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China
Mr. Adley : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on relations with the People's Republic of China.
Mr. Maude : We and our EC partners agree that in present circumstances it would be premature to resume normal relations with China. But we have no wish to impede either people-to-people contacts, or trade on normal commercial terms.
Hong Kong
Mr. Chris Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking in relation to prisoners due to be in Hong Kong
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prisons on 30 July 1997, to ensure that the safeguards embodied in the Fugitive Offenders Act 1967 are complied with ; and if he will make a statement.Mr. Maude : The work of preparing local legislation to replace Acts of Parliament applied to Hong Kong, including the Fugitive Offenders Act 1967, is being undertaken. Such legislation will remain in force after the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative region, on 1 July 1997, in accordance with the joint declaration. The safeguards embodied in this local legislation will apply to prisoners in Hong Kong prisons after 1 July 1997 who have been returned to Hong Kong from abroad.
THE ARTS
Merseyside Arts Association
Mr. Wareing : To ask the Minister for the Arts when he last met the chairman of Merseyside Arts Association to discuss the future of arts administration on Merseyside.
Mr. Luce : I have not done so.
TRADE AND INDUSTRY
DRG Company
Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will receive a deputation from the leaders of the work force of DRG Deeside to hear their views concerning the bid for DRG by Pembridge Investments of Bermuda ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Redwood : It is not appropriate for Ministers to comment on the merits of a merger situation in advance of the Secretary of State's decision on the question of reference to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission. DRG will have had an opportunity to make representations about the bid by Pembridge Investments to the Director General of Fair Trading whose advice to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State on the question of reference to the Commission will reflect those representations.
Offshore Purchasers
Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations he has received asking for legislation to forbid offshore purchasers of a group of companies selling its constituent businesses free of tax at the corporate level ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Redwood : I have received a number of representations on this issue from hon. Members and others, but the matter is one which falls to be considered by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer, rather than by me.
British Shipbuilders
Mr. Clay : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) if he will provide an estimate of the commercial cost to British Shipbuilders of the closure of North East Shipbuilders, separately identifying (a) redundancy payments, (b) closure bonus payments, (c)
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care and maintenance of the facilities since vessel construction ceased, (d) all costs incurred by British Shipbuilders in dealing with prospective purchasers of the facilities and (e) any other costs ;(2) if he will provide an estimate of the cost to Her Majesty's Government of the closure of North East Shipbuilders Ltd., excluding commercial costs to British Shipbuilders.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : The accounts for North East Shipbuilders Ltd. for 1987-88 were prepared on a closure basis following the decision announced by the then Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster on 7 December 1988. Signed on 31 January 1989, provision for estimated extraordinary losses of £53.7 million was made on account of closure. The provision included £28.5 million for redundancy payments and £5 million for closure bonus payments. These closure costs could only have been avoided had disposal retaining the whole of the work force proved possible based on bids received in 1988.
Offset by forecast receipts from the disposal of assets, the greater part of the £19.8 million for other costs reflected in the provision related to unrecovered labour and overheads. These were estimated by convention from 1 April 1988, the beginning of the following financial year. A considerable proportion of these costs had been incurred by December 1988, were irrespective of the decisions taken then, and could not have been avoided for some time thereafter even if sale negotiations had commenced at that time. Moreover, had a decision to open negotiations for shipbuilding been taken in July 1989, costs up to the early part of next year would not have been avoided on account of the Commission's expected procedure. British Shipbuilders regard more detailed information on other costs as commercially confidential.
In addition to costs at NESL, disposal talks both before the end of 1988 and in 1989 have involved senior corporation staff for a proportion of their time. Their salaries and related overheads would, however, have been incurred whatever decisions were taken in December 1988 and in July 1989. Fees for financial advice to British Shipbuilders on NESL are additional but are commercially confidential.
All costs incurred by British Shipbuilders net of trading income are funded by Her Majesty's Government.
Cellular Radiophones
Mr. Win Griffiths : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he has any plans to ensure that the cellular radiophone networks cover all the United Kingdom.
Mr. Forth : The two cellular radio operators were obliged by their operating licences to provide services in an area where 90 per cent. of the United Kingdom population live by the end of 1989. This target was achieved during 1987. Expansion has continued since then and now stands at over 94 per cent. In the light of this, I have no plans to impose a further coverage requirement on the cellular operators.
Mr. Griffiths : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he has any plans to seek to ensure that cellular telephone companies publish a map with any of their advertisements indicating the areas of the United Kingdom covered by their cellular radio networks.
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Mr. Forth : Both of the cellular radio operators publish detailed maps of the areas covered by their networks, and these are made available to the public without charge. The Office of
Telecommunications is also issuing a users guide for cellular radio, available from next week, which will include coverage maps. I therefore have no plans to oblige the operators to include such maps in their advertisements.
Glass
Dr. Cunningham : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will publish in the form of a table (a) the amount of glass recycled by each west European country in 1988 and (b) the amount of glass recycled as a percentage of the total amount of glass used for packaging for each country.
Mr. Forth [holding answer 19 October 1989] : The information is in the table.
Western Europe glass recycling figures for 1988
Country |Tonnes of glass recycled|Percentage of total
|amount of glass used for
|packaging
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Austria |98,000 |50
Belgium |166,000 |50
Denmark |46,000 |27
Finland |2,000 |3
France |676,000 |34
West Germany |1,176,000 |39
United Kingdom |264,000 |16
Greece |14,000 |16
Ireland |9,000 |10
Italy |610,000 |40
Netherlands |261,000 |53
Norway |3,000 |6
Portugal |31,000 |13
Spain |278,000 |23
Sweden |31,000 |22
Switzerland |156,000 |55
Note:
The European figures were provided by FEVE-the European Glass Containers Federation. The United
Kingdom figure was provided by the British Glass Manufacturers Confederation.
Dr. Cunningham : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what amount of cullet was imported into the United Kingdom in 1988.
Mr. Forth [holding answer 19 October 1989] : A total of 11,000 tonnes of cullet was imported into the United Kingdom in 1988.
HEALTH
London Ambulance Service
Mr. Spearing : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has, and what action he has taken, concerning possible contracting out of the non-emergency services of the London ambulance service ; what organisations and persons he has approached concerning any such proposals ; and what response he has received.
Mr. Freeman : The management of the London ambulance service is the responsibility of the South West Thames regional health authority to which I refer the hon. Member.
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DEFENCE
Goose Bay
Mr. Corbyn : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the number of (a) bombing flights, (b) low-flying exercises and (c) personnel deployed by the RAF at Goose Bay for each year since 1983.
Mr. Neubert : I have nothing to add to the information on low-level training sorties carried out by the RAF at Goose Bay provided on 10 May at columns 472-73 and, by my hon. Friend the Member for Kettering (Mr. Freeman) on 23 November 1987 at column 31 to the hon. Member for Meirionnydd Nant Conwy (Dr. Thomas). The number of personnel deployed by the Royal Air Force at Goose Bay at any one time is within the maximum of 350 personnel permitted by the multilateral memorandum of understanding which covers the use of Goose Bay.
Mr. Corbyn : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment of environmental impact and impact on human life from the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation base at Goose Bay has been made by his Department.
Mr. Neubert : None. The environmental impact of the use of the Canadian forces base at Goose Bay is a matter for the Canadian authorities.
Mr. Corbyn : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what representations he has received concerning the use of Goose Bay as a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and RAF training base ; and if he will make a statement on its future use.
Mr. Neubert : My right hon. Friend has received a number of representations concerning the use of Goose Bay. The RAF, in common with some other members of NATO, makes use of the Canadian facilities at Goose Bay from time to time. This is at the invitation of the Canadian Government, who are responsible for all use, including future use, of the area and its airspace. The RAF continues to value highly the use of the facilities at Goose Bay.
Innu Indians, Labrador
Mr. Corbyn To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will meet representatives of the Innu Indians of Labrador when they visit the United Kingdom on 30 October.
Mr. Neubert : No. Matters affecting Labrador, Canada, including the interests of the native Indian population, are the responsibility of the Canadian authorities.
Armed Forces Personnel (Sentences)
Mr. McNamara : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many members of the armed forces have been permitted to return to their duties after (a) serving custodial sentences, (b) receiving suspended sentences and (c) being fined by the criminal courts for the latest convenient period.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : I will write to the hon. Member.
Fylingdales (Inspection Access)
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make it his policy to respond positively to the proposal announced by Soviet Foreign Minister
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Shevardnadze in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, on 24 September, that the Soviet Union should be permitted full inspection access to the radar monitoring facility at Fylingdales in Yorkshire.Mr. Archie Hamilton : The Government have received no request for access by the Soviet Union to the ballistic missile early warning facility at RAF Fylingdales. Soviet concerns about RAF Fylingdales are a legal matter of treaty interpretation and would therefore not be resolved by an inspection of the radars. If, however, the parties to the anti-ballistic missile treaty considered that a visit would be helpful in allaying Soviet concerns, then the Government would consider such a request in the light of the terms of the approach.
HOUSE OF COMMONS
Recycled Paper
Mr. Onslow : To ask the Lord President of the Council what action is being taken to promote the use of recycled paper for House of Commons notepaper, envelopes, and other stationery.
Sir Geoffrey Howe : Many of the stationery items supplied to the House are already made from recycled material. The Accommodation and Administration Sub-Committee is fully aware of the need to increase the use of recycled paper at every suitable opportunity and has decided to re- examine the practicability of its use for the first-class stationery used by right hon. and hon. Members this autumn.
ATTORNEY-GENERAL
Birmingham County Court
Mr. Corbett : To ask the Attorney-General how many clerical staff in Birmingham county court have resigned in each month of the current financial year.
The Attorney-General : The number of staff that have resigned in each month of the current financial year is as follows :
|Number
--------------------------
April |4
May |2
June |3
July |5
August |6
September |11
October |5
|-------
Total |36
Mr. Corbett : To ask the Attorney-General how many staff the unit value attached to Birmingham county court indicates should be in post, by grade ; and how many are presently in post.
The Attorney-General : The number of staff allocated to individual courts is not determined on the basis of unit values.
Each circuit is allocated an authorised level of staff and the number and grade then allocated to each court is based on relative workloads.
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The authorised staff ceiling of 180 for Birmingham county court has been maintained at or very close to that figure.Mr. Corbett : To ask the Attorney-General if he will make a statement on the time taken at Birmingham county court to process correspondence and to obtain hearings.
The Attorney-General : There are no records kept on the time correspondence, including letters requesting hearings, takes to process. Requests to issue summonses, warrants, divorce petitions and for judgment to be entered are dealt with within five days. Over recent months it has been difficult to deal with all items of correspondence within a reasonable time although it is understood that any matters requiring urgent appointments are being appropriately dealt with. Action has been put in hand to deal with the arrears as quickly as possible.
Mr. Corbett : To ask the Attorney-General what at the latest convenient date was the number of (a) casual and (b) relief staff, by job title or group, employed at Birmingham county court.
The Attorney-General : (a) Casual Staff
As of 1 October 1989, the number and grade of casual staff employed at Birmingham county court were :
|Number
---------------------------------------
Administrative Officer |2
Administrative Assistant |4
Support Grade Band 2 |1
The average number of casuals employed during August and September was 15.
(b) Relief Staff
Between three and five relief staff at AO level have been provided by other courts since late July. A further relief team of six AOs and a team leader will be working at Birmingham from 16 October for one month.
Mr. Corbett : To ask the Attorney-General what at the latest convenient date was the number of items of outstanding correspondence awaiting attention at Birmingham county court ; and what was the position one and two years earlier.
The Attorney-General : At 17 October 1989 there were approximately 11,600 items of correspondence awaiting action. There were no significant arrears of correspondence in either of the previous years.
Mr. Corbett : To ask the Attorney-General what on average is the time taken to deal with routine correspondence at Birmingham county court ; and what was the position one and two years ago.
The Attorney-General : No measure of the average time taken to deal with correspondence is kept. There were no significant problems in general terms in either of the two previous years.
Mr. Corbett : To ask the Attorney-General whether he will detail the current staff ceiling, broken down by grade, at Birmingham county court ; and what was the position one and two years earlier.
The Attorney-General : The information requested is set out in the table. Staff ceilings are set annually, and reviewed at least quarterly by group managers.
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October
|1987 |1988 |1989
---------------------------------------
Grade 7 |1.0 |1.0 |1.0
SEO |2.0 |2.0 |2.0
HEO |8.0 |8.0 |8.0
EO |21.0 |21.0 |21.0
AO |95.0 |96.0 |87.0
AA |24.0 |21.0 |16.0
Paperkeeper |15.0 |16.5 |16.0
Typing manager |1.0 |1.0 |1.0
Typist |13.0 |15.0 |12.5
Telephonist |1.0 |1.0 |1.0
Usher |6.0 |5.5 |5.5
Security |6.0 |6.0 |6.0
Messenger |2.0 |3.0 |3.0
|--- |--- |---
Totals |195.0|197.0|180.0
Mr. Corbett : To ask the Attorney-General whether he will quantify the amount of (a) "targeted" and (b) "non-targeted" work currently undertaken at Birmingham county court ; and what was the workload one and two years earlier.
The Attorney-General : The information is not kept in the form requested. The total workload of the county court measured by unit values for the financial years 1986 to 1989 was :
|Unit values
---------------------------------------
March 1986-87 |461,440
March 1987-88 |478,083
March 1988-89 |453,795
September 1989 |493,448
The figures show a 8.7 per cent. increase in workload between March and September 1989.
PRIME MINISTER
Non-proliferation Treaty
Dr. Thomas : To ask the Prime Minister (1) if, during her meeting with President Gorbachev in the Soviet Union in September, she raised the opportunities available to the depository states for the nuclear non- proliferation treaty to increase treaty membership and strengthen compliance before the fourth nuclear non-proliferation treaty review conference next August ;
(2) if, during her meeting with President Mitterrand of France on 1 September, she discussed the prospects of France joining the nuclear non- proliferation treaty in the period before the fourth non-proliferation treaty review conference to be held in summer 1990 ;
(3) if, during her visit to Japan in September, she raised with members of the Japanese Government the co-operation on nuclear technology and nuclear fuels sales between Japan and the United Kingdom, pursuant to articles III and IV of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and initiatives to be jointly promoted by Her Majesty's Government and the Japanese Government on strengthening the non-proliferation treaty before and at its fourth review conference next August.
Sir Geoffrey Howe : I have been asked to reply.
No.
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Defence Minister Yazov
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Prime Minister what issues she discussed with visiting Soviet Defence Minister Yazov on 25 July at Downing street ; and what plans there are for the Chief of the Defence Staff, the First Sea Lords, an Admiral of the Fleet or a Defence Minister to visit the Soviet Union.
Sir Geoffrey Howe : I have been asked to reply.
At the meeting my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister held with General Yazov on 25 July, matters of mutual interest were discussed. Discussions are continuing on our future defence contacts with the USSR. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence hopes to visit the Soviet Union next year.
Nuclear Non-proliferation
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Prime Minister what opportunities she had to raise nuclear non-proliferation and the NPT fourth review conference, to be held next summer, in meetings with foreign heads of state or heads of Government, since 28 July.
Sir Geoffrey Howe : I have been asked to reply.
I understand that these matters have not figured on the agenda of any meetings which my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister has had since 28 July with foreign heads of state or Heads of Government.
Downing Street (Barrier)
Mr. Winnick : To ask the Prime Minister whether she was consulted over the building of a barrier at the entrance to Downing street ; why it was considered that the existing security measures are not adequate ; and what are the full costs of the proposed construction.
Sir Geoffrey Howe [holding answer 19 October] : My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister was of course consulted about the security improvements to Downing street as were other Ministers and organisations with a close interest.
It is not the Government's practice to comment on the operational aspects or detailed costs of security measures.
SCOTLAND
Lithotriptor Centre
Mr. Sillars : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will estimate the administrative cost to both the National Health Service and the SHHD of the new invoicing system created between the Scottish lithotriptor centre and customer boards.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : The invoicing system is a pilot scheme which still has some months to run.
Mr. Sillars : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what fees are to be charged to private patients for treatment at the Scottish lithotriptor centre ; and what proportion of fee will be paid to consultants.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : This information is not held centrally. The charging of fees to private patients is entirely a matter for Lothian health board and for the consultants concerned.
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Mr. Sillars : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is his assessment of the number of private patients treated monthly at the Scottish lithotriptor centre.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : I have made no such assessment. Lothian health board is fully aware that treatment of private patients must not interrupt the service to NHS patients.
Mr. Sillars : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland under what statutory powers the SHHD acted when instructing that the Scottish lithotriptor centre be self-funding in 1989-90.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : The new arrangements for funding the lithotriptor were introduced administratively after discussions with health boards.
Women General Practitioners
Mr. Wray : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many women general practitioners there were in (a) Scotland, (b) the Strathclyde region and (c) Greater Glasgow for each year since 1974.
Mr. Michael Forsyth [holding answer 18 October 1989] : The information is available in the form requested only since 1976, as set out in the table.
Female General Medical Practitioners (unrestricted principals only) Year |Scotland |Strathclyde region|Greater Glasgow ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1976 |443 |210 |131 1977 |463 |223 |135 1978 |494 |245 |149 1979 |511 |260 |155 1980 |522 |265 |154 1981 |543 |268 |157 1982 |567 |271 |161 1983 |607 |300 |173 1984 |649 |327 |186 1985 |693 |349 |200 1986 |721 |354 |196 1987 |760 |369 |202 1988 |822 |397 |214
Ambulance Staff
Mr. Wray : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is for each year since 1974 the number of ambulance staff working for the National Health Service in (a) Scotland, (b) the Strathclyde region and (c) Greater Glasgow.
Mr. Michael Forsyth [holding answer 18 October 1989] : The number of ambulance crews in post in the Scottish ambulance service as at 31 March each year was as follows :
Year<1> |Scotland (including |Greater Glasgow ambulance
|Greater Glasgow |area
|ambulance area)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1978 |1,386 |296
1979 |1,558 |311
1980 |1,626 |316
1981 |1,647 |322
1982 |1,665 |321
1983 |1,698 |317
1984 |1,705 |304
1985 |1,724 |303
1986 |1,744 |307
1987 |1,761 |305
1988 |1,809 |296
1989 |1,833 |287
<1> Information prior to 1978 is not available.
No figures are available for Strathclyde region as it emcompasses two whole ambulance areas and parts of a number of others.
EMPLOYMENT
Training and Enterprise Councils
Mr. Leighton : To ask the Sectretary of State for Employment which of the training and enterprise councils, or proposals for training and enterprise councils have honourable Members on the board ; and if he will identify the honourable Members.
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