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Mr. Patten : About 1,950 in the Department of the Environment (excluding the Property Services Agency) ; a ratio of one work station to three members of staff. The figure includes all terminals, microcomputers, word processors (excluding stand-alone word processors) and portable text processors.
In the Property Services Agency (including the Crown Suppliers) there are some 2,370 work stations representing one for every 6.6 members of staff.
Mr. Warren : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment which Minister in his Department is responsible for day-to-day management of his Department's information technology strategy ; and what proportion of his time was spent on this matter in the month up to Friday 13 October.
Mr. Patten : The day-to-day management of the information strategy in the Department of the Environment (Central) is undertaken by an information technology steering group. The chairman of this committee (a grade 3 civil servant) consults me or my ministerial colleagues as appropriate.
My hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, the hon. Member for Southampton, Itchen (Mr. Chope) is kept in touch with developments in the Property Services Agency, for which he is responsible.
Assured Tenancies
Mr. Winnick : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) how many assured shorthold tenancies in the privately rented sector have been taken up in (a) the Greater London area and (b) the rest of the country since the legislation came into effect this year ;
(2) how many new assured tenancies in the privately rented sector have been taken up in (a) the Greater London area and (b) the rest of the country since the legislation came into effect.
Mr. Chope : We intend in due course to undertake a full evaluation of the impact of the new private letting regime, and this should provide some information as to the number of assured and assured shorthold tenancies that have been created. At present, however, such information is not available.
Endangered Species
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what contributions have been made by Her Majesty's Government to the CITES ivory unit in each year since 1985.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : In 1986 and each succeeding year the United Kingdom contributed £5,000 towards the running of the CITES monitoring unit for trade in raw ivory.
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what information he has regarding payments made by ivory traders to the CITES ivory unit ; and if he will make a statement.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 25 May 1989, Official Report, Vol. 153, col. 677-78 . Contributions to the ivory trade monitoring unit from ivory traders are made in response to a resolution passed at the 6th CITES conference held in July
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1987, which urged Governments, non- governmental organisations, trade groups and other appropriate agencies to contribute to the secretariat for ivory trade control co-ordination activities.Mr. Peter Hardy : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what information he has on payments received by the organisations concerned with the convention on trade in endangered species secured from the sale of illegally or improperly acquired species ; and if he will support the call for an investigation of those allegations and of the organisations concerned.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : None. It is not therefore possible to say whether or not any such investigation would be appropriate.
Puffins
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what information he has regarding the current British population of puffins ; and if he will make it his policy to institute a ban on sand-eel fishing to encourage the breeding of puffins.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : The current British population of puffins is estimated to be in excess of 500,000 breeding pairs. My right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland, has already taken action to limit sand-eel fishing.
Environment Council
Mr. Nicholas Baker : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the outcome of the Environment Council on 19 September.
Mr. Chris Patten : I represented the United Kingdom at this meeting.
The Council gave broad support to a proposal to establish a European Environment Agency, with many member states, including the United Kingdom, offering to host it. Detailed work on technical, administrative and legal aspects of the proposal will now proceed urgently.
Political agreement was reached on a directive concerning the deliberate release to the environment of genetically modified organisms. The directive requires member states to establish systems for the national regulation of such releases where they are for the purposes of research and development and establishes a Community-wide information exchange scheme between national authorities. It also establishes a system for the review and clearance of products containing genetically modified organisms so that conditions can be established for their marketing throughout the Community. The principles embodied in the directive of review and clearance in advance of all releases are broadly compatible with the Department of Environment's consultation paper on future domestic legislation and the conclusions reached by the Royal Commission on environmental pollution in its report on the subject.
I am pleased to say that the United Kingdom received wide support for its call for industrialised nations to become self-sufficient in their waste disposal operations, with the aim of bringing to an end environmentally unjustified transfrontier movement of waste. There was general agreement on the need for Community action on
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waste, but a number of important issues in the draft framework directive, including scope and treaty base, remain to be resolved. As a result of joint United Kingdom and Presidency pressure for early discussion of the subject, the Council considered the positive environmental labelling of consumer products. I am pleased to say that the Council agreed conclusions asking the Commission to bring forward proposals for a Community scheme of environmental labelling as quickly as possible.The Council endorsed the proposal to list the African Elephant on appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and agreed the arrangement for reaching the common positions of member states for the 7th meeting of the conference of the parties to the convention at Lausanne on 9-20 October.
An exchange of views took place on a Commission communication analysing the causes and consequences of tropical deforestation and presenting options for a Community strategy for the conservation of tropical forests. The Council welcomed the communication and agreed conclusions supporting certain forms of Community action in this field and calling for further examination of the communication. The Council adopted a resolution aimed at preventing natural hazards and reducing dangers from potentially hazardous industrial activities and from transport of dangerous substances. The resolution called on the Commission to undertake studies and initiate measures to improve the prevention of such hazards within the Community. The United Kingdom warmly supported Germany in strongly pressing the Commission to come forward with long-overdue proposals to curb emissions from diesel heavy goods vehicles.
Community Charge
Dr. Cunningham : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is his estimate of the cost of administering transitional relief, showing separately costs falling in (a) 1989-90, (b) 1990-91 and (c) later years.
Mr. Chris Patten [holding answer 18 October 1989] : I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my hon. Friend the Minister for Local Government to the hon. Member for Sheffield, Brightside (Mr. Blunkett) on 18 October, Official Report, Vol. 158, col. 155.
ENERGY
BNFL Sellafield
Dr. Thomas : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy for how many individual facilities at BNFL Sellafield have (a) a facility attachment and (b) particular safeguards provisions been completed, in conjunction with (a) Euratom and (b) the International Atomic Energy Agency ; when such arrangements were entered into force for each facility ; and for what time period the arrangements are in force.
Mr. Michael Spicer : Four particular safeguard provisions for facilities at BNFL Sellafield are currently in force and will continue indefinitely. A further four are very close to implementation. The remainder are in various stages of consultation.
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A facility attachment for one facility at Sellafield was agreed in 1980 and discussions have recently taken place on facility attachments for two other facilities.Nuclear Plants (Accidents)
Dr. Thomas : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he has recently taken, or plans to take, any policy decision on the collaboration of the United Kingdom with European Community partners to share knowledge and assistance in the circumstances of an accident involving radiation plants, nuclear fuel fabrication and enrichment plants, and in research reactors.
Mr. Michael Spicer : The Government are currently involved in discussions within the Council of the European Communities on measures to increase co-operation and assistance between member states in the event of a nuclear accident or radiological emergency. These proposals are detailed in European Community Document COM (89) 25 Final. On 26 June 1989, I signed an explanatory memorandum about the proposals which was placed in the Vote Office.
Nuclear Power (Human Reliability)
Dr. Thomas : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if his Department will be participating in the conference on human reliability in nuclear power, to be held on 19 and 20 October.
Mr. Michael Spicer : Although my Department will not be participating in the conference directly, both the Health and Safety Executive's nuclear installations inspectorate and the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority, who advise the Secretary of State for Energy on nuclear matters, will be represented.
Pressurised Water Reactors
Dr. Thomas : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if his Department will be represented at the conference on "The PWR--the present and future of Europe's Nuclear Energy" to be held on 6 and 7 November.
Mr. Michael Spicer : No departmental officials will attend the conference. I understand that officials of the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority and the Health and Safety Executive's nuclear installations inspectorate are intending to attend.
Environmental Protection
Dr. Thomas : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what European Community directives and regulations on environmental protection in regard to the energy sector have not been implemented since May 1979 ; and what is the reason in each case for the non-implementation.
Mr. Wakeham : Responsibility for implementating EC directives and regulations on environmental protection rests with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment. However, I am advised that the only directive relating mainly to environmental protection in regard to the energy sector not implemented since May 1979 is the Large Combustion Plants Directive (88/609/EEC). This was adopted by the European Community on 24 November 1988 and is to be implemented by 30 June 1990. On 31 August the Department of the Environment published the Government's proposals for implementing this directive.
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Contaminated Soil (Harwell)
Dr. Thomas : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what work was undertaken over the summer to remove radioactivity contaminated soil from Harwell.
Information Technology
Mr. Warren : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy how many officials in his Department at grade 3 and above have, since promotion to the level of grade 3, attended a course (a) specifically on information technology and (b) containing an element of information technology ; and what percentage each represents of all the staff in those grades in his Department.
Mr. Wakeham : There are 15 staff employed in the Department of Energy at grade 3 level and above. Of these, four have received training specifically on information technology since promotion, and three (including two of the four already mentioned) have attended courses containing an element of information technology. These figures represent 27 per cent. and 20 per cent. respectively of the total.
Mr. Warren : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy how many work stations excluding stand-alone word processors are currently installed in his Department ; and what is the ratio of such work stations to civil servants.
Mr. Wakeham : My Department currently has about 400 computer work stations, including stand-alone micro computers not entirely devoted to word processing, giving a ratio of 1:2.5 civil servants.
Mr. Warren : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy which Minister in his Department is responsible for day-to-day management of his Department's information technology strategy ; and what proportion of his time was spent on this matter in the month to Friday 13 October.
Mr. Wakeham : I am satisfied that my Department's information technology strategy is appropriate to its circumstances and that its implementation does not require the day-to-day involvement of Ministers.
Nuclear Reactors
Dr. Thomas : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will make a statement on the current operational difficulties with (a) Magnox and (b) advanced gas-cooled reactors.
Mr. Michael Spicer : This is an operational matter for the Central Electricity Generating Board. I have asked the chairman to write to the hon. Member.
Oil Consumption
Mr. Meacher : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what was the level of (a) world oil consumption and (b) United Kingdom oil consumption in each year since 1960 ; what has been the percentage annual growth in each case ; and what levels are predicted to be reached by 2000.
Mr. Peter Morrison : Data on United Kingdom and non-Communist world oil consumption between 1960 and 1988 are shown in the table, together with annual percentage changes in each case.
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Predictions of world and United Kingdom oil consumption over the next 10 years remain uncertain and will depend upon many different factors.
Oil consumption
United Kingdom Total non-communist
world
|million tonnes |Percentage change|million tonnes |Percentage change
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1960 |49.7 |- |920.3 |-
1961 |52.6 |5.8 |976.1 |6.1
1962 |56.8 |8.0 |1,042.6 |6.8
1963 |61.7 |8.6 |1,127.6 |8.2
1964 |67.3 |9.1 |1,213.6 |7.6
1965 |74.2 |10.3 |1,298.3 |7.0
1966 |79.5 |7.1 |1,396.5 |7.6
1967 |85.3 |7.3 |1,500.4 |7.4
1968 |90.4 |6.0 |1,630.5 |8.7
1969 |97.3 |7.6 |1,774.7 |8.8
1970 |103.6 |6.5 |1,916.1 |8.0
1971 |104.3 |0.7 |2,013.2 |5.1
1972 |110.5 |5.9 |2,142.7 |6.4
1973 |113.2 |2.4 |2,319.0 |8.2
1974 |105.3 |-7.0 |2,234.2 |-3.7
1975 |92.0 |-12.6 |2,166.8 |-3.0
1976 |91.4 |-0.7 |2,310.6 |6.6
1977 |92.0 |0.7 |2,376.3 |2.8
1978 |94.0 |2.2 |2,450.1 |3.1
1979 |94.5 |0.5 |2,489.4 |1.6
1980 |80.8 |-14.5 |2,356.1 |-5.4
1981 |74.7 |-7.5 |2,255.5 |-4.3
1982 |75.6 |1.2 |2,166.8 |-3.9
1983 |72.5 |-4.1 |2,151.1 |-0.7
1984 |89.6 |23.6 |2,194.5 |2.0
1985 |77.4 |-13.6 |2,176.4 |-0.8
1986 |77.4 |0.0 |2,245.6 |3.2
1987 |75.2 |-2.8 |2,285.1 |1.8
1988 |80.0 |6.4 |2,373.6 |3.9
Note.-Oil consumption is defined as inland demand plus international aviation and marine bunkers, and
refinery fuel and loss. Oil includes NGLs.
Sources: BP Statistical Review of World Energy, July 1989 (for years 1965-88).
Our Industry Petroleum, BP 1977 (for years 1960-64).
SOCIAL SECURITY
Earnings Rule (Abolition)
192. Sir George Young : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make a statement on the implications of the abolition of the earnings rule.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : Abolition of the earnings rule on 1 October means greater choice and flexibility for pensioners. Women aged 60 to 64, and men aged 65 to 69 no longer have their state pension reduced on account of earnings over £75 a week. They may now earn as much as they wish, work as many hours as they wish and still claim their full entitlement to the state pension. The removal of this disincentive to carry on working is expected to benefit approximately 200,000 people who previously deferred their state pension, as well as a further 200,000 who earn less than £75 a week and who may now choose to earn more.
National Insurance
193. Mr. Irvine : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security whether he has any further plans for reforming the structure of national insurance contributions.
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194. Mr. Yeo : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make a statement on the implementation of the reform of national insurance.
Mr. Scott : The changes in the structure of national insurance contributions, announced by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer in his Budget Statement, came into effect on Thursday 5 October 1989. Some 19 million employees will pay less in contributions as a result of these reforms. We have no current plans for further reform of the contributions system.
EC Labour and Social Affairs Council
Mr. Andrew Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make a statement on the European Community Labour and Social Affairs Council held in Brussels on 29 September.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : I attended this Council on behalf of the United Kingdom. The meeting was very constructive. Ministers exchanged views on a number of wide-ranging items, including family policies and the possibility of a co-ordinated approach to the problems of disability. Agreement was reached on a resolution on possible measures for combating the social exclusion of disadvantaged groups. There was also some discussion of the social security provisions for workers moving between member states and of the need for extension of social protection schemes in fields such as occupational pensions.
Ministers agreed to support European Community study of the practicalities of introducing a durable plastic card version of form E111 (to obtain emergency health care in the EC).
Proposals for amending the family benefit provisions of the regulations (1408/71) dealing with social security benefits for migrant workers in the light of the European Court of Justice judgment in the Pinna case were agreed by 11 member states including the United Kingdom, but Italy maintained a reserve on the proposal, which needed unanimity. The issue was, therefore, deferred for further consideration.
Information Technology
Mr. Warren : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many officials in his Department at grade 3 and above have, since promotion to the level of grade 3, attended a course (a) specifically on information technology and (b) containing an element of information technology ; and what percentage each represents of all the staff in those grades in his Department.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : Since their promotion to grade 3, nine people at grades 3 and above have attended a course specifically on information technology and six people have attended a course containing an element of information technology. This represents 53 per cent. and 35 per cent. respectively of all the staff in those grades.
Mr. Warren : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many work stations excluding stand-alone word processors are currently installed in his Department ; and what is the ratio of such work stations to civil servants.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : There are currently 3,985 work stations installed within the Department as part of the operational strategy to computerise benefit payments. The
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ratio of work stations to civil servants is 1 : 20. The number of work stations will rise as the programme for the computerisation of benefits is introduced into more offices during national rollout.Mr. Warren : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security which Minister in his Deprtment is responsible for day-to-day management of his Department's information technology strategy ; and what proportion of his time was spent on this matter in the month up to Friday 13 October.
Mr. Newton : The day-to-day management of the Department of Social Security's information technology (IT) strategy is the responsibility of officials. The Minister responsible for oversight of IT matters in the Department of Social Security is the Parliamentary
Under-Secretary of State, my hon. Friend the Member for Norfolk, South-West (Mrs. Shephard). IT is in general so integrated into the Department's business functions that to attempt to apportion specific intervals of my hon. Friend's time to its consideration would involve a disproportionate effort to obtain.
NORTHERN IRELAND
Road Accidents, Castlereagh
Mr. John D. Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many road accidents there have been on the road between Shaw's bridge and the Milltown junction with the dual carriageway in the borough of Castlereagh in each of the past five years ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Cope : There has been a total of 54 road accidents reported to the police in which injuries have been sustained on this stretch of road between 1 January 1984 and 3 July 1989. The figures for each year are :
|Number
----------------------
1984 |12
1985 |10
1986 |8
1987 |7
1988 |7
1989<1> |10
<1> To 3 July 1989.
No record is kept of road accidents in which there have been no injuries.
Information Technology
Mr. Warren : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many officials in his Department at grade 3 and above have, since promotion to the level of grade 3, attended a course (a) specifically on information technology and (b) containing an element of information technology ; and what percentage each represents of all the staff in those grades in his Department.
Mr. Cope : The number of staff at grade 3 and above in Northern Ireland Office and Northern Ireland Departments who, since promotion to grade 3, have attended a course specifically on information technology is 14 ; and the number who have attended a course containing an element of information technology is five. These figures represent 28 per cent. and 10 per cent. respectively of the total number of staff in these grades.
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Mr. Warren : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many work stations excluding stand-alone word processors are currently installed in his Department ; and what is the ratio of such work stations to civil servants.
Mr. Cope : The number of work stations, excluding stand-alone word processors, in the Northern Ireland Office and Northern Ireland Departments is 3,670. The ratio of work stations to non-industrial civil servants is 1 : 5.6.
Mr. Warren : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland which Minister in his Department is responsible for day-to-day management of his Department's information technology strategy ; and what proportion of his time was spent on this matter in the month up to Friday 13 October.
Mr. Cope : While each Minister has departmental responsibilities which include information technology, I have specific responsibility for the Northern Ireland service-wide aspects of the Government's information technology strategy which are co-ordinated by the Department of Finance and Personnel.
A detailed record is not maintained of the time that I spend on my various responsibilities.
Grant-aided Schools
Mr. John D. Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on how many occasions in each of the past 10 years the Department of Education exercised its power of direction in the case of managers of grant-aided schools for acting or proposing to act unreasonably in the discharge of their functions under the Education and Libraries (Northern Ireland) Orders.
Dr. Mawhinney : Two such directions have been issued to education and library boards in their capacity as the managers of controlled schools. No such directions have been issued to managers of voluntary grant-aided schools.
PRIME MINISTER
South Hams
Q19. Mr. Steen : To ask the Prime Minister if she will pay an official visit to South Hams.
Sir Geoffrey Howe : I have been asked to reply.
My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister has no plans to do so.
NATO
Q28. Mr. Cash : To ask the Prime Minister if she has received recent representations regarding NATO.
Sir Geoffrey Howe : I have been asked to reply.
My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister regularly receives representations regarding NATO.
Skills Training
Q29. Mr. Boswell : To ask the Prime Minister what recent representations she has received concerning skills training.
Sir Geoffrey Howe : I have been asked to reply.
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My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister receives representations from time to time. The Government, through their Training Agency, invest almost £3 billion in funding training. However, training is primarily the responsibility of employers, who are investing more than ever before in the skills of their employees--some £18 billion a year.Fishing Vessels (Safety)
Q34. Dr. Godman : To ask the Prime Minister if Her Majesty's Government have any proposals to change the safety regulations relating to the occupational safety of fishermen and the safe working of United Kingdom registered fishing vessels ; and if she will make a statement.
Sir Geoffrey Howe : I have been asked to reply.
The Fishing Vessel (Safety Provisions) Rules 1975 are currently under review. The review will take into account the provisions of the Torremolinos international convention for the safety of fishing vessels 1977 and any subsequent variations thereto which may be necessitated by the protocol to that convention which is currently under consideration by the Internationl Maritime Organisation. Regulations made under the Safety at Sea Act 1986 to introduce safety training for entrants into the industry came into force during March this year.
West Yorkshire
Q40. Mr. Kirkhope : To ask the Prime Minister if she will visit West Yorkshire.
Sir Geoffrey Howe : I have been asked to reply.
My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister has no plans to do so.
Somerset
Q57. Mr. David Nicholson : To ask the Prime Minister if she will visit Somerset.
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