department was sponsoring prior to 1987 on transmissible encephalopathies in animals.
Mr. Donald Thompson : The main centre for research on transmissible encephalopathies in animals has been the neuropathogenesis unit in Edinburgh, funded jointly by the Agricultural and Food Research Council and the Medical Research Council. My Department has been maintaining a scrapie resistant flock of sheep for study at Redesdale experimental husbandry farm for many years and began an investigation of scrapies-associated fibrils in sheep in 1985-86. The central veterinary laboratory of MAFF studies new and emerging diseases continuously and identified bovine spongiform encephalopathy in cattle in November 1986 and has studied the pathology of cases ever since. The laboratory's main studies of bovine spongiform encephalopathy began in 1987.
Set-aside Scheme
Mr. Michael Morris : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the estimated cost of the set-aside programme.
Mr. Ryder : I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to my hon. Friend the Member for Rugby and Kenilworth (Mr. Pawsey) on 4 April 1989, column 45 .
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Meat Imports
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what provisions exist for the inspection of imported meat products which originate outside the European Economic Community ; and what is his estimate of the percentage of such imports which are so inspected.
Mr. Donald Thompson : Port health authorities are responsible for the inspection of meat products imported from all countries under the Imported Food Regulations 1984. The authorities are diligent in ensuring that all consignments have the proper health certification and are inspected.
Humber Estuary
Mrs. Mahon : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what monitoring is currently being undertaken in and around the Humber estuary on (a) the decline in marine life and (b) the effects of water pollution on fish for human consumption.
Mr. Donald Thompson [holding answer 16 May 1989] : Concentrations of contaminants in fish and shellfish around the coasts of England and Wales including the Humber area are regularly monitored by scientists from my Department's directorate of fisheries research. Reports of this work are published and the latest such report, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food "Aquatic Environment Monitoring Report No. 16", is available in the Library of the House.
Agricultural Research
Mrs. Mahon : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what agricultural research resources are currently being devoted to (a) organic farming and (b) bio-dynamic farming techniques.
Mr. Ryder [holding answer 16 May 1989] : This year my Department is spending £198,000 on research directly related to organic farming. Other research funded by my Department is also relevant to organic and so-called bio-dynamic farming techniques because it is directed at reducing the use of artificial fertilisers and pesticides or improving the use of organic wastes from animals and crops. Such work includes the integrated control of cereals pests using insect predators, parasitic fungi and behaviour-controlling chemicals and will cost £892,000 this year.
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EMPLOYMENTTraining
Mr. McLeish : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the estimated date for publication of the Manpower Services Commission studies into the funding of training in Britain ; whether he will consider publishing the interim results of the study ; and whether the studies include a breakdown by economic region of private industry's expenditure on training.
Mr. Cope [holding answer 15 May 1989] : The studies will be published by the autumn. Interim results of the study were published a year ago and a copy is in the House of Commons Library, ("The Funding of Vocational Education and Training : Some Early Research Findings, Background Note 2, Training Commission, 1988). The studies do not include a breakdown by economic region of private industry's expenditure on training but will provide some indication of levels of training in different parts of the country.
Mr. Nigel Griffiths : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what steps he has taken to ensure that employment training scheme management agencies and employers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland do not continue to receive an allowance from his Department after trainees have left the scheme.
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Mr. Nicholls [holding answer 17 May 1989] : Claims for training fees submitted by training managers are subject to checks both within Training Agency area offices and at the training manager's premises. The checks include the comparison of claims with individual trainee records and information notified to unemployment benefit offices. Responsibility for Government programmes in Northern Ireland lies with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.
Mr. Cousins : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list the managing and training agents operating in the North Tyneside travel-to-work area and the numbers of ET and YTS placements in each.
Mr. Cope : I will write to the hon. Member and place a copy of my letter in the Library.
Labour Statistics
Ms. Short : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many people in the age group 16 to 19 inclusive were (a) full-time employees in employment, (b) part-time employees in employment, (c) self employed, (d) not included above and on YOP, YTS, CP, or JTS or (e) not included in the above and undertaking full-time education or training, from spring 1984 for each year to spring 1988.
Mr. Cope : Available estimates from labour force surveys are as shown in the following table :
Column 301
Persons aged 16-19 either in employment or undertaking full-time education or training-Great Britain
Spring estimates, thousands
|1984 |1985 |1986 |1987 |<1>1988
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Full-time<1> employees |1,261 |1,230 |1,189 |1,187 |1,190
Part-time<1> employees |386 |410 |432 |457 |525
Self-employed |43 |45 |44 |42 |44
On Government employment and training programmes<2> |227 |290 |262 |299 |316
Undertaking full-time education or training and not in
employment<3> |986 |912 |863 |870 |786
<1> Based on respondent's own assessment.
<2> Includes all on YTS, CI, CP, VPP and their predecessors, together with those in training courses
under JTS, Training for Enterprise and Wider Opportunities Training Programme (successors of Training
Opportunities programme or TOPS) who said they did some paid work in the survey reference week.
<3> Includes all still in continuous full-time education or (i) on a sandwich course, (ii) studying at
university, polytechnic or college full-time, or (iii) training for a qualification in nursing,
physiotherapy, or a similar medical subject.
<4> Preliminary estimates (1988 only).
Source: Labour Force Surveys.
YTS
Ms. Short : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what were the numbers of fatal, major and minor accidents on YTS for the period January 1989 to March 1989 ; and how many YTS placements were closed or not accepted in the periods September to December 1988 and January 1989 to March 1989.
Mr. Cope : Table A provides YTS accident figures for the period 1 January--31 March 1989.
Table A
YTS accidents 1 January 1989 to 31 March 1989
Accident<1> |Period 1 January 1989 to
|31 March 1989
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fatalities |1
Major Injuries<2> |150
Minor Injuries |716
<1>Training Agency accident figures include accidents to trainees in
educational establishments and road traffic accidents which would not have
been reportable to the Health and Safety Executive had the individuals
been employed.
<2>Major injuries are classified according to the severity criteria laid
down in the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences
Regulations 1985.
Table B provides the figures of YTS placements closed or not accepted for the quarters 1 October 1988 to 31 December 1988 and 1 January 1989 to 31 March 1989.
Table B
Closure and non acceptance of YTS placements 1 October 1988 to
31 December 1988 and 1 January 1989 to 31 March 1989
|1 October 1988 to 31|1 January 1989 to 31
|December 1988 |March 1989
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Placements Closed |36 |39
Placements not accepted |14 |19
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Ms. Short : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many YTS trainees had contracts of employment by Training Agency region, by male and female, at the most recent date, and at one year previously.
Column 304
Mr. Cope : The numbers of young people in training on YTS who were notified to the Training Agency as having contracts of employment as at 31 December 1987 and 31 December 1988 by region were as follows :
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31 December 198731 December 1988
Region |Female |Male |Female |Male
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Scotland |1,451 |4,478 |1,759 |5,594
Northern |981 |2,055 |1,217 |2,672
North West |2,966 |6,690 |3,402 |8,822
Yorkshire and Humberside |2,503 |3,936 |3,543 |6,437
West Midlands |1,509 |3,696 |2,488 |6,261
Wales |412 |1,886 |720 |2,371
South West |1,202 |4,055 |1,560 |5,569
South East |1,846 |7,882 |2,553 |10,246
London |778 |4,210 |1,693 |5,630
East Midlands and East Anglia |2,280 |5,955 |3,189 |8,087
|-------|-------|-------|-------
Total |15,428 |41,147 |21,524 |61,689
Ms. Short : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list by male and female from the most recent YTS leavers survey those trainees leaving the scheme by destination classed as (a) full-time work with same employer, (b) full-time work with a different employer, (c) full- time education course, (d) another YTS, (e) other and (f) unemployment ; and what is the percentage of early leavers.
Mr. Cope : The results of the YTS follow-up survey are available in the House of Commons Library.
SCOTLAND
Community Charge
Mr. Sillars : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will introduce legislation to exempt from the poll tax seamen working and living on their vessels who have no other sole or main residence.
Mr. Lang : The question whether a person is solely or mainly resident in the area of a local authority and thus liable to pay the personal community charge is for community charge registration officers to decide in the light of the facts and circumstances relating to individual cases. There are no plans to make special arrangements for seafarers.
Roads
Mrs. Margaret Ewing : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list in the Official Report the total percentages of the Scottish Development Department's road budget which were allocated to the following roads in each of the past five years : (a) A/M74, (b) A77, (c) A9, (d) A92 and (e) A96.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton [holding answer 16 May 1989] : The information is given in the following table :
Expenditure as Percentage of Total Spend on Trunk Roads Financial A77 A9 A92 A96 Year/Route A/M74 ----------------------------------------- 1984-85 |12.6|2.2 |17.9|11.5|1.6 1985-86 |19.2|1.9 |18.3|7.1 |1.4 1986-87 |13.6|1.7 |18.0|4.4 |2.4 1987-88 |13.6|2.4 |15.1|5.0 |7.3 1988-87<1> |9.9 |2.0 |9.9 |12.9|4.8 <1> Estimate.
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Family Law (Scotland) Act
Mrs. Margaret Ewing : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will introduce legislation to amend section 8(1)(a) of the Family Law (Scotland) Act 1985 in order to allow the court to make orders in an action for divorce, for the payment of a capital sum and for the transfer of property.
Mr. Sillars : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he has any intention of bringing forward amending legislation in the light of Lord Morton's statement in the Court of Session in the case of Walker v. Walker that the Family Law (Scotland) Act 1985 would require amendment to permit an award of both transfer of property and a capital sum.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : A Court of Session judgment relating to this legislation was made on 9 May. The provision in question is in the terms suggested by the Scottish Law Commission. Until such time as the period during which an appeal may be made expires it would not be appropriate for me to comment.
Weil's Disease
Dr. Godman : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will publish a table showing the number of deaths, by occupational category, and by region, from Weil's disease in each of the past 20 years ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : Seven deaths from Weil's disease since 1968 have been recorded in Scotland. The information requested about these deaths is as follows :
Year |Number of deaths |Occupation |County or region
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1970 |1 |Not known |Argyll
1975 |1 |Not known |Highland
1979 |1 |Drawing office assistant |Tayside
1980 |2 |Farm worker |Grampian
|Farmer |Central
1983 |2 |University academic staff|Tayside
|Farm worker |Central
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Lowland Airports Policy
Mr. Allan Stewart : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will place in the Library a copy of the survey of Scottish opinion which his office conducted in relation to the request by BAA plc for a review of Scottish lowland airports policy.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : No such survey of Scottish opinion has been carried out by the Scottish Office. In reaching his decision on BAA's request for a review of the Scottish lowlands airports policy, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport took into account the support for maintaining the present status of Prestwick airport which had been expressed by representatives of all political parties, as well as other considerations.
Direct Labour (Competition)
Mr. Allan Stewart : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he has completed his consultations about the competition requirements relating to direct labour organisations ; and if he will make a statement.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : The overall response rate to the consultation paper issued in October 1988 was low with only half of local authorities submitting comment. My right hon. and learned Friend was grateful to all those who did respond and has carefully considered the comments received. He has now decided that all building and maintenance work, other than highways and water and sewage work, should be subject to competition and that authorities should be prohibited from renewing maintenance contracts without first going out to tender. Emergency work will continue to be exempt but further consideration is being given to the scope for restricting the kinds of emergency work which can be carried out by direct labour organisations without competition.
In the light of the responses received, my right hon. and learned Friend has also decided to defer the implementation date by six months to 1 April 1990 and to increase the exemption for direct labour organisations proposed in the consultation paper from five to 15 employees.
Trunk Road Programme
Sir Hector Monro : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he will increase resources for the trunk road programme in Scotland ; and what proposals he has to alter his current policies and plans.
Mr. Rifkind : I refer to the statement made today by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport, announcing major developments in his motorway and trunk road programme. I particularly welcome his decision to place the main immediate priority in England on widening the M6, M1 and M25 motorways. These roads are Scotland's essential links to the major markets in the south and Europe. The road programme in Scotland will benefit substantially from the expanded programme announced today. As with England and Wales, of course detailed decisions about funding levels for particular years will be taken in the course of annual reviews of public expenditure. Under the normal formula arrangements the Scottish block will receive each year an equivalent share of the additional funds.
Column 306
I place major emphasis on improving inter- urban roads in Scotland. I have already announced that I am making additional funds available for national trunk roads over the current year and some 25 per cent. more for new construction for the following two financial years. I now expect to be in a position to increase roads spending substantially further in future years reflecting the Government's commitment to improved roads infrastructure. Currently we have in preparation a formidable programme of schemes and studies. The financing of roads is no longer a matter solely for the Government. There is also a role for private finance to play in road provision in the future in Scotland as in England, where my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport has said in his White Paper that he will be putting forward proposals on this question shortly.My right hon. Friend's White Paper also announced today new road traffic forecasts which are relevant to the standard of roads needed and to the estimates of their economic return. These new traffic forecasts will be applied similarly to planned Scottish road improvements.
I shall outline how we are currently proposing to spend the available resources. Our largest single project is the planned M74 Glasgow to Carlisle motorway which will link with the M6, M1 and M25 routes. This project was announced in 1987 : it alone expanded the trunk road programme by around 40 per cent. My Department has been working to a highly ambitious timetable to prepare this 100km of motorway and I now expect that advance works will start next year and, if progress continues will, even main works.
To this end I am announcing today the first two schemes, one at either end of the A74 in Scotland. The northernmost scheme runs from Millbank to just north of Abington. The second scheme is the section from Gretna to Kirkpatrick Fleming. Development of these "fast-track" schemes will run ahead of the general development of the rest of the route. The consultants are finalising their reports for the whole length to be upgraded. Once these reports have been studied, we propose in the late summer or autumn to consult on a proposed preferred route for the whole road.
A key issue is whether M74 schemes should be dual-two lane or dual-three lane standard. My Department has carefully assessed the two schemes that I have announced today in the light of the additional costs of dual-three lane over dual-two lane, the new higher traffic levels expected and the implications for disruption of traffic during the construction period. Following this full assessment, it is proposed that these two schemes will be built to dual-three lane standard. The standard to which subsequent schemes will be built will similarly be considered on their particular merits.
A further motorway priority is completion of the central Scotland network. Some eight major motorway schemes are now being progressed rapidly. One is the M8 from Newbridge to the Edinburgh bypass. This is urgently required and I hope that firm proposals can be published this summer with a view to construction starting about two years thereafter.
On the M80, advance works are well under way on the Stepps bypass, which will mark the start of three major schemes that will complete the motorway from Stirling to Glasgow. There are four other major motorway proposals
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