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53. Mr. Sillars : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many changes have been made to the poll tax register in the Strathclyde region since the beginning of 1989.
Mr. Lang : It is the responsibility of community charge registration officers to maintain the community charge registers and the information requested is not held centrally.
39. Mr. Gow : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what percentage of those required to register for the community charge in Scotland have done so ; and what percentage of those liable to pay the charge have begun to make payments.
Mr. Lang : It is estimated that almost 99 per cent. of the adult population has been registered. It will be some while before reliable information becomes available from local authorities on payment levels.
Tourism
31. Mr. Devlin : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give details of the number of tourists from England who visit Scotland ; what percentage this is of the total number of visitors to Scotland ; and how much they contribute to Scotland's economy.
35. Mr. Holt : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many tourists visited Scotland over the last 10 years ; and what percentage of the total number originated from England.
Mr. Lang : Information for the most recent years for which final figures are available is set out in the following table.
Year |Domestic and Overseas |Visitors to Scotland from|Visitors from England as |£ million expenditure by
|Visitors to Scotland |England (millions) |percentage of total |Visitors from England
|(millions)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1978 |13.2 |4.76 |36 |n/a
1979 |12.5 |4.72 |36 |n/a
1980 |12.7 |4.19 |33 |n/a
1981 |13.0 |4.60 |35 |n/a
1982 |13.4 |4.20 |31 |n/a
1983 |14.1 |5.90 |47 |n/a
1984 |14.2 |5.90 |42 |756
1985 |13.7 |5.80 |42 |709
1986 |13.2 |5.94 |45 |775
1987 |14.8 |6.71 |45 |1,000
Source:
For domestic visitors, British Home Tourism Survey' for period 1978-1983 and National Survey of Tourism in Scotland' for the period 1984-1987.
For overseas visitors, International Passenger Survey' 1978-1987.
Gaelic Television
32. Mrs. Ray Michie : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he last met with Comunn na Gaidhlig to discuss Gaelic television.
Mr. Rifkind : I met representatives of Comunn na Gaidhlig on 17 April to discuss their views on the future of Gaelic broadcasting. My officials have had a further meeting with the council since then.
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Development Agency
34. Mr. Knox : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what has been the total expenditure by the Scottish Development Agency since its inception.
Mr. Lang : Taking account of provisional expenditure for 1988-89, the Scottish Development Agency had spent at the end of March a total of £1,304 million in the period since it was formed.
37. Mr. Foulkes : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he last met the chairman of the Scottish Development Agency ; and what subjects were discussed.
Mr. Lang : I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply by my right hon. and learned Friend to the hon. Member for Kilmarnock and Loudoun (Mr. McKelvey) earlier today.
Local Councillors
38. Mr. McAllion : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many representations he has received concerning the practice of local councillors holding local authority employment in local authorities in Scotland.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : Thirty-four of those who responded to consultation about the Widdicombe report expressed views on this subject, as did seven of those who commented on the Government's response to that report or on the relevant provisions in the Local Government and Housing Bill. In addition, two individuals have made representations about the way in which they would be affected by those provisions.
Deep Coal Mining
40. Mr. Strang : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what assessment he has made of the impact on the Scottish economy of the run down in the deep coal mining industry.
Mr. Lang : The Government are continuing to keep the situation in the deep coal mining industry, including the impact of the rundown on the Scottish economy, under close review.
Forestry
41. Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what impact the recent tax changes relating to the forestry industry have had upon the levels of tree planting.
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Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : I refer the hon. Member to the answer that I gave to him on 9 May 1989, Official Report, column 332.
Local Government Services
43. Mr. McLoughlin : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what further progress local authorities in Scotland are making with regard to contracting out of local government services.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : Local authorities remain fully engaged in implementing the competition provisions of the Local Government Act 1988. The first round of work won in competition has to be under way by 1 August this year with further rounds by 1 January and 1 August in subsequent years.
From the information available it would appear that so far local authorities have themselves been winning contracts in most cases. Where any anti-competitive practice has been alleged my officials are following up the cases with the local authorities concerned.
New Towns
44. Mr. Ingram : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on the future of the Scottish new towns.
Mr. Lang : The Government have now completed their consideration of the issues affecting the future of the Scottish new towns, and our conclusions and proposals will be set out in a White Paper within the next few weeks.
General Practitioner
45. Mr. John Marshall : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will indicate the increase in the number of general practitioners since 1979.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : The number of general medical practitioners in Scotland has risen from 2,921 in 1979 to 3,353 (provisional) in 1988. The corresponding figures for general dental practitioners are 1,204 and 1,523 (provisional).
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Hospital Waiting Lists
48. Mr. Tom Clarke : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he will make a statement on the waiting lists for (a) hip, (b) ear, nose and throat, and (c) varicose vein operations in Scottish hospitals.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : Waiting list figures are not collected centrally for individual types of operation, but the all-Scotland waiting lists in the relevant specialties of orthopaedic, ENT and general surgery fell by 6 per cent., 15 per cent. and 7 per cent. respectively between March and September 1988. In Lanarkshire the reductions were 13 per cent., 27 per cent. and 28 per cent. respectively. Our wide-ranging waiting list initiatives in 1988-89 have made a substantial contribution to these reductions and the allocation of £3 million helped health boards to treat an extra 8,800 inpatients in the year to March 1989. For 1989-90 I have already allocated £6.5 million of the £7 million which I made available and health boards have set themselves a target to see or treat an extra 26,000 outpatients, 17,250 inpatients and 1,800 day cases. This is in addition to the action which boards themselves are continuing to take to increase the number of patients treated. The biggest allocations have been for orthopaedic and general surgery.
Employment Prospects
49. Mr. McAvoy : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he next intends to visit Glasgow, Rutherglen constituency to discuss employment prospects.
Mr. Lang : My right hon. and learned Friend has no immediate plans to visit the Glasgow, Rutherglen constituency.
Inward Investment
50. Mr. Salmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on the Government's performance regarding the attraction of inward investment to Scotland since 1979.
Mr. Lang : Since 1979 Scotland has enjoyed very significant success as a location for inward investment thanks to Government policies which have re-established the United Kingdom as a place in which enterprise is welcome and can flourish, and to the effectiveness of the one-door approach to inward investment operated by Locate in Scotland since it was set up in 1981.
Fishing Industry
51. Mr. Andrew Welsh : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what steps he has taken to give immediate aid to the Scottish fishing industry ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : Current difficulties in the fishing industry reflect the inevitable consequences of having to cut quotas to secure future stocks and prosperity. It would not be appropriate to provide any immediate financial aid to the industry which has had several successful years under the common fisheries policy.
Nirex
52. Mrs. Margaret Ewing : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he last met senior officials from Nirex ; and what was discussed.
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Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : My right hon. and learned Friend and the Secretary of State for the Environment met officials of the executive on 15 March 1989 to discuss their report to the Government on sites for investigation for the deep disposal of low and intermediate-level radioactive wastes.
Business Grants
Mr. Batiste : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many companies in receipt of a cash grant from his Department to establish a business in Scotland have discontinued such business within five years of establishment.
Mr. Lang : Information in the form requested is not available. However, it is possible to provide some figures for companies which have received regional selective assistance. Since the introduction of the current guidelines for RSA in November 1984, eight companies which received RSA towards establishing new businesses in Scotland are known to have discontinued such business. These companies receive some £346,000. Recovery of grant is pursued in appropriate cases. By comparison, there have been 91 projects in total which have received RSA to establish new businesses in Scotland over the same period, with associated grant payments to date of £19.2 million.
Football Matches (Arrests)
Mr. Loyden : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will publish the figures of football-related arrests for all Scottish clubs (a) for the seasons 1987-88 and 1988-89 and (b) as a percentage of total attendances at football matches during those seasons.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : The available information set out in the table relates to arrests within Scottish league grounds at league and cup matches.
Season |Number of arrests |Percentage of attendance ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1987-88 |845 |0.0163 1988-89 |806 |0.0169
Central Legal Office
Mr. Galbraith : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he or any of his health board general managers has made any proposals for the services provided by the central legal office to be put out to competitive tendering ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : At the request of the Scottish Home and Health Department, the Common Services Agency, of which the central legal office is part, will shortly put out to tender certain conveyancing and related work.
Consultancy Fees
Mr. Galbraith : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give for each financial year since 1983-84 the amount spent by each health board on consultancy fees at 1983-84 constant prices.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : The information available from the annual accounts of health boards relates to the total of
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fees paid by health boards to management consultants, legal firms, other than for legal expenses connected with compensation claims, and to work study consultants. The amounts for each health board are shown in the table. Expenditure for 1984-85 onwards has been converted to 1983-84 prices using the gross domestic product deflator.Column 215
£ at 1983-84 prices
|1983-84 |1984-85 |1985-86 |1986-87 |1987-88 |<1>1988-89
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Argyll and Clyde |2,839 |861 |19,255 |48,086 |16,300 |53,100
Ayrshire and Arran |- |8,159 |30,329 |6,161 |7,475 |24,897
Borders |1,537 |748 |12,585 |1,763 |4,546 |12,076
Dumfries and Galloway |- |- |4,395 |2,447 |31,567 |47,536
Fife |16,464 |20,503 |11,195 |22,142 |28,814 |47,964
Forth Valley |755 |3,026 |20,690 |22,976 |36,805 |52,487
Grampian |6,490 |1,553 |13,880 |81,716 |138,589 |33,039
Greater Glasgow |- |6,293 |3,462 |<2>-1,081 |40,725 |199,630
Highland |- |424 |2,626 |16,754 |10,789 |82,311
Lanarkshire |- |3,835 |113 |- |2,495 |20,618
Lothian |2,912 |1,575 |12,573 |72,994 |71,566 |134,089
Orkney |460 |- |1,479 |564 |1,499 |13,579
Shetland |72 |1,164 |1,196 |1,260 |1,499 |4,194
Tayside |- |- |55 |223 |50,293 |11,436
Western Isles |2,000 |- |13 |1,939 |9,238 |22,142
|---- |---- |---- |---- |---- |----
Totals |33,529 |48,141 |133,846 |277,944 |452,200 |759,098
<1> Provisional.
<2> Net of credits.
Elderly People (Long-term Care)
Mr. Galbraith : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if the proposed provision of long-term care for the elderly at Rutherglen hospital by Takare plc was put out to competitive tendering.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : Greater Glasgow health board has not made any final decision on the provision of long-term care for the elderly in the south-east of Glasgow.
Additionality
8. Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, pursuant to his answer of 3 May, Official Report , column 163 , what were the rules on additionality under (a) regulation No. 724/75, (b) regulation No. 1787/84 and (c) regulation No. 4253/88 ; and what steps he is taking to ensure genuine additionality at the regional level, in accordance with article 9 of regulation 4253/88.
Mr. Lang : Article 9 of regulation 4253/88 calls for the increase in the size of the European Community structural funds to have a genuine additional economic impact in the regions concerned and to result in at least an equivalent increase in the total of public structural aid in the member state concerned. There were no analagous articles in the previous regulations, but they contained provisions about grants supplementing or partially reimbursing national aids. The impact of the funds in Scotland is clear. Grants are paid to a wide range of local authorities and other bodies, saving them up to 50 per cent. of the cost of qualifying projects. This will continue to be the case, as it has been in the past.
Glenochil Prison (Security Equipment)
Mr. Darling : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will indicate the value of security and surveillance equipment supplied to Her Majesty's prison Glenochil and attached establishments in the years 1986 to 1989 to the latest available date ; and if he will make a statement.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : From 1 April 1986 to 31 March 1989 the sum spent on security and surveillance
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equipment in Her Majesty's prison Glenochil was £59,416.14. Over the same period the sum of £650,181.20 was spent on such equipment specifically for other establishments run by the Scottish prison service.Mr. Darling : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what are the procedures for ordering security and surveillance equipment at Her Majesty's prison Glenochil and attached establishments ; what were these procedures in 1986 ; and if he will make a statement.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : The Scottish Home and Health Department has a central purchasing policy for security and surveillance equipment to be acquired through its prison building division. The procedures involve multiple tendering. These procedures apply to all establishments and were in force in 1986. In exceptional circumstances, single tender action can be implemented provided that it complies with the rules of public accounting.
Princes Street (Traffic Regulations)
Mr. Darling : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what representations he has received on the proposal of Lothian regional council to amend traffic regulations on Princes street, Edinburgh ; and if he will make a statement.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : Under schedule 9, part II of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984, my right hon. and learned Friend is considering Lothian regional council's proposals to facilitate the flow of vehicular traffic on Princes street, Edinburgh, by increasing the restricted hours for waiting, loading and unloading to 24 hours of every day and the prohibited hours to 8 am to 6 pm of every day subsequent to the widening of the north footway. The order includes provisions to facilitate orange badge holders' parking in streets adjacent to Princes street following the removal of the present facility to park on Princes street as a result of footway widening and additional waiting restrictions.
Thirteen representations have been received on this subject. These fall broadly into three categories : (a) objections from disabled people about the exclusion of
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orange badge holders from Princes street ; (b) objections from traders in Princes street about loading/unloading difficulties ; (c) objections from people anticipating the possible future complete pedestrianisation of Princes street.Full consideration is being given to all the representations I have received. I hope to give my decision soon.
Red List Substances (Salmon Farming)
Dr. Godman : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what resources are being made available to the river purification boards to enable them to fulfil their duty to monitor red list substances including dichlorous in the light of the growth rate of the salmon farming industry.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : It is for each river purification board to set annual expenditure in line with its duties, including those relating to the proposed red list, and the necessary resources are obtained by requisition on the regional councils whose areas lie wholly or partly in the area of the board.
British Steel
Dr. Reid : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he last met the chairman of British Steel ; and what matters were discussed.
Mr. Lang : My right hon. and learned Friend met the chairman of British Steel on 26 October 1988. A number of matters of current interest were discussed.
Community Charge
Sir Russell Johnston : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what representations he has received about the operation of the standard community charge.
Mr. Rifkind : I have received a number of such representations.
Prisons (Ethnic Minorities)
Mr. Allan Stewart : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he has considered the report by Her Majesty's chief inspector of prisons for Scotland into conditions and arrangements for accommodating persons detained in Scottish prisons under the Immigration Act 1971 and members of ethnic minority groups.
Mr. Rifkind : I am today publishing my statement in response to this report. Copies of both are being placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
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Torness
Mr. Salmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what information he has on the estimated annual marginal costs to the Scottish electricity boards in 1989-90 of generating the equivalent output of Torness by burning Scottish coal in existing Scottish power stations.
Mr. Lang [holding answer 4 July 1989] : Information on the Scottish electricity boards' estimated generation costs for the current financial year is commercially sensitive and confidential to the boards.
Mr. Salmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what information he has on the estimated annual interest charges to the Scottish electricity boards from the construction of Torness nuclear power station.
Mr. Lang [holding answer 4 July 1989] : The Scottish electricity boards' total assets are financed by a combination of internally generated funds, borrowings and current liabilities, none of which attaches to individual assets. It is therefore not possible to attribute specific loans or interest charges to Torness nuclear power station.
Shipbuilding (Redundancies)
Ms. Quin : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the total number of redundancies in the shipbuilding and shiprepair industries in Strathclyde during the period 1 January 1979 to 31 December 1988.
Mr. Lang [holding answer 30 June 1989] : Information is not available in the precise form requested. There are no comprehensive statistics on redundancies. The number of redundancies involving 10 or more workers confirmed to the Department of Employment--the Training Agency--as having occurred in Strathclyde region in the shipbuilding and shiprepairing industry between 1 January 1979 and 31 December 1988 was 11,303.
Central Excavations Unit
Mr. Strang : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many people have been employed by the Scottish Development Department's central excavations unit and its successor body on short-term contracts for periods of more than two years ; and why such people have not been offered full- time employment.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton [holding answer 21 June 1989] : In the four years 1985-86 to 1988-89 there have been no contracts of more than two years. No individual contract has been for more than 156 working days, and only five contracts have been for more than 100 working days.
Information on contracts before 1985 could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
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