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Construction Industry
Mr. Wareing : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many (a) deaths and (b) injuries occurred in the construction industry in each of the last five years ; and how many such deaths and injuries occurred among workers employed by a firm in possession of a 714 certificate.
Mr. Nicholls : The available information is given in the table. It is not possible to identify those injuries occurring to workers employed by a firm in possession of a 714 certificate.
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Number of reported<1> occupational injuries in the construction industry in Great Britain
Employees Self employed Other persons<2>
Year |Fatal |Major<3> |Over 3 day|Fatal |Major<3> |Over 3 day|Fatal |Major<3>
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1984 |100 |2,288 |17 |70 |7 |75
1985 |104 |2,239 |22 |113 |13 |78
1986 Q1<4> |24 |579 |2 |29 |1 |24
------- ------- -------
1986-87<5> |99 |2,570 |16,260 |26 |412 |687 |14 |594
1987-88<5> |102 |2,633 |16,418 |40 |521 |744 |16 |563
1988-89p<5> |99 |2,701 |15,963 |35 |715 |953 |13 |630
p - provisional.
- not available.
<1> Reported to HSE's Factory and Agricultural Inspectorates and all other relevant enforcing authorities,
under the Notification of Accidents and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations, 1980 (NADOR) FOR 1984-March 1986
and the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations, 1985 (RIDDOR) for later years.
<2> For 1984 to March 1986 refers to injuries to members of the public. For later years, also includes a
number of injuries to employed persons.
<3> Major injuries 1984-March 1986 are as defined in NADOR. The definition of a major injury employed for
later years is given in RIDDOR and is wider than that specified under NADOR. Figures for major injuries
reported under RIDDOR are, therefore, not comparable with those for earlier years.
<4> First quarter (January to March).
<5> Years begining 1 April.
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Health and Safety
Mr. Janner : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment whether he will now introduce legislation under section 79 of the Health and Safety at Work Etc. Act 1974, requiring directors' reports to contain information on health and safety policy.
Mr. Nicholls : I refer the hon. Member to my answer in the Official Report on 24 July 1989 at column 484.
Factory and Agriculture Inspectors
Mr. Strang : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment why he has not yet replied to the letter of 27 June from the hon. Member for Edinburgh, East concerning his undertaking of 2 December 1987 to increase the number of factory and agriculture inspectors by 40 by 31 March 1989.
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Mr. Fowler : A reply was sent on 18 October 1989.
Employment Training
Mr. Meacher : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many local authorities who originally participated in employment training have now withdrawn ; how many who acted as training agents have been dropped ; in each case what was the reason ; and what was the political control of the council and the date in each instance.
Mr. Nicholls : Seven local authorities have withdrawn from employment training. No local authority acting as a training agent has been dropped from the programme. Details are given in the following table :
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Local authorities who |Political control |Date withdrew |Reason have withdrawn ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Barrow Borough Council |Labour | 4 November 1988 |Political opposition Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council |Labour |24 February 1989 |Political opposition Wolverhampton Metropolitan Borough Council |Labour |End August 1989 |Political opposition Nottinghamshire County Council |Labour |End December 1988 |Political opposition London Borough of Merton |Conservative |19 May 1989 |Operational difficulties London Borough of Barnet |Conservative |31 March 1989 |Operational difficulties Cleveland County Council |Labour | 3 September 1989 |Political opposition
Mr. Hardy : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what consideration he has given to the report on employment training commissioned by the Training Agency which reviewed the position within the south Yorkshire area ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Nicholls : This particular survey was carried out in February and March. It was commissioned by one of the Training Agency's area offices to help them and their training agents and training managers address a number of teething problems encountered in the first six months of employment training in that area.
Mr. Wray : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what are the methods used by his Department to assess (a) the quality of the training given through the employment training programme and (b) its results in terms of both skills learned by the trainees and their subsequent full-time employment.
Mr. Nicholls [holding answer 18 October 1989] : The main methods used to assess the quality of training in employment training are : An examination of providers against specific criteria leading to the award of approved status ; and ongoing and comprehensive annual review to measure progress and ensure that quality training programmes continue to be delivered.
In addition, from next April the remit of the independent Training Standards Advisory Service will be extended to cover the inspection of employment training providers.
The skills learned by trainees and their subsequent full-time employment will be assessed through information contained on leavers' certificates completed by
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training managers when a trainee leaves the programme and through a questionnaire sent to trainees three months after they have left employment training.SCOTLAND
Schools Inspectors
Mr. Sillars : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the visits and reports of Her Majesty's inspectors of schools in Govan constituency, over the past two years.
Mr. Lang : One nursery school, Rosehall nursery school (1987), two primary schools, Greenfield primary school (1988) and Drumoyne primary school (1989) and one secondary school, St. Gerard's secondary school (1988) have been fully inspected and reports published over the past two years.
In addition, visits have been paid to two other primary schools, Copeland Road primary school and Elderpark primary school and two other secondary schools, Bellahouston academy and Govan secondary school, for more limited purposes.
Public Bodies
Mr. Sillars : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will publish a list of non-departmental public bodies appointed by him ; if he will list the names and employment of each member, showing salaries paid ; and what is the total public expenditure involved in running these organisations in a full year.
Mr. Rifkind : The list of non-departmental public bodies to which I make appointments is contained in the Cabinet
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Office publication "Public Bodies", a copy of which is available in the Library. The list includes information about the numbers of appointments, the remuneration paid to members, the cost of administration and the public expenditure for which the body is responsible.One major public body has been set up since the publication of "Public Bodies 1988". This is Scottish Homes, to which I have appointed a chairman (remuneration £28,980 per annum) and eight members (£3,964 per annum).
A list (correct at 5 December 1988) of all the members of the Scottish bodies in "Public Bodies 1988" was placed in the Library in response to a question from the hon. Member for East Lothian (Mr. Home Robertson) answered on 7 December 1988 at column 211 .
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Housing
Mr. Sillars : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will publish a table by district council showing the number of district council Scottish Homes, housing association and private sector houses ; and if he will show each category as a percentage of the total stock.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : The available information, as recorded on the valuation roll at 31 March 1989, is shown in the table. A breakdown of the privately owned total into housing association and others is not available. Scottish Homes did not begin operating until 1 April 1989 ; the figures provided relate to the Scottish Special Housing Association (SSHA).
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Domestic subjects on the Valuation Roll, by tenure
31 March 1989
Area Local authority SSHA New town Privately All domestic subjec
owned(including HA other
than SSHA)
|Number |Per cent.|Number |Per cent.|Number |Per cent.|Number |Per cent.|Number
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scotland |807,615 |38.4 |75,710 |3.6 |44,166 |2.1 |1,175,804|55.9 |2,103,295
Borders
Berwickshire |2,416 |27.7 |6 |0.1 |- |- |6,301 |72.2 |8,723
Ettrick and Lauderdale |3,952 |26.5 |669 |4.5 |- |- |10,279 |69.0 |14,900
Roxburgh |5,339 |33.2 |822 |5.1 |- |- |9,933 |61.7 |16,094
Tweeddale |1,442 |21.2 |177 |2.6 |- |- |5,171 |76.2 |6,790
Central
Clackmannan |8,490 |45.2 |1,542 |8.2 |- |- |8,733 |46.5 |18,765
Falkirk |28,781 |49.9 |2,382 |4.1 |- |- |26,558 |46.0 |57,721
Stirling |11,774 |36.9 |335 |1.1 |- |- |19,762 |62.0 |31,871
Dumfries and Galloway
Annandale and Eskdale |4,741 |31.4 |114 |0.8 |- |- |10,240 |67.8 |15,095
Nithsdale |7,081 |30.6 |426 |1.8 |- |- |15,617 |67.5 |23,124
Stewartry |2,266 |22.0 |14 |0.1 |- |- |8,023 |77.9 |10,303
Wigtown |4,237 |33.6 |- |- |- |- |8,368 |66.4 |12,605
Fife
Dunfermline |19,535 |39.4 |3,590 |7.2 |- |- |26,440 |53.3 |49,565
Kirkcaldy |23,043 |37.4 |2,256 |3.7 |7,230 |11.7 |29,027 |47.2 |61,556
North East Fife |6,671 |23.5 |19 |0.1 |- |- |21,640 |76.4 |28,330
Grampian
Aberdeen |35,175 |38.3 |2,251 |2.4 |- |- |54,465 |59.3 |91,891
Banff and Buchan |11,438 |33.5 |673 |2.0 |- |- |22,044 |64.5 |34,155
Gordon |5,387 |18.8 |241 |0.8 |- |- |23,077 |80.4 |28,705
Kincardine and Deeside |3,584 |17.8 |345 |1.7 |- |- |16,206 |80.5 |20,135
Moray |10,009 |29.0 |321 |0.9 |- |- |24,129 |70.0 |34,459
Highland
Badenoch and Strathspey |1,030 |19.3 |- |- |- |- |4,312 |88.7 |5,342
Caithness |3,822 |34.1 |189 |1.7 |- |- |7,202 |64.2 |11,213
Inverness |6,693 |26.9 |1,098 |4.4 |- |- |17,080 |68.7 |24,071
Lochaber |3,021 |35.7 |247 |2.9 |- |- |5,188 |61.4 |8,456
Nairn |1,067 |25.3 |119 |2.8 |- |- |3,027 |71.8 |4,213
Ross and Cromarty |6,141 |30.4 |416 |2.1 |- |- |13,666 |67.6 |20,223
Skye and Lochalsh |852 |15.0 |- |- |- |- |4,824 |85.0 |5,676
Sutherland |1,751 |25.7 |- |- |- |- |5,056 |74.3 |6,887
Lothian
East Lothian |14,032 |40.4 |1,096 |3.2 |- |- |19,578 |56.4 |34,706
Edinburgh |47,165 |24.0 |1,780 |0.9 |- |- |147,751 |75.1 |196,696
Midlothian |10,763 |35.8 |3,002 |10.0 |- |- |16,317 |54.2 |30,082
West Lothian |19,514 |35.7 |2,832 |5.2 |9,485 |17.4 |22,791 |41.7 |54,622
Strathclyde
Argyll and Bute |7,643 |24.8 |348 |1.1 |- |- |22,851 |74.1 |30,842
Bearsden and Milngavie |1,689 |11.5 |50 |0.3 |- |- |12,936 |88.1 |14,675
Clydebank |11,004 |56.9 |2,792 |14.4 |- |- |5,541 |28.7 |19,337
Clydesdale |9,558 |43.1 |1,156 |5.2 |- |- |11,470 |51.7 |22,192
Cumbernauld and Kilsyth |4,220 |18.6 |55 |0.2 |8,634 |38.1 |9,732 |43.0 |22,641
Cumnock and Doon Valley |9,127 |54.5 |1,982 |11.8 |- |- |5,625 |33.6 |16,734
Cunninghame |20,688 |36.8 |2,336 |4.2 |4,940 |8.8 |28,292 |50.3 |56,256
Dumbarton |12,107 |38.9 |1,730 |5.6 |- |- |17,315 |55.6 |31,152
East Kilbride |1,581 |5.1 |- |- |13,877 |44.8 |15,551 |50.1 |31,009
Eastwood |1,745 |7.9 |20 |0.1 |- |- |20,199 |92.0 |21,964
Glasgow |162,199 |52.9 |16,061 |5.2 |- |- |128,093 |41.0 |306,353
Hamilton |20,907 |52.0 |1,313 |3.3 |- |- |18,009 |44.0 |40,229
Inverclyde |17,584 |46.5 |3,008 |8.0 |- |- |17,243 |45.6 |37,035
Kilmarnock and Loudoun |15,877 |48.7 |1,717 |5.3 |- |- |15,007 |46.0 |32,601
Kyle and Carrick |17,359 |37.8 |1,058 |2.3 |- |- |27,498 |59.9 |45,915
Monklands |27,919 |72.8 |1,107 |2.9 |- |- |9,303 |24.3 |38,329
Motherwell |39,305 |71.2 |1,833 |3.3 |- |- |14,097 |25.5 |55,235
Renfrew |35,120 |43.2 |6,351 |7.8 |- |- |39,878 |49.0 |81,349
Strathkelvin |10,370 |33.9 |662 |2.2 |- |- |19,586 |64.0 |30,618
Tayside
Angus |12,490 |31.5 |1,622 |4.1 |- |- |25,534 |64.4 |39,646
Dundee |37,128 |47.6 |3,168 |4.1 |- |- |37,782 |48.4 |75,078
Perth and Kinross |14,340 |27.3 |208 |0.4 |- |- |37,884 |72.3 |52,432
Island Councils
Orkney Islands |1,421 |17.4 |4 |0.0 |- |- |6,752 |82.6 |8,177
Shetland Islands |2,633 |29.2 |131 |1.5 |- |- |6,253 |69.3 |9,017
Western Isles |2,389 |18.4 |36 |0.3 |- |- |10,560 |81.3 |12,985
Mr. Sillars : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will publish details of research projects in the field of housing fully or partly funded by his Department in each of the past 10 years.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : Information on social research in the housing field is contained in the "Register of Research" which is published each year by the central research unit of the Scottish Development Department and placed in the House of Commons Library. The Scottish Development Department also funds building research in the housing field, and I shall write to the hon. Member with such information as is available about this research.
Water Authorities
Mr. Sillars : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will publish a table showing the capital allocation to Scottish water authorities in each of the past 10 years at constant prices.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : Capital allocations for water are not made separately. They are included in the allocations to authorities in Scotland for their water and sewerage programmes. Allocations, all at 1989 prices, are given in the table. At cash prices, the allocation for 1989-90 is 14 per cent. greater than the initial allocation for the previous year.
Capital allocation for water and sewerage programmes Year |£ million ------------------------------ 1980-81 |147.7 1981-82 |149.5 1982-83 |139.6 1983-84 |126.5 1984-85 |113.6 1985-86 |112.0 1986-87 |116.7 1987-88 |116.8 1988-89 |<1>115.6 1989-90 |121.5 <1> Excludes a supplementary allocation of £5.9 million made late in the year.
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Child Care
Mr. Sillars : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what discussions he has had with the CBI on employer-contribution to meeting the needs of single parents for child care facilities during the parental work- day.
Mr. Lang : None. With the Government's encouragement, more employers are now considering measures, including provision of child care facilities, to recruit and retain staff with family responsibilities.
Security
Mr. Sillars : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is his estimate of the amount spent from within district council housing budgets on security provisions in the year 1988-89 or the latest year for which data are available.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : This information is not held centrally.
Homelessness
Mr. Sillars : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is his estimate of the number of homeless people in Scotland as a whole, and for each of the four city district councils.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : The Scottish Development Department does not make estimates of the numbers of homeless people. Details of the numbers of households who have applied to local authorities under the homelessness provisions of the Housing (Scotland) Act 1987 are shown in table 21 of the Scottish Development Department's statistical bulletin HSU No. 7 published in July 1989, copies of which are available in the House of Commons Library.
Mr. McAllion : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what were the numbers registered as homeless in (a) Dundee and (b) Scotland in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available.
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Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : The numbers of applicant households assessed as homeless by local authorities under the homelessness legislation are set out in the table :
|Dundee |Scotland
------------------------------------
1978-79 |210 |7,490
1979-80 |199 |7,443
1980-81 |155 |7,024
1981-82 |165 |8,268
1982-83 |171 |8,665
1983-84 |185 |8,094
1984-85 |399 |9,912
1985-86 |602 |11,022
1986-87 |565 |10,557
1987-88 |363 |9,419
Greater Glasgow Health Board
Mr. Sillars : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the full year expenditure on public relations by Greater Glasgow health board.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : This information is not held centrally and is not separately identified in the annual accounts.
Housing Legislation
Mr. Sillars : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what statutory measures the Government have taken to amend housing legislation where reference to rateable value of a dwelling house helped define tenancy, in the light of the abolition of domestic rates.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : Schedule 10 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 1987 defined tenancies for which a landlord had a statutory basic repairing obligation by means of rateable value. The Housing (Scotland) Act 1988 amended that provision to empower the Secretary of State instead to set a rent level up to which the statutory repairing obligation would apply. The Landlord's Repairing Obligations (Specified Rent) (Scotland) (No. 2) Order 1988, (SI 1988 No. 2155) which came into force on 2 January 1989, set that rent level at £300 per week. This means that the landlord will have these repairing obligations if the rent is less than that figure. Rateable value is also used to define certain tenancies which are not protected under the Rent (Scotland) Act 1984. However, the rateable value in these cases is historic--the value appearing on the valuation roll on 23 March 1965 (except where the house appeared on the roll for the first time later). Accordingly there is no need to amend those provisions.
Flat-roofed Housing
Mr. Sillars : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what studies have been undertaken by his Department of possible links between flat-roofed housing and dampness.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : My Department has not undertaken any studies of possible links between flat-roofed housing and dampness. The Building Research Establishment, however, has a continuing programme of research to monitor the performance of flat roofing products and the design of flat roofs.
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Damp
Mr. Sillars : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when his Department last conducted a study or survey of dampness in local authority housing.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : It is for local authorities themselves to assess the state of their own housing stocks. Nevertheless, the Scottish Development Department carried out a survey of dampness in housing in 1980 and published the results in 1981 in the "Condensation Study Report". The Department also added a Scottish trailer to the EC labour force survey in 1983 which included questions on condensation, dampness and mould growth. An analysis of the results of this survey was carried out in 1984 and published as "Condensation in Housing".
Lithotriptor Centre
Mr. Sillars : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when SHHD made its decision to instruct the Scottish lithotriptor centre to charge health boards for services ; and when the official notice of this change in policy was sent to clinicians.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : Following a meeting with general managers on 22 February, the Scottish Home and Health Department wrote to all health boards on 13 March formally advising them that resources available for lithotripsy would be distributed to all boards in 1989-90. Detailed arrangements for the invoicing of referrals were contained in a further letter dated 29 June. Informing clinicians of these arrangements was a matter for health boards.
Law Commission
Mr. Sillars : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland which matters are currently under examination by the Scottish Law Commission.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : The Commission's annual reports detail the matters under examination. The report for the year to 15 June 1989 is to be published shortly. A copy will be available in the Library.
Bracken
Mrs. Ray Michie : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) what is his Department's policy towards alerting members of the public about the possible dangers of contact with bracken ; and what specific notices have been put up in Scotland ;
(2) whether his Department intends to take any steps to reduce the risk and incidence of cancer from carcinogenic substances in bracken.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : There is no evidence at present to suggest that any cancers in humans are attributable to carcinogen sources in bracken. Scientific research in this field is closely monitored and appropriate action to warn the public would be taken if any statistical evidence of a link between bracken spores and cancer in humans was established.
Information Technology
Mr. Warren : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many officials in his Department at grade 3 and above have, since promotion to the level of grade 3, attended a
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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. Rifkind : Fourteen officials at grade 3 and above have attended a course specifically on information technology representing 42 per cent. of staff in those grades ; seven have attended courses containing an element of information technology, representing 21 per cent.
Mr. Warren : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland 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. Rifkind : At present there are 1,334 computer work stations installed in the Scottish Office, excluding the minor departments and the Scottish prison service. This represents one work station for every 4.5 members of staff. This figure includes linked terminals and both linked and stand-alone microcomputers but excludes all stand-alone word processors.
Mr. Warren : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland which Minister in his Department is responsible for day-to-day managment 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. Rifkind : Ministerial responsibility for matters arising from the day-to-day management of the Scottish Office's information technology strategy lies with me. No matters requiring my attention arose in the month up to Friday 13 October.
A90 (Signs)
Sir Nicholas Fairbairn : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the cost of the three metal and concrete signs recently erected on the A90 between Inverkeithing and the Forth road bridge ; and what is their purpose.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : The tender price for the three A90 Gantry structures was £144,856, and that for providing and installing the equipment within the gantries was £260,427.
The purpose of the gantries when fitted with signalling equipment will be to control, divert or stop traffic approaching the bridge when the bridge is closed for any reason, lane closures are in operation (for accidents, maintenance or breakdowns) or special vehicles are being escorted across the bridge. This is part of a complete signalling system expected to be operational early in the new year.
Mentally Handicapped People
Mr. Maclennan : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list in the Official Report (a) the number of people living within Highland region who are over the age of 18 years and who are registered as mentally handicapped on the joint health and social work register and (b) the number of people living within Highland region who have been exempted from community charge liability on the ground of mental handicap.
Mr. Lang : The number of people aged over 18 years in Highland region who are listed in the joint health board
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and social work register as mentally handicapped total 640, of whom 140 are known to be accommodated in hospital at present.On the basis of information supplied by the community charges registration officer for Highland region, 280 people were exempt from the personal community charge in Highland on the ground of severe mental impairment as at the beginning of September.
Housing (Strathclyde)
Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if, in the light of the evidence submitted by district councils and the Strathclyde regional liaison committee on the question of housing land targets in the Strathclyde structure plan 1986 update, he will make it his policy to ensure that his proposed modifications to the 1988 update will not have a significant effect on the green belt.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : My right hon. and learned Friend hopes to announce his decision on the 1988 update shortly, and I cannot anticipate his conclusions on this issue.
Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what assessment he has made of the staffing consequences in planning authorities of the proposed quarterly roll-on of private sector housing demand contained in his draft decision letter on the Strathclyde structure plan 1988 update.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : A number of planning authorities have commented on this issue in responding to my right hon. and learned Friend's draft modifications, and he will take these comments into account in reaching his decision.
Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what research he has conducted into builders' assessment of their need for residential building land in Strathclyde ; and if he will publish the result.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : My right hon. and learned Friend has commissioned a number of pieces of research on the subject of housing land in Scotland in recent years, all of which have been or will be published, but none of them relates specifically to Strathclyde.
Water Supply
Mr. Kirkwood : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list in the Official Report all those areas in the Borders region where the existing public supply of water does not conform to European Community standards, indicating in each case the cause of the breach of the EC regulation.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : Public water supplies in Borders region comply with the terms of the EC drinking water directive, with the exception of five supplies which are the subject of applications for delays in terms of article 20. These are listed with the parameters where the standards are not met.
Borders region-Areas where water fails to meet EC parameter standards Area |Supply |Parameter ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Carlops |Carlops |Microbiological<1> Parts of central Borders |Wantonwalls |Aluminium Ettrickbridge |Ettrickbridge |Iron Parts of East Berwickshire |Rawburn |Iron Parts of central Borders |Roberton |Aluminium <1> Will comply this year.
Mr. Kirkwood : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what plans he has to increase capital resources in Scotland to ensure that the quality of water in areas including the Borders conforms to European Community standards ; and how long he estimates it will take to achieve these standards throughout the Borders region.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : Resources have been increased already. The 1989-90 capital provision for water and sewerage services is £126 million, a 14 per cent. increase over the previous year's planned provision. Regional and islands councils have been asked to provide details of costed action programmes to achieve full compliance with the EC drinking water directive. These will be taken into account when setting next year's allocations.
In Borders region most supplies already meet EC standards. Only one small treatment works will not produce water complying within the next year and in two other supply areas improvements to iron mains will be phased over a few years. Planned expenditure for the next three years is concentrated on further improvement of water treatment works and distribution mains to ensure that the standards continue to be met in the future.
Health Councils
Mr. Kirkwood : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will now publish his detailed conclusions on the recent review of the management of health councils in Scotland ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : I am at present giving active consideration to the arrangements which are likely to ensure the most effective consumer representation in the National Health Service, and I hope to make an announcement soon.
Primary Roads
Mr. Kirkwood : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will place in the Library copies of all the technical working papers commissioned and received in preparation for the recently published consultation document on primary road routes south of Edinburgh.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : It is not our practice to place copies of detailed technical reports on road studies in the Library. I have lodged copies of the consultation document in the Library, however, and I will arrange to append to them a series of short technical papers which provide further details on specific aspects of the study.
Mr. Kirkwood : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will publish in the Official Report the terms of reference used to instruct those preparing the recently published consultation document on primary road routes south of Edinburgh, listing any outside independent experts or professionals involved in the exercise.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : The brief for the study which led to the consultation document was :
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"To assess the effectiveness of the existing trunk road network in meeting the national and local objectives as regards current and future traffic demands between Edinburgh and its environs and the South, including in particular the motorway and trunk road network in England and Wales, and as regards strategic road links to and from the Borders Region.To evaluate the alternative route options including, as necessary, roads which are not at present trunk roads.
To recommend a future route strategy".
Consulting civil engineers Scott Wilson Kirkpatrick and Partners were appointed to undertake the study and the market research team of the MVA Consultancy were employed to carry out a series of interviews with road users.
Education Working Parties
Mr. McAllion : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many persons from the independent sector were invited by the SCC and SEB to be part of the working parties and short-life working groups for standard grade and revised higher.
Examinations
Mr. McAllion : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he has any plans to allow choice of examinations in the state sector by ending the monopoly of the SEB.
Mr. Lang : Presenting centres are free to enter candidates for examinations of their choice, subject to the policy of their education authority.
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