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Mr. Renton : The information is not available in the form requested. The time that it takes to hear an individual appeal varies greatly from case to case because of both the number of stages involved and the differing lengths of time that each stage can take. I am aware however that the time between the lodging of an appeal and the hearing commonly exceeds one year for cases heard in Scotland.
Mr. Wray : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what new measures of support he is taking to help the United Kingdom Immigrants Advisory Service in Scotland to deal with immigration appeals.
Mr. Renton : The Home Office makes an annual grant-in-aid to the United Kingdom Immigrants Advisory Service, under section 23 of the Immigration Act 1971, as the basis for the provision of a nationwide service of advice and assistance to persons who have rights of appeal under the Act. The grant in 1988-89 was £1,007,000 and is reviewed annually. It is for the service to decide how to allocate these moneys to the various aspects of its work.
C3 Division
Mr. Mullin : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people are employed by the C3 Division and at what cost.
Mr. John Patten : Forty-eight people are currently employed in C3 Division of the Home Office at an annual
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cost of £756,000. Of these, 18 are employed in dealing with work associated with alleged miscarriages of justice and the exercise of the royal prerogative of mercy, at an annual cost of £275,500.Immigration Rules
Mr. Madden : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he proposes to hold an inquiry into the leaking of the memorandum from G. N. Stadlen, of B2 division, dated 9 June headed "Immigration Rules Changes and DNA Announcement" including a draft letter to the Lord President for signature by the Home Secretary ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Hurd : Yes : any suggestion that an unauthorised disclosure of information has occurred is investigated.
Sinn Fein
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what formal representations he has received from the British Broadcasting Corporation about the banning of the appearance of Sinn Fein on television and radio ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Renton : None. When the directions were issued, the BBC and the IBA undertook to implement them, although they requested that the need for them should be kept under close review.
Mr. Ning Hong Shan
Mr. Mullin : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if a decision has been reached regarding the request for asylum by Mr. Ning Hong Shan ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Tim Renton : The application is under consideration.
Mr. Abbas Karbassian
Mr. Nellist : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department why his Department refused leave to remain for Mr. Abbas Karbassian of 14 Bromwich close, Ernesford Grange, Coventry, reference K296103 ; whether the criteria for the granting of indefinite leave to remain on the basis of length of residence in the United Kingdom have changed since his reply to the hon. Member for Islington, North (Mr. Corbyn) of 17 March 1986, Official Report, column 9 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Renton : Mr. Karbassian's application for leave to remain on the basis of his marriage to a British citizen was refused because the couple had subsequently separated. An earlier application to remain as a student was refused because the Secretary of State was not satisfied that Mr. Karbassian intended to leave the United Kingdom at the end of his studies. Mr. Karbassian's application for settlement on the basis of his lengthy residence in the United Kingdom was considered on its merits but it was decided not to exercise discretion in his favour.
The criteria for the grant of indefinite leave to remain on the basis of length of residence were set out more fully in the reply of 5 November 1987 at column 833 to a question from the hon. Member for Norwood (Mr. Fraser). They remain as stated.
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Broadcasting Licences
Mr. Wray : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what response he is giving to representations against the proposed auction of broadcasting licences to the highest bidder and to calls for the protection of quality of television programmes.
Mr. Renton : The case for allocating television licences by competitive tender and the steps which we propose to preserve quality programming are set out in our White Paper "Broadcasting in the '90s : Competition, Choice and Quality". In the statement my right hon. Friend made to the House on 13 June on the future of commercial television at columns 710-15 he announced further ways in which quality would be safeguarded, notably by strengthening the quality threshold which all applicants for licences would have first to satisfy ; by giving the Independent Television Commission power in exceptional circumstances not to accept the highest bid ; and by requiring the successful applicant to post a substantial performance bond which would be liable to forfeiture if programme quality requirements are not met. Taken together these proposals represent substantial safeguards for the delivery of quality programmes.
Media Supervision
Mr. Wray : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he has any plans to establish an independent body composed of representatives of television producers, journalists, actors, musicians and playwrights to supervise quality control and anti-monopolistic practices in television and the press.
Passports (Chinese Nationals)
Mr. Cox : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will consider his policy towards Chinese students and nationals whose passports may expire in the near future ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Renton : Chinese nationals who, for good reason, are unable or unwilling to approach their own authorities for documentation, and who wish to travel may apply to the Home Office, Travel Document Section, Lunar house, Croydon CR9 2BY for a travel document.
Work Permits
Mr. Cox : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make it his policy to look sympathetically at applications for work permits from Chinese students who are able to obtain employment towards the payment of their college fees and expenses ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Renton : We will look sympathetically at any applications from Chinese students who, because of the situation in China, seek permission to take employment to help with their expenses.
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HOUSE OF COMMONS
WEU
Sir Russell Johnston : To ask the Lord President of the Council if he will make available reports of plenary debates of the Western European Union in the Library and Vote Office on the day following the debate.
Mr. Wakeham : It is not possible to give this undertaking since the availability of these reports is not a matter under the control of the House. The Library and the Vote Office will make them available to hon. Members as soon as possible after their publication.
THE ARTS
Public Libraries
61. Mrs. Golding : To ask the Minister for the Arts what information he has on the purchasing power of public libraries' expenditure on books over the past 10 years.
Mr. Luce : Information for the last 10 years is not available. In the 10 years from 1977-78 to 1986-87 public libraries expenditure on books fell by 1.7 per cent. in real terms, but it has increased by 14 per cent. between 1981-82 and 1986-87.
66. Mr. Haynes : To ask the Minister for the Arts how many public libraries are open for more than 45 hours a week.
Mr. Luce : In 1987-88, the most recent period for which statistics are available, returns from 98 authorities show that 630 service points in England were open for more than 45 hours per week.
Greater London Arts
62. Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Minister for the Arts when he last met the chairman and director of Greater London Arts to discuss the future of arts administration in London.
67. Mr. Chris Smith : To ask the Minister for the Arts when he last met the chairman of Greater London Arts to discuss the future funding and administration of the arts in London.
Mr. Luce : I met the director of Greater London Arts at a sponsorship launch on 12 April.
Departmental Funding
63. Mr. Jessel : To ask the Minister for the Arts what have been the increases in the funding of his Department over the last five years, and those announced for future years.
Mr. Luce : This year my Department is spending £439 million, an increase of 63 per cent. over the corresponding cash programme for 1984-85. My plans are for expenditure of £450 million in 1990-91 and £480 million in 1991-92.
Theatres (London)
64. Mr. Goodlad : To ask the Minister for the Arts what information he has as to attendances at theatres in London.
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Mr. Luce : According to the PSI publication "Cultural Trends" there were nearly 10 million paid admissions at theatres in London in 1987. This a 6 per cent. increase on 1986.
Disabled People (Access Arrangements)
65. Mr. Greg Knight : To ask the Minister for the Arts what steps he is taking to improve access for the disabled to arts venues.
Mr. Luce : On 20 December last year I announced a contribution of £150,000 towards a fund to improve access to arts venues for the disabled, to be set up by the Carnegie trust.
Mappa Mundi
68. Mr. Colin Shepherd : To ask the Minister for the Arts what representations he has received in the last four weeks as to the future of the Mappa Mundi.
Mr. Luce : I have received no representations as to the future of the Mappa Mundi in recent weeks. However, I wish the Dean and Chapter every success with their appeal to raise funds without resorting to the sale of the map. I understand that the Dean and Chapter have been in touch with the national heritage memorial fund to arrange a meeting to discuss the position.
Trade Balance
69. Mr. Jack : To ask the Minister for the Arts what assessment he has made of the contribution of the arts to Britain's overseas trade balance.
Mr. Luce : An assessment made by the Policy Studies Institute last year, using a broad definition of the arts, put overseas earnings in this field at £4 billion.
National Museums (Maintenance)
70. Dr. Marek : To ask the Minister for the Arts when he plans to meet the chairman of the Museums and Galleries Commission to discuss the repairs and maintenance needs of national museums.
Mr. Luce : I meet the chairman of the Museum and Galleries Commission quite frequently and on a wide range of subjects which have included matters raised in the Commission's May 1988 report on the national museums.
Merseyside Arts
71. Mr. Wareing : To ask the Minister for the Arts when he plans to meet the chairman of Merseyside Arts to discuss the future of arts administration on Merseyside.
Mr. Luce : I have no plans to do so.
Independent Museums
72. Mr. Butler : To ask the Minister for the Arts if he will make a statement on the development of the independent museum sector.
Mr. Luce : The independent museums sector represents over half of the 2,000 or so museums and galleries in the United Kingdom. Independent museums give great pleasure to the visiting public, and I am delighted to see their continued successful development.
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Museums and Historic Properties
73. Mr. Simon Coombs : To ask the Minister for the Arts what information he has as to visits to local museums and historic sites and houses in the most recent year for which he has information, and for the two previous years.
Mr. Luce : The Museums Association estimates that the number of visitors to museums and galleries in the United Kingdom increased from 73 million in 1986 to 80 million in 1988. This figures is expected to rise to 100 million during 1989, which has been designated Museums Year. The English Tourist Authority has estimated the number of visitors to historic properties as 55.5 million in 1986, 57.3 million in 1987 and 59 million in 1988.
Theatre Museum
Mr. Maclennan : To ask the Minister for the Arts what discussions he has had with the director of the Victoria and Albert museum about the future of the theatre museum.
Mr. Luce : I have not had discussions with the director of the Victoria and Albert museum about the theatre museum, but I meet the chairman of the board of trustees and the director quite frequently when a wide range of issues is covered.
NORTHERN IRELAND
Census Questions
Rev. Martin Smyth : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what representations have been made through the Anglo-Irish Intergovernmental conference regarding the inclusion of Irish language questions in the 1991 census.
Mr. Tom King : The Irish Government have indicated to us on a number of occasions in the conference that they would welcome the inclusion of a question on knowledge of the Irish language in the 1991 census, in line with the language questions asked elsewhere in the United Kingdom.
TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Insider Dealing
Mr. Cousins : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many prima facie cases of insider dealing have been referred to his Department by the Stock Exchange insider dealing group.
Mr. Maude : About 180 cases of possible insider dealing offences have been referred by the Stock Exchange to my Department since insider dealing became a criminal offence in June 1980. Of those cases 76 have been referred since Royal Assent to the Financial Services Act 1986.
Mr. Cousins : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in how many cases of prima facie insider dealing prosecutions have resulted since the passing of the Financial Services Act.
Mr. Maude : Since the Financial Services Act 1986 received Royal Assent in November 1986 six prosecutions for insider dealing offences have been instituted and
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completed, and proceedings have begun in a further eight cases. Seven out of those 14 prosecutions followed reports from inspectors appointed under section 177 of the Financial Services Act.Mr. Cousins : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in how many cases of prima facie insider deals the Government have appointed inspectors to investigate using their powers under the Financial Services Act.
Mr. Maude : Inspectors have been appointed under section 177 of the Financial Services Act 1986 to investigate 31 cases of possible insider dealing offences.
China
Mr. Foulkes : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what is the total value of trade between the United Kingdom and China for 1988 and 1989 to the latest available date.
Mr. Alan Clark : United Kingdom trade with China in 1988 was valued at imports £443.7 million and exports £411.6 million.
In the period January to April 1989, the latest for which information is available, imports were £158.3 million and exports £140.7 million.
Iraq
Mrs. Clwyd : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what changes have taken place in the provision of export credits to Iraq in the past year ; what proposals he has to make further changes ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Alan Clark : The United Kingdom/Iraq joint commission on trade and economic co-operation which was held in Baghdad in November 1988 resulted in a further £340 million of United Kingdom export credit support for Iraq. To date three loan agreements have been signed comprising :
a £65 million buyer credit to finance a contract for four turbine generators for the Al-Shemal power station
a £75 million line of credit for pharmaceutical and humanitarian products
a £100 million line of credit for capital goods and projects The balance of £100 million has not yet been allocated under any specific facility but will be used to finance United Kingdom capital goods and projects. No drawings have yet been made under the above loans.
There will be a further United Kingdom/Iraq joint commission in London later this year but it is too early to anticipate what further United Kingdom export credit facilities might be made available to Iraq for 1990.
Business Development Consultancy Initiative
Mr. McLeish : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will give the number of applications (a) received and (b) approved for business development consultancy initiatives from 1 April 1988 to the most recent date for which information is available and (c) what was the total amount of expenditure involved in each of the regions of his Department, Scotland and Wales and (d) for assisted areas, urban programme areas and non-assisted areas.
Mr. Newton : In the period from 1 April 1988 to 31 May 1989 24,291 applications were received for the business
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development consultancy initiatives. In the same period 17,740 applications were approved for assisted consultancy. The Department's contribution to the cost of completed consultancies totalled £16.8 million. It is estimated that those consultancies not completed by 31 May 1989 will cost the Department £26.4 million. I am unable to provide a breakdown of expenditure between assisted areas, urban programme areas and non-assisted areas but 55.5 per cent. of applications approved for consultancy have been from assisted and urban programme areas. A breakdown of numbers and cost of consultancy projects for each DTI region and for Scotland and Wales is as follows :Column 331
|(a) |(b) |(c) |(d)
DTI Region/Country |Number of applications |Number of applications |DTI expenditure on |Estimated expenditure on
|received |approved for assisted |completed consultancies |outstanding
|consultancy |(£ thousand) |consultancies (£
|thousand)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
North East |1,194 |924 |784 |1,315
North West |3,538 |2,894 |3,166 |4,762
Yorkshire and
Humberside |2,293 |1,698 |1,880 |2,711
West Midlands |2,562 |1,830 |1,855 |3,319
East Midlands |1,483 |1,154 |1,091 |1,897
South West |2,335 |1,434 |1,069 |2,112
South East:
Cambridge |1,893 |1,097 |766 |1,567
London |2,929 |2,066 |1,694 |2,070
Reading |1,433 |1,098 |823 |1,220
Reigate |1,415 |1,064 |753 |1,325
Scotland |1,789 |1,475 |1,908 |2,463
Wales |1,427 |1,006 |1,106 |1,613
|------- |------- |------- |-------
Total |24,291 |17,740 |16,805 |26,374
Mr. McLeish : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will list the consultancy firms involved in the business development consultancy initiative for each of the regions of his Department, Scotland and Wales.
Mr. Newton : It is not our practice to detail the consultancy firms used by scheme contractors to undertake enterprise initiative assisted consultancy projects. This is to avoid the risk of such a list being seen as a form of Government approval or endorsement, to the unfair disadvantage of practices no less competent but which for one reason or another are not associated with the scheme ; and also to avoid the risk of consultancies being exposed to pressures which could compromise the independence and impartiality of their advice to clients.
Mr. McLeish : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will give the estimated expenditure in the business development consultancy initiative in each of the years 1988-89, 1989-90, 1990-91 and 1991-92.
Mr. Newton : We estimate that the total amount of expenditure on the business development consultancy initiatives in 1988-89 was £43.1 millions. The Estimates provision for 1989-90 is £91 millions. The level of provision for future years will depend upon public expenditure decisions yet to be taken : however, planned provision is £107 millions in 1990-91 and £109 millions in 1991-92.
Bio-ethics
Rev. Martin Smyth : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what representation will attend the first symposium on bio-ethics in December from the United Kingdom.
Mr. Mellor : I have been asked to reply.
The United Kingdom will be invited to the Council of Europe's first symposium on bio-ethics to be held on 5-7
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December 1989. No decision has yet been taken on who will attend on behalf of the United Kingdom. Participation is by invitation only.The Rev. Martin Smyth : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will list in the Official Report all the members of the Council of Europe's ad-hoc committee of experts on bio-ethical issues together with the method by which they were appointed and the research disciplines from which they came.
Mr. David Mellor : I have been asked to reply.
The members of the Council of Europe's ad-hoc committee of experts on bioethics (CAHBI) are currently :
Austria : Dr. Renate Kausek
Belgium : M. Armand Andre (Vice Chairman) ; Mme. Isabella Hamer
Cyprus : Mrs. Frosso Parrisiadou ; M. Jorgen Falck Larsen ; Mme. Linda Taudaz
Denmark : Mr. Ulrich Horst Petersen
France : M. Christian Byk ; Mme. Colette Moyse
Federal Republic of Germany : Mrs. Helga Seibert
Greece : Mrs. Panagiota Dalla-Vorgia
Ireland : Dr. Niall Tierney
Italy : M. Umberto Bigozzi ; M. Salvatore Puglisi
Luxembourg : M. Arsene Betz
Malta : Rev. Prof. Charles G. Vella
Netherlands : Mrs. Johanna H. W. Kits Nieuwenkamp
Norway : Mr. Kare Berg ; Mrs. Trine Fernsjo ; Mrs. Julie Skjaraasen ; Mrs. Grete Gjertsen
Portugal : M. Luis Mendes Graca
Spain : Dr. Octavi Quintana-Trias
Sweden : Ms. Ann-Christin Filipsson
Switzerland : M. Pierre A. Widmer ; M. Hansjakob Mueller ; M. Franz Furger
Turkey : M. Turgay Yucel
United Kingdom : Dr. Jeremy S. Metters (Chairman) ; Mr. Edwin Robert Moutrie.
Members are appointed by nomination of the member states of the Council of Europe. The research disciplines of the members are not known to Her Majesty's
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