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Lithotriptor Centres
Mr. Sillars : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will compile centrally statistics which show the use by National Health Service patients and private patients of the Scottish lithotriptor centres.
NATO Exercises
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the extent of involvement by his Department in NATO exercise Wintex/Cimex 1987 and exercise Wintex/Cimex 1989 ; what is the number of staff engaged in the exercise planning process and in the exercises themselves ; and what are the posts, ranks and responsibilities of the staff involved.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : The Scottish Office plays its part in testing those procedures in which we have an interest. Staff participate as required ; it would not be appropriate to supply the detail requested.
Community Charge
Mr. Andrew Welsh : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what estimates his Department has for the costs of administration in implementing the community charge transitional payment scheme.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : My right hon. and learned Friend has made it clear that local authorities will be reimbursed for the reasonable costs they incur in administering the new transitional relief scheme. The administration costs will clearly depend upon the nature of the scheme, and we are at present discussing that with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities.
Monuments (Policy Review)
Mr. Strang : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he expects to reply to the policy review on the Royal Commission on Ancient and Historical Monuments--England, Wales and Scotland that was undertaken by Peat, Marwick, McClintock ; and when he expects to act on the report's recommendations.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : The consultants' review was commissioned as part of a policy review of the three
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Commissions undertaken jointly by the Department of the Environment, the Scottish Development Department, and CADW (Welsh Historic Monuments). We announced our decisions on the main points of principle raised in the Peat, Marwick, McLintock reports recommendations relating to the Scottish Commission on 22 February at columns 588-89. There remain further points of detail which affect all three Commissions. We aim to conclude this work by the end of the year.Mortgage and Rent Arrears
Mr. Maxton : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will publish a table showing levels of rent arrears in public sector housing in Scotland as a whole and in each district and island area on 30 September for each year since 1979.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton [holding answer 31 October 1989] : I refer the hon. Member to my reply of 26 January 1989 to the hon. Member for Argyll and Bute (Mrs. Michie) at columns 723-26. Updated information for 1988 is given in the table :
Rent arrears in Scottish public sector at 30
September 1988
|£
----------------------------------------------
Scotland |32,933,736
Local Authorities |30,067,921
Berwickshire<1> |54,638
Ettrick and Lauderdale |40,664
Roxburgh |100,708
Tweeddale |15,813
Clackmannan |800,903
Falkirk |667,830
Stirling |635,700
Annandale and Eskdale |121,708
Nithsdale |322,710
Stewartry |31,137
Wigtown |173,229
Dunfermline |669,523
Kirkcaldy |698,990
North East Fife |117,675
Aberdeen |1,144,379
Banff and Buchan |277,064
Gordon |76,225
Kincardine and Deeside |48,878
Moray |105,555
Badenoch and Strathspey |17,900
Caithness |109,666
Inverness |n/a
Lochaber |53,259
Nairn |n/a
Ross and Cromarty |268,364
Skye and Lochalsh |27,400
Sutherland |29,279
East Lothian |416,583
Edinburgh |1,709,041
Midlothian |279,632
West Lothian |239,049
Argyll and Bute |167,810
Bearsden and Milngavie |126,374
Clydebank |1,567,976
Clydesdale |191,031
Cumbernauld and Kilsyth |446,934
Cumnock and Doon Valley |391,219
Cunninghame |304,415
Dumbarton<1> |445,232
East Kilbride |40,059
Eastwood |38,237
Glasgow |10,241,488
Hamilton |487,120
Inverclyde |318,000
Kilmarnock and Loudoun |214,026
Kyle and Carrick |333,026
Monklands |958,767
Motherwell |1,063,807
Renfrew |1,226,984
Strathkelvin |459,718
Angus |117,843
Dundee |1,019,368
Perth and Kinross |188,615
Orkney Islands |57,583
Shetland Islands |111,934
Western Isles |296,853
New Towns |1,071,975
Cumbernauld |201,464
East Kilbride |230,889
Glenrothes |291,405
Irvine |115,910
Livingston |232,307
SSHA |1,793,840
n/a Not available.
<1> Figures include rate arrears.
Council House Sales
Mr. Maxton : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list details of sales of council housing to sitting tenants up to the latest convenient date, by district within regional sub-totals ; and what is the percentage of the relevant stock that existed at 30 September 1979 which has been sold to date.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : The available information is set out in the following table :
Total sales from 1 April 1979 to 30 June 1989
as a percentage of stock
|Total sales from 1 April|<1>Percentage of stock
|1979 to 30 June 1989 |sold since 1 April 1979
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Local authorities |123,692 |13.92
Borders |3,160
Berwickshire |613 |21.40
Ettrick and Lauderdale |1,101 |22.29
Roxburgh |1,115 |17.79
Tweeddale |331 |20.36
Central |9,100
Clackmannan |1,496 |15.67
Falkirk |5,477 |16.41
Stirling |2,177 |16.77
Dumfries and Galloway |4,763
Annandale and Eskdale |1,134 |23.50
Nithsdale |1,933 |23.09
Stewartry |711 |28.49
Wigtown |985 |20.97
Fife |12,664
Dunfermline |4,809 |20.81
Kirkcaldy |5,376 |20.35
North East Fife |2,479 |31.58
Grampian |11,462
Aberdeen |4,400 |11.68
Banff and Buchan |2,535 |20.46
Gordon |1,367 |22.69
Kincardine and Deeside |714 |20.03
Moray |2,446 |23.20
Highland |4,574
Badenoch and Strathspey |331 |31.67
Caithness |814 |20.32
Inverness |1,275 |18.32
Lochaber |717 |21.49
Nairn |228 |20.56
Ross and Cromarty |773 |12.52
Skye and Lochalsh |160 |23.26
Sutherland |276 |16.12
Lothian |19,160
East Lothian |3,322 |20.49
Edinburgh |10,403 |18.36
Midlothian |2,780 |21.33
West Lothian |2,655 |11.79
Strathclyde |47,973
Argyll and Bute |1,064 |13.13
Bearsden and Milngavie |406 |22.34
Clydebank |1,355 |11.54
Clydesdale |965 |10.06
Cumbernauld and Kilsyth |633 |14.55
Cumnock and Doon
Valley |1,096 |10.64
Cunninghame |3,259 |13.85
Dumbarton |1,158 |8.83
East Kilbride |389 |24.03
Eastwood |490 |24.22
Glasgow |14,441 |8.24
Hamilton |2,760 |12.10
Inverclyde<2> |1,933 |9.66
Kilmarnock and Loudon |2,149 |11.77
Kyle and Carrick |3,652 |19.97
Monklands<2> |2,025 |7.09
Motherwell<2> |2,796 |7.03
Renfrew<2> |5,363 |13.60
Strathkelvin |2,039 |19.17
Tayside |9,639
Angus |2,664 |18.29
Dundee |3,619 |9.08
Perth and Kinross |3,356 |20.59
Orkney Islands |326 |23.04
Shetland Islands |359 |15.84
Western Isles |512 |23.14
<1> Expressed as a percentage of stock as at 30 September 1978.
<2> Figures not available for quarter 2 1989.
Public Rights of Way
Mr. Kirkwood : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will introduce legislation to give himself power to call a public inquiry into the actions of a local authority where a public right of way has been altered, closed or changed in any way.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton [holding answer 2 November 1989] : There are sufficient powers, under current legislation, to allow for public inquiries where appropriate.
WALES
Health Service (Expenditure)
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is the percentage of the gross domestic product per head for Wales spent on the National Health Service calculated on the Welsh gross domestic product.
Mr. Grist : In 1987 88 gross expenditure on the National Health Service in Wales was £1,136.5 million, which is equivalent to 8 per cent. of the provisional 1987 figure for Welsh GDP of £14,156 million.
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Nursery Schools
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many children are attending nursery schools in each Welsh county ; and what proportion they are of the under-five child population.
Mr. Wyn Roberts : The information as at January 1989 is as follows :
|Number of pupils |Pupils as percentage of
|under-five population
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Clwyd |326 |1.3
Dyfed |207 |1.0
Gwent |1,130 |3.8
Gwynedd |- |-
Mid Glamorgan |1,228 |3.3
Powys |- |-
South Glamorgan |803 |2.8
West Glamorgan |227 |1.0
This information relates solely to children in nursery schools. There is a total of 50,202 children under five in primary/nursery schools, of which 23,613 are in nursery classes, 69 per cent. and 32.5 per cent. respectively of the under-five population.
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what are the numbers of children attending local authority nursery schools in Newport, Gwent ; and what proportion they are of the under-five child population.
Mr. Wyn Roberts : In January 1989, 415 children attended maintained nursery schools in Newport, Gwent representing 4.4 per cent. of the under- five population. Some under-fives also attend nursery classes in primary schools but no figures are available.
Cadw
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will publish the total per head of the population of Wales that was spent by Cadw in each of the past three years.
Mr. Wyn Roberts : The information requested is set out in the table :
Year |Total expenditure |Estimated population<1> |Estimated expenditure per
|head of population
|£'000 |'000 |£
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1986-87 |4,173 |2,821 |1.48
1987-88 |5,806 |2,836 |2.05
1988-89 |5,251 |2,857 |1.84
<1>The population figures are based on estimates calculated on the 30 June for each year.
Rescue Archaeology
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what plans he has to increase the funds available for rescue archaeology in the wetlands of Gwent.
Mr. Wyn Roberts : Funding for rescue archaeology is determined on an annual basis in consultation with the four archaeological trusts in Wales. The Department has specifically made available additional resources in respect of the recently discovered wetland site in Caldicot country
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park. To date our commitment to that particular site exceeds £40, 000 and its future is the subject of discussions between the Department and the local authorities which own the site.Schools (Local Management)
Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what assessment his Department has made of the cost of implementation of local management of schools in Wales and its year-on-year cost after implementation.
Mr. Wyn Roberts : We have announced proposals for specific grant support for expenditure of over £6 million over the period 1989-90 to 1991-92 for the introduction of local management, the training of governors, and LEA inspection.
Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what assessment his Department has made of the training required by (a) head teachers and (b) school governors for the implementation and running of local management of schools in Wales and the cost for each during implementation and year on year.
Mr. Wyn Roberts : Local education authorities have a duty to provide training for school governors and head teachers. We have made available £582,000 in 1989-90 for management training and appraisal for head teachers as a national priority under the LEA training grants scheme. In 1990-91 £470,000 will be available for management training alone. Expenditure of up to £400,000 is also available this year through education support grant for governor training and Government support will be at a comparable level in 1990-91 and 1991-92.
NHS Treatment Centres
Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when, pursuant to his answer of 30 October to the hon. Member for Alyn and Deeside, he will be in a position to provide details on the operation of treatment centres ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Grist : The discussions between the Welsh Office and managers and clinicians in the NHS, to which I referred in my answer of 30 October, are at an advanced stage. Subject to their satisfactory conclusion my right hon. Friend would hope to write to the hon. Gentleman shortly.
Ancient Monuments Commission
Mr. Strang : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when he expects to reply to the policy review of the Royal Commission on ancient and historical monuments--England, Wales and Scotland undertaken by Peat, Marwick, McClintock ; and when he expects to act on the report's recommendations.
Mr. Wyn Roberts : The consultants' review was commissioned as part of a policy review of the three Royal Commissions undertaken jointly by the Department of the Environment, Cadw : Welsh Historic Monuments, and the Scottish Development Department. Decisions relating to the Welsh Commission on the main points of principle raised in the KPMG report were announced on 20 February 1989. There remain further points of detail which affect all three commissions. These are under active
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consideration and are the subject of discussion with the commission in Wales. We aim to conclude this further work by the end of the year.EMPLOYMENT
Part-time Workers
Mrs. Dunwoody : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will introduce legislation which establishes a minimum wage for part-time employees.
Mr. Nicholls : No. A national minimum wage would raise employers' costs and destroy jobs.
Mrs. Dunwoody : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will introduce legislation which guarantees equal opportunities for part- time workers in the areas of training and promotion.
Mr. Nicholls : No. These are matters which are best determined by employers and their employees taking into account local conditions and the needs of both the work force and the business. Government legislation on these issues is neither necessary nor appropriate.
Mrs. Dunwoody : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will introduce legislation which guarantees equal rights for part-time workers, including pay, maternity leave, a sick pay scheme and a revised pension plan.
Mr. Nicholls : No. Pay and conditions are matters to be negotiated between employers and employees to suit their individual circumstances. The 1.4 million growth in part-time employment in Great Britain since 1983 shows its popularity with employers and employees alike.
Assaults on Staff
Mr. Crowther : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many assaults on members of employment service staff were reported in (a) 1988 and (b) the first nine months of 1989.
Mr. Eggar : In 1988 the number of reported physical assaults on employment service staff was 65. There were also 212 reported incidents of threatening behaviour or verbal abuse. The figures for the first nine months of 1989 are 107 and 711 respectively. A direct comparison of the two periods is misleading since in September 1988 the reporting system was improved and the definition of an assault was broadened.
Staff Shortages
Mr. Crowther : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many unemployment benefit offices and jobcentres have been closed during normal opening hours because of staff shortages during the last 12 months.
Mr. Eggar : The employment service does not keep detailed records of short-term closures during normal opening hours by its 2,000 offices.
Employment service managers have the authority to vary opening arrangements in the event of serious staff absences. Typically these absences impact most heavily on small offices with managers responding by closing at lunch time or in the case of part-time offices reducing the number of days they are open.
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Currently some 20 offices are closed or are providing much reduced services because of industrial action by some staff. I deplore the industrial action, but I am grateful for the efforts being made by other staff members to avoid hardship to unemployed people and to ensure that benefits are paid on time.Labour Statistics
Mr. Cox : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the present number of (a) men and (b) women who were unemployed in the Greater London area on 1 November.
Mr. Nicholls : The following information is available in the Library. On 14 September 1989, the latest available date, there were, seasonally adjusted, 149,000 male and 57,200 female unemployed claimants in the Greater London region.
Engineering (Training)
Mr. David Nicholson : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment when he expects to be in a position to make a statement about future arrangements for training in the engineering industry.
Mr. Nicholls : Consultations with the engineering industry training board and organisations representing employers in the engineering industry have now been completed. My right hon. Friend hopes to be in a position to make an announcement shortly.
Mr. David Nicholson : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment whether, in making arrangements for the future of training in engineering, he will ensure that existing provision by EITB for the training of women engineers, for adult training in modern technology skills and for the promotion in schools of engineering as a career, is safeguarded and will be continued by the successor body.
Mr. Nicholls : While the Government recognise the value of these EITB services, they believe that it is for industry to decide whether a voluntary successor body should continue to provide particular services currently run by the industrial training board.
Disabled People (Quotas)
Mr. Wareing : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many members of the staff of his Department are engaged on ensuring that the Disabled Persons Employment Act 1944 in respect of the quota system for disabled people is implemented.
Mr. Eggar [holding answer 6 November 1989] : All jobcentre staff involved in filling vacancies have some responsibility to help to ensure that the quota system is implemented. The main responsibility falls on disablement resettlement officers and the disablement advisory service. During the quarter ending 7 July 1989 664 staff were engaged in these services specifically for people with disabilities.
Claimants
Mr. Meacher : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many people have transferred from unemployment benefit to (a) sickness benefit, and (b) other benefits in each month since January 1987.
Column 539
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : I have been asked to reply.
Information is not collected in the form requested. An estimate of the number of spells of sickness and invalidity benefit which linked with a claim to unemployment benefit made in the previous eight weeks is shown in the table for each month from January 1987 to March 1988, the latest month for which statistics are available. Information is not available for other benefits.
Spells of SB/IVB linking with unemployment Month commencing |Number --------------------------------------------------- 5 January 1987 |19,000 4 February 1987 |21,000 6 March 1987 |20,000 6 April 1987 |16,000 6 May 1987 |19,000 5 June 1987 |19,000 6 July 1987 |20,000 5 August 1987 |21,000 4 September 1987 |22,000 5 October 1987 |25,000 4 November 1987 |19,000 4 December 1987 |14,000 4 January 1988 |22,000 3 February 1988 |21,000 4 March 1988 |18,000
DEFENCE
Fylingdales
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the implications of the 1972 ABM treaty for the continued operation of Fylingdales early warning station.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The United Kingdom is not a party to the anti- ballistic missile treaty, and we therefore have no locus to interpret it. We are, however, satisfied that the modernisation programme for the Fylingdales ballistic missile early warning system fully conforms with the obligations of the United States under the treaty.
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what installations the Soviet Union has which serve a similar purpose to the Fylingdales early warning station.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The Soviet Union completed the deployment in the mid-1970s of a system of ballistic missile early warning radars at six locations around the periphery of the USSR. A further network of more modern, and technically advanced, early warning radars are being deployed at eight locations around the periphery of the USSR. The Soviet Union has recently accepted that a ninth station, at Krasnoyarsk, represents a violation of the 1972 ABM treaty and has announced its decision to dismantle it.
Service Widows
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will now bring the pensions of pre-1973 service widows into line with those paid to those widowed since 1973 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : Under the rules of the armed forces pension scheme the payment of pensions to the widows of servicemen depends upon the terms and conditions in force at the date on which their husbands
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completed their service, or died in service. The rules of the scheme were changed in 1973 and these changes applied only to personnel giving service on or after 31 March 1973. In accordance with normal principles and practice for occupational pension schemes, the revised rules did not apply retrospectively to include former members of the scheme, and there are no plans to do so now.Loan Service Personnel
Mr. O'Neill : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) how many loan service personnel are currently deployed in Belize ; (2) how many loan service personnel are currently deployed in Thailand ;
(3) if he will publish in the Official Report the names of all the countries which have had access to training by members of Her Majesty's armed forces serving overseas on secondment or loan during each of the last four years.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : British service personnel served on loan or secondment in each year from 1986-89 in the following countries : Australia
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Barbados
Belize
Bermuda
Brunei
Dominica
Fiji
Gambia
Ghana
Hong Kong
Indonesia
Jordan
Kenya
Kuwait
Lesotho
Mauritius
New Zealand
Nigeria
Oman
Qatar
Saudi Arabia
St. Lucia
St. Vincent
Sudan
Swaziland
United Arab Emirate
Zimbabwe
Since January 1986 a wing of the British military advisory and training team has been specifically allocated to train Mozambican troops in Zimbabwe.
In addition British service personnel served on loan or secondment in the following countries in the years shown :
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