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Written Answers to Questions
Tuesday 4 July 1989
PRIME MINISTER
Inner Cities
Q30. Mrs. Maureen Hicks : To ask the Prime Minister what representations she has received about the Government's inner cities policy.
The Prime Minister : I have received a number of representations, many of them in support of the Government's inner cities policies. Under the comprehensive range of measures, costing £3.5 billion this year which makes up the action for cities initiative, good progress continues to be made in the regeneration of our inner cities. In the 57 inner city target areas, unemployment fell by almost 24 per cent. in the 12 months to May 1989. Recorded crime in the Metropolitan police force areas fell by 6 per cent. in 1988. Involvement of private companies continues to grow--over the last six months the number of companies working with the Government's inner city task forces has increased from 450 to 500.
USSR
Q51. Mr. Page : To ask the Prime Minister if she has received representations regarding the United Kingdom's relations with the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
The Prime Minister : We receive many representations about relations with the Soviet Union from individual members of the public, as well as from interested organisations and their representatives. The Government's desire to strengthen these relations, and our support for Mr. Gorbachev's reforms are widely shared.
United States of America
Q52. Mr. Leigh : To ask the Prime Minister if she has received representations regarding the United Kingdom's relations with the United States of America.
Mr. Boswell : To ask the Prime Minister if she has received recent representations concerning relations with the United States of America.
Road Safety
Q67. Sir Anthony Grant : To ask the Prime Minister if she has received representations regarding safety on the roads.
The Prime Minister : I have received a number of such representations. There is understandable and widespread concern about the needless suffering and unnecessary economic cost caused by road accidents. Cutting the toll of road casualties is a high priority. Our target, which we set in 1987, is a one third reduction in casualties by the year 2000. We are well on course for achieving that.
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Coal Industry
Q70. Mr. Alexander : To ask the Prime Minister if she has received representations regarding the coal industry.
The Prime Minister : I have received several recent representations regarding the coal industry.
Scotland
Q71. Mr. Norman Hogg : To ask the Prime Minister when she next expects to pay an official visit to Scotland.
The Prime Minister : Probably in September.
Pollution
Q79. Sir Hugh Rossi : To ask the Prime Minister if she has received representations regarding the reduction of pollution.
The Prime Minister : I have received a number of representations regarding the environment. I share the concern that it should be protected and pollution reduced. The Government have undertaken many measures to improve the quality of the environment. We intend to bring forward further legislative proposals on pollution control shortly.
Crawley
Q80. Mr. Soames : To ask the Prime Minister if she will pay an official visit to Crawley.
The Prime Minister : I have at present no plans to do so.
Army
Q83. Mr. John Browne : To ask the Prime Minister if she has received representations regarding the Army.
The Prime Minister : I regularly receive representations on a variety of subjects regarding the Army.
Industry (Revival)
Q86. Mr. William Powell : To ask the Prime Minister if she has received representations regarding the revival of British industries.
The Prime Minister : A large number of the representations I receive acknowledge the remarkable revival enjoyed by British industry under this Government.
Pharmaceutical Industry
Q87. Mr. Goodlad : To ask the Prime Minister if she has received representations regarding the pharmaceutical industry.
The Prime Minister : I have not recently received any particular representations regarding the pharmaceutical industry. My right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Health has regular contact with the representatives of the industry.
Water Privatisation
Q95. Mrs. Gorman : To ask the Prime Minister what recent representations she has received on water privatisation.
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Q139. Mr. Knapman : To ask the Prime Minister if she has received any recent representations about water privatisation.
The Prime Minister : Many individuals and organisations have commented on a wide range of water privatisation matters, which are being considered in the context of the Water Bill currently before Parliament.
Disabled People (Legislation)
Q102. Mr. Tom Clarke : To ask the Prime Minister what consultations she has had with Sir Roy Griffiths on the relevance of section 7 of the Disabled Persons (Services, Representation and Consultation) Act 1986 as a strategy for community care.
The Prime Minister : Sir Roy Griffiths has been involved in the Government's consideration of his report "Community Care Agenda for Action". The Government's considerations are wide ranging and are taking account of existing relevant legislation.
European Council (Madrid)
Q106. Mr. Teddy Taylor : To ask the Prime Minister if she will publish a White Paper outlining the conclusions and the matters considered at the Madrid meeting of the European Council ; and if she will make a statement.
The Prime Minister : I refer my hon. Friend to the statement I made on 29 June on the outcome of the European Council in Madrid.
Poland
Q165. Mr. Cox : To ask the Prime Minister if during the recent visit of General Jaruzelski she made representations to him on the case for totally free elections in Poland within the next 12 months ; and if she will make a statement.
The Prime Minister : No. I told him that I welcomed the recent elections in Poland, as well as the confirmation that the Polish authorities stood by the election results and would continue on the path of democracy and reform.
Cyprus
Q168. Mr. Cyril D. Townsend : To ask the Prime Minister if she has received representations regarding the United Kingdom's relations with Cyprus.
The Prime Minister : I receive representations on the United Kingdom's relations with Cyprus from time to time from various quarters. I am happy to say that relations are excellent. I have met President Vassiliou three times in the last year and I hope to see him again on 10 July.
West Germany
Q206. Mr. Malins : To ask the Prime Minister if she has received representations regarding the United Kingdom's relationship with West Germany.
France
Q216. Mr. Cash : To ask the Prime Minister if she has received representations regarding the United Kingdom's relations with France.
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Agricultural Policy
Q218. Mr. Marland : To ask the Prime Minister if she has received representations regarding agricultural policy.
The Prime Minister : The Government frequently receive representations about agricultural policy. The United Kingdom agricultural industry is widely respected for its efficiency and competitiveness. It is well placed to benefit from the opportunities for fair competition which completion of the EC's single internal market will bring. And I was pleased yesterday at the royal show to pay tribute to the enormous contribution the agriculture industry and the thousands of individual farmers make to our national life.
Greenhouse Effect
Dr. Thomas : To ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to her reply to the hon. Member for Newport, West (Mr. Flynn), Official Report, 2 May, column 114, if she will now list by name the participants present at the seminar on environmental policies and the greenhouse effect which she organised on 26 April.
The Prime Minister : I have nothing to add to the reply that I gave to the hon. Member for Newport, West (Mr. Flynn) on 2 May at column 114.
Bristol Channel (Sewage)
Mr. Speller : To ask the Prime Minister when she will restrict or refuse local authorities the opportunity of new raw sewage outfalls into the Bristol channel.
The Prime Minister : The Secretary of State will consider on their merits any proposals which come before him related to the discharge of sewage into the Bristol channel. Discharge consents for long sea outfall schemes are granted only when they enable bathing waters in the vicinity to meet the requirements of the EC directive standards and where they are designed to take full account of local conditions.
Bathing Water (Pollution)
Mr. Speller : To ask the Prime Minister if she will make it her policy to take personal control of the co-ordination work to stop the dumping of raw sewage into the English Channel and to work towards these beaches attaining the standards of the EC bathing water directive 76/160/EEC.
The Prime Minister : The discharge of raw sewage through short sea outfalls is an unsatisfactory legacy from the past ; and a substantial programme of improving the sewerage systems of coastal towns is under way. Replacement systems of whatever type are designed to bring identified bathing waters up to the standards set in the EC bathing water directive 76/160/EEC. Long sea outfalls, which discharge some 2 km to sea, are a safe and effective means for the disposal of screened sewage. Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution grants discharge consents for long sea outfall schemes only when they enable bathing waters in the vicinity to meet the requirements of the EC directive standards and where they are designed to take full account of local conditions. Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution will continue to seek environmentally sound solutions for each location on the basis of the best available scientific evidence.
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Engagements
Mr. Harry Greenway : To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 4 July.
Mr. Tredinnick : To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 4 July.
Mr. Stern : To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 4 July.
Mr. Pike : To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 4 July.
The Prime Minister : This morning I had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others. In addition to my duties in the House, I shall be having further meetings later today.
ENERGY
Electricity
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy (1) what is the total consumption of electricity in (a) England, and (b) Wales in a full year recorded over the last five years for which figures are available, and the percentage consumption for domestic, industrial, and commercial sectors ;
(2) what was the average demand for electricity measured in megawatts in England and Wales, shown separately, for the winter period and summer period for each of the last five years for which figures are available ;
(3) what was the maximum demand for electricity measured in megawatts in England and Wales, separately, during 1988-89 ; and at what time of which day it occurred in each case.
Mr. Michael Spicer : These are matters for the Electricity Council. I shall ask the chairman of the council to write to the hon. Member.
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what is the total generating capacity of electricity in Wales measured in megawatts ; and what is the percentage component in the total generated by (a) nuclear, (b) coal, (c) oil, (d) hydro, (e) pumped storage and (f) other.
Mr. Michael Spicer : This is a matter for the Central Electricity Generating Board. I shall ask the chairman of the CEGB to write to the hon. Member.
Nuclear Power Stations (Emergency Planning Zones)
Mr. Alton : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy (1) if he will make a statement on the nuclear installations inspectorate's plans for reducing emergency planning zones around nuclear power stations ;
(2) what changes are proposed to the size of emergency planning zones around nuclear power stations ;
(3) what is the size of emergency planning zones around nuclear power stations ;
(4) what is the stipulated evacuation area around British nuclear power stations in the event of a radiation emission.
Mr. Michael Spicer : I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply given by my right hon. Friend to the hon. Member for Sedgefield (Mr. Blair) on 20 June 1989 at column 93.
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WALES
Welsh Language
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what progress has been reported to him by the Welsh Language board ; and what steps he is taking to implement any of its recommendations.
Mr. Wyn Roberts : The Welsh Language board published its strategy document on 22 June and will in the near future be publishing voluntary guidelines governing the use of Welsh in the public and private sectors. My right hon. Friend will give very careful consideration to all the board's recommendations.
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what review he has undertaken of the availability of staff to provide medical and post- medical services in Welsh-speaking areas through the medium of the Welsh language ; and whether he has any proposals to extend training courses in Wales to meet these requirements.
Mr. Grist : Information on the number of staff employed in the National Health Service in Wales who are bilingual in English and Welsh is not available centrally ; the exception to this is information relating to speech therapists concerning which I wrote to the hon. Gentleman on 24 October 1988, placing a copy of my letter in the Library of the House. District health authorities in Wales are currently engaged in the second round of an annual manpower resource planning exercise to determine future manpower requirements in the National Health Service in Wales. Discussions of these plans with individual health authorities will include the demand for and availability of Welsh-speaking staff. Consideration will be given to the question of extending training courses in Wales to meet any such demand in the light of the outcome of that exercise.
Health Studies Centre
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what representations he has received concerning the establishment of a health studies centre in North Wales ; what consideration has been given to this issue ; and what conclusions have been reached.
Mr. Grist : The Department has been asked by Clwyd health authority to provide financial support for the establishment of a centre for health studies in north Wales, fuller details of which have just been received. Consideration is being given to that request within the context of a recent report on the role of the combined training institute in Cardiff, which has examined the issue of training provision generally from the National Health Service in Wales. Representations in support of the proposal have been received from the Plaid Cymru spokesman on health and from the hon. Member for Meirionnydd Nant Conwy (Dr. Thomas).
Urban Investment Grant
Mr. Gareth Wardell : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will place in the Library details of the criteria which applicants must meet to qualify for the urban investment grant.
Mr. Peter Walker : Urban investment grants (UIGs) are designed to support projects costing more than £150,000,
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which are brought forward by private sector developers and which, because likely costs would exceed likely values on completion, would not otherwise proceed. To qualify for UIGs, which are site specific, developments must be located in an urban area in Wales and bring back into use derelict or rundown land and--or buildings. Projects must also produce benefits which contribute to alleviating urban deprivation. Copies of the UIG guidance notes, which set out these criteria, have been placed in the Library of the House.Mr. Gareth Wardell : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will publish in the Official Report, on a county basis, the value of the urban investment grant for each month since its inception.
Mr. Peter Walker : Since the introduction of urban investment grants (UIG) on 1 April 1989, five schemes have been approved for support involving £2.033 million grant. The geographical distribution is as follows :
|Scheme |£ million grant
----------------------------------------------------------------
Gwynedd |1 |0.066
Mid Glamorgan |4 |1.967
In addition, eight applications are currently being considered, but all applications for UIG are treated in confidence.
River Pollution
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make it his policy to increase funding for research into pollution of the river ecosystem with particular reference to the rivers of Wales before privatisation of the water industry.
Mr. Grist : This will be a matter for the National Rivers Authority.
Hospital Facilities
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if, pursuant to his reply dated 20 June, Official Report, column 84, he will list the range of facilities available in each of the hospitals mentioned in the reply.
Mr. Grist : The information requested is shown in the following table :
Health district and |Facilities available
community hospital
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Clwyd
Chirk |GP Medical, GP Post-natal, Outpatient,
| Casualty, Rehabilitation, X-ray, Day
| hospital
Colwyn Bay |GP Medical, Outpatient, Casualty,
| Rehabilitation, X-ray
Denbigh |GP Medical, Outpatient, Casualty,
| Rehabilitation, Day hospital
Mold |GP Medical, Outpatient, Casualty,
| Rehabilitation, X-ray, Day hospital
Prestatyn |GP Medical, Rehabilitation
Royal Alexandra, Rhyl |GP Medical, Geriatric, Outpatient,
| Rehabilitation, X-ray, Day hospital
Ruthin |GP Medical, Outpatient, Casualty,
| Rehabilitation, X-ray, Day hospital
Gwynedd
Bryn Beryl, Pwllheli |GP Medical, Geriatric, Maternity,
| Casualty, Physiotherapy, Day hospital
Dolgellau |GP Medical, Geriatric, Maternity,
| Outpatient, Casualty, X-ray,
| Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy,
| Day hospital
Tywyn |GP Medical, Geriatric, Maternity,
| Outpatient, Casualty, Operating, X-
| ray, Physiotherapy, Day hospital,
| Ambulance station
Meat Inspections
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what assessment he has made of the impact of European Community directives and regulations on the inspection in Wales of meat and meat products in the run -up to the single European market and on the likely changes in terms of staffing and finance that will be required to meet these requirements.
Mr. Peter Walker : The arrangements for meat inspection in the single market will depend upon decisions still to be taken by the Council of Ministers and it is not yet possible, therefore, to estimate the effects on staffing and costs. It is clear, however, that we shall need to move towards a unified supervision system in all our meat plants and we shall be discussing with the interests concerned how this should be achieved.
Slaughterhouses
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what assessment he has made of the impact of the veterinary presence in export slaughterhouses in Wales on the protection of public health.
Mr. Peter Walker : Veterinary supervision is required if slaughterhouses are to engage in intra-Community trade or export to third countries. If this requirement were not met our industry would not be able to export meat and meat products. I have never accepted, however, that veterinary supervision is essential to guarantee satisfactory standards of hygiene.
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what representations he has made regarding EC document 8062/88 ; and whether he has urged the EC to recognise the role of district councils in Wales in the inspection of slaughterhouses and food hygiene duties.
Mr. Peter Walker : My officials have made it clear in discussions on this proposal that it is premature to consider arrangements for veterinary checks in advance of agreement on more fundamental aspects of the animal health arrangements to apply within the single market. I am not aware of any proposals that would seek to change the existing role of district councils in slaughterhouse inspections or food law enforcement.
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Food Controls
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales whether he will make it his policy that controls over food for human consumption in Wales should continue to come under the care of environmental health officers ; and whether he will press the EC to recognise this approach.
Mr. Grist : The importance of the role that environmental health officers have in the area of food inspection and control is recognised by the Government. Our EC partners have been regularly pressed to indicate their recognition that environmental health officers will continue to have a role to play in the food hygiene field and discussions on this point are continuing.
Sewage Treatment Works (Rhymney Valley)
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will publish details of those sewage treatment works in the Rhymney valley which require capital investment to bring the quality of discharges up to that stipulated in their discharge consents.
Mr. Grist : The sewage treatment works at Draethen and Rudry are included in the programme of capital investment.
NATIONAL FINANCE
Balance of Payments
Mr. Tredinnick : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the current level of British investment overseas ; what was the level in 1979 ; and what impact it has on the balance of payments.
Mr. Major : In the year to 1989, United Kingdom direct investment and portfolio investment in overseas assets were £19.8 billion and £12.9 billion, respectively. Comparable figures for 1979 were £5.9 billion and £0.9 billion. Further details of the figures are available in the United Kingdom balance of payments press release of 15 June 1989.
The effect of these outflows on the make-up of the balance of payments cannot be measured precisely as, without them, inflows into the United Kingdom of interest, profits and dividends would be lower and, more generally, sterling's exchange rate would be different.
Economic Growth
Mr. Thurnham : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his latest estimate for economic growth in 1989-90.
Mr. Major : My right hon. Friend the Chancellor forecast at Budget time that real gross domestic product would grow by 2 per cent. in 1989-90.
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