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Mrs. Rumbold : My right hon. Friend has received some 600 letters from members of the Exclusive or Plymouth Brethren and other Christian sects seeking withdrawal of their children from such elements within the national curriculum. There is no right of withdrawal from the national curriculum in maintained schools. But parents remain free to educate their children outside the maintained sector, where the national curriculum is not a legal requirement.
Mr. Cash : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what arrangements will be made to enable a child, whether at a state or non -maintained school, to obtain a recognised qualification by examination where he
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or she, as a matter of deeply held religious conviction, declines to use a computer, if GCSE examination questions are so set as to be answerable only by computer.Mrs. Rumbold : The administration of the GCSE is the responsibility of the independent GCSE examining groups. It is open to schools or individual parents to discuss the special needs of particular pupils with the groups.
Mr. David Martin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make a statement on the progress of the GCSE examinations.
Mr. Kenneth Baker : I replied today to a report on the progress of the GCSE examination submitted to me at my request by the School Examinations and Assessment Council (SEAC). I am arranging for copies of SEAC's report and of my reply to be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Mr Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how much of his Department's budget is devoted to research purposes ; how much is given in grants for research ; and what proportion of each figure has been devoted to near-market research (a) in the current financial year and (b) in each of the last three financial years.
Mr. Jackson [holding answer 3 July 1989] : Details of the Department's expenditure on research, together with that in respect of the research councils and the universities, for which the Secretary of State is also responsible, are given in the "Annual Review of Government Funding Research and Development 1988", copies of which are available in the Library.
Expenditure that might be described as "near market" research is not separately identified, but it is considered to be minimal.
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will list the research grants
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given for near-market research for which his Department is directly or indirectly responsible in the current financial year and each of the last two financial years.Mr. Jackson [holding answer 3 July 1989] : No such grants have been made in the last three years.
Mr. Harry Greenway : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many incentive posts for teachers are currently available ; what is the financial remuneration for each grade ; what were the comparable figures three years ago, and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Butcher [pursuant to his reply, 17 July 1989] : I regret that the answer previously given contained some inaccuracies. The correct information is as follows :
October 1987 (the September 1988 first year) Value (£) |Number |Value (£) |Number |(from 1 April 1989) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A 501 |25,000 |858 |43,000 B 1,002 |69,000 |1,284 |59,600 C 2,001 |- |2,568 |9,300 D 3,000 |28,500 |3,426 |27,000 E 4,200 |6,500 |4,710 |8,000 |----- |----- Total |129,000 |147,000
There will be a further 23,000 A allowances and 10,900 C allowances from this September as a result of the recommendations of the interim advisory committee and plans already in the pipeline. With changes in the availability of other allowances, the net increase in the number of allowances this year is 27,600, taking the total up to 174,600.
Dr. Thomas : To ask the Prime Minister what matters she raised with the secretary general of the United Nations during her recent visit to Paris.
The Prime Minister : I did not have a formal meeting with the United Nations secretary general during my recent visit to Paris. But we met in the margins of other events and discussed international issues of current concern.
Mr. Leith : To ask the Prime Minister if she will make a statement about the report of the review body for nursing staff, midwives, health visitors and professions allied to medicine on the pay of nursing and midwifery educational staff.
The Prime Minister : The report has been published today, and copies are available in the Vote Office. The Government are grateful to members of the review body for the work which has gone into the preparation of this additional report, which is supplementary to their sixth report on the pay of nurses and midwives in clinical and senior non-educational grades, published in February.
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The review body has recommended pay scales, to take effect from 1 April 1989, for the new grading structure for nursing and midwifery educational staff, which was agreed between the two sides of the Nursing and Midwifery Staff Negotiation Council in March 1989. This follows on from the introduction last year of a new grading structure for nurses and midwives who do clinical work. Virtually all the staff concerned have now been regraded on the basis of the new structure. The amount of the pay increase individuals would receive under these recommendations depends on their grading under the old and now under the new structure.Nearly 80 per cent. of the staff concerned were previously graded H or I under the clinical grading review. Most of these have been allocated to grades 1 or 2 under the new educational grading structure and would receive increases of between 6.8 per cent. and 7.1 per cent.
The review body has recommended proportionately higher increases for the minority of staff in the more senior grades who did not benefit from the introduction of the clinical grading structure in 1988. In addition, many senior tutors will benefit from the fact that the new structure provides for the correction of pay and grading anomalies which arose in 1988, under which some senior tutors were paid no more than, or less than, the tutors they were supervising. Excluding employers' costs the recommendations are estimated to add some 2.4 per cent. for assimilation costs and an average 7.4 per cent. for the basic pay increase, approximately £11.6 million in total, to the 1989-90 paybill costs for nursing and midwifery education staff in Great Britain.
The Government have decided to accept in full the review body's recommendations, and a formal offer is being made to the staff side today. I hope it will be possible to put the new rates into payment as soon as possible.
The expected cost of the new pay scales for educational staff, including the cost of introducing the new grading structure has already been reflected in the extra allocation made to health authorities following the Government's acceptance in February of the review body's recommendations on the pay of other nursing and midwifery staff.
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Prime Minister what action she has taken to help implement those passages of the Paris summit communique which pertain to the forgiveness of international debt and the preservation of the rain forest.
The Prime Minister : It has long been our policy to welcome debt for nature swaps agreed voluntarily between commercial banks, conservation organisations and debtors. The United Kingdom has taken the lead in forgiving ODA debt and had now cancelled nearly £1 billion worth of such debts worldwide.
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Prime Minister what has been the total cost of her overseas travel, including her staff, for each year from 1979- 80 ; and how many countries were visited in each year.
The Prime Minister [holding answer 20 July 1989] : The cost of my overseas travel, and of those accompanying me every year since 1979 and the number of countries visited in each year is as follows :
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|£ |Number of countries |visited -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- <2>1979-80 |151,864 |9 1980-81 |133,206 |12 1981-82 |556,000 |16 1982-83 |523,587 |13 1983-84 |216,146 |11 1984-85 |414,259 |10 1985-86 |457,483 |16 1986-87 |447,066 |13 1987-88 |341,880 |11 1988-89 |612,852 |14 <1> Billing delays prevent some costs from being shown in the financial year in which the services were provided. The figures, therefore, do not necessarily reflect when the expenditure was actually incurred. <2> From May 1979.
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will list in rank order information available to him on the cost of local telephone calls for all countries within the European Economic Community.
Mr. Forth : There is no standard measure which enables comparisons to be made between the cost of local calls in different community countries. For example, the average local call area is particularly large in the United Kingdom, which means that many calls at local rates here would be charged at long distance rates in other countries. One recent survey, based on rates during an 8am-6pm working day, and averaging prices for BT and Mercury, found the prices in pounds sterling for a three minute call to be :
|£ --------------------------- United Kingdom |0.098 Germany |0.072 France |0.056 Italy |0.054 Source: National Utility Services, February 1989.
However, Oftel has produced figures comparing costs of an average resident's telephone bill and the cost of an average business bill in the four European countries which in terms of population and size are most readily comparable. The figures are (as indices, excluding VAT) :
|Residential basket|Business basket ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- United Kingdom |100 |100 France |78 |85 Italy |101 |122 West Germany |103 |106 OFTEL, January 1989.
Sir Eldon Griffiths : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster whether there are any plans for the Department of Trade and Industry to open a new regional office in eastern England.
Mr. Newton : Yes. The Secretary of State and I have decided to establish a full regional office in Cambridge,
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building on its existing presence there to provide an even better service to business in the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire. This new regional office continues the process we announced in the White Paper "DTI- -the Department for Enterprise" in January 1988 of strengthening and extending the regional network, recognising the importance of contacts with business at a local level.The DTI's regional offices are now handling over 500 applications each week for the enterprise initiative consultancy schemes, as well as dealing with hundreds of export inquiries, signposting firms towards help on the single European market, the enterprise and education initiative and the regional initiative. In all cases, our regional offices work closely with chambers of commerce, local enterprise agencies and other local business organisations. The Cambridge office will continue to get support from the three existing satellite offices linked closely with local business organisations, in Norwich, Ipswich and Chelmsford. Those satellite offices have played a valuable role in offering an open doorway to DTI services in important East Anglian business centres.
Mr. Nigel Griffiths : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will detail the steps which his Department intends to take to protect the public from the fraudulent practice of clocking motor vehicles.
Mr. Forth [holding answer 20 July 1989] : The fraudulent alteration of a car odometer is already an offence against the Trade Descriptions Act 1968 and carries a maximum penalty of two years' imprisonment or an unlimited fine, or both. The Act is enforced by local trading standards officers. I have no plans to introduce new legislation in this area.
Mr. Nigel Griffiths : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will estimate the extent of the illegal turning-back of car odometers by vendors of second-hand cars.
Mr. Forth [holding answer 20 July 1989] : I do not have the information on which to base such an estimate. However, during 1988 there were 383 successful prosecutions by local trading standards departments relating to false mileage recordings on motor cars.
Mr. Nigel Griffiths : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will summarise his Department's inquiries into the possible production and potential cost of tamper-proof odometers to prevent fraudulent mileages being recorded ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Forth [holding answer 20 July 1989] : My Department has made no such inquiries, although we have encouraged the motor industry to develop a British standard specification for tamper-resistant odometers.
Mr. Bermingham : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will list all local authority areas in the United Kingdom which are to qualify for objective 2 support from the European Commission ; and if he will make a statement.
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Mr. Atkins [holding answer 20 July 1989] : My reply to the hon. Members for Bassetlaw (Mr. Ashton) and for Pontefract and Castleford (Mr. Lofthouse), ( Official Report, Volume 153, no. 111, columns 459-60 ) listed all the areas of the United Kingdom designated as eligible for the European regional development fund.
The list of areas designated by the Commission under objective 2 was published in the official journal of the European Communities of 25 April 1989 (No. L112/19). The areas were defined by combined reference to local authority areas and travel-to-work areas. The hon. Member's constituency was designated in its entirety.
The list of objective 2 areas is generally very satisfactory, but I regret that a number of areas have been excluded by the Commission despite repeated representations by my right hon. Friend and others.
Mr. Bermingham : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what is the total amount of financial support allocated by the European Commission for integrated development operation programmes for the latest date available in (a) Birmingham, (b) Bradford, (c) Yorkshire and Humberside, (d) Merseyside, (e)
Manchester/Salford/Trafford and (f) Strathclyde ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Atkins [holding answer 20 July 1989] : The Commission has agreed to allocate the following sums to four of these programmes :--
|£ million --------------------------------------------- Birmingham |203 Bradford |56 Yorkshire and Humberside |309 Strathclyde |378
The figures include grants from the European regional development fund and the European social fund, and loans from the European investment bank and the European Coal and Steel Community. The other two programme applications have yet to be approved by the Commission.
Mr. Allan Stewart : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what representations he has received from Neilston community council concerning the refusal of the chairman of the Post Office to meet the hon. Member for Eastwood ; and if he will make a statement.
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Mr. Newton [holding answer 17 July 1989] : I have written both to the Secretary of Neilston community council, and to my hon. Friend.
Mr. Nigel Griffiths : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what steps his Department has taken over the past 10 years to persuade the motor trade to develop and install tamper-proof odometers in motor vehicles.
Mr. Forth : As yet a full tamper-proof odometer has not been developed, but my Department has sought to encourage the motor industry to develop a British Standard specification for tamper-resistant odometers.
Mr. Allen : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (1) what estimate he has made of investment by the German Government in industry and commerce during the period 1979 to 1988 ;
(2) what is the present level of investment by Government in industrial and commercial enterprises in Germany, France, Italy and Spain as a percentage of gross domestic product ;
(3) what is the present level of investment by Her Majesty's Government in industrial and commercial enterprises as a percentage of gross domestic product.
Mr. Lilley : There are no data available on the level of Government investment in industry and commerce in Germany, France, Italy and Spain. In the United Kingdom direct Government investment in industry and commerce is confined to the nationalised industries.
Mr. Nigel Griffiths : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the number of right to buy applications for (a) houses and (b) flats for each local authority in Scotland as a whole during each year from 1980-81 to 1988-89.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : Prior to 1987, only the total number of right-to-buy applications was collected centrally from local authorities. The information available for 1987-88 and 1988-89 is given in the following table.
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Right to buy applications by dwelling type 1987-88 1988-89 District |Houses |Flats |Not known|Houses |Flats |Not known --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scotland |18,724 |8,214 |7,251 |27,994 |16,027 |4,098 Berwickshire |86 |11 |- |174 |8 |- Ettrick and Lauderdale |144 |55 |- |200 |52 |- Roxburgh |97 |45 |124 |237 |89 |- Tweeddale |48 |13 |- |75 |21 |- Clackmannan |360 |73 |- |457 |130 |- Falkirk<1> |609 |143 |636 |1,470 |411 |- Stirling |258 |43 |314 |552 |81 |228 Annandale and Eskdale |139 |14 |85 |297 |29 |- Nithsdale |366 |117 |- |493 |168 |- Stewartry |99 |18 |- |134 |20 |- Wigtown |180 |21 |- |206 |31 |- Dunfermline |851 |240 |- |1,146 |410 |- Kirkcaldy |672 |312 |- |944 |482 |- North East Fife |183 |63 |108 |n/a |n/a |518 Aberdeen |641 |286 |- |1,154 |465 |- Banff and Buchan |348 |47 |- |262 |39 |201 Gordon |144 |9 |- |169 |6 |- Kincardine and Deeside |88 |14 |- |89 |6 |- Moray |389 |30 |- |640 |80 |- Badenoch and Strathspey |52 |2 |22 |77 |1 |- Caithness |144 |11 |- |106 |3 |- Inverness |209 |34 |- |367 |45 |- Lochaber |169 |25 |- |170 |30 |- Nairn |25 |1 |- |42 |3 |- Ross and Cromarty |119 |2 |- |194 |4 |- Skye and Lochalsh |21 |0 |- |37 |0 |- Sutherland<1> |59 |0 |- |56 |0 |- East Lothian |339 |98 |496 |939 |412 |- Edinburgh |274 |703 |2,212 |1,462 |2,496 |- Midlothian |425 |130 |178 |684 |252 |- West Lothian |668 |109 |- |1,207 |262 |- Argyll and Bute |64 |15 |199 |n/a |n/a |422 Bearsden and Milnavie<2> |44 |23 |- |53 |27 |- Clydebank |289 |316 |- |536 |582 |- Clydesdale |419 |25 |- |524 |55 |- Cumbernauld and Kilsyth |150 |58 |- |156 |111 |- Cumnock and Doon Valley<1> |314 |23 |115 |n/a |n/a |214 Cunninghame |857 |222 |- |1,167 |316 |- Dumbarton |531 |219 |- |593 |340 |- East Kilbride |69 |20 |- |91 |44 |- Eastwood |73 |25 |- |89 |27 |- Glasgow |1,861 |2,474 |- |3,070 |4,732 |- Hamilton |594 |121 |281 |1,101 |357 |- Inverclyde |277 |191 |- |299 |231 |- Kilmarnock and Loudoun |600 |102 |- |688 |157 |- Kyle and Carrick |537 |197 |350 |956 |399 |- Monklands<1> |789 |253 |- |386 |169 |433 Motherwell |n/a |n/a |1,351 |n/a |n/a |2,082 Renfrew |662 |551 |509 |1,133 |1,071 |- Strathkelvin |273 |42 |271 |565 |164 |- Angus |460 |44 |- |512 |68 |- Dundee |1,051 |470 |- |1,208 |900 |- Perth and Kinross |442 |140 |- |589 |224 |- Orkney Islands |66 |1 |- |100 |1 |- Shetland Islands |54 |4 |- |53 |5 |- Western Isles |42 |9 |- |85 |11 |- <1>Returns outstanding for Q4 1988 and Q1 1989. <2>Return outstanding for Q1 1989. n/a-Not available.
Mr. Nigel Griffiths : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many council dwellings sold under the right to buy were constructed (a) before 1900, (b) 1900 to 1910, (c) 1911 to 1920, (d) 1921 to 1930, (e) 1931 to 1940, (f) 1941 to 1950, (g) 1951 to 1960, (h) 1961 to 1970, (j) 1971 to 1980, (k) 1980 to 1981, (l) 1981 to 1982, (m) 1982 to 1983, (n) 1983 to 1984, (o) 1984 to 1985, (p) 1985 to 1986, (q) 1986 to 1987, and (r) 1987 to 1988.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : Information on the age of council houses sold has been placed in the House Library. Prior to 1986, sales to sitting tenants were not subdivided into right to buy and on a voluntary basis.
Mr. Nigel Griffiths : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many dwellings were sold to (a) sitting tenants--right to buy, (b) sitting tenants--voluntary sale,
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(c) other individuals by each local authority in Scotland and for Scotland as a whole during each year from 1980-81 to 1988-89.Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : Information prior to 1986 does not differentiate between sales under the right-to-buy provisions and voluntary sales to sitting tenants. Tables giving the information available have been placed in the House Library.
Mr. Nigel Griffiths : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many sales other than the right-to-buy sales, were completed by each local authority in Scotland and for Scotland as a whole during each year from 1980-81 to 1988-89.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : Information on sales other than to sitting tenants or other individuals is set out in the following table.
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Local Authority sales other than to sitting tenants |1981-82|1982-83|1983-84|1984-85|1985-86|1986-87|1988-89 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scotland |257 |911 |388 |1,066 |127 |788 |315 |1,214 |263 Borders Berwickshire |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 Ettrick and Lauderdale |0 |0 |0 |0 |2 |1 |0 |0 |0 Roxburgh |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 Tweeddale<1> |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 Central Clackmannan |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |5 Falkirk<1> |0 |29 |45 |0 |7 |0 |19 |0 |0 Stirling |0 |0 |0 |0 |7 |0 |0 |0 |0 Dumfries and Galloway Annandale and Eskdale |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 Nithsdale |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 Stewartry |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 Wigtown |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 Fife Dunfermline |0 |0 |0 |0 |6 |0 |0 |0 |0 Kirkcaldy |0 |0 |2 |17 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 North East Fife |0 |0 |0 |0 |1 |0 |0 |0 |0 Grampian Aberdeen |37 |2 |0 |11 |19 |0 |3 |0 |15 Banff and Buchan |4 |1 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 Gordon |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |1 |0 |0 |0 Kincardine and Deeside |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 Moray |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 Highland Badenoch and Strathspey |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 Caithness |0 |9 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 Inverness |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 Lochaber |0 |0 |4 |0 |0 |0 |25 |27 |33 Nairn |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 Ross and Cromarty |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 Skye and Lochalsh |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 Sutherland<1> |0 |0 |0 |10 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 Lothian East Lothian |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 Edinburgh |0 |0 |0 |734 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 Midlothian |0 |0 |0 |0 |5 |2 |1 |0 |2 West Lothian |13 |2 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 Strathclyde Argyll and Bute |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 Bearsden and Milnavie<2> |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 Clydebank |0 |9 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 Clydesdale |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 Cumbernauld and Kilsyth |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 Cumnock and Doon Valley<1> |0 |8 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 Cunninghame |0 |8 |7 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 Dumbarton |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 East Kilbride |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 Eastwood |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 Glasgow |108 |776 |172 |279 |77 |769 |48 |1,187 |152 Hamilton |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 Inverclyde |8 |4 |0 |0 |0 |11 |216 |0 |0 Kilmarnock and Loudoun |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 Kyle and Carrick |537 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 Monklands<1> |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 Motherwell |0 |61 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 Renfrew |79 |0 |107 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 Strathkelvin |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 Tayside Angus |0 |0 |0 |6 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 Dundee |8 |2 |25 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 Perth and Kinross |0 |0 |5 |0 |0 |4 |2 |0 |56 Orkney Islands |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 Shetland Islands |0 |0 |0 |1 |0 |0 |1 |0 |0 Western Isles |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 <1>Returns outstanding 1988-89.
Mr. Nigel Griffiths : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the number of right-to-buy applications current at end of quarter, for which the information is available, for each local authority in Scotland and for Scotland as a whole.
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Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : The information requested is set out in the following table.
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Number of Current Applications at 31 March 1989 |Number ------------------------------------------- Scotland |32,918 Berwickshire |48 Ettrick and Lauderdale |104 Roxburgh |125 Tweeddale |65 Clackmannan |357 Falkirk |848 Stirling<1> |520 Annandale and Eskdale |197 Nithsdale |268 Stewartry |71 Wigtown |116 Dunfermline |819 Kirkcaldy |986 North East Fife |337 Aberdeen |1,030 Banff and Buchan<2> |409 Gordon |108 Kincardine and Deeside |30 Moray |311 Badenoch and Strathspey |37 Caithness |47 Inverness |284 Lochaber |131 Nairn |10 Ross and Cromarty |70 Skye and Lochalsh |9 Sutherland<2> |58 East Lothian |564 Edinburgh |3,013 Midlothian |613 West Lothian |886 Argyll and Bute |390 Bearsden and Milngavie<1> |88 Clydebank |821 Clydesdale |411 Cumbernauld and Kilsyth |173 Cumnock and Doon Valley<4> |255 Cunninghame |932 Dumbarton |1,040 East Kilbride |64 Eastwood |67 Glasgow |5,645 Hamilton |1,287 Inverclyde |406 Kilmarnock and Loudoun |637 Kyle and Carrick |856 Monklands<3> |942 Motherwell |1,528 Renfrew |1,414 Strathkelvin |364 Angus |257 Dundee |2,244 Perth and Kinross |463 Orkney Islands |54 Shetland Islands |36 Western Isles |73 <1>Latest available information at 31 December 1988 <2> Latest available information at 30 September 1988 <3> Latest available information at 30 June 1988 <4> Latest available information at 31 December 1987
Mr. Nigel Griffiths : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the number of loans from (a) local authorities and (b) other sources for right to buy purchasers by each local authority in Scotland and for Scotland as a whole during each year from 1980-81 to 1988-89.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : Information collected centrally prior to 1986 did not differentiate between sales under the right-to-buy provisions and voluntary sales to sitting tenants. Copies of tables giving the information available have been placed in the House Library.
Mr. Dewar : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many people were receiving training under the employment training scheme in Scotland for each month from September 1988 till the latest date for which figures are available.
Mr. Rifkind : The number of people in Scotland who have participated in employment training in each month from September 1988 is set out in the table. These figures exclude those people who continued in employment training under community programme terms and conditions.
Date |In training ------------------------------------ 1988 September |4,361 October |6,608 November |9,095 December |11,660 1989 January |13,931 February |17,793 March |20,866 April |21,965 May |22,309 June |23,205
Mr. Maclennan : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will publish in the Official Report the names of members of the Highland health board appointed for the first time in 1989 ; and if he will give for each their experience, expertise and relevant background and the nominating body.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : The information requested is as follows :
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Highland health board: members appointed for the first time in 1989 Name |Background |Nominated by ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Mr. J. G. Ligertwood |Retired bank manager; treasurer of many charitable organisations a various times|Highland health board Mr. C. Neilson |Self employed retail businessman; former member of Lochaber local health council|Lochaber district council; |since its inception; chairman since 1977; former chairman of Lochaber district |Lochaber local health |council |council Mrs. S. G. H. Stone |Managing director of Highland Fine Cheeses Ltd.; founder, Ross-shire health |Ross and Cromarty district |protection trust |council Miss I. Urquhart |Registered general nurse; member management committee of crossroads (Ross and |Highland health board |Cromarty); member Highland nursing advisory committee
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Mr. Darling : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list all premises in Scotland (a) that are registered under the Radioactive Substances Act 1960 and (b) that are authorised to accumulate and discharge radioactive material under the same Act.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : This information is not yet available in a form that is suitable for publication.
Mr. Andrew Welsh : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) if he will publish the information he has on the condition of the Scottish freshwater mussel population ; what research he has commissioned ; and if he will make a statement ;
(2) what representations he has received about the survival of the Scottish fresh water mussel (Margaritifera Margaritifera) population.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : The fresh water pearl mussel Margaritifera Margaritifera is widely distibuted in Scotland thanks to the generally high quality of our rivers. I am aware of concerns which have been expressed recently about the possible depletion of stocks by overfishing or killing of mussels by amateur pearl fishermen. I have received two letters recently about the threat to pearl mussel stocks.
No research project on Scottish fresh water mussels has been commissioned by the Department. Scientific advice on fresh water species is provided or obtained as necessary by the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for Scotland's fresh water fisheries laboratory at Pitlochry. I am currently considering, with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment, a proposal from the Nature Conservancy Council that increased protection should be afforded to the fresh water pearl mussel under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.
Sir Dennis Walters : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many prosecutions have been carried out in relation to contaminated baby foods in 1989 in Scotland.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : None.
Sir Dennis Walters : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many reported contaminations of baby foods are currently being investigated by the police.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : There are no confirmed cases of malicious contamination of baby foods currently being investigated by the police in Scotland.
Sir Dennis Walters : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what information he has on whether the most recent contaminations of baby foods, which have been prosecuted have taken place inside or outside the factories of the companies concerned.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : Such information is not centrally collected.
Dr. Godman : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much was spent on the treatment of (a) alcohol abuse and (b) drug abuse in each of the past seven years.
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Mr. Michael Forsyth : Services within the NHS for alcohol misusers and drug misusers are generally provided as part of the range of community and hospital-based services. The cost of treatment in these particular areas is not separately identified. The Government have made substantial increases in resources available to health boards since 1979 and it is for individual boards to determine the level of expenditure on particular services from within their overall financial allocations.
In addition, in 1984 the Government set up a programme of grant support for a range of local drug projects run by health boards, local authorities and voluntary bodies. The size of this programme has steadily increased and in 1989-90 it is running at approximately £2 million per annum, double the figure for 1988-89.
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much was spent on official hospitality by his Department in 1988-89.
Mr. Rifkind : My Department spent £42,987 on official hospitality in 1988-89.
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