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SOCIAL SECURITY
SF(J) Circulars
Mrs. Beckett : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the purpose of SF(J) circulars and whether he will place copies of them in the Library.
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Mr. Scott : The main purpose of SF(J) circulars is to provide local office staff with administrative instructions relating to matters of financial control and security. It is therefore not departmental practice to make them publicly available.
Community Care Grants
Mr. Sillars : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many young persons in Glasgow have been given community care grants in the past six months ; and how many applicants were refused.
Mr. Scott : This information is not collected.
Mr. Sillars : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will publish a table showing for each office of his Department in Glasgow the amount per month disbursed in (a) budget loans and (b) community care grants, in each month since these payments came into operation.
Mr. Scott : Details of this expenditure are available in the Library.
Funerals
Ms. Harman : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the national average amount paid in social fund funeral grants.
Mr. Scott : The average social fund funeral payment for the period April to August 1989 was £525.
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Social Fund
Mr. Wray : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many people in (a) Glasgow and (b) the Provan constituency were refused loans by officers of the social fund on the grounds that the applicants lacked sufficient income to repay such loans.
Mr. Scott : For the 13 offices in metropolitan Glasgow, during the five-month period ending 30 September 1989, 727 applications for budgeting loans and 100 applications for crisis loans were refused on the grounds of the applicant being unable to repay. This is equivalent to 2.2 per cent. and 0.7 per cent. respectively of the number of applications processed.
In the Provan local office, there were 43 such refusals for budgeting loans and one for a crisis loan. This is equivalent to 1.1 per cent. and 0.1 per cent. respectively of the number of applications processed.
Mr. Wray : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many people in the constituency of Glasgow, Provan have applied for (a) grants and (b) loans from the social fund since its inception.
Mr. Scott : Information about the number of people who make applications to the social fund is not collected.
Information about the numbers of applications processed is placed in the library.
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many social fund applications remained unprocessed in Newham Department of Social Security offices at the end of financial year 1988-89 ; how many are currently awaiting determination ; and what was the underspend at each office in 1988-89.
Mr. Scott : The information requested is shown in the table. For the financial year to date, each of the offices is on target to make full use of its budget allocations.
Canning Town ILO:
Loans allocation remaining at 31 March 1989-8.6 per cent.
Grants allocation remaining at 31 March 1989-38.6 per cent.
|Applications unprocessed|Applications unprocessed
|at 31 March 1989 |at 30 September 1989
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Budgeting loans |75 |60
Crisis loans |8 |3
Community Care Grants |0 |15
Canning Town ILO:
Loans allocation remaining at 31 March 1989-8.6 per cent.
Grants allocation remaining at 31 March 1989-38.6 per cent.
|Applications unprocessed|Applications unprocessed
|at 31 March 1989 |at 30 September 1989
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Budgeting loans |75 |60
Crisis loans |8 |3
Community Care Grants |0 |15
Canning Town ILO:
Loans allocation remaining at 31 March 1989-8.6 per cent.
Grants allocation remaining at 31 March 1989-38.6 per cent.
|Applications unprocessed|Applications unprocessed
|at 31 March 1989 |at 30 September 1989
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Budgeting loans |75 |60
Crisis loans |8 |3
Community Care Grants |0 |15
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FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH
European Community
Mr. Dykes : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he expects to meet his French opposite number to discuss European Community matters.
Mr. Maude : My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs expects to meet Mr. Dumas again at the Foreign Affairs Council on 6-7 November.
Hong Kong
Mr. Chris Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what specific judicial procedures will be used after July 1997 to resolve any disputes between the United Kingdom and the People's Republic of China over the implementation or interpretation of the joint agreement on the future of Hong Kong ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Maude : The Sino-British joint declaration is an
internationally binding agreement registered by both Governments with the United Nations. The primary means for discussing the implementation of the joint declaration, and for solving differences, is the Joint Liaison Group which will continue in being until the year 2000. The joint declaration stipulates that matters on which there is disagreement in the Joint Liaison Group shall be referred to the two Governments for solution through consultations. Should disputes nevertheless arise between the Governments, it would be open to the British Government of the day to make use of any channels, or judicial procedures, which might be available and appropriate in the circumstances.
Human Rights
Mr. Sillars : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many regional treaties similar to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms are now in existence ; and which regions do they cover.
Mr. Sainsbury : There are two other major regional treaties. The American convention on human rights entered into force in 1978 and is interpreted and applied by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and (in the case of those States Parties which have recognised its jurisdiction) the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. States parties to the convention are from the Latin American and Caribbean regions. The African charter on human and peoples' rights came into force in 1986 and is interpreted and applied by the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights. It is open to members of the Organisation of African Unity.
Civil and Political Rights
Mr. Sillars : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the present status of the optional protocol to the international covenant on civil and political rights.
Mr. Sainsbury : The United Nations General Assembly adopted the optional protocol to the international
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covenant on civil and political rights on 16 December 1966. It was opened for signature on 19 December 1966 and entered into force on 23 March 1976. As at 1 August 1989, 45 states had ratified or acceded to the optional protocol.International Court of Justice
Mr. Sillars : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs who are the present members and what is their nationality, of the International Court of Justice ; what salaries they are paid ; what is the total cost of servicing the court ; and if he will estimate the United Kingdom share of contribution to that expenditure.
Mr. Sainsbury : The present members of the International Court of Justice are :
Jose Maria Ruda (Argentina)
Ke ba Mbaye (Senegal)
Manfred Lachs (Poland)
Taslim Olawale Elias (Nigeria)
Shigeru Oda (Japan)
Roberto Ago (Italy)
Stephen M. Schwebel (USA)
Sir Robert Jennings (United Kingdom)
Mohammed Bedjaoui (Algeria)
Ni Zhengyu (China)
Jens Evensen (Norway)
Nikolai K. Tarassov (USSR)
Gilbert Guillaume (France)
Mohammed Shahabuddeen (Guyana)
Raghunandan Swarup Pathak (India)
The annual salary of each judge is US $82,000. The budget of the ICJ for the biennium 1988-89 is US $13,250,800.
The United Kingdom pays $643,989 of this.
Guatemala
Mr. Wray : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when Her Majesty's ambassador last met members of the Commission for Human Rights of Guatemala, and what matters were discussed.
Mr. Sainsbury : Her Majesty's ambassador has not received any request to meet members of the commission. Its leaders are not resident in Guatemala. Two of them met FCO officials in London in March 1989. They discussed the human rights situation in Guatemala.
Mr. Wray : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he last made representations concerning violations of human rights to the Government of Guatemala.
Mr. Sainsbury : The then Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs expressed to Guatemalan Ministers concern about the human rights situation in Guatemala during his visit there in March 1989. The Guatemalan Government are aware, from more recent contacts, of our continuing concern.
Endangered Species
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will give details of the sale by tender by the Hong Kong authorities of confiscated items permitted for commercial trade under the Convention on Trade in Endangered Species ; what items were sold ; to whom they were sold ; and what amount was raised in each case.
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Mr. Maude : There has been no sale by tender of confiscated items permitted for commercial trade under CITES since February 1988. A sale by tender, planned for January 1989, was cancelled.
Ivory
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the current estimate of elephant ivory held by the Hong Kong authorities as a result of seizures and detentions.
Mr. Maude : Two thousand one hundred and ninety-two kilogrammes of ivory are held by the Hong Kong authorities as a result of seizures and detentions.
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the current estimate of elephant ivory held in Hong Kong ; and what proposals are being considered for its disposal.
Mr. Maude : The current estimated stock of elephant ivory in Hong Kong is 670 tonnes, consisting of 500 tonnes of raw and 170 tonnes of worked ivory. It is privately owned in Hong Kong. Its disposal is currently under consideration at the CITES conference.
Whale Meat
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what was the country of origin of the 0.4 kg of whale meat seized in Hong Kong restaurant raids during the first six months of 1989.
Mr. Maude : The 0.4 kg of whale meat seized was claimed to have been imported from Japan.
Select Committee Report
Mr. Jack : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he expects to respond to the report of the Select Committee on Foreign Affairs on Foreign and Commonwealth Office/Overseas Development Administration Expenditure 1989-90.
Mr. Sainsbury : The Government's response to the Select Committee report will be published today in the form of a Command Paper.
Boat People
Mr. Wolfson : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what contribution the Government have made towards the cost of providing emergency accommodation for the Vietnamese boat people in Hong Kong.
Mr. Sainsbury : We have contributed £4.5 million for this purpose. Parliamentary approval for this new service will be sought in a supplementary supply estimate for the vote for other external relations (class II, vote 2). Pending that approval, urgent expenditure of £4.5 million was met by a repayable advance from the Contingencies Fund in August.
Poland
Mr. Thurnham : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what provision the Government is making to provide money following the Prime Minister's announcement of the creation of a "know how" fund for Poland.
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Mr. Waldegrave : The £25 million as announced by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister is to be given over a period of five years. We estimate that the immediate costs of providing the type of training and advice the know how fund was created for will be £1.3 million. Parliamentary approval for these services will be sought in a supplementary supply estimate for the vote for other external relations (class II, vote 2). Pending that approval, urgent expenditure of £1.3 million is to be met by a repayable advance from the Contingencies Fund.
The know how fund is now getting into full swing, with more than 40 projects agreed or in the pipeline. These range from a seminar for Parliamentarians and training attachments for journalists to a conference on privatisation and a series of management training projects. At the same time the ground work is being laid for more wide-ranging assistance in the banking, financial services and industrial sectors. We believe that assistance of this kind will play a crucial role in the development of democracy and a market economy in Poland.
Foreign Affairs Council
Mr. David Atkinson : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will publish in the Official Report a statement on the outcome of the Foreign Affairs Council held on 3 October.
Mr. Maude : My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Minister for Overseas Development and my noble Friend the Minister for Trade represented the United Kingdom at the Foreign Affairs Council in Luxembourg on 3 October.
The Council adopted the television broadcasting directive under the qualified majority voting procedure, the United Kingdom voting in favour. By providing a framework of common rules to remove barriers to trade and protect the consumer, the directive will encourage the development of cross -border broadcasting in the Community. On the basis of proposals by the Commission, the Council discussed possible measures of assistance to Poland and Hungary, and agreed that the Commission's proposals represented an excellent basis for further action. Many of them closely reflect earlier United Kingdom suggestions. The Council encouraged the Commission to pursue its efforts both on the Community level and with other western countries. We will continue to play a leading part.
The Council also discussed the Community's trade relations with the United States, and Japan.
In the belief that the Community should respond swiftly to recent developments in Beirut, the Foreign Affairs Council ageeed a 25 mecu package of assistance aimed at rehabilitating essential services in the Lebanon (health, education, water and power supplies). The Foreign Affairs Council took note of a draft negotiating mandate put forward by the Commission for a second stage agreement between the Community and the Gulf Co-operation Council and remitted it for detailed consideration.
The Council reviewed progress in the renegotiation of the Lome Convention and discussed preparations for the next ACP/EC ministerial negotiating meeting on 27-29 October.
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ENVIRONMENT
Housing Land
Mr. Thurnham : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he has any plans to amend the advice contained in planning policy guidance note PPG3 "Land for Housing" to enable local authorities to make an allowance in advance for sites of over 0.4 hectares in their housing land availability studies ; and if he will make a statement ;
(2) if he will issue advice to local authorities to encourage them to monitor the supply of housing built on land not previously identified as suitable for building, including on sites exceeding 0.4 hectares in size ; and if he will make a statement ;
(3) if he will make it his policy to support those local authorities on appeal who have refused planning permission for housing on allocated land where the supply of housing on unidentified sites is likely to breach structure plan guidelines ; and if he will make a statement ;
(4) if he will take steps to discourage the allocation of further housebuilding land in areas where the supply of housing on previously unidentified sites over 0.4 hectares is so large that building is likely to exceed the level agreed through the structure plan process ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Moynihan : Revised draft guidance on land for housing, which is intended to replace the present planning policy guidance note 3, was issued for consultation on 4 October ; I am sending my hon. Friend a copy. Comments are invited by 5 January 1990.
The draft guidance continues to stress the need for adequate planned provision for new housing ; but it proposes changes to the method by which planning authorities carry out their regular assessments of land availability which would enable them to make fuller allowance for the emergence of previously unidentified sites where that is justified by evidence of past land supply. The draft also recognises that the emergence of large unidentified sites may have a bearing on the timing of the release of other land, for instance where the development plan includes a phasing policy. The draft makes it clear that where there is an up-to-date local plan which is consistent with national and regional policies and with the relevant provisions of the structure plan, it will carry considerable weight, and my right hon. Friend and his inspectors will be guided by it in dealing with planning appeals.
Rural Development Commission
Dr. Thomas : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what plans he has to expand the Rural Development Commission to include the initiation of environmental protection schemes in the United Kingdom.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : We have no plans of this nature. The task of the Rural Development Commission is to help maintain a thriving and attractive countryside in England by promoting enterprise and viable communities.
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London Docklands (Wind Tunnel Tests)
Ms. Gordon : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will place a copy of the wind tunnel tests on the model of the buildings at Canary wharf on the Isle of Dogs in the Library.
Mr. Moynihan : A copy of the relevant material has been placed in the Library.
Seals (Deaths)
Dr. Thomas : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will commission an assessment of the report by Professors Brouwfr, Koeman and Reijndfrs of the Agricultural University of Wagenngen, released in August, concerning the link between PCB pollution and seals' deaths in the North sea.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : As far as I am aware, no copies of this report have yet been received by United Kingdom Government Departments. We will look at any report on this topic with interest, although the indications so far are that pollution played no significant part in the spread of the seal virus along United Kingdom coast in 1988. The research funded by this Department at the sea mammal research unit of the Natural Environment Research Council on possible links between pollutants and seals' immune system is continuing and relevant work in all North sea states will continue to be reviewed by the International Commission for the Exploration of the Seas.
Toxic Waste
Mr. Wray : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list all studies and research conducted or analysed by his Department regarding the treatment of toxic waste and its impact upon the health of people and the environment.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : The Department of the Environment has since the early seventies sponsored research and worldwide studies into the treatment of toxic waste and its impact on the environment. All such references numbering some thousands are stored on computer at the waste management information bureau in Harwell. Impact on the health of people is the responsibility of the Department of Health.
Mr. Wray : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what steps he is taking in order to give statutory rights of consultation to communities affected by the installation and operation of plants dealing with treatment of toxic waste.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : Current planning legislation in England and Wales requires that planning applications for plants handling controlled waste are advertised on site and in the local press. Adequate time must be allowed for representations. The disposal facility's licence must also be placed on a register open for public inspection.
The proposed new system for integrated pollution control in England and Wales will apply to industrial processes which among other things generate large amounts of special (dangerous or difficult) waste. Applications for authorisation under the system would be advertised and there would be third party rights to make representations about them.
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Mr. Wray : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether his Department will publish the information it has available on (a) health (b) the safety and (c) the environmental effects of substances which are (i) involved or (ii) produced by the process of incineration of toxic waste.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : Health, safety and environmental aspects of substances in or produced by the process of incineration of toxic waste are covered by standard textbooks and publications freely available. We monitor the adequacy of such publications and attempt to fill important gaps. For example, we have recently published a report "Dioxins in the Environment" (pollution paper No. 27).
NCC Offices (Repair and Redecoration)
Sir Nicholas Fairbairn : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the cost of repairing and redecorating the Nature Conservancy Council offices in Hope street, Edinburgh ; and how many rooms were repainted in the building, how many times and at what cost.
Mr. Trippier : The headquarters of the Nature Conservancy Council in Scotland were recently repaired and redecorated to meet the needs of the existing council's increased staff and responsibilities, and to comply with current fire regulations. The final account for the work has not yet been submitted, but is expected to be in the region of £580,000.
This was the first major refurbishment of the NCC's Scottish HQ since the council occupied Hope terrace in 1949. As part of the programme, all 98 rooms were decorated. I understand that the staircase, landing and one office in the main building had to be repainted below the dado in order to meet the contract specification. This work was carried out within the overall contract price.
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