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NATIONAL FINANCE

Civil Service Dispersal

Mr. French : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he has any plans to disperse Civil Service manpower to the South Western region.

Mr. Brooke : As I announced to the House on 9 February 1989, at columns 751-52, individual departments are reviewing the location of their work with a view to finding locations offering easier labour markets and better value for money, and departmental Ministers will be announcing their decisions.

Exchange Rate (Canada)

Sir John Farr : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the rate of exchange between the United Kingdom and Canada at present ; and what it was one year ago.

Mr. Lilley [holding answer 5 July 1989] : At close of business on 5 July the exchange rate was C$2.0570/£ against C$1.9252/£ a year ago.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

LINK Schemes

Mr. Cousins : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will list all LINK schemes so far approved with the expenditure on each and the location of sites at which the research is carried out.

Mr. Forth : To date, 17 LINK programmes have been approved, with total expected expenditure of nearly £245 million. The list gives approved expenditure for each programme.

Project selection under these announced programmes is still at an early stage, but already agreement has been reached with 60 collaborators from industry and the universities ; these are also listed.


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Participants in Link Projects

Industry

AB Electronic Components

Allied Breweries

Amersham International

Bass

Beaconsfield Instruments Ltd.

Beechams

British Petroleum

British Biotechnology

Campden Food & Drink RA

Chell Instruments

Courtaulds

Cray Instruments & Control

Dalgety-Spillers

Enzymatix

Express Foods

Flour Milling & Breadmaking RA

Foxboro

Ford Motors

Glaxo

Guinness

Heinz

IFTEL Automation

Imperial Chemical Industries

International Biosynthetics

Lyons Bakeries

Lyons-Tetley

Pedigree Petfoods

Pfizer

Phillips

Queensgate Instruments

Quest International

Rank Taylor Hobson

SBP

Schlumberger

Shell

SIFAM

Smiths Industries

Spillers

STC

Tealgate

Thorn-EMI

Whitbread

Science Base

Universities of :

Kent

Warwick

Exeter

Leicester

Surrey

Leeds

Manchester

Hull

Southampton

Strathclyde

Liverpool

Oxford

Nottingham

Bradford

Durham

University of Manchester Institute of Science & Technology. AFRC (Institute of Grassland & Animal Products).

Food Research Institute.


Link programmes                                                                        

                              |Government funding|Private sector                       

                              |£ million         |£ million                            

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Molecular Electronics         |10.0              |10.0                                 

Advanced Semiconductor                                                                 

  materials                   |12.0              |12.0                                 

Industrial Measurement                                                                 

  Systems                     |10.8              |10.8                                 

Eukaryotic Genetic                                                                     

  Engineering                 |2.3               |2.4                                  

Nanotechnology                |7.5               |7.5                                  

Biotransformations            |2.0               |2.0                                  

Personal Communications       |6.4               |6.4                                  

Selective Drug Delivery and                                                            

  Targeting                   |1.5               |1.5                                  

Construction, Maintenance                                                              

  and Refurbishment           |1.5               |1.5                                  

Food Processing Sciences      |7.0               |7.0                                  

Ventilation, Air Conditioning                                                          

  and Refrigeration           |1.5               |1.5                                  

Optoelectronics               |15.0              |15.0                                 

Design of High Speed                                                                   

   Machinery                  |10.0              |10.0                                 

Structural Composites         |20.0              |20.0                                 

Biochemical Engineering       |7.5               |7.5                                  

Protein Engineering           |4.8               |4.8                                  

New Catalysts and Catalytic                                                            

  processes                   |2.5               |2.5                                  

                              |---               |---                                  

                              |122.3             |122.4                                

EEC Telecommunications Initiative

Mr. Cousins : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (1) what is the value of the EEC telecommunications initiative programme ; and how much he expects to be spent in Britain ;

(2) which regions of the United Kingdom are participating in the EEC telecommunication initiative ; and if he will list the projects, with their programme spend value, in each region.

Mr. Atkins : The policy towards telecommuni-cations in Europe adopted by the Council of Ministers is of significant value to the United Kingdom as a major influence on the liberalisation of European telecommunications markets.

If the hon. Member has in mind direct financial receipts, the only EEC telecommunications initiative to provide funding on a regional basis is the Special Telecommunications Action for Regional Development (STAR). Northern Ireland, alone in the United Kingdom, qualifies for support under this programme, and has been allocated 25 mecu--about £16.9 million--of the 780 mecu--about £527 million--total programme funding.

The only other exclusively telecommunications EEC initiative involving the provision of financial assistance is the Research and Development in Advanced Communications Technologies in Europe (RACE) programme of collaborative R and D projects. Total expenditure authorised by the Council of Ministers on the definition and main phases is 571 mecu--about £386 million. Of the 541 mecu allocated so far United Kingdom companies and other bodies may be expected to receive 161 mecu--about £105 million.

Imports

Mr. Hardy : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what proportion of the following items sold in Britain in 1988 were imported (a) colour television sets, (b) electric toasters, (c) micro wave cookers, (d) goods vehicles, (e) cameras, (f) personal computers, (g) ball point pens, (h) pocket combs, (i) tooth brushes, (j) crockery, (k) cutlery and (l) saucepans.

Mr. Atkins : The available information is shown in the table.


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Imports as a percentage of the United Kingdom       

market<1>                                           

                              |Percentage           

----------------------------------------------------

Colour television sets        |39                   

Micro wave cookers            |58                   

Goods vehicles<2>             |40                   

Ceramic table and kitchenware |20                   

Cutlery                       |56                   

Saucepans                     |21                   

<1>For all except goods vehicles, the percentage is 

calculated as 100* imports/United Kingdom market    

with the United Kingdom market defined as           

United Kingdom Market=Manufacturers' sales plus     

Imports                                             

less Exports                                        

All figures are expressed in current price terms.   

<2>Based on United Kingdom registration.            

Sources: DTI, SMMT.                                 

Task Force Scheme

Mr. Gould : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many jobs have been created in each task force area ; how many were not funded by temporary employment programmes, including the employment training schemes ; how many led to full-time and permanent, longer than one year, employment ; how many were in effect self-employment ; and how many went to black and ethnic minority groups.

Mr. Newton [holding answer 10 July 1989] : The information sought about the breakdown of jobs created by task forces is not available in the form requested, nor could it be practically obtained by the task forces. However, the table gives estimates of total anticipated jobs and training places created, and businesses helped directly by projects in each task force since inception.


                        |Jobs created           |Training places created|Businesses assisted                            

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bristol                 |307                    |1,034                  |572                                            

Coventry                |379                    |1,784                  |83                                             

Doncaster               |536                    |2,424                  |1,372                                          

East Birmingham         |127                    |1,319                  |77                                             

Handsworth,                                                                                                             

  Birmingham            |849                    |1,069                  |361                                            

Hartlepool              |301                    |2,130                  |590                                            

Chapeltown/                                                                                                             

   Harehills, Leeds  111                         822                     93                                             

Leicester               |606                    |1,148                  |260                                            

Middlesbrough           |432                    |2,080                  |60                                             

Moss Side,                                                                                                              

  Manchester            |247                    |3,229                  |120                                            

North Kensington        |820                    |2,500                  |85                                             

North Peckham           |500                    |3,600                  |1,463                                          

Nottingham              |308                    |1,855                  |269                                            

Preston                 |655                    |1,315                  |483                                            

Rochdale                |72                     |890                    |810                                            

Spitalfields            |232.5                  |2,140                  |324                                            

Wolverhampton           |408                    |600                    |115                                            

                        |---                    |---                    |---                                            

Total                   |6,890.5                |29,939                 |7,137                                          

Separate records on ethnic minority jobs are not kept. However, the evaluation report on the Handsworth task force, prepared by PA Cambridge Economic Consultants--available in the House Library--noted that 69 per cent. of the jobs created by the task force, at the time of writing the report, were taken up by members of ethnic communities (paragraph 7.2.3).

Mr. Gould : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what criteria have been used to select inner city areas for task force status.


Column 433

Mr. Newton [holding answer 10 July 1989] : A range of criteria are used including the levels of local long-term unemployment, other indicators of deprivation and the ethnic minority proportion of the population. Task forces must also be located within the 57 urban priority areas.

Mr. Gould : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what has been the total expenditure on inner city task forces in each year since their inception ; how much of that expenditure has been provided from private sources ; and how much has gone to national organisations and how much to local community organisations.

Mr. Newton [holding answer 10 July 1989] : Over £100 million has been committed to task force areas since their inception. The table shows total committed spend on task force projects by calendar year-- the figures for 1986 are included in the 1987 total as they were not separately collected. Besides the financial contribution shown in the table, the private sector also provides other assistance such as secondees, advice, loan of premises/equipment etc.


(£'000)                                                

               |1986-7 |1988   |<1>1989|Total          

-------------------------------------------------------

Total spend                                            

  committed    |35,254 |53,347 |14,103 |102,704        

Task Force                                             

  contribution |12,701 |20,207 |5,632  |38,540         

Private sector                                         

  contribution |4,591  |9,215  |2,336  |16,142         

Public sector                                          

  contribution |17,962 |23,925 |6,135  |48,022         

<1> To 31 March 1989.                                  

Committed expenditure is counted for the year in which the project has received approval to go ahead, although not all the money may be spent in the same year. We do not keep separate information on how much money has gone to national or local organisations.

Enterprise Initiative

Mr. Roy Hughes : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what has been the total cost of the advertising campaign for the enterprise initiative ; and what has been the average cost per take-up.

Mr. Forth : Expenditure on advertising the enterprise initiative since January 1988 has been about £19 million. The enterprise initiative covers a number of schemes and services for firms and there is no single measure of take-up which would justify the calculation of an average cost.

WALES

Radioactive Substances

Mr. Gareth Wardell : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many sites in Wales are authorised to discharge radioactive liquid waste to the public sewer.

Mr. Peter Walker : There are currently 55 authorisations under the Radioactive Substances Act 1960 to dispose of liquid radioactive waste. The authorisations prescribe discharge into drainage systems which could include public sewers.

Mr. Gareth Wardell : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will publish in the Official Report a list of those


Column 434

premises in Wales registered under the Radioactive Substances Act 1960 being monitored by a commercial company on behalf of Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution.

Mr. Peter Walker : The following sites are subject to monitoring by a contractor as part of the national environment monitoring programme conducted by Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution.

1. Trawsfynydd nuclear power station, Gwynedd.

2. Wylfa nuclear power station, Gwynedd.

3. Amersham International plc, South Glamorgan.

4. Cilgwyn quarry waste disposal site, Gwynedd.

None of the above sites is subject to registration under the Radioactive Substances Act 1960, although the first three are subject to authorisation under the Act.

Mr. Gareth Wardell : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will publish in the Official Report the number of premises in Wales registered under the Radioactive Substances Act 1960 ; and if he will separately distinguish how many are sited in each parliamentary constituency.


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