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Mr. H. G. MackrillMr. J. H. Mitchell
Mr. A. Noble
Mr. M. O'Donnell
Mr. M. E. Stewart
Dr. J. Adams
Mr. J. W. Whitworth (Chairman RRAC)
Chairman RFDC--to be appointed
RRAC=Regional Rivers Advisory Committee
RFDC=Regional Flood Defence Committee
Drift Net Fishing
Mr. Onslow : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what discussions he has had at European Community level concerning action to combat illegal drift net fishing in international waters.
Mr. Gummer : I am aware of the concern about the large-scale drift netting operations for tuna in the southern Pacific ocean. There has been no discussion on this matter at European Community level.
Salmon
Mr. Onslow : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he anticipates that the draft European Community regulations on game meat are likely to be extended to apply to the sale of wild salmon and salmon trout.
Mr. Gummer : No. I understand that it is not the Commission's intention to extend to fish its proposals for a regulation on rabbit and game meat.
The Commission is developing a separate proposal for fish hygiene which would apply to wild salmon and salmon trout.
Mr. Onslow : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will review the membership of his advisory committee on salmon stocks, following the inauguration of the National Rivers Authority.
Mr. Gummer : The initial appointments to the salmon advisory committee were for a three-year term and this expires in November 1989 (chairman) and February 1990 (members). We shall therefore be considering the future membership of the Committee in the coming weeks. Members are appointed on an ad hominem basis, having regard to their own particular knowledge and expertise ; they do not represent any particular organisation even though the initial appointments to the committee were drawn from a wide variety of invited nominations from salmon interests.
Eggs
Mr. Ralph Howell : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many eggs produced at the poultry establishment of Our Lady of Passion monastery in Daventry are known to have been contaminated with salmonella in each of the last three years.
Mr. Curry : This information is not available. The Government's measures introduced in March 1989 on compulsory testing for salmonella are directed towards identifying poultry flocks in which invasive salmonella is present, rather than examination of eggs. I understand that the flock in question was not tested in accordance with these legal requirements and the identification of
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salmonella typhimurium in the flock, on which the decision to slaughter was based, was made following a report from the local authority of a food poisoning outbreak associated with eggs produced at the monastery.Straw and Stubble Burning
Mr. Haselhurst : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether the 1989 straw survey has been completed ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Maclean : The 1989 straw survey date was 2 October 1989 and the survey is still in progress. The results of this survey are expected to be published early in December 1989. My right hon. Friend the Minister is currently reviewing the position on straw and stubble burning and will take the results of this year's survey into account.
DEFENCE
Low Flying
Mr. Foulkes : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many sorties were authorised to fly at less than 250 ft in the Borders tactical training area on 1 July 1988, 4 to 8 July 1988, 11 to 15 July 1988 and any subsequent dates.
Mr. Neubert : The information on sorties requested is not available, but the number of movements authorised for flying below 250 ft in the Borders tactical training area in July 1988 was 94 and from 1 August 1988 to 31 July 1989 was 1,912. These figures are not directly comparable with earlier movements figures for the Borders tactical training area which pre- date the extension of the area last year.
Mr. Foulkes : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if flying at less than 250 ft is included in the training syllabus for junior pilots on front-line Royal Air Force strike-attack squadrons.
Mr. Neubert : No. Operational low flying is mainly restricted to essential work-up training for specific exercises in North America and is not included in a general training syllabus.
Mr. Foulkes : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the effective date and geographical extent of each alteration to the boundaries of the Borders tactical training area since 1979.
Mr. Neubert : I have nothing to add to the letters of my hon. Friend the then Under-Secretary of State for the Armed Forces of 9 June 1988, 30 June 1988, 5 August 1988 and 30 September 1988 to the hon. Member on this subject.
Mr. Foulkes : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if interceptor aircraft are permitted to fly at less than 250 ft in the Borders tactical training area ; and what is the minimum permitted height and maximum permitted speed for interceptor aircraft during interception manoeuvres within the Borders tactical training area.
Mr. Neubert : There is no requirement for interceptor aircraft to carry out operational low flying training in the United Kingdom. Interceptor aircraft taking part in interception/evasion exercises are authorised to fly no
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lower than 250 ft minimum separation distance and within the normal speed constraints of the United Kingdom low flying system.Mr. Foulkes : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence on what date notification of the disestablishment of the Tees-side low-flying avoidance area was sent by his Department to (a) hon. Members and (b) local authorities in the area ; and if he will list the parliamentary constituencies and local authorities concerned.
Mr. Neubert : As the hon. Member will be aware, when significant changes are made to the United Kingdom low flying system hon. Members whose constituencies are affected are given appropriate notification.
Mr. Foulkes : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what consideration has been given to permitting United States and other North Atlantic Treaty Organisation air forces to fly at less than 250 ft in the three United Kingdom tactical training areas.
Mr. Neubert : There are no records of foreign military aircraft requesting authority to carry out low flying training in the United Kingdom tactical training areas.
Dr. Thomas : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the replies to the hon. Member for Meirionydd Nant Conwy of 9 November 1987, Official Report, columns 36-37, 20 January 1988, Official Report, column 765, and 10 May 1989, Official Report, columns 474-5, on what assumed average number of movements per sortie the figures for low-flying sorties in the years 1985, 1986, 1987 and 1988, as recalculated by the pre- 1985 method of estimating sorties from numbers of movements, were based ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Neubert [pursuant to the reply of 20 July 1989] : The answer is 2.5.
Bombs and Missiles
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) if he will make a further statement on the possible procurement of a tactical air-to- surface missile ;
(2) if he will make a further statement on the procurement options for the possible replacement of the WE177 free-fall nuclear bomb.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : I have nothing to add to the reply that I gave my hon. Friend the Member for Wyre (Mr. Mans) on 24 October.
Mr. O'Neill : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what expenditure has been incurred to date on the study of procurement options for the possible replacement of the WE177 free-fall nuclear bomb.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : I have nothing to add to the reply that I gave the hon. Member on 17 July 1989 at column 71.
Royal Signals Research Establishment
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when the Royal Signals research establishment at Malvern was privatised ; how much was received for it ; who obtained the contract ; and what guarantee is in place for the security of sensitive signals and information.
Mr. Neubert : The Royal Signals research establishment at Malvern has not been privatised.
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Departmental Land (Hunting)
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the policy on his Department's land being used for hunting with hounds ; what arrangements are made for service personnel, horses, and equipment to be used in this connection ; what requirements and regulations are enforced to try to ensure that hunting does not occur on adjoining landowners' land ; what recompense is made if this does occur ; and what are the locations of his Department's land where hunting is permitted.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : It is our policy to permit access to Ministry of Defence land for recreational purposes wherever operational and safety considerations permit, where it is consistent with the interests of our tenants and licensees, and where it does not unreasonably affect local amenities and the environment. Legal activities involving hunting with hounds could be permitted over any MOD land on which those criteria are met.
Although hunting is acknowledged as a useful form of training for both horses and riders, only members of mounted units may be permitted to hunt during duty hours, at their commanding officers' discretion. MOD personnel are entitled to hire various items of Government-owned equipment for their own personal use, subject to availability, and a charge is levied which is calculated to recover any cost to the Department arising from that use.
The question of access to the property of adjacent landowners and of any recompense would be a matter for the hunt itself.
Skyguard
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he expects the height-monitoring radar system Skyguard to begin operating over the transit area that operates over south Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire ; and whether he will report on the results of the monitoring.
Mr. Neubert : It is not the intention to publish proposed deployment locations for the Skyguard radar system in the low flying monitoring role in advance, but my Department will be seeking to ensure a wide spread of locations around the United Kingdom. Appropriate follow-up action will be taken after each deployment.
Correspondence
Mr. Pawsey : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what percentage of letters from honourable Members to his Department received a reply (a) in under four weeks, (b) within four to six weeks, (c) within six to eight weeks and (d) over eight weeks, in each of the last three years.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : I regret that the information is not readily available in the form requested. The aim of all Ministers in the Ministry of Defence is to answer letters from hon. Members within two to four weeks. There are, however, inevitably occasions when this is not possible.
Dr. Godman : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when the hon. Member for Greenock and Port Glasgow can expect to receive a response to his letter, dated 11 August, concerning Private W. McLuskey, 1st Battalion, Argyle and Sutherland Highlanders.
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Mr. Archie Hamilton : My noble Friend the parliamentary Under- Secretary of State for the Armed Forces has written to the hon. Member today.
Pensions
Mr. Thorne : To ask the Scretary of State for Defence if he will give for the latest year for which records exist and for 1974 the number of ladies (a) under 65 years, (b) between 65 and 69 years, (c) between 70 and 79 years and (d) 80 years and over in receipt of attributable forces family pension.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The information requested is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Thorne : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what definition his Department uses of war widow for pension purposes.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : "War widow" is not, as such, a defined term used by the Ministry of Defence for pension purposes. However, for purposes of the attributable family pensions which were introduced into the armed forces pension scheme from 31 March 1973, it is a pre-requisite for the award of a widow's pension that her husband died from causes accepted by the Department of Social Security as being attributable to or aggravated by his service.
Explosives and Ammunition
Mr. Amess : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he has any plans to review the levels of risk in the storage of conventional military explosives and ammunition.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : In accordance with our policy of keeping these matters under regular review, we have decided to put in hand a full study of risk assessment methodology as related to the storage of conventional explosives and ammunition in MOD depots. A contract has been given to the Safety and Reliability Directorate of UKAEA to conduct the review. This contract will be monitored, and further work undertaken, by an MOD team under the guidance of the Explosives Storage and Transport Committee. In addition, all the work in prospect will be scrutinised by an independent panel of experts chaired by Mr. Bryan Harvey, a former Deputy Director- General of the Health and Safety Executive and a former Chairman of the Advisory Committee on Major Hazards. The panel will include representatives from industry, the academic institutions and the Health and Safety Executive. It will report direct to my noble Friend the Parliamentary Under -Secretary of State for the Armed Forces as necessary. The study is in furtherance of our policy of continuing to update our approach to the safety of explosives and ammunition storage and will draw on the experience of industry as appropriate.
NORTHERN IRELAND
Employment (Strangford)
Mr. John D. Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many new jobs have been assisted by the Industrial Development Board and the Local
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Enterprise Development Unit in the constituency of Strangford in the most recent 12 months for which figures are available.Mr. Needham : In the 12-month period to 30 September 1989 the IDB promoted 210 new jobs in the constituency of Strangford. LEDU figures are prepared on a district council basis and in the same period LEDU promoted 93 new jobs in the district council areas of Ards and Castlereagh.
Rural Schools
Mr. Beggs : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether he will provide additional finance to enable education and library boards to make special provision for small isolated rural schools and small secondary-community schools, particularly in border areas, when the boards are determining future funding for these schools under local management of schools.
Mr. Needham : It is envisaged that local management in schools (LMS) schemes will be able to take account of the needs of small schools-- including small isolated rural schools--where there is agreement that such schools must be retained. It is not possible to anticipate at this stage the implications of this for the block grant allocations to boards which are based on relative needs.
Ulster Defence Regiment
Mr. A. Cecil Walker : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many serving members of the Ulster Defence Regiment have been requested to resign because they were deemed to be a security risk due to the area in which they live.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : I have been asked to reply.
I am aware of none. However, if the hon. Member has a particular case in mind I shall be happy to look into it.
OVERSEAS DEVELOPMENT
Centre for World Development Education
Mr. Jacques Arnold : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he has any plans to increase Overseas Development Administration support for the Centre for World Development Education.
Mrs. Chalker : I am pleased to announce an increase from £125,000 to £165,000 in the ODA's annual grant to CWDE. This will be for the three years starting 1 April 1990.
Cambodia
Mr. David Nicholson : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on United Kingdom policy on development aid to Cambodia.
Mrs. Chalker : We do not provide Government-to-Government aid to Cambodia. We have, however, provided £350,000 of humanitarian aid through United Nations agencies for the people of Cambodia, and we are willing to support suitable projects proposed by British non-governmental organisations under our joint funding
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scheme. Seven such projects have so far been approved involving expenditure of £190,000 from the aid programme.ENVIRONMENT
Housing (Waltham Forest)
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what recent representations he has received concerning poor housing conditions in Waltham Forest ; what his response was ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Howard : I have received a number of representations, including one from the hon. Member, about proposed schemes for the redevelopment of four large panel construction estates in Waltham Forest.
I hope to meet the hon. Member and representatives of the council shortly to discuss these schemes.
Football Spectators Bill
Mr. Vaz : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many letters he has received from members of the public concerning the Football Spectators Bill since the publication of the interim report of Lord Justice Taylor.
Mr. Moynihan : Since the publication on 1 August of Lord Justice Taylor's interim report into the Hillsborough disaster, the Government have received 137 letters about the Football Spectators Bill direct from members of the public, and 26 letters from constituents through their Members of Parliament.
Caravan Sites
Mr. Bernie Grant : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment which local authorities have made no provisions under the Caravan Sites Act 1968.
Mr. Chope : The information has been placed in the library.
Rivers (Licensed Abstraction)
Mr. Onslow : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will ask the National Rivers Authority to undertake an urgent review of the effect of licensed abstraction on rivers in England and Wales.
Mr. Howard : It will be for the NRA, as an independent body, to decide how best to order its priorities in carrying out its functions under the Water Act 1989. I have, however, drawn my right hon. Friend's question to the authority's attention.
Regional Rivers Advisory Committees
Mr. Onslow : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish the names of all those so far appointed as members of regional rivers advisory committees in England and Wales.
Mr. Howard : Appointments to the Regional Rivers Advisory Committees are made by the National Rivers Authority. Appointments so far are as follows :
Anglian Region
Mr. C. Groome (Chairman)
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Mr. P. HortonMr. G. Searle
Mr. T. Prater
Mr. D. Sisman
Mr. H. Darbon
Mr. J. Loveys
Dr. D. George
Mr. J. Pilling
Mr. D. Latham
Mr. P. Moorhouse
Dr. J. Carmichael
Mr. C. Lumber
Mrs. N. Field
Mr. N. Boast
Mr. D. Clarke
Hon. R. Godber
Mrs. S. Ashford
Mr. J. Martin (Chairman RFDC)
Mr. P. Tombleson (Chaiman RFAC)
Northumbria Region
Mr. J. Browne-Swinburne (Chairman)
Mr. M. Bird
Mrs. C. Bradley
Dr. J. P. Carrick
Coucillor J. Coulthard
Mr. D. Dunlop
Mr. J. A. Foster
Mr. K. Hale
Mrs. J. Johnson
Professor M. D. Newson
Councillor D. L. Nicholson
Mr. E. Palmer
Mr. R. A. Pepper
Lord Ralph Percy
Mr. H. G. H. Sanderson
Mr. H. Watson
Mr. E. A. Wrangham (Chairman RFDC)
Mr. P. L. Tennant (Chairman RFAC)
North West Region
Mr. R. E. Weston (Chairman)
Mr. J. N. Lucas JP
Mr. R. H. Tyson JP
Mr. I. Bonner
Mr. R. Sharland
Sir John Tavare
Mr. A. A. Wright
Dr. S. R. Jones
Mr. R. L. Pocock
Mr. A. C. Shepherd
Mr. J. R. Crowther JP
Mr. R. Pickup
Mrs. A. M. Tait
Mr. A. Richardson OBE DL
Mr. D. Cochrane
Mr. G. H. Hammersley
Mr. E. Harper
Mr. J. B. Robinson (Chairman RFDC)
Mr. T. A. F. Barnes (Chairman RFAC)
Severn Trent Region
Dr. H. Tebbutt (Chairman)
Mr. D. Grigg
Lord Guernsey
Mr. F. Walmsley
Mr. J. Thompson
Mr. C. Nicholson
Mrs. V. Gillespie MBE
Mr. B. Scott
Mr. M. White
Mr. P. J. Mitchell
Councillor Mrs. P. R. Merritt
Councillor Sir Richard Knowles
Councillor D. R. Jones
Councillor P. E. Beeby
Mr. D. Pryor
Mr. S. Sim
Mr. J. Betteridge
Mr. C. G. Hawthorne (Chairman RFDC)
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