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Ministers (Travel)
Mr. Holt : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when was the last recorded journey to Scotland by a Government Minister travelling north via the M1/A1 roads.
Mr. Rifkind : For journeys between Scotland and London my ministerial colleagues and I do not normally travel by road.
ENERGY
Safe Integral Reactor Consortium
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy (1) from which Government account money is provided for the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority commitment to the SIR consortium ; and if the money is a grant or loan ;
(2) how much research funding has been allocated for the years in which figures are available to the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority to support its role as a member of the Safe Integral Reactor consortium ;
(3) how much the SIR consortium is bidding for from the United States Department of Energy ; and for what purpose ;
(4) what rate of return the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority is budgeting for in its commercial venture as part of the SIR consortium ;
(5) when and where he expects the first SIR to be built ; (6) when the SIR consortium was established ; who are its original and its current members ; and how much each have contributed to its income.
Mr. Michael Spicer : As I stated in my reply of 17 July at col. 52 , the UKAEA will be using some of its own pre-contract research funds to support its role as a member of the SIR consortium, whose other members are Rolls-Royce and Associates, Stone and Webster and Combustion Engineering. The terms of the UKAEA's involvement in the SIR consortium are commercially confidential.
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Nuclear Power Stations
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy further to his reply of 17 July, if he will list the consents and permissions, with the granting authority in each case, necessary to build a nuclear power station.
Mr. Michael Spicer : In England and Wales, an electricity board needs to obtain the consent of my right hon. Friend under section 2 of the Electric Lighting Act 1909, as amended. When granting his consent under section 2 he may also direct that deemed planning permission be granted under section 40 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1971.
Anyone else needs to obtain my right hon. Friend's consent under section 3 of the Energy Act 1983 and to obtain the necessary planning permission from the relevant planning authority.
In addition, a licence to install and operate a nuclear reactor must be obtained from the Health and Safety Executive under the Nuclear Installations Act 1965. Under the licence the agreement of the HSE must be obtained at all stages of construction, leading up to consent to commence operation.
Other consents and permissions, which also apply to other types of development, may also be required from the appropriate authorities.
Atomic Energy Authority
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what research funds he has allocated to the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority ; and how much has been allocated in each of the last 10 years for (a) all research and (b) pre-contract research.
Mr. Parkinson : My Department's expenditure on its nuclear programmes over the last 10 years is set out in my answer of 10 July to the hon. Member for Sedgefield at column 380. Since April 1986, when the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority began to operate as a trading fund, charges to the Department under the programme letters have been on a cost-plus basis. These charges include a contribution towards general authority overheads, one component of which is pre-contract research. The component is not separately identified in charges to the Department.
In the time available it has not been possible to provide figures for the Department's expenditure with the UKAEA on non-nuclear research.
Official Hospitality
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy how much was spent by his Department on official hospitality in 1988-89.
Mr. Parkinson : The Department spent £57,000 on official hospitality in 1988-89.
EMPLOYMENT
Vocational Training for Mental Handicap (Conference)
Rev. Martin Smyth : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will place in the Library any papers arising from the first European national conference for
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vocational training for mental handicap held in Maastricht ; and if he will take steps to ensure that the British Government is represented at future such conferences.Mr. Lee : No papers resulting from the conference in Maastricht have been made available.
The conferences are organised by the co-operation of European firms, employment initiatives and co-operatives for the psychologically disabled (CEFEC) which is an independent organisation.
Labour Statistics
Mr. David Nicholson : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what was the total number employed in the United Kingdom by (a) local government and (b) the railways industry in 1978, 1983 and the latest date for which figures are available ; and if he will indicate any significant changes of definition affecting the comparison of these statistics.
Mr. Lee : The total numbers employed in Great Britain by local government were as follows :
(
|Numbers
----------------------------------------
June 1978 |2,910,000
June 1983 |2,853,000
June 1988 |2,967,000
December 1988 |<1>2,964,000
<1> Latest available.
(Data for Northern Ireland is not
comparable and therefore not included.)
Source: Department of the Environment.
The abolition of the metropolitan counties and Greater London council and the change in status of local authority bus and municipal airport staff during 1986 and 1987 will have had a significant downward influence on the figures.
The number employed in the railways industries in the United Kingdom were as follows :
|Numbers
---------------------------------
June 1978 |185,000
June 1983 |161,000
June 1988 |133,000
March 1989 |<1>131,000
<1> Latest available.
Labour Statistics
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will publish for the information given in the answer of 14 November 1988, Official Report, columns 418-19, concerning the latest new earnings survey, the estimated numbers from whom the sample was taken ; and if he will add his estimate for the number of full-time as well as part-time workers.
Mr. Lee [holding answer 20 July 1989] : The estimated numbers for 1988 are as follows :
|million
--------------------------------------------------
Full-time employees in employment |16.2
Part-time employees in employment |3.4
Construction Training
Ms. Harman : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many construction training places on the ET scheme are training to a fully skilled standard.
Mr. Nicholls : The information requested is not available. Information on the types of training being undertaken by people on employment training will be available in the autumn.
Deptford Skill Centre
Ms. Harman : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many people were trained on the Construction Industry Training Board (ATS) adult training scheme at Deptford skill centre ; how much it cost for trainees qualified and placed in employment ; and what was the national average cost of training a skilled construction worker.
Mr. Nicholls : In the financial year 1988-89, 61 people were trained on CITB-sponsored adult training programmes at Deptford skill centre. The national average cost of training a skilled construction worker in a skill centre is £130 per trainee week. Skill centres are not involved in placing CITB-sponsored trainees and therefore figures on placing costs are not held.
Ms. Harman : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many trainees were trained under the new JTS at Deptford skill centre during 1987-88 ; how many achieved skilled status ; and how many were placed in employment at the end of training.
Mr. Nicholls : In the financial year 1987-88, 20 trainees successfully completed their new job training scheme training plans at Deptford skill centre. No figures are available on the destinations of those completing, therefore the numbers of those moving on to achieve either skilled status or employment is not known.
Ms. Harman : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the development value of the site of Deptford skill centre.
Mr. Nicholls : The Government have appointed King and Company, surveyors, to value the Skills Training Agency (STA) estate, prior to the sale of STA to the private sector. King and Company's assessment of the value of individual skill centres is commercially sensitive until sale negotiations are complete. The whole of STA will be offered for sale and the Government are interested in bids from those who want to run a training business. Should there be any development gains, my right hon. Friend has made clear that he will make provision for the Government to share in any such gains in the years immediately after sale.
Ms. Harman : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment within the catchment area of Deptford skill centre how many skilled construction workers are needed to meet the demand of employers ; how many skilled workers were trained in these trades in this area in 1988 ; and to what extent this meets the placement figure for each trade.
Mr. Nicholls : Deptford skill centre attracts trainees from all over London.
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The Construction Industry training board estimates that in 1988, between 4,500 and 8,500 replacement manual construction employees (excluding those in the unskilled operative category) were required. The London Research Centre's 1988 director of construction training estimates that 4,500 training places were provided by public and private sector organisations, and 5,000 college places.Placement figures for construction trades are not available.
Rehabilitation
Mr. Alfred Morris : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if pursuant to the reply to the right hon. Member for Manchester, Wythenshawe, on 3 July, Official Report, column 71, he will list the numbers of people who have completed : (a) rehabilitation courses and (b) courses of assessment and guidance at employment rehabilitation centres in each of the last five years.
Mr. Lee : The numbers of people completing assessment courses and rehabilitation courses provided by the employment rehabilitation service in each of the last five years is as follows :
|Number of assessment |Number of rehabilitation
|courses |courses
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1984-85 |2,500 |14,500
1985-86 |8,100 |12,900
1986-87 |11,000 |12,400
1987-88 |13,400 |12,200
1988-89 |25,300 |11,800
Wages Councils
Mrs. Mahon : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what research he has conducted into the implications of abolishing wages councils.
Mr. Nicholls : A large body of evidence exists on the implications for pay and jobs of the abolition of wages councils. This includes studies undertaken or commissioned by the Department which have been listed in previous parliamentary answers ( Official Report 21 February 1985, col. 516 and 18 June 1985, col. 92 ). Virtually all of the research work on this subject conducted in the 1980s and known to the Department supports the view that removing statutory minimum wage provisions can be expected to have beneficial effects on employment.
Industrial Accident Hazards (Bexley)
Mr. Evennett : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many sites within the London borough of Bexley are subject to the Control of Industrial Major Accident Hazards Regulations ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Nicholls : In the London borough of Bexley one site has been notified to the Health and Safety Executive under the Control of Industrial Major Accident Hazards Regulations 1984. This is Rhone Poulenc Ltd., Crabtree Manor way, Belvedere.
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Disabled Persons
Mr. McLeish : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will update the table on employment of severely disabled persons given in his answer of 27 May 1988, Official Report, columns 395-6.
Mr. Lee : Information on the number of severely disabled workers employed in each employment service region on 31 March 1987, 31 March 1988 and 31 March 1989 is set out in the table.
|31 March 1987|31 March 1988 |31 March 1989
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(a) Remploy
South East |329 |325 |950
London |687 |665
South West |521 |516 |515
West Midlands |672 |646 |608
East Midlands and
Eastern |650 |653 |647
Yorkshire and
Humberside |1,125 |1,104 |1,019
North West |1,644 |1,647 |1,595
Northern |909 |920 |873
Wales |1,504 |1,492 |1,450
Scotland |1,029 |1,072 |1,019
(b) Local Advisory Sheltered Provision
South East |301 |322 |1,077
London |640 |639
South West |1,034 |1,072 |1,018
West Midlands |565 |617 |596
East Midlands and
Eastern |672 |758 |788
Yorkshire and
Humberside |556 |567 |685
North West |666 |699 |785
Northern |228 |235 |276
Wales |504 |532 |551
Scotland |754 |833 |912
Sheltered Employment
Mr. McLeish : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will update the table on sheltered employment given in his answer of 16 June 1988, Official Report, columns 313-4.
Mr. Lee : The information is not readily available. I will write as soon as possible.
Official Hospitality
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how much was spent on official hospitality by his Department in 1988-89.
FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS
Panama
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what advice is currently being offered to British citizens resident in or travelling to Panama.
Mr. Eggar : We are advising British citizens intending to travel to Panama to consider whether their journey is necessary and, if so, to contact the embassy on arrival. We
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are not aware of any difficulties involving the resident British community, but the embassy maintains close contact with them.EC Directives
Mr. Meale : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what procedures are adopted, and what public record is kept, by the Commission or Council of the European Community of the appropriate legal instruments, existing or specially introduced, in each member state which are activated to implement directives agreed by the Council of Ministers ; if comprehensive publication occurs of such directives and respective legislation in each member state or on a community wide basis, and what relevant information is published by Her Majesty's Government, or other body, in respect of the United Kingdom.
Mrs. Chalker : We are not aware of any public record kept by the Commission or the Council. Details of directives and other instruments adopted by the Council are given in the Official Journal of the European Communities. The major measures adopted are also given in the six-monthly White Papers on developments in the European Community, but comprehensive information on national implementing legislation is not published by the Community or United Kingdom Government.
Human Rights
Mr. Vaz : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) how many representations he has made complaining about the denial of human rights in the last five years in Aruba ;
(2) how many representations he has made complaining about the denial of human rights in the last five years in Benin ;
(3) how many representations he has made complaining about the denial of human rights in the last five years in Ecuador ; (4) how many representations he has made complaining about the denial of human rights in the last five years in St. Pierre and Miquelan.
Nicaragua
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will now assign a full-time ambassador to Nicaragua ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Eggar : We have no plans to make further appointments to Her Majesty's embassy in Managua for the time being, but diplomatic staffing levels at all our posts overseas are kept under review.
Ministerial Visits
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many official visits abroad he has made during his tenure of office ; how many officials on average accompanied him on each trip ; and what was the total cost.
Mr. Eggar [pursuant to his reply, 5 July 1989, c. 171] : The reply omitted support staff (communications,
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secretarial and security) who accompany my right hon. and learned Friend on his official visits overseas. The average number of officials accompanying the Foreign Secretary, including support staff, has been nine.HOME DEPARTMENT
Baby Foods
Sir Dennis Walters : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many prosecutions have been carried out in relation to contaminated baby foods in the current year in England and Wales ;
(2) how many reported contaminations of baby foods are currently being investigated by the police ;
(3) what information he has on whether the recent contaminations of baby foods which have been prosecuted have taken place inside or outside the factories of the companies concerned.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : I understand from the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis that there are two incidents of malicious contamination of baby food which are at present under investigation. There is no evidence that these or the other incidents reported earlier in the year occurred in the factory. None of these incidents has so far resulted in a prosecution for contamination under section 38(1) of the Public Order Act 1986.
Police, Leicestershire
Mr. Keith Vaz : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he has yet received the report prepared by assistant chief constable Don Dovesston into Leicestershire police.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : I understand that the investigation into allegations of improper disclosure of information by officers of the Leicestershire constabularly, which is being supervised by the Police Complaints Authority, has not yet been completed. When it is completed it will be for the police authority and the chief officer as appropriate to consider what further action should be taken. Home Office Ministers have no role in these procedures.
Official Hospitality
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much was spent on official hospitality by his Department in 1988-89.
Mr. Hurd : Final figures are not yet available. The provisional outturn figure is £43,379.
Domestic Violence
Miss Emma Nicholson : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what conclusions the ministerial group on women's issues has reached on the Home Office research study on domestic violence.
Mr. John Patten : The ministerial group discussed the study at its meeting yesterday and considered that it provides a good basis for examining and determining policy. The group has set in hand : futher work on the use of the criminal and civil law and the response to domestic violence by the police, the Crown Prosecution Service and the courts ;
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an examination of the ways in which social services departments and health services could give more effective help to victims of domestic violence and their families ;an examination of guidance and materials currently available to schools in this area and a consideration of the role of personal and social education in helping to prevent domestic violence.
The results of these initiatives and others already in progress will be reported to future meetings of the group.
Traffic Regulation Enforcement
Mr. Knox : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he intends to introduce type approval machinery for technological aids to traffic regulation enforcement.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : Type approval requirements already apply in many areas of road traffic law. The White Paper "The Road User and the Law" (Cm. 576), set out proposals to apply such requirements to automatic detection devices to be used in the enforcement of speeding and traffic light offences. Legislation to implement these proposals will be introduced when parliamentary time permits.
Prisoners' Petitions
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has had regarding making the submissions of prisoners' petitions easier.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : The House of Commons authorities have been in touch with my Department about improving the guidance given to prisoners for presenting petitions to Parliament, and this is being done.
No representations have been received regarding petitions to the Secretary of State which though generally made on a form provided for the purpose are not required to be in any specific format.
Police National Computer
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many accesses were made to each category of stolen and suspect vehicle index of the police national computer over the last year ; and what has been the percentage growth in the use of these categories over the year.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : Though the index of vehicles comprises vehicles in various categories, the records are not kept in these separate categories, but are indexed by vehicle registration number. It is not therefore possible to give the information in the form requested, but, in all, there were 19,313,501 accesses to the stolen and suspect vehicle and vehicle owners index of the police national computer in the year to 30 June 1989, an increase of 0.95 per cent. over the previous year.
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many accesses were made to each category of the wanted and missing persons index of the police national computer over the last year ; and what has been the percentage growth in use of these categories over the year.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : Though the wanted and missing persons' index of the police national computer comprises
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records of persons in various categories, the records are not kept in these categories, but are indexed by name. It is not therefore possible to give the information in the form requested but, in all, there were 1,987,155 accesses to the wanted and missing persons' index of the police national computer in the year to 30 June 1989. This is an increase of 7.2 per cent. over the previous year.Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many accesses were made to each index of the police national computer over the last year ; whether he will include in these statistics an indication of the number of access requests that could search more than one index.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : The total number of accesses to each of the indices of the police national computer in the year to 30 June 1989 was as follows :
Index |Number of Accesses
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Stolen and Suspect Vehicles |19,313,501
3. Chassis/Engine Numbers |354,337
4. Fingerprints |192,416
5. Fingerprints (Scene of Crime) |14,608
6. Criminal Names |1,083,116
7. Wanted/Missing Persons |1,987,155
8. Disqualified Drivers |811,960
9. Convictions |758,270
10. Major Investigations |21,328
11. Crime Pattern Analysis |371,684
There have also been the following joint accesses:
To indices 6 and 9<1> |1,083,116
To indices 6, 7 and 9 |1,738,002
To indices 6, 7, 8 and 9 |7,654,267
To indices 4, 6 and 9 |615,754
<1> All accesses to the criminal names index will in addition automatically generate
information from the convictions application.
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the current size of each category found in the stolen and suspect vehicle index of the police national computer ; and whether he can include in these statistics an indication of the minimum and maximum size of each category in the index over the year.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : The information is as follows :
Category |Current |Minimum |Maximum ------------------------------------------------------------ Confirmed lost or obtained by deception |387,822 |372,611 |387,822 Lost or stolen |395,171 |378,478 |395,171 Obtained by deception |157 |251 |157 Found |26,188 |24,860 |27,996 Removed |13,045 |12,667 |20,346 Street to street |118 |109 |200 Repossessed by finance |0 |0 |0 Company |- |- |- Suspect |787 |787 |1,095 Police Vehicle |3,862 |3,593 |3,862 Blocked |5,779 |5,255 |5,779 Information |17,620 |15,454 |17,620 Seen |7,014 |6,812 |8,012
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the current size of each category found in the wanted and missing persons index of the police national computer ; and whether he can include in these statistics an indication of the minimum and maximum size of each category in the index over the year.
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Mr. Douglas Hogg : The information is as follows :
Category |Current |Minimum |Maximum ---------------------------------------------------------- Wanted |35,466 |34,749 |37,194 Fails to appear |28,646 |27,066 |28,646 Suspect |2,325 |2,325 |4,891 Impending prosecution |68 |68 |95 Deserter |1,722 |1,440 |1,819 Locate |37,800 |33,324 |37,800 Missing |2,346 |1,977 |2,346 Found |22 |10 |24 Absconder: from care |504 |410 |524 from hospital |55 |34 |58 from detention |3 |1 |4 from youth custody |107 |89 |117 from prison |746 |609 |746 from remand |3 |3 |9 from school |32 |28 |53 Recall: from detention |0 |0 |0 from youth custody |0 |0 |0 from prison |283 |262 |297
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the current size of each index of the police national computer ; and whether he can include in these statistics an indication of the minimum and maximum size of each index over the last year.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : The information is as follows :
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