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The Attorney-General : I have taken the hon. Member's question to refer to the statutory offence under section 47(2) of the Financial Services Act 1986, and any other proceedings where the prosecution case amounts to an allegation of market manipulation.
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There are no such cases involving an accountant as defendant currently being prosecuted by the Crown prosecution service or the serious fraud office. For the purposes of this answer I have treated the word "accountant" as referring to persons employed as or acting in that capacity, as distinct from an individual who simply happens to hold a formal accountancy qualification.Jaderow Case Ruling
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : To ask the Attorney-General if he will make a statement on the implications for United Kingdom law of the Jaderow case ruling delivered by the European Court of Justice on 13 December.
The Attorney-General : The judgment in the Jaderow case was given in answer to a request for a preliminary ruling of the Court of Justice under article 177 of the treaty. It is now for the referring court, the High Court of Justice, to decide on the lawfulness of the fish licensing conditions at issue in that case in the light of the ruling of the Court of Justice. The case will be reinstated before the High Court in due course and argument will be heard on the impact of the preliminary ruling. To the end, the judgement is being considered carefully by Her Majesty's Government. Until the High Court delivers its judgment, it would be inappropriate for me to comment further.
Trial Statistics
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : To ask the Attorney-General, pursuant to the reply to the hon. Member for Pembroke on 18 December, if he will arrange for statistics concerning the period between offence and trial to be collected in future.
The Attorney-General : No. The Crown prosecution service collects statistics for its own management information and performance indicator purposes. It is not necessary for those purposes to collect statistics by reference to the date of offence.
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : To ask the Attorney-General what is the average period in (a) criminal cases and (b) civil cases between arrest or service of papers and hearing.
The Attorney-General : The latest figures recorded in the Home Office statistical bulletin for 29 November show that the average time taken between the date of charge or summons and the date of first hearing is 36 days.
Statistics relating to the period of time between arrest and hearing, in criminal cases, and service of papers and hearing, in civil cases, are not collected.
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : To ask the Attorney-General what is the longest period in recent years between arrest and trail ; and if he will give details of the case.
The Attorney-General : The information which is sought is not readily available and can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Morledge Case
Mr. Allen : To ask the Attorney-General whether any police officers are to be prosecuted for perjury arising from the collapse of the Morledge case.
The Attorney-General : It is for the chief constable of the Nottinghamshire constabulary to determine whether there
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should be a disciplinary or criminal investigation. If there is a criminal investigation the provisions of part IX of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 will determine whether a report should be submitted to the Director of Public Prosecutions. The question of prosecution cannot arise unless and until such a report is submitted.AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD
Willow Watermark Disease
Mr. Allen : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the latest position on the combating of willow watermark disease.
Mr. Maclean : I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him on 15 November 1989 at column 336.
There has been a significant and welcome reduction in the incidence of the disease, largely as a result of control measures carried out under the Watermark Disease (Local Authorities) Order 1986 and its predecessors.
Shellfish Regulations
Mr. Colvin : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will consider setting up a body run by his Department to administer and monitor the proposed molluscan shellfish regulations.
Mr. Gummer : The regulation of molluscan shellfisheries--including deposit controls, the granting of several orders and the approval of proposed byelaws of the Sea Fisheries Committees--are already matters for the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. Proposals are expected soon from the European Commission dealing with intra-Community trade in live bivalve molluscs and safeguards to public health. We shall examine the resource needs for administration and monitoring in the light of the proposals made but at present see no need to create a separate, single and new body for this purpose.
Rationing Schemes
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will ensure that guidance on war time rationing schemes for councils, resulting from a recent consultation exercise with local authority associations will contain specific provision for (a) ethnic minorities, (b) people with disabilities, (c) the homeless, (d) the illiterate and (e) those who decide to self-evacuate ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Gummer : The Ministry takes its civil defence responsibilities seriously and will ensure that arrangements are as accessible as possible to the whole community. No doubt the hon. Member will encourage his local authority to take a full and constructive part in current consultations with local authority associations.
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if his Department has considered the possibility of using poll tax registers as a basis for the distribution of ration documents in a war emergency ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Gummer : The community charge legislation contains no provision for local authorities to use information collected for the purposes of the community charge for other purposes.
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Food Stockpiling
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what advice his Department is offering to the public about the stockpiling of food in the event of a war emergency ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Gummer : As a result of the defence policy pursued by the Government within our membership of NATO, the likelihood of a war emergency is remote. However, the public would be advised appropriately should such a situation arise.
Salmon
Sir Michael Shaw : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what were the United Kingdom salmon catch statistics, distinguishing between the different methods of fishing in Scotland and England, for the most recent convenient years.
Mr. Gummer : I will write to my hon. Friend.
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
Mr. John Evans : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he last met the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds ; and what matters were discussed.
Mr. Maclean : I met representatives of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds on 30 August, when we discussed a number of issues of mutual concern.
Investment
Mr. Speller : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps he is taking to reduce the cost of borrowing for agricultural investment.
Mr. Maclean : I recognise that high interest rates are unwelcome to the agricultural industry ; but farming and agricultural investment, in common with other businesses, would be damaged more by a resurgence of inflation than by a period of higher interest rates.
Horse Sales
Mr. Harry Greenway : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he expects to present the proposed code of conduct for horse sales and markets ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Gummer : A new statutory order to protect the welfare of horses at markets, sales and fairs and a related code of practice are in the course of preparation. We hope to complete the new legislation and code of practice in the first half of 1990.
Arts and Design
Mr. Fisher : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what expenditure was made by his Department on (a) the arts and (b) design in the last financial year.
Mr. Maclean : During the course of carrying out its publicity activities, my Department does incur expenditure on design but does not contribute to the arts. Creative design is produced as an integral part of any given publicity campaign, consequently information in the form asked for is not readily available.
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Pesticides
Mr. Malcolm Bruce : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make it his policy for toxicity testing of pesticides to be based on exposures to multiple compounds.
Mr. Maclean : It is for the advisory committee on pesticides to determine what tests are required before approving pesticides.
Herbs and Spices
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he is conducting research into methods of sterilising herbs and spices other than irradiation and ethylene oxide ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Gummer : The industry is conducting research actively into the sterilisation of herbs and spices.
At present the only effective ways of ensuring that herbs and spices are free from microbiological contamination are treatment with ethylene oxide or irradiation. The problem in developing alternative treatments is the need to ensure that they are suitable for all, rather than just some, herbs and spices. Some promising new methods are currently being investigated, but it is too early to say whether any of these will be successful.
Salmonella
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Norfolk, North (Mr. Howell), of 13 December, Official Report, column 689, what evidence he has that the removal of salmonella infected poultry flocks is helping to reduce the level of salmonella infection in humans ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Gummer : The earlier reply referred to the risk of salmonella infection in humans. This risk is being reduced by the Government's measures, particularly through the compulsory slaughter of laying flocks known to be infected with invasive salmonella. Information collected by the public health laboratory service indicates that the number of salmonella food poisoning outbreaks associated with eggs rose from 23 in the first nine months of 1988 to 30 in the same period in 1989. This was a much lower rate of increase than that recorded in the previous two years.
Alcohol
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list all the measures he has taken to reduce alcohol consumption in the United Kingdom diet ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Gummer : In response to the report by the Committee on Medical Aspects of Food Policy on "Diet and Cardiovascular Disease" we extended the Community requirement to indicate alcoholic strength on prepacked alcoholic drinks to dispensed drinks such as those sold in bars or restaurants. This is to help those consumers wishing to assess or reduce their alcohol intake to do so. We are also intending to introduce controls over the use of the description "low alcohol" to drinks not exceeding 1.2 per cent. alcohol by volume to ensure that consumers are
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not misled in this area. Our Food Labelling Regulations already control the use of the terms "alcohol-free", "dealcoholised" and "non-alcoholic". All these are measures to give people the ability to choose. The responsibility for the sensible use of alcohol remains clearly one for every individual.Food Additives
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list all food additives which currently have approval for use in food, giving in each case, the year of approval ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Gummer : All currently approved food additives are listed in the back of our free booklet "Food Additives--The Balanced Approach", available from Food Sense, London SE99 7TT. Since publication of the list, one new sweetener, Lactitol, has been added and as a result of an EC directive four emulsifiers--polyoxyethylene (8) stearate (430), polyoxyethylene (40) stearate (431), lactylated fatty acid esters of glycol and propane-1, 2- diol (478), and dioctyl sodium
sulphosuccinate (--) have been deleted, and two added tartaric acid esters of mono and diglycerides of fatty acids (E472(d)), and mixed acetic and tartaric acid esters of mono and diglycerides of fatty acids (E472(f)).
I will send the hon. Member a copy of the booklet.
The dates of current approval are the dates of the relevant regulations, a list of which I will also send to the hon. Member. The information requested on the individual approval dates could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list all the food additives for which he has withdrawn approval giving in each case the year when the additive was withdrawn ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Gummer : Cyclamic acid, a sweetener, and its sodium and calcium salts were withdrawn in 1969. The Colouring Matter in Food Regulations 1973 have been amended several times as follows : in 1975 Orange RN was withdrawn ; in 1976 Fast Yellow AB, Orchil or Orcein, Solanthrene Blue RS or Anthragen Blue or Indanthrene Blue Black 7984 and Burnt Umber were withdrawn ; in 1978 in order to implement an EC directive,
Orange G, chocolate brown FB, the channel black form of carbon black were withdrawn ; and in 1987 yellow 2G was withdrawn. In order to implement an EC directive the following emulsifiers and stablisers were withdrawn in 1989 :
Ployoxyethylene (8) stearate, polyoxyethylene (40) stearate, lactylated fatty acid esters of glycol and propane-1 2-diol, and dioctyl sodium sulphosuccinate.
We have recently announced an intention to prohibit the use of mineral hydrocarbons in food, and potassium bromate as a flour improver. We have also accepted the advice of the Food Advisory Committee that the colours, crocin, santalin, solvent-extracted annatto, canthaxanthin and capsanthin/capsorubin should be removed from the permitted list, although in the case of the last three, Community action will be required.
Saturated Fat
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list all the measures he has taken to reduce saturated fat consumption in the United Kingdom diet ; and if he will make a statement.
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Mr. Gummer : In response to the report by the Committee on Medical aspects of Food Policy in "Diet and Cardiovascular Disease", which recommended reductions in overall fat intake and intake of saturated fat, we made adjustments to the beef and sheep variable premium schemes to exclude the fatter animals from eligibility. In 1987 my Department introduced guidelines on nutrition labelling. These have encouraged manufacturers to give nutrition information on food labels including total fat and saturates declarations, thus enabling consumers to compare products more easily and to help them reduce their fat intake. We are currently pressing for a satisfactory Communitywide system for consumers in negotiations on proposed Community directives on nutrition labelling. As announced in July we shall be introducing regulations to control nutrition claims such as "low fat", "low in saturates" to ensure that consumers are not misled. Together with the Department of Health and the Health Education Authority, my officials are preparing a simple set of dietary guidelines to be published in the new year which will further help to educate consumers about the need for an overall balanced diet.
Sugar
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list all the measures he has taken to reduce sugar consumption in the United Kingdom diet ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Gummer : In 1987 my Department introduced guidelines on nutrition labelling. These have encouraged manufacturers to give nutrition information on food labels, including total sugar declarations, thus enabling consumers to compare products more easily and to help them choose a balanced diet. We are currently pressing for a satisfactory Communitywide system for consumers in negotiations on proposed Community directives on nutrition labelling. As announced in July, we shall be introducing regulations to control nutrition claims such as "reduced sugar", "no added sugars" to ensure that consumers are not misled. We are also actively considering those recommendations which fall to my Department's responsibility in the recently published report by the Committee on Medical Aspects of Food Policy on "Dietary Sugars and Human Disease".
Sodium Chloride
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list all the measures he has taken to reduce the sodium chloride consumption in the United Kingdom diet ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Gummer : Although certain people require low sodium diets for medical reasons, I am not aware of any firm evidence of the need to reduce sodium chloride consumption in the United Kingdom diet. In 1987 my Department introduced guidelines on nutrition labelling. These have encouraged manufacturers to give nutrition information on food labels, including sodium declarations, thus enabling consumers to compare products more easily and to help those who wish to reduce their sodium intake to do so.
I am currently pressing for a satisfactory Community-wide system for consumers in negotiations on proposed
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Community directives on nutrition labelling. As announced in July we shall be introducing regulations to control nutrition claims such as "low salt", "low sodium", to ensure that consumers are not misled.Commission proposals relating specifically to sodium have not yet been issued, but I am seeking to ensure effective Communitywide regulation on all these matters, although a number of countries have been strongly opposed to those proposals issued so far.
Fishing Rights
Mr. Colvin : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is his policy on the extension of inshore sea fishery district and exclusive fishing rights from three to six miles ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Gummer : My colleagues and I are currently giving careful consideration to a proposal put to us by the Association of Sea Fisheries Committees for an extension of SFC jurisdiction from three to six miles which would
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enable SFCs to propose byelaws for regulating certain stocks in the wider zone. We will make a decision as soon as we can. There would be detailed consultations with the fishing industry and constituent county and metropolitan district councils of SFCs if we decide to proceed.Bass Nursery Areas
Mr. Colvin : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what discussions he has had with the sea fishery committees about his proposal to introduce bass nursery areas in Langstone harbour, Portsmouth harbour, Southampton Water, Poole harbour and the Fleet at Portland.
Mr. Gummer : The Ministry has had a number of discussions with the Association of Sea Fisheries Commmittees and with individual Sea Fisheries Comittees about the introduction of nursery areas in these and other waters to help protect juvenile bass stocks. We hope to be able to make an announcement soon.
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