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Mr. Ryder : Irradiation of fresh fruit and vegetables is not permitted in the Netherlands. A small quantity of dried vegetables is irradiated for quarantine purposes on import to the Netherlands, but these are used within that country.
Hepatitis A
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he has carried out tests to establish whether hepatitis A can be killed by irradiation at the 10 kgy level ; and if he will make a statement.
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Mr. Ryder : No tests have been carried out on this specific subject. Other treatments are effective in eliminating hepatitis A.
Baby Foods (Offals)
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food on what date he intends to introduce regulations barring the inclusion of specified offals from baby foods ; if he has any proposals to extend the prohibition to other offals or other foods ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. MacGregor : Following the advice in the Southwood report, I indicated that I would be introducing regulations prohibiting the use of specified offals in foods intended for babies. I am aware of the suggestion that such a prohibition should be extended to all meat products even though the Southwood report did not identify any such general need. There is already a prohibition on the use of specified offal in uncooked meat products. I am considering whether further action should be taken to reinforce the present law.
Meat and Bone Meal
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Caerphilly of 18 May, Official Report, columns 294-95, what requirements on heat treatment of meat and bone meal exported from the United Kingdom are sought by (a) France, and (b) West Germany.
Mr. Donald Thompson : France has requested that the temperature and duration of the heat treatment which has been applied to the consignment should be recorded on the export health certificate. West Germany specifies that consignments must be heated to a minimum temperature of 80 deg C for at least 30 minutes.
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) what was the total quantity of meat and bone meal exported from the United Kingdom to the United States of America for each of the last three years for which figures are available ;
(2) what was the total quantity of meat and bone meal exported from the United Kingdom to Holland for each of the last three years for which figures are available.
Mr. Donald Thompson : United Kingdom exports of meat meal and bone meal to the Netherlands in the last three years are given in the following table. There were no exports of meat and bone meal to the United States of America during 1986 and 1987 and only 4 tonnes were recorded in 1988.
Tonnes
|1986 |1987 |1988
---------------------------------------------------------
Flours, meals and pellets of
meat or offal (including
tankage), unfit for human
consumption; greaves |139 |805 |1,826
Bone meal |51 |11 |<1>670
<1> From 1988, bone meal is combined in the statistics
with other bones and their derivatives apart from
'ossein and bones treated with acid'. Therefore the
tonnage of bone meal exported to Netherlands in 1988
could be slightly lower than 670 tonnes.
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NATIONAL FINANCECivil Service Trade Unions
Mr. Andrew Mitchell : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, in the light of the recent ballot in which members of the Ministry of Defence staff association voted in favour of a merger with the Electrical and Engineering Staff Association, he will make a statement about political affiliation by Civil Service trade unions.
Mr. Brooke : As I made clear in my statement in the House on 7 February 1986, in the Government's view political affiliation by a non- industrial Civil Service trade union would run wholly counter to the need for political neutrality of a Civil Service which has to serve Governments of any political persuasion. The Government remain of this view and would be seriously concerned if such a union, or any section of a union representing non-industrial civil servants, were to seek to affiliate to a political party, either directly or subsequent to merger with another union. In such an event, the Government would need to consider what action would be necessary to prevent political affiliation from taking place. The Government are reassured to note that, in seeking merger with the EESA, the MODSA has already indicated its wish to remain politically non-affiliated subsequent to the merger taking place.
Inflation
Mr. Thurnham : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether any further measures are planned to control inflation.
Mr. Lilley : Inflation is a disease of money. The way to cure this disease is through monetary policy of which short-term interest rates are the essential instrument.
Interest Rates
Mr. John Evans : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on interest rates.
Mr. Lilley : Bank base rates are 14 per cent.
Manufacturing Investment
Mr. Jack : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the latest official projection for the growth of manufacturing investment in 1989.
Mr. Major : The latest DTI investment intentions survey published in December projected manufacturing investment in constant prices to rise by 11 per cent. in 1989 on a year earlier. The latest CBI quarterly trends survey published in April confirms this buoyant outlook.
Premium Bonds
Mr. Steel : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his answer to the right hon. Member for Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale, 5 May, Official Report, column 255, what proportion of the actual numbers of all purchases of premium bonds are currently made under the value of £100.
Mr. Lawson : About 80 per cent.
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Mr. Jack : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he last reviewed the value and number of the prizes awarded in the premium savings bond monthly draw ; and whether there are plans to increase the number of values of the prizes during 1989.
Mr. Lilley [holding answer 25 May 1989] : The prize structure and the underlying rate of interest which determines the prize fund for premium bonds are kept under continuous review. The number and value of prizes increase automatically in line with increases in the value of bonds eligible to participate in the prize draw. There are no present plans to alter the existing prize structure or the underlying interest rate.
Mr. Jack : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps he is taking to increase the use of national savings gift tokens for the purchase of premium savings bonds.
Mr. Lilley [holding answer 25 May 1989] : As previously announced, National Savings gift tokens will be withdrawn from sale on 30 June.
Mr. Jack : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the current cost of translating a sale of premium savings bond worth £10, £50, £100 and £1,000, respectively.
Mr. Lilley [holding answer 25 May 1989] : The transaction cost is nearly £2 irrespective of the value of the sale.
Mr. Jack : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the value of premium savings bond sales to adults buying on behalf of children in 1986, 1987 and 1988.
Mr. Lilley [holding answer 25 May 1989] : The estimated value of premium savings bond sales to adults buying on behalf of children (under the age 16) in the financial years 1986, 1987 and 1988 is as follows :
Financial year |Value
|£ million
------------------------------------------------------------
1 April 1986 to 31 March 1987 |3.5
1 April 1987 to 31 March 1988 |4.6
1 April 1988 to 31 March 1989 |8.4
Gross Domestic Product
Mr. Denzil Davies : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of the United Kingdom gross domestic product was represented by the financial sector (a) in 1980 and (b) in the latest available year ; and what information he has as to corresponding figures for France and West Germany, respectively.
Mr. Lawson [holding answer 23 May 1989] : Figures for the contribution of the financial sector to United Kingdom gross domestic product are given in the 1988 CSO national accounts Blue Book. Figures for France and Germany, and for the United Kingdom on a comparable basis, are given in "OECD National Accounts" volume II 1960-1986 published in 1988. Both publications can be obtained from the Library of the House.
VAT
Sir John Farr : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when Her Majesty's Customs and Excise will produce guidelines on how the sporting value of land will be assessed for VAT.
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Mr. Lilley [holding answer 24 May 1989] : Customs and Excise have no plans to issue any guidelines. VAT is a self-assessed tax and it is for vendors and lessors to make a fair and reasonable apportionment of the contract price or rent as between on the one hand the value of the exempt land and on the other the value of the taxable sporting rights. Most vendors and lessors will in any event be professionally advised in determining their asking price and the valuation of the sporting rights could be dealt with in that context. Customs will not, however, insist on a professional valuation and land owners will often have an indication of value by reference to rating assessments or to the income generated from the fishing, shooting and so on. Where, after 1 August 1989, a vendor or lessor had opted to tax his agricultural land transactions, there would be no need for an apportionment.
National Savings
Mr. Jack : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the value of sales per employee in national savings in 1988 for each of their products.
Mr. Lilley [holding answer 25 May 1989] : The value of sales per employee for each of national savings' products in 1988 was as follows :
|Sales 1988 |Average sales per
|employee
|£ million |£ million
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fixed-interest Certificates |1,371 |1.1
Index-linked Certificates |683 |1.0
Yearly Plan |119 |0.8
Save As You Earn (share option schemes) 64 0.3
Income Bonds |2,039 |3.6
Investment Account |1,852 |1.8
Premium Bonds |323 |0.2
Ordinary Account |651 |0.4
Deposit Bonds<1> |203 |2.3
<1> Withdrawn from sale 19 November 1988.
Endangered Species
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give details of all seizures of live creatures and articles derived from endangered species imported or exported in contravention of the restrictions imposed by national and international regulations in each of the last three year periods for which figures are available.
Mr. Lilley [holding answer 25 May 1989] : The table shows numbers of live creatures and articles derived from endangered species imported or exported in contravention of the restrictions imposed by the Endangered Species (Import and Export) Act 1976 or Council regulation (EEC) No. 3626/82. The central records of articles for 1988 have not yet been finalised.
Year to 31 March |Live creatures |Articles -------------------------------------------------------------------- 1986 |264 |4,500 1987 |1,604 |6,304 1988 |2,284 |more than 3,000
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give details of the seizures of live creatures imported or exported in contravention of the
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restrictions imposed by the Endangered Species (Import and Export) Act 1976 or Council regulation (EEC) No. 3626/82 in the year to 31 March ; and what information he has concerning related criminal proceedings taken with penalties and costs imposed.Mr. Lilley [holding answer 25 May 1989] : The information is as follows. Details relating to proceedings indicate the number of persons successfully prosecuted under the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979 for attempted evasion of the restrictions.
Seizures |Number of persons|Penalties/Costs
|convicted
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Imports
1 African civet |- |-
2 common marmosets |- |-
1,518 reptiles and |1 person |£100 penalty
amphibians |£400 costs
380 birds |- |-
Exports
4 snakes |1 person |£200 penalty
|£25 costs
10 finches |- |-
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will provide details of the quantity and country of origin of all raw and worked ivory detained in each of the last three years because of documentation difficulties ; and what was the subsequent outcome of each case.
Mr. Lilley [holding answer 25 May 1989] : Records of such detentions are not maintained centrally and the information sought could be obtained only at disproportionate expense.
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his policy in respect of the disposal of endangered species of animals, birds and articles seized by Her Majesty's Customs and Excise.
Mr. Lilley [holding answer 25 May 1989] : The disposal of seized specimens, parts and derivatives is in accordance with the Washington convention on international trade in endangered species of wild fauna and flora as put into force by the Endangered Species Act and Community regulations. Each case is dealt with on its merits. The disposal of live creatures is arranged in consultation with the Department of the Environment, the management authority. The preferred option for the most endangered species is return to a natural habitat.
Productivity
Mr. Hanley : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish in tabular form the growth of productivity each year for the whole economy since 1980 in the United Kingdom and in each of the other major industrialised countries.
Sir David Price : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish in tabular form the growth of productivity each year for the whole economy since 1980 in the United Kingdom and in each of the other major industrialised countries.
Mr. Rowe : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the growth of productivity each year for the whole economy since 1980 in (a) the United Kingdom and (b) each of the other major industrial countries.
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Mr. Gerald Howarth : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish in tabular form the growth of productivity each year for the whole economy since 1980 in the United Kingdom and in each of the other industrialised countries.
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Mr. Major [pursuant to his reply, 23 February 1989,c. 778-79] : The figures given for Canada, and also, as a consequence, the Group of Seven average, were incorrect. The correct figures are as follows :
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Growth of whole economy productivity
(percentage change on a year earlier
|United Kingdom|United States |Japan |Germany |France |Italy |Canada |G7<1>
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1981 |2.2 |1.1 |3.0 |0.9 |1.8 |0.9 |0.9 |1.6
1982 |4.3 |-1.7 |1.8 |1.1 |2.4 |0.6 |0.1 |0.4
1983 |4.2 |2.6 |1.4 |3.1 |1.0 |0.8 |2.3 |2.3
1984 |1.4 |2.9 |4.4 |2.6 |2.2 |2.8 |3.8 |3.0
1985 |1.6 |1.7 |4.0 |1.3 |2.0 |2.4 |1.7 |2.1
1986 |2.3 |0.7 |1.6 |1.3 |1.9 |2.4 |0.3 |1.3
1987 |2.5 |0.9 |3.3 |1.2 |2.0 |3.3 |1.2 |1.8
1988<2> |1.1 |1.6 |3.9 |2.9 |2.9 |3.1 |1.0 |2.3
Period average 2.5 1.2 2.9 1.8 2.0 2.0 1.4 1.8
<1> Weighted average.
<2> The figures for 1988 for all countries except United Kingdom are based on gross domestic product/gross national product figures from national
sources and OECD estimates of employment growth. United Kingdom figures from CSO.
Source: OECD, CSO and national sources.
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