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Mr. Peter Lloyd : Each of the children's rates in family credit incorporates cash provision in place of free school meals or free welfare milk as appropriate. In March 1989 there were 392,000 children aged five or over in family
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credit families and for whom the cash provision might therefore be expected to be used in place of free school meals, but otherwise the information requested is not available.NATIONAL FINANCE
Government Bonds
Mr. Allen : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he intends to continue his policy of the early repurchasing of Government bonds.
Mr. Lilley : The Government will continue to operate according to the full fund rule set out in paragraph 2.23 of the 1989-90 "Financial Statement and Budget Report". The Government intend to return to a balanced budget as the norm in due course.
Domestic Credit Control
Mr. Allen : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list European Community directives which would limit the freedom of member states to institute domestic credit control, including a deposit on the purchase of goods or a shortening of mortgage repayment schedules.
Mr. Lilley : No such directive has been adopted.
PAYE
Mr. Macdonald : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on progress made on the computerisation of PAYE ; and when he expects it to be in full operation.
Mr. Norman Lamont : The computerisation of the PAYE system was successfully completed in October 1988 when the last tax office, centre 1 in Scotland, was converted to the new system.
Shares (Statistics)
Mr. Macdonald : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of shares are owned by (a) the personal sector, (b) financial companies and institutions and (c) others.
Mr. Norman Lamont : Following is the information on the proportions of holdings of United Kingdom ordinary and preference shares at end 1987 :
|Percentage
----------------------------------------------------------------------
(a) Personal Sector |29
(b) Monetary Sector and Other Financial
Institutions |57
(c) Industrial and Commercial Companies, Public
Corporations, Central Government |14
Income Tax
Mr. Macdonald : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what were the costs of collecting income tax in each of the previous five years ; and if he will express each figure as a percentage of total income tax receipts and give comparative percentages where the data are available for other European Community countries and for Sweden and the United States of America.
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Mr. Norman Lamont : The costs of collecting income tax in the United Kingdom, and costs as a percentage of total income tax receipts were as follows :
Cost as percentage of total income tax receipts
|Cost (£ million)|Percentage
--------------------------------------------------------------------
1983 |676.3 |2.17
1984 |730.3 |2.25
1985 |803.9 |2.27
1986 |882.9 |2.29
1987 |931.5 |2.25
Comparable data for other countries are not available because of the differences in the tax system and the arrangements for administration and collection.
Finance Bill (Clause 167)
Mr. Arbuthnot : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list in relation to clause 167 of the Finance Bill on instruments of variation those professional bodies or firms which have made representations (a) opposed to and (b) in favour of the principle or the detail of the clause.
Mr. Norman Lamont : We have received around 130 written representations, all of which were opposed to the principle or the detail of the clause.
EC Money (Definition)
Mr. Teddy Taylor : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement explaining the character and definition of Community money as referred to in paragraph 12(b) of the explanatory memorandum issued by the Paymaster General on 21 February 1989, (10449/88).
Mr. Brooke : The term "Community money" was used in the explanatory memorandum to refer to sums made available to the Community by member states.
EC Finance Ministers (S'Agaro Meeting)
Mr. Marlow : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether any conclusions were reached at the informal meeting of European Community Finance Ministers at S'Agaro on 19 to 21 May.
Mr. Brooke : I refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave to him on 12 June at column 272.
Small Businesses
Mr. Aspinwall : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the Treasury definition of a small business is for tax purposes.
Mr. Norman Lamont [holding answer 15 June 1989] : There is no specific definition. Targeting of tax reliefs for small businesses is achieved by defining the relevant qualifying conditions, taking account of the particular objective. For example, to benefit from the small companies' rate of corporation tax, a company must have profits below £100,000 or, for the purposes of the marginal relief, below £500,000. The Finance Bill contains provisions to increase these limits to £150,000 and £750,000 respectively.
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Building Society Shares
Mr. Chris Smith : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his estimate of the cost to the Exchequer of the inclusion announced on 8 June of newly floated building society shares within personal equity plan portfolios ; and what he expects the level of take-up to be.
Mr. Norman Lamont [holding answer 12 June 1989] : The cost to the Exchequer is expected to be negligible. The level of take-up will depend on the number of building societies converting to plc status and the extent to which personal equity plan managers offer the new facility.
EEC Funding
Mr. Michael Meacher : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make it his policy to estimate the level of EEC funding from social and regional grants that has been lost in each of the last five years as a result of the accumulative effect each year of the reductions in the officially declared level of United Kingdom unemployment following changes in the calculation of the unemployment figures.
Mr. Atkins [holding answer 12 June 1989] : I have been asked to reply.
The question is based on a false hypothesis. Payments from the European social and regional development funds are not directly determined by unemployment levels. In so far as, following the recent reform of the funds, eligibility for grant partly depends on rates of unemployment, the relevant rates are European Commission estimates prepared on a standardised basis to eliminate any effects of differences of statistical method between Member States or at different periods.
WALES
In-patient Waiting Lists
17. Dr. Marek : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is the latest figure he has for in-patient waiting lists for urgent and non-urgent cases.
Mr. Grist : The latest figures, published on 17 May, are contained in "Welsh Hospital Waiting List Bulletin" 1989 : No. 1. They show that 2,887 urgent cases and 38,362 non-urgent cases were waiting for in-patient treatment on 30 September 1988. I am pleased to note the 20 per cent. reduction in patients waiting for urgent treatment, compared to 1987, but disappointed at the 5 per cent. increase in non-urgent cases.
Training and Enterprise Councils
18. Mr. Ieuan Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement on the progress being made in establishing training and enterprise councils in Wales.
Mr. Peter Walker : Good progress is being made. Employers throughout Wales are responding positively to the invitation to formulate proposals for training and enterprise councils and I expect two councils to be operational early next year with a full network across Wales during 1990.
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NHS
19. Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will publish detailed consultative documents setting out his proposals for implementation of changes in the Health Service in Wales which take account of special factors affecting the regions of Wales ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Grist : I refer the hon. Gentleman to my earlier reply to the hon. Member for Brecon and Radnor (Mr. Livsey).
Cardigan Bay
20. Mr. Geraint Howells : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales whether he has consulted local authorities around Cardigan bay about turning the bay into a marine nature conservation area.
Mr. Wyn Roberts : No. It is for the Nature Conservancy Council to apply to my right hon. Friend for the designation of a marine nature reserve after consulting relevant interested parties. However, I understand that at present it has no plans to make an application in respect of the Cardigan bay area.
Tourism (Grants)
21. Mr. Nicholas Bennett : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what representations he has received about the provision of grants for tourist projects under section 4 of the Tourism Act 1969 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Wyn Roberts : My right hon. Friend and I have received representations from a number of interested organisations and individuals.
Welsh Water Authority
23. Dr. Kim Howells : To ask the Secretary of State when he last met the chairman of the Welsh water authority ; and what matters were discussed.
Mr. Grist : My right hon. Friend last met the chairman on 22 May 1989. A wide range of issues were discussed.
Welsh Arts Council
24. Sir Anthony Meyer : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when he next expects to meet the chairman of the Welsh Arts Council ; and what matters he proposes to discuss.
Mr. Wyn Roberts : My right hon. Friend has no plans at present to meet the chairman of the Welsh Arts Council.
Cardiff Bay Development Corporation
25. Mr. Gwilym Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement on the progress of the Cardiff Bay development corporation.
Mr. Peter Walker : The development corporation is making excellent progress. Some 300 acres of land has been acquired ; site investigations for major land reclamation schemes are near completion ; the local community has directly benefited by more than £3.5 million spent on various improvement projects. The barrage Bill can be expected to come before this House
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shortly, having recently been considered by a Committee in another place and approved there with one minor amendment.The recent agreement with Associated British Ports for the development of large areas of land in the ownership of ABP will allow quicker progress to be made with the development of this important area of the bay.
I recently announced that, subject to parliamentary approval on the supplementary Estimate, I am providing a further £7 million this year to permit the corporation to acquire more land for development purposes.
Water Pollution
Mr. Speller : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will seek powers to require Welsh Water to seek planning permission for raw sewage outlets into the Bristol channel ; and if he will make a statement on the different sources of pollution which enter this marine cul de sac.
Mr. Grist : No. Under part II of the Control of Pollution Act 1974, water authorities are required to obtain consents before making a discharge into the sea or water courses. Where schemes require planning permission, this is a matter for the local planning authority to determine under the Town and Country Planning Acts. With regard to sources of pollution in the Bristol channel, information on consented discharges is available on public registers held by the water authorities.
Health Service
Mr. Coleman : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is the number of patients awaiting surgical operations in each of the Welsh district health authorities ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Grist : Waiting list information is collected centrally on the basis of the number of people waiting for admission to hospital in a particular specialty and it is not known, therefore, how many are waiting for surgical operations. Information on waiting lists is published in "Welsh Hospital Waiting List Bulletin" copies of which are in the Library of the House.
Mr. Livsey : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is the average number of patients for each county in Wales per (a) doctor and (b) general practitioner practice.
Mr. Grist : The requested information (as at 1 October 1987) is given in the table :
Family Practitioner |Average number of |Average number of
Committee |patients per doctor<1>|patients per
|partnership<2>
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Clwyd |1,914 |6,113
Dyfed |1,700 |4,774
Gwent |1,890 |4,930
Gwynedd |1,675 |4,605
Mid Glamorgan |1,919 |5,475
Powys |1,628 |6,784
South Glamorgan |1,887 |5,661
West Glamorgan |1,952 |6,108
<1> Unrestricted principals
<2> Includes single doctor practices
Roads
Mr. Alex Carlile : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what are his current proposals for the improvement
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of the Shrewsbury-Aberystwyth trunk road from the Shropshire/Powys border ; if any studies have been carried out to estimate increases in traffic load on the road between its present time and the year 2000 ; and if he will make a statement.Mr. Wyn Roberts : Selective improvements of the
A458/A483/A489/A470/A44 route are planned, and shown in "Roads in Wales 1989". The "National Traffic Forecasts (Great Britain) 1989" published on 18 May covers this route ; a major traffic survey has recently been carried out by the Department on the A483 north of Newtown.
Language Teaching
Mr. Alex Carlile : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what assessment he has made of the level of provision for the learning of French, German, Spanish and Italian in secondary schools in Wales ; and if he will make a further statement concerning his policy for the teaching of European Community languages in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in Wales.
Mr. Wyn Roberts : The secondary school staffing survey conducted this year will provide information on the numbers of teachers qualified to teach these languages. The national curriculum will require all pupils aged 11 to 16 to be taught a modern foreign language, and they must all be offered the opportunity to study a European Community language. I have no plans to promote the teaching of foreign languages in primary schools.
Village Schools
Mr. Alex Carlile : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what assessment he has made of the quality of teaching and standard of educational attainment in village primary schools in Powys ; and if he will make a statement concerning his policy towards village schools.
Mr. Wyn Roberts : Her Majesty's inspectors of schools in Wales have published a number of reports on small schools in Powys which include comments on quality of teaching and standard of educational attainment. Schools subject of reports published over the past year are :
Penrhos County Primary School, Ystradgynlais
Ysgol Pennant, Pen-y-Bont Fawr
Buttington/Trewern County Primary School
Ffynnon Gynydd Church in Wales Primary School, Glasbury Ysgol Trefeglwys, Llanidloes
Crossgates County Primary School
In addition surveys have been carried out into various aspects of provision in Powys
Guidance on schools in rural areas is given in Welsh Office circular 20/88, a copy of which is in the Library of the House.
Farming
Mr. Livsey : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what was the average (a) size in hectares (b) average farm income (c) the number of farms (d) the average number of ewes and (e) the number of beef cows for upland beef and sheep farms in marginal land areas within the less-favoured areas.
Mr. Peter Walker : There are estimated to be 9,163 cattle and sheep farms in the less-favoured areas of Wales.
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Average figures for upland beef and sheep farms are not available separately for marginal land area. Figures for all hill and upland livestock farms can be found at table 3.14 of the 1989 edition of "Farm Incomes in the United Kingdom", a copy of which is in the Library of the House.Mr. Livsey : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what was the average (a) size in hectares (b) number of dairy cows kept and (c) farm income for the latest period for which he has figures for an average dairy farm in Wales.
Mr. Peter Walker : The information requested can be found at table 3.9 of the 1989 edition of "Farm Incomes in the United Kingdom", a copy of which is in the Library of the House.
Radioactive Waste
Mr. Gareth Wardell : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he has granted permission to Amersham International to use the Ferry road tip in the Grangetown district of Cardiff for the disposal of low-level radioactive waste.
Mr. Grist : An authorisation has been issued to the company to dispose of very low level solid radioactive waste at Cardiff city council's waste disposal sites at Ferry road and Lamby way.
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list those sites within Wales that have been approved for the dumping of low level radioactive waste and state in respect of each site when approval for such use was initially granted and by which licensing authority.
Mr. Grist : Any waste disposal site licensed by a waste disposal authority under the Control of Pollution Act 1974 may receive a very low level radioactive waste where such a disposal method is permitted by the necessary authorisation issued by the Secretary of State under the Radioactive Substances Act 1960.
The organisations and premises specified in authorisations covering Wales are shown in the Department of the Environment/Welsh Office/Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution publication "List of Premises in England and Wales currently authorised under the Radioactive Substances Act 1960 to dispose of Radioactive Waste" a copy of which is available in the Library of the House.
Gwynedd Health Authority
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many members there are of the Gwynedd health authority ; how many are appointed by him ; and of those so appointed, how many have their home residence in the Arfon borough area.
Mr. Grist : There are 17 members of Gwynedd health authority, including the chairman. The Secretary of State is responsible for appointing the chairman and 10 members, one of whom has a home residence in the Arfon borough area.
Milk Quota
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when the milk quota allocated to Upper Wallis farm, Ambleston, Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire will be transferred to Mr. B. Bevan, who is due to re-occupy the farm on 30 June.
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Mr. Peter Walker [holding answer 16 June 1989] : Transfers of milk quota are a matter for the parties concerned. Mr. Bevan will be able to take steps to transfer the relevant quota when he resumes occupation of Upper Wallis farm. The appropriate form is available from the milk marketing board.
FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS
Namibian Refugees
Mr. Atkinson : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) how many Namibian refugees are presently located in camps in Angola and Zambia ;
(2) how many Namibian refugees were in Angola and Zambia in 1985, 1986 and 1987 ; and what organisations were responsible for monitoring and administering these refugees during these years ; (3) if he has made any representations concerning the discrepancy in figures published over the last three years by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees concerning the total number of Namibian refugees in Angola and Zambia and the most recent estimates of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees ;
(4) when Namibian refugees, currently based in Angola and Zambia, will be returned to Namibia under the United Nations' Namibian independence plan ;
(5) which non-govermental organisations are responsible under the United Nations plan for the processing and safe return of Namibian refugees from camps in Angola and Zambia to Namibia.
Mrs. Chalker : The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has responsibility for organising the repatriation of Namibian refugees. We fully support the UNHCR operation, and are in close touch with UNHCR officials.
No independent count of Namibian refugees in Angola and Zambia has been made. The UNHCR has operated its programme for Namibian refugees on the basis of estimates that there were 69,000 Namibian refugees in Angola and a further 7,000 in Zambia.
By 3 June, 41,000 returnees had registered with UNHCR for return to Namibia, though the registration process was still continuing. Not included in these figures are a large number of children who are expected to remain outside Namibia to complete their schooling and armed SWAPO units who will remain in United Nations-monitored positions north of the 16th parallel in Angola.
The repatriation operation began on 12 June and is expected to last six weeks.
South West Africa People's Organisation
Mr. Atkinson : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) whether Her Majesty's Government have made representations to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees concerning Namibians detained by the South West Africa People's Organisation ; and if he will make a statement ;
(2) whether Her Majesty's Government possess a list of Namibians detained by South West Africa People's Organisation ; and if he will make a statement concerning the fate of Namibian refugees in Angola and Zambia ;
(3) whether Her Majesty's Government will take all possible steps to ensure that all those Namibians presently
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detained by the South West Africa People's Organisation and accused of being South African spies are released and repatriated to Namibia at the earliest opportunity.(4) whether he has received any representations concerning the names of those Namibians detained by the South West Africa People's Organisation accused of being South African spies ; and if he will make a statement.
Mrs. Chalker : We are extremely concerned about the welfare of SWAPO -held detainees. Several lists of such detainees have been drawn to our attention, including one compiled by Amnesty International. We have raised the matter in our contacts with SWAPO. We have also drawn the matter to the attention of the UNHCR. The United Nations special representative for Namibia, supported by officials from the UNHCR and the International Committee of the Red Cross, has been pressing for the release of SWAPO's prisoners. Some were released last month in Angola. United Nations and ICRC staff are in contact with SWAPO to ensure that all detainees are released in accordance with the United Nations plan. We are in close touch with these organisations, and shall continue to support their efforts.
Mr. Atkinson : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on how many occasions over the last two years he or Ministers from his Department have met with senior representatives from the South West Africa People's Organisation ; and if he will make a statement.
Mrs. Chalker : We have regular official and, as appropriate, ministerial contact with representatives of SWAPO. Ministers have met senior representatives of SWAPO on three occasions in the last two years.
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