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Government. Detailed inquiries of this nature might more properly be addressed to the Council of Europe via the Parliamentary Assembly.Ulburghs Report
Rev. Martin Smyth : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what has been the response of the British Government to Resolution A.2- 78/88 of the European Parliament on harmonisation of medico-ethical questions, the Ulburghs report.
Mr. Mellor : I have been asked to reply.
Resolution A.2-78/88 was adopted by the European Parliament on 12 September 1988 by the narrow margin of 82 in favour, 79 against and four abstentions. No proposals based upon the report have yet been submitted by the European Commission to the British Government for consideration.
EC Recommendation 1100
Rev. Martin Smyth : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what has been the British Government's response to the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly Recommendation 1100.
Mr. Mellor : I have been asked to reply.
Recommendation 1100 of the Parliamentary Assembly is still being considered within the Council of Europe's
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internal consultative machinery and has not yet been submitted to Her Majesty's Government for their response.Rothley and Casini Reports
Rev. Martin Smyth : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what has been the response of the British Government to resolution A.2- 327/88 of the European Parliament on genetic engineering, Rothley report, and resolution A.2-372/88 on artificial insemination, the Casini report.
Mr. Mellor : I have been asked to reply.
We do not consider that a response to these two
resolutions--A.2-237/88 and A.2-372/88--would be appropriate at this juncture. We intend to introduce legislation during this current Parliament on human fertilisation and embryology, and there will be a free vote in Parliament on questions of embryo research.
OVERSEAS DEVELOPMENT
South America
Mr. Sheerman : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the level of overseas aid to South America in each of the last 15 years.
Mr. Chris Patten : The information is as follows :
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Country Year
£ thousand
|1974 |1975 |1976 |1977 |1978 |1979 |1980 |1981 |1982 |1983 |1984 |1985 |1986 |1987 |1988
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Argentina |124 |124 |61 |24 |15 |5 |30 |2 |2 |- |- |- |- |- |-
Bolivia |353 |376 |620 |1,471 |1,062 |888 |1,158 |1,052 |988 |1,199 |1,182 |1,421 |1,953 |1,748 |2,953
Brazil |1,850 |3,348 |2,263 |1,213 |719 |1,022 |1,002 |632 |9,960 |5,574 |7,780 |4,014 |880 |766 |1,443
Chile |451 |324 |943 |2,073 |1,079 |2,131 |2,021 |1,452 |675 |442 |257 |334 |373 |261 |306
Colombia |902 |2,552 |1,312 |1,229 |863 |1,242 |848 |765 |617 |635 |460 |838 |1,018 |762 |1,822
Ecuador |718 |1,195 |4,838 |2,037 |1,795 |1,897 |945 |762 |1,046 |783 |916 |909 |836 |2,560 |1,514
Falkland Islands |1,179 |1,376 |1,493 |1,115 |2,121 |915 |1,015 |1,058 |4,025 |9,053 |6,016 |10,700 |10,252 |8,165 |4,257
Guyana |1,460 |1,741 |1,402 |895 |6,395 |2,606 |2,356 |2,475 |1,724 |1,555 |419 |354 |487 |635 |521
Paraguay |41 |103 |123 |164 |226 |267 |270 |219 |3,263 |1,281 |207 |51 |221 |277 |497
Peru |664 |1,610 |1,125 |3,570 |820 |882 |950 |973 |676 |4,427 |476 |928 |1,214 |1,012 |1,363
Surinam |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |1 |- |- |- |- |- |11
Uruguay |28 |24 |43 |39 |27 |35 |37 |9 |11 |16 |14 |7 |13 |38 |18
Venezuela |112 |48 |7 |6 |4 |- |- |- |2 |3 |- |1 |10 |24 |10
Unallocated |- |- |- |- |- |- |15 |-11 |-239 |-327 |25 |34 |56 |51 |-
|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------
Total |7,882 |12,821 |14,230 |13,836 |15,126 |11,890 |10,645 |9,386 |22,752 |24,643 |17,755 |19,591 |17,313 |16,299 |14,715
Overseas Aid (Charities)
Mr. Thurnham : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what proposals he has for an increased role for charities in the provision of overseas aid.
Mr. Chris Patten : The British voluntary agencies working in developing countries are independent charities
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who determine their own role. I have a high regard for their work ; and I have increased the aid funds available for jointly funding their development projects by 43 per cent. to £16 million this year. I have also increased our support for the volunteer sending agencies by 20 per cent. to £13 million this year.Column 335
Andean Countries
Mr. Sheerman : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the level of overseas aid to the Andean group of countries in each of the last 15 years.
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Mr. Chris Patten : The information is as follows :
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£ thousand
|Year
Country |1974 |1975 |1976 |1977 |1978 |1979 |1980 |1981 |1982 |1983 |1984 |1985 |1986 |1987 |1988
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bolivia |353 |376 |620 |1,471 |1,062 |888 |1,158 |1,052 |988 |1,199 |1,182 |1,421 |1,953 |1,748 |2,953
Chile<1> |451 |324 |943 |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
Columbia |902 |2,552 |1,312 |1,229 |863 |1,242 |848 |765 |617 |635 |460 |838 |1,018 |762 |1,822
Ecuador |718 |1,195 |4,838 |2,037 |1,795 |1,897 |945 |762 |1,046 |783 |916 |909 |836 |2,560 |1,514
Peru |664 |1,610 |1,125 |3,570 |820 |882 |950 |973 |676 |4,427 |476 |928 |1,214 |1,012 |1,363
Venezuela |112 |48 |7 |6 |4 |- |- |- |2 |3 |- |1 |10 |24 |10
|-------
Total |3,200 |6,105 |8,845 |10,386 |5,623 |7,040 |5,922 |5,004 |4,,004 |7,489 |3,291 |4,431 |5,404 |6,367 |7,968
<1>Chile withdrew from the Andean Group in January 1977.
Cambodia
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has received from Oxfam in relation to the situation in Cambodia.
Mr. Chris Patten : Over the past 12 months, I have received a number of representations from OXFAM on different aspects of United Kingdom aid policy towards Cambodia. I discussed Cambodia with OXFAM staff most recently on 8 June.
Rain Forest
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what urgent action he proposes to take to protect the rain forests throughout the world ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Chris Patten : I refer the hon. Member to the answer which my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister gave the hon. Member for Linlithgow (Mr. Dalyell) on 21 June, at column 148.
Tibet (Technology)
Mr. Livingstone : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will allocate moneys from the Overseas Development Administration for the funding of the appropriate technology for Tibetans.
Mr. Chris Patten : Her Majesty's Government have received no official request for the provision of appropriate technology for Tibetans.
Aid (Iraq)
Mrs. Clwyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what has been the total amount of aid provided to Iraq in each of the past two years ; and what funds have been disbursed under the aid and trade provision for projects in Iraq since the ending of the Gulf war.
Mr. Chris Patten : No British bilateral aid, including funds from the Aid and Trade Provision, has been provided for Iraq for many years.
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EMPLOYMENT
Employment Training Managers
Mr. Tony Lloyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how his Department monitors the performance of employment training managers in terms of financial viability and efficiency.
Mr. Nicholls : Employment training managers are monitored in terms of financial viability under the financial appraisal and monitoring (FAM) procedures which have their origins in the recommendations of the 1984 Coopers and Lybrand report on financial controls for YTS and the community programme. The arrangements introduced for ET were modelled on those for YTS. The FAM system centres on (a) an annual financial viability assessment of the degree of risk which a provider represents to public money ; (b) an appraisal of the providers' administrative and financial systems to ensure the proper handling of public money and the reasonableness of providers' financial claims ; and (c) financial monitoring visits linked to the degree of risk.
Mr. Tony Lloyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how his Department initially satisfies itself that a training manager is competent to run employment training.
Mr. Nicholls : Potential training managers are asked by the Department's area office to submit a formal training proposal outlining what experience and capability they have in operating as training providers. These proposals are appraised by the area office staff to ensure, so far as is practicable, that the organisation has the knowledge and professional ability to deliver training of the appropriate quality and has adequate resources including premises and equipment, to deliver it effectively.
Mr. Tony Lloyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what percentage of training managers by Training Agency area are receiving subsidies.
Mr. Nicholls : In addition to the basic grant for employment training, training managers, a range of other grants is available to purchase training. No subsidies are offered to ET training managers.
Mr. Tony Lloyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what subsidies are offered to ET training managers above the basic grant per trainee.
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Mr. Nicholls : ET training managers do not receive subsidies. Grants are available to purchase training.
Mr. Tony Lloyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what audit procedures the Training Agency undertakes with respect to ET managers.
Mr. Nicholls : Claims for training grants submitted by ET training managers are subject to financial checks both within Training Agency area offices and at the training managers' premises. Training managers' claims are also subject to audit by the Training Agency internal audit branch and the National Audit Office on a sample basis.
Mr. Tony Lloyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many training mangers have (a) withdrawn or (b) been withdrawn from employment training ; and how many employment training places have been lost as a result.
Mr. Nicholls : The information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Council for Social Aid (Manchester)
Mr. Tony Lloyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what steps have been taken to ensure that confidential information on trainees, formerly with the Council for Social Aid, Manchester, will remain confidential following the transfer of this information to the liquidators.
Mr. Nicholls : Immediately after being notified that the company had ceased trading, the Training Agency took into safe custody the personal files of trainees, including their action plans.
Mr. Tony Lloyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment when the Training Agency last received audited accounts from the Council for Social Aid, Manchester.
Mr. Nicholls : Audited accounts from the Council for Social Aid were last received by the Training Agency in February 1989. These accounts related to the Council for Social Aid's community programme agency contract which ran from April 1987 to September 1988.
Mr. Tony Lloyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many places the Council for Social Aid, Manchester, originally contracted for, and how many employment training places were filled, by month from September 1988 until its demise in May 1989.
Mr. Nicholls : The Council for Social Aid originally contracted to provide 2,557 employment training places. The following table lists how many places were filled, by month, from September 1988.
Month (1988-89) |Council for Social Aid
|Number filled places
---------------------------------------------------------------------
September |1,818
October |1,695
November |1,792
December |1,632
January |1,410
February |1,223
March |1,024
April |1,045
May |1,011
Employment Training
Mr. Tony Lloyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many filled employment training places there are in the Greater Manchester area ; and what percentage this represents of the original departmental projections.
Mr. Nicholls : At 16 June 1989, the latest date for which information is available, there were 9,300 people on employment training. In Greater Manchester this represents 47 per cent. of the total number of places originally contracted.
Mr. Tony Lloyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many training managers have reduced their original number of contracted employment training places (a) nationally and (b) by training agency area.
Mr. Nicholls : The information is not available in the form requested and can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
C.V. Carpets, Batley
Mr. Madden : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment whether he has been notified by Coats Viyella of the closure of C. V. Carpets, Greenhill Mills, Batley ; if he will estimate the cost to public funds of making the work force redundant ; and what representations he has received concerning this closure.
Mr. Nicholls : Notifications of proposed redundancies under section 100 of the Employment Protection Act 1975 are confidential to my Department.
TRANSPORT
Road Traffic Studies
Sir Barney Hayhoe : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether traffic studies, funded by public funds, in recent years have revealed evidence linking increased road capacities with increased traffic and worsening traffic congestion ; and whether he will make a statement.
Mr. Peter Bottomley : The Department is currently undertaking a feasibility study into whether a before and after study of an urban trunk road scheme could detect the size of various changes in travel patterns, such as generation of new trips, changes in destination of journey time, and changes in mode of travel.
We are all asking the independent standing advisory committee on trunk road assessment to review the evidence on these effects. The Department has not recently carried out any traffic studies specifically addressed at identifying the effects of increased road capacity on the level of traffic.
For all new trunk road schemes, the Department monitors actual traffic flow a year after opening, for the purpose of making comparisons with the scheme forecasts. The evidence from this monitoring supports the Department's assumption in traffic forecasting that the general inter-urban road improvements do not generate significant additional traffic. The main effect is on choice of route.
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Bridge Street (Hole)
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will take urgent steps to mend the hole at the north- west corner of the Bridge street/Victoria embankment junction, so as to remove the cause of pedestrians being splashed on emerging from or entering the pedestrian subway at that point.
Mr. Bottomley : These local roads are the responsibility of Westminster city council.
Single Tracking
Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the Monopolies and Mergers Commission inquiry into the running of British Rail's provincial services with regard to the issue of single tracking, with particular reference to the Westerton to Milngavie railway lines.
Mr. Portillo : My right hon. Friend will in due course present to Parliament British Rail's response to the report, along with the Government's observations. It would not be appropriate to comment on individual aspects of the report in advance of the Government's formal response.
Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what action his Department is taking with regard to ScotRail's proposals to single track the railway line from Westerton to Milngavie.
Mr. Portillo : This is an operational matter for British Rail.
Breath Tests
Mr. Day : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what proportion of respondents favoured the introduction of random breath testing in the last public opinion survey on this subject carried out by his Department's Transport and Road Research Laboratory.
Mr. Peter Bottomley : A survey carried out for TRRL in March 1989 asked 750 respondents whether they were in favour of random breath testing being introduced to discourage drinking and driving. The results were :
|Percentage
-------------------------------------------
Strongly in favour |48
In favour |29
Undecided |10
Strongly against |2
Don't know/No answer |2
This was part of a survey into attitudes to a wide variety of road safety counter-measures. It did not explain the implications of random breath testing. The results reflect the strength of public opinion against drinking and driving.
A summary of the results of this survey will be published later this year.
British Rail (Complaints)
Mr. David Porter : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many complaints about the performance of British Rail he has received in the past two years ; and how he has responded to the complaints.
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Mr. Michael Portillo : The Department does not keep statistics by subject matter of the letters we receive from members of the public about rail services. Unless they raise wider policy issues that are properly a matter for the Government, complaints are usually referred either to the British Railways board, which is responsible for operating the railway, or to local transport users consultative committees, which exist to represent the views of all users and can often help in resolving particular problems.
Motor Cycles
Mr. David Porter : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he intends to bring forward any proposals to control queue jumping by motor cycle riders ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Peter Bottomley : There may be no fully effective way of controlling queue jumping by any class of travellers.
Queue jumping by motor cycle riders when unsafe is covered by the existing offences of careless or reckless driving. We have no proposals to make it a specific offence. Proposals have already been announced to introduce mandatory training of new riders before they are allowed to ride unsupervised. This training will include safe practice when riding on the road. In October a new more arduous driving test for motorcyclists will be introduced. The tester will follow the candidate on another motorcyle and will thus be more able to assess ability to ride safely in traffic.
British Rail (Compensation)
Mr. David Porter : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) if he will discuss with the Chairman of British Rail a voluntary scheme for compensating travellers for British Rail's failure to supply an agreed service, along the lines of British Telecom's voluntary scheme ;
(2) if he will give consideration to introducing a statutory compensation scheme for cases where British Rail fails to deliver an agreed level of service.
Mr. Portillo : British Rail's conditions of carriage already allow for refunds to be considered in cases where timetabled connections cannot be made or where services have been altered, withdrawn or suspended for any reason. I have no present plans for legislation.
British Rail (Privatisation)
Mr. David Porter : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on progress of discussions by his officials with interested parties on the privatisation of British Rail.
Mr. Portillo : The work which is currently being undertaken on the possible privatisation of British Rail has been discussed fully with British Rail. In addition a small number of representations has so far been received from interested organisations. My right hon. Friend expects to consult widely in due course if a decision is made to privatise.
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Crash Barriers
Mr. David Porter : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what progress is being made on installing crash barriers on central reservations of dual carriageways ; and what plans he has for such barriers on future dualling works.
Mr. Peter Bottomley : Substantial progress is being made. It is the Department's policy to install central reserve safety fencing on all new dual carriageway schemes as part of the construction works.
HGVs (Exhaust Emissions)
Mr. David Porter : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has further to curb exhaust emissions from heavy goods vehicles ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Peter Bottomley : We are urging the European Commission to bring forward the most stringent standards that are technically and economically feasible. A further strengthening of these standards and the addition of a particulate standard is now being discussed in Europe.
Regulations are being prepared to enforce, from 1 October 1990, Community standards on the emissions of carbon monoxide, oxides of nitrogen and hydrocarbons from new vehicles over 3.5 tonnes gross vehicle weight.
Buses Monopolies
Mr. Wray : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he is taking to prevent the formation of buses monopolies in the United Kingdom.
Mr. Portillo : The Office of Fair Trading has the appropriate powers to investigate the formation of monopolies in the bus industry. I have made clear that, in giving consent to the sale of public transport companies, one of our main objectives is to promote fair and sustained competition in the bus industry. Local authorities have been advised to consult the Department of Transport at an early stage where a sale seems likely to result in one company gaining a dominant and substantially unchal-lenged position in the local market.
Traffic Lights
Mr. David Porter : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he has carried out any assessment of the efficiency of the French traffic light system of having additional lights at car driver level, with a view to implementing such a system in the United Kingdom.
Mr. Peter Bottomley : The Department discusses issues relating to the safety and efficiency of traffic signals with its French counterpart. The operation of the United Kingdom system of traffic lights provides drivers with the same information as that of the French system. No assessment of the kind referred to has therefore been made.
China (Contacts)
Mr. Foulkes : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he has any plans to visit China ; and whether any of his officials are involved in or planning contacts with, or visits to, China.
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Mr. Peter Bottomley : All ministerial visits to and from China have been suspended. No visits to China by my officials are planned.
Mr. Foulkes : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what information his Department has about current contacts or contracts with China in the transport field.
Mr. Peter Bottomley : These are commercial matters for the companies involved.
Civil Aviation (Privatisation)
Mr. Bill Walker : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what advice or direction he has given to the Civil Aviation Authority and National Air Traffic Services on competitive tendering and privatisation within their organisations.
Mr. Peter Bottomley : The authority is subject to the same guidelines and rules on procurement that apply to all nationalised industries. Some years ago the authority considered, at the Government's request, privatising its Highlands and Islands airports, but this did not prove to be feasible.
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