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Mr. Nicholls : The training programmes and schemes introduced by my Department since 1979 are as follows :
Training Opportunities Scheme.
Open Tech.
National Priority Skills Scheme.
Youth Training Scheme.
Technical and Vocational Education Initiative.
Local Collaborative Projects.
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Non Advanced Further Education/Work Related Further Education. Job Training Scheme.Training For Enterprise.
Local Grants to Employers.
Wider Opportunities Training Programme.
New Job Training Scheme.
Enterprise in Higher Education and other HE projects.
Employment Training.
Business Growth Training.
Compacts.
The Open College.
Mr. Parry : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if employment training is to become a designated scheme under the Employment Act 1988.
Mr. Nicholls : My Department has no plans for employment training to be designated under the Employment Act 1988.
Column 553
Union Mergers
Mr. Batiste : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what information he has as to how many union mergers have taken place in the years since 1980, and as to what the sizes of the unions merged were.
Mr. Nicholls : There were 115 mergers involving a total of 2.7 million union members in the period 1980 to 1988 ; annual data are given in the table. Separate statistics on the sizes of individual unions involved in these mergers are not readily available.
Year |Number of|Number of
|mergers |members
|involved
----------------------------------------
1980 |13 |113,235
1981 |4 |8,617
1982 |12 |1,455,207
1983 |9 |65,320
1984 |18 |142,302
1985 |11 |73,526
1986 |32 |50,530
1987 |5 |125,200
1988 |11 |673,300
|-- |-------
Total |115 |2,707,237
Labour Costs
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is his estimate of hourly manufacturing labour costs, indexed with the United Kingdom as 100, in West Germany, France, the United States of America and Japan in 1979 and 1989, and what is his estimate of an index of labour costs in the same countries in the same years, using an index of manufacturing productivity calculated on the same basis.
Mr. Nicholls : International comparisons of hourly manufacturing labour costs (excluding recruitment and training costs and costs of facilities and services) are made periodically by the United States Bureau of Labour Statistics. Available data from this source are as follows :
Index UK=100
|1980|1988
------------------------------
United Kingdom |100 |100
West Germany |166 |172
France |120 |124
United States |132 |133
Japan |76 |121
Manufacturing productivity data on the same basis are not available.
Factory Inspectors
Mr. Steinberg : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many factory inspectors were employed for each year since 1980.
Mr. Nicholls : The number of factory inspectors employed in the Health and Safety Executive in each year since 1980 is as follows (1 April figures) :
Year |Number of
|factory
|inspectors
---------------------------------
1980 |759.0
1981 |735.0
1982 |678.0
1983 |654.0
1984 |627.0
1985 |652.0
1986 |623.0
1987 |621.5
1988 |592.5
1989 |604.0
<1>1990 |624.5
<1> 1 January.
Hazardous Substances
Mr. Tony Lloyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what resources his Department has given for the implementation of the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations.
Mr. Nicholls : These regulations will be enforced by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and local authorities as part of their continuing programme of visits to premises. Responsibility for implementation of the regulations rests with industry. The HSE has been working closely with industry organisations and employers to encourage them to develop guidance for their members as well as promoting the regulations by a variety of means including national and trade advertising and the distribution of introductory leaflets.
Training Agents
Mr. O'Brien : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many training agents have been appointed in the Wakefield and Leeds area ; which individuals or organisations are involved as training agents ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Nicholls : There are four training agents in the Leeds and Wakefield area currently participating in ET. These are :
Wakefield Training Agent
Leeds City Council
Shapman Ltd.
The Leeds Chamber Training Agent.
Action for Jobs
Mr. Terry Davis : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how much of the expenditure on Action for Jobs, in addition to expenditure on television advertising and printed material in 1985-86, 1986-87 and 1987-88 was spent through the Central Office of Information :
Mr. Eggar : In addition to Action For Jobs expenditure on television advertising and printed material, the following amounts were spent through the Central Office of Information :
1985-86 Nil
1986-87 £1.7 million
1987-88 £2.4 million.
Maternity Leave
Mr. Meacher : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list all the changes in employment law since May 1979 which have affected women's rights to maternity leave.
Mr. Nicholls : The Employment Act 1980 made the following changes :
Column 555
Initial notification of intention to return after confinement must now be in writing and should include the expected week of confinement or, if confinement has occurred, the actual date. An employer has the right, not earlier than 49 days after the beginning of the expected week of confinement (or the notified date of confinement) to make a written request for confirmation in writing that the woman intends to return. If she does not comply within 14 days of receiving the request (or if that is not reasonably practicable, as soon as is reasonably practicable) she will lose the right to return.Final notification of the intended date of return must now be made in writing at least 21 days (formerly 7 days) beforehand. A woman who has been prevented from returning because of an interruption to work must resume work not later than 28 days (formerly 14 days) after the interruption is over.
The right to complain to an industrial tribunal if an employer does not reinstate her to her old job does not apply where it is not reasonably practicable for an employer to reinstate the woman in her original job (for reasons other than redundancy) and where an offer of employment is unreasonably refused.
Employers with fewer than 6 employees no longer have to re-employ a woman if it is not reasonably practicable either to reinstate her in her old job or to offer her suitable alternative employment.
SCOTLAND
Skye Toll Bridge
Mr. Wilson : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the planning procedure which he intends to follow in relation to the proposed Skye toll bridge.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : As indicated in "New Roads by New Means" (Cmnd. 698), it is proposed to introduce new legislation to provide revised procedures for the authorisation of privately financed roads. These would amend and supplement the Roads (Scotland) Act 1984. Alternatively, as with the M25 Dartford crossing, a project specific Bill may be judged the most suitable vehicle to progress Skye bridge timeously. In either case, the statutory procedures adopted will safeguard the environment and uphold the rights of individuals and local councils affected by such privately funded infrastructure developments.
School Boards
Mr. Wallace : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list, in respect of each Scottish education authority area, the applications received by him to have the obligation to have a school board waived, in terms of
Column 556
section 20 of the School Boards (Scotland) Act 1988 ; and if he will indicate those cases in which he has granted such a waiver.Mr. Lang [holding answer 21 December 1989] : My right hon. and learned Friend has received one such application, which he has granted in respect of Graemsay primary school in Orkney.
Sand-eels
Mr. Morley : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he will decide whether the ban on commercial sand-eel fishing in the Shetlands will be extended a further season.
Mr. Lang [holding answer 5 February 1990] : A consultation paper setting out the scientific advice on sand-eel stocks and a range of possible management options for the fishery has been issued by the Department. Responses from several bodies are still awaited.
TRANSPORT
Highway Authorities
Ms. Ruddock : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list in the Official Report for each highway authority in England (a) their bid for annual capital guidelines and transport supplementary grant for 1990-91, (b) the allocation announced in each case, (c) the allocation as a percentage of bid in each case and (d) the percentage of each authority's transport supplementary grant allocation attributable to minor works.
Mr. Atkins : "Capital allocations" under the present local government finance system are not equivalent to "annual capital guidelines" (ACGs) under the new one for 1990-91 onwards. For example, capital allocations included transport supplementary grant (TSG) but ACGs do not. Furthermore, local authorities are also given "supplementary credit approvals" (SCAs) in addition to ACGs to help them finance capital expenditure not met by TSG.
Table 1 shows each local highway authority's bid for capital expenditure on roads and parking, the sum of its TSG, ACG and SCA allocations, and the percentage that the total allocations are of the bids.
Table 2 shows authorities' bids and allocations for accepted expenditure, the percentage that allocations are of bids, and the percentage of accepted expenditure that is for minor works.
Column 555
Table 1
Capital expenditure on roads and parking 1990-91
Highway Authority |Bid |Sum of TSG |Column 2 as
|ACG and SCA |percentage of
|Column 1
|£ million |£ million |Per cent.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|(1) |(2) |(3)
City of London |2.152 |0.562 |26.1
Barking and Dagenham |8.285 |5.370 |64.8
Barnet |2.551 |0.732 |28.7
Bexley |7.681 |5.003 |65.1
Brent |3.352 |0.743 |22.2
Bromley |10.281 |8.162 |79.4
Camden |3.494 |1.284 |36.7
Croydon |7.199 |2.778 |38.6
Ealing |16.092 |7.731 |48.0
Enfield |14.198 |11.790 |83.0
Greenwich |3.792 |1.168 |30.8
Hackney |3.662 |0.977 |26.7
Hammersmith and Fulham |6.009 |1.451 |24.1
Haringey |8.702 |6.162 |70.8
Harrow |12.380 |8.882 |71.7
Havering |2.222 |0.783 |35.2
Hillingdon |17.543 |9.956 |56.8
Hounslow |2.309 |1.098 |47.6
Islington |2.294 |0.717 |31.3
Kensington and Chelsea |1.671 |.979 |58.6
Kingston upon Thames |5.275 |2.447 |46.4
Lambeth |0.990 |0.434 |43.8
Lewisham |7.777 |5.068 |65.2
Merton |20.813 |15.532 |74.6
Newham |6.774 |4.660 |68.8
Redbridge |2.729 |0.732 |26.8
Richmond upon Thames |2.741 |0.805 |29.4
Southwark |4.327 |1.950 |45.1
Sutton |8.514 |3.758 |44.1
Tower Hamlets |5.161 |1.098 |21.3
Waltham Forest |2.931 |0.782 |26.7
Wandsworth |13.202 |4.440 |33.6
Westminster |17.314 |4.956 |28.6
Bolton |5.444 |3.287 |60.4
Bury |3.145 |2.164 |68.8
Manchester |20.586 |13.201 |64.1
Oldham |10.823 |3.057 |28.2
Rochdale |5.208 |1.225 |26.0
Salford |14.364 |6.430 |44.8
Stockport |2.738 |1.417 |51.8
Tameside |6.461 |1.841 |28.5
Trafford |6.357 |1.955 |30.8
Wigan |6.939 |2.937 |42.3
Knowsley |3.427 |2.293 |6.9
Liverpool |8.250 |3.256 |39.5
St. Helens |6.727 |6.288 |93.5
Sefton |3.196 |1.340 |41.9
Wirral |4.391 |1.969 |44.8
Barnsley |6.260 |3.848 |61.5
Doncaster |5.221 |2.604 |49.9
Rotherham |4.614 |3.151 |68.3
Sheffield |16.932 |12.007 |70.9
Gateshead |6.274 |2.963 |44.1
Newcastle upon Tyne |9.803 |2.982 |30.4
North Tyneside |2.420 |0.695 |28.7
South Tyneside |4.260 |1.942 |45.6
Sunderland |8.120 |3.880 |47.8
Birmingham |27.312 |18.450 |67.6
Coventry |7.242 |3.836 |53.0
Dudley |8.462 |2.847 |33.6
Sandwell |6.326 |3.424 |54.1
Solihull |4.117 |1.753 |42.6
Walsall |9.242 |5.934 |64.2
Wolverhampton |10.028 |6.701 |66.8
Bradford |11.364 |6.709 |59.0
Calderdale |3.018 |1.524 |50.5
Kirklees |5.210 |0.795 |15.3
Leeds |10.125 |6.596 |65.1
Wakefield |9.507 |2.614 |27.5
Avon |18.900 |14.435 |76.4
Bedfordshire |9.008 |6.382 |70.8
Berkshire |24.775 |7.844 |31.7
Buckinghamshire |7.383 |3.240 |43.9
Cambridgeshire |15.976 |6.248 |39.1
Cheshire |19.586 |10.328 |52.7
Cleveland |15.159 |11.793 |77.8
Cornwall |14.531 |7.467 |51.4
Cumbria |8.345 |5.652 |67.7
Derbyshire |13.801 |4.935 |35.8
Devon |26.802 |11.423 |42.6
Dorset |14.000 |7.410 |52.9
Durham |7.658 |5.342 |69.8
East Sussex |16.048 |8.813 |54.9
Essex |31.913 |18.592 |58.3
Gloucestershire |10.835 |5.148 |47.5
Hampshire |22.456 |17.823 |79.4
Hereford and Worcester |7.883 |3.923 |49.8
Hertfordshire |9.910 |7.725 |78.0
Humberside |16.365 |12.989 |79.4
Isle of Wight |4.808 |1.616 |33.6
Kent |56.010 |31.272 |55.8
Lancashire |38.014 |29.369 |77.3
Leicestershire |14.303 |7.605 |53.2
Lincolnshire |7.535 |4.055 |53.8
Norfolk |20.279 |12.990 |64.1
Northamptonshire |16.050 |7.964 |49.6
Northumberland |6.570 |3.746 |57.0
North Yorkshire |15.041 |8.353 |55.5
Nottinghamshire |15.359 |5.900 |38.4
Oxfordshire |17.627 |7.814 |44.3
Shropshire |11.791 |5.106 |43.3
Somerset |14.748 |7.642 |51.8
Staffordshire |15.000 |7.303 |48.7
Suffolk |21.545 |8.969 |41.6
Surrey |24.643 |15.435 |62.6
Warwickshire |9.463 |2.932 |31.0
West Sussex |16.426 |10.577 |64.4
Wiltshire |13.214 |7.699 |58.3
Table 2
Transport supplementary grant for local roads 1990-91
Highway authority |Bid for accepted |Gross accepted |Gross accepted |Accepted expen-
|expenditure |expenditure |expenditure as |diture for minor
|percentage of bid|works as percen-
|tage of column 2
|£ million |£ million |per cent. |per cent.
|(1) |(2) |(3) |(4)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
City of London |0.935 |0.202 |21.6 |100.0
Barking and Dagenham |6.220 |5.296 |85.1 |5.6
Barnet |0.651 |0.322 |49.5 |100.0
Bexley |4.578 |4.568 |99.8 |6.1
Brent |1.502 |0.364 |24.2 |100.0
Bromley |8.652 |7.668 |88.6 |7.5
Camden |1.070 |0.378 |35.3 |100.0
Croydon |4.375 |1.776 |40.6 |40.9
Ealing |8.572 |7.408 |86.4 |7.6
Enfield |13.460 |13.562 |100.8 |2.6
Greenwich |3.785 |1.388 |36.7 |20.2
Hackney |2.072 |0.372 |18.0 |100.0
Hammersmith and Fulham |1.605 |0.296 |18.4 |100.0
Haringey |7.447 |5.792 |77.8 |4.0
Harrow |11.315 |10.728 |94.8 |3.1
Havering |0.327 |0.430 |131.5 |100.0
Hillingdon |13.915 |12.584 |90.4 |5.5
Hounslow |1.950 |0.958 |49.1 |41.6
Islington |0.939 |0.336 |35.8 |100.0
Kensington and Chelsea |1.558 |1.220 |78.3 |24.4
Kingston upon Thames |3.112 |2.882 |92.6 |10.8
Lambeth |0.369 |0.308 |83.5 |100.0
Lewisham |5.699 |5.174 |90.8 |6.6
Merton |20.172 |14.550 |72.1 |2.4
Newham |5.353 |5.132 |95.9 |7.4
Redbridge |2.091 |0.268 |12.8 |100.0
Richmond upon Thames |0.770 |0.344 |44.7 |100.0
Southwark |3.427 |2.798 |81.6 |14.2
Sutton |3.154 |1.880 |59.6 |25.7
Tower Hamlets |1.655 |0.182 |11.0 |100.0
Waltham Forest |2.086 |0.562 |26.9 |91.1
Wandsworth |8.852 |3.122 |35.3 |29.5
Westminster |4.317 |1.384 |32.1 |33.4
Bolton |3.404 |2.984 |87.7 |6.3
Bury |2.065 |1.698 |82.2 |15.2
Manchester |16.208 |10.732 |66.2 |8.4
Oldham |7.618 |2.378 |31.2 |11.7
Rochdale |1.205 |0.378 |31.4 |100.0
Salford |11.928 |5.096 |42.7 |7.8
Stockport |1.251 |0.966 |77.2 |12.0
Tameside |1.814 |1.106 |61.0 |18.4
Trafford |4.051 |0.778 |19.2 |35.7
Wigan |6.559 |2.944 |44.9 |1.3
Knowsley |2.684 |1.792 |66.8 |20.0
Liverpool |7.600 |3.300 |43.4 |6.1
St. Helens |6.277 |5.882 |93.7 |4.2
Sefton |1.823 |0.738 |40.5 |23.6
Wirral |3.916 |2.250 |57.5 |9.1
Barnsley |4.360 |3.348 |76.8 |11.2
Doncaster |2.819 |1.864 |66.1 |17.1
Rotherham |3.426 |2.486 |72.6 |10.3
Sheffield |13.073 |11.192 |85.6 |5.3
Gateshead |5.651 |2.094 |37.1 |14.5
Newcastle upon Tyne |7.275 |3.824 |52.6 |10.0
North Tyneside |2.190 |0.306 |14.0 |100.0
South Tyneside |2,365 |1.450 |61.3 |13.8
Sunderland |7.305 |2.544 |34.8 |11.6
Birmingham |23.727 |15.790 |66.5 |4.5
Coventry |4.802 |2.948 |61.4 |12.8
Dudley |4.706 |1.150 |24.4 |20.1
Sandwell |5.533 |2.104 |38.0 |12.0
Solihull |1.038 |0.856 |82.5 |10.0
Walsall |6.053 |5.502 |90.9 |2.1
Wolverhampton |7.395 |6.334 |85.7 |3.6
Bradford |9.319 |6.884 |73.9 |7.0
Calderdale |0.894 |0.192 |21.5 |100.0
Kirklees |1.079 |0.270 |25.0 |88.9
Leeds |6.847 |6.064 |88.6 |7.3
Wakefield |4.320 |0.314 |7.3 |100.0
Avon |17.015 |13.428 |78.9 |2.1
Bedfordshire |8.328 |5.182 |62.2 |7.3
Berkshire |12.485 |4.614 |37.0 |9.4
Buckinghamshire |2.498 |2.306 |92.3 |5.4
Cambridgeshire |7.883 |4.414 |56.0 |13.9
Cheshire |10.572 |8.558 |80.9 |3.4
Cleveland |12.276 |11.084 |90.3 |2.2
Cornwall |9.440 |5.944 |63.0 |4.4
Cumbria |5.849 |4.652 |79.5 |6.7
Derbyshire |4.388 |1.864 |42.5 |16.7
Devon |18.284 |6.788 |37.1 |4.3
Dorset |12.380 |5.732 |46.3 |7.3
Durham |6.678 |4.820 |72.2 |10.6
East Sussex |9.175 |6.242 |68.0 |5.5
Essex |17.241 |13.672 |79.3 |3.3
Gloucestershire |9.383 |3.866 |41.2 |4.0
Hampshire |16.627 |15.278 |91.9 |1.6
Hereford and Worcester |5.335 |2.926 |54.6 |9.2
Hertfordshire |8.600 |8.400 |97.7 |3.6
Humberside |12.972 |10.624 |81.9 |4.1
Isle of Wight |3.950 |0.828 |21.0 |100.0
Kent |46.565 |30.450 |65.4 |1.3
Lancashire |32.236 |25.896 |80.3 |2.5
Leicestershire |9.431 |6.094 |64.6 |6.5
Lincolnshire |4.338 |3.148 |72.6 |12.2
Norfolk |14.090 |11.346 |80.5 |2.6
Northamptonshire |12.523 |6.998 |55.9 |9.0
Northumberland |4.739 |3.062 |64.6 |6.9
North Yorkshire |10.927 |7.688 |70.4 |5.0
Nottinghamshire |4.859 |3.828 |78.8 |12.9
Oxfordshire |10.243 |5.124 |50.0 |0.9
Shropshire |6.576 |3.182 |48.4 |4.6
Somerset |9.618 |6.812 |70.8 |1.7
Staffordshire |10.045 |5.826 |58.0 |6.7
Suffolk |12.908 |6.374 |49.4 |3.6
Surrey |19.438 |13.560 |69.8 |5.2
Warwickshire |5.187 |2.284 |44.0 |20.4
West Sussex |10.723 |9.564 |89.2 |2.6
Wiltshire |11.461 |6.320 |55.1 |2.7
Notes
1. Column 2 does not take into account any adjustments arising from underspends on accepted expenditure in
previous years.
2. Transport Supplementary Grant is paid at the rate of 50 per cent. of net accepted expenditure (ie after
adjustment).
3. For London, accepted expenditure for Transport Supplementary Grant includes each Borough's share of
expenditure on the London-wide Urban Traffic Control system managed by the City of London on behalf of the
Secretary of State which is not included in boroughs' bids but is included in their gross accepted expenditure.
This is why for some London authorities their accepted expenditure is greater than their bid.
London Assessment Studies
Ms. Ruddock : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will permit his Department's consultants to release detailed drawings to the public showing how specific properties will be affected by the proposals in stage 2B of the London assessment studies.
Mr. Atkins : Since the consultants' preliminary drawings are only illustrative it would be inappropriate and misleading to release them to the public. Much more detailed design work will be necessary on any options which may be taken forward before it will be known how specific properties will be affected.
Ms. Ruddock : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he will publish in full the results of the public consultation on stage 2B of the London assessment studies and "Traffic in London".
Mr. Atkins : We have not yet decided in what form the results should be published.
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he will extend the time period given for public consultation over the London road assessment studies.
M1 (Lighting)
Mr. Pawsey : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when motorway lighting will be installed on the M1 from Watford Gap to its junction with the M6.
Mr. Atkins : Motorway lighting is at present being installed from Watford Gap (junction 17) to Crick (junction 18) and will be completed by the end of this month. Further extension from Crick to the M6 junction (junction 19) is planned and should go ahead during the 1990-91 financial year.
Roads (Sterilised Land)
Dr. Kim Howells : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what is the latest estimate of land sterilised for other uses by the construction of (a) new two-lane highways, (b) new four-lane highways and (c) new six-lane highways measured in terms of land sterilised per 1,000 m of new road construction.
Mr. Atkins : The amount of land taken for road scheme varies according to topography, structures and the amount of landscape treatment. In terms of standard carriageway widths, the land take is as follows :
Standard |Width |Area per 1000 me-
|tres
|metres |(in hectares)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Motorway
Dual 4 lane |=50 |5.0
Dual 3 lane |=43 |4.3
Dual 2 lane |=35 |3.5
All-purpose
Dual 2 lane<1> |=38 |3.8
Wide single |=26 |2.6
Single |=23 |2.3
<1> Includes allowance for footpaths.
When the expanded roads programme is complete, the trunk road network in England will cover an area of 3,836ha, 0.29 per cent. of the total land area.
Greenham Common
Mr. Trotter : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he will consider the use of the Greenham Common airfield for civilian aircraft following the closure by the United States Airforce of its base there.
Mr. McLoughlin : The Government are prepared to look
sympathetically at applications for civil use of Ministry of Defence airfields, where such use is compatible with their operational role. I understand that RAF Greenham Common will remain available to the United States Airforce as a standby operating base for the foreseeable future.
Jubilee Line
Ms Ruddock : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what is the developers' financial contribution to the extension of the Jubilee line in today's prices ; and over what period it is due to be paid ;
(2) what is the formulation of the agreement between the developers and the Department of Transport over contributions towards the construction of the Jubilee line extension ; and if it is available in written form.
Mr. Portillo : In my right hon. Friend's answer of 16 November to my hon. Friend the Member for Hendon, South (Mr. Marshall) Official Report column 398, he said :
"The Jubilee extension will cost about £1 billion in today's prices to which developers over time will be making a cash contribution of over £400 million".
Of that sum just over £100 million will be paid within the next three years, with the balance to be paid in the years following the opening of the line, which is as yet an indeterminate date. The full total of contributions is not yet known as negotiations with some developers remain to be concluded.
The understandings to this effect, reached in recent months between the Department and developers, remain to be executed as legal agreements between LRT and those developers, and contain commercially confidential material.
London Docklands Railway
Mr. Spearing : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement concerning the resignation of the manager of the docklands light railway ; and when he expects a permanent replacement to be appointed.
Mr. Portillo : This is not an appointment made by the Secretary of State. It is a matter entirely for the board of London Regional Transport.
Column 565
Road Closure, Poplar
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what representations he has received in connection with the proposed road closure at the junction of Lanrick road and East India Dock road in Poplar, east London ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Atkins : No proposal has been made to close Lanrick road at its junction with East India Dock road. Representations have been received about the local authority's suggested closure of Lanrick road at its junction with Portree road. These were from the deputy mayor of the London borough of Tower Hamlets, the chief executive of the Poplar standing neighbourhood committee, the local Liberal Focus team, enclosing a petition signed by 230 local residents, and two members of the public. The Department is concerned at the safety implications of the proposed closure since it would create a cul-de-sac access to the busy A13 trunk road. My right hon. Friend would consider any formal proposal made by the local highway authority on its merits.
Cost-benefit Analysis
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he has any plans to change the method of pricing involved in the cost-benefit analysis, COBA 9, presently used by his Department.
Mr. Atkins : All the major economic parameters used in COBA 9 are kept under continuous review and adjustments made periodically. A number of major revisions have been made in the last three years. I have no plans, at present, to make any further revisions.
Diesel Exhaust Fumes
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will introduce measures to reduce levels of hydrocarbons contained within diesel exhaust fumes.
Mr. Atkins : Regulations were made last year that will apply to new diesel-engined vehicles from 1 October 1990. They will introduce European Community limits on gaseous emissions, including hydrocarbons. The European Commission is expected to propose much tighter gaseous emission standards for lorries and buses later this year, and to propose limits on particulates. We are pressing the Commission to make its long-overdue proposals as soon as possible.
HEALTH
Private Hospitals
Mr. Vaz : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many private hospitals he has visited in the last 12 months ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Kenneth Clarke : I have not visited any private hospitals in the last 12 months.
Accountancy Firms
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for Health, further to his reply to the hon. Member for Great Grimsby of 20 December, Official Report, column 333,
Column 566
concerning the accountancy firms employed by his Department, if he will indicate (a) the names of the five firms, (b) a list of payments made to each in 1988 and 1989, (c) details of the consultancy contracts given to each firm and (d) who his Department consulted when drawing up the contracts.Mr. Freeman : Information about the five consultancy firms employed by the Department is set out in the tables for both financial years. The individual contracts were prepared to accord with the specific requirements of the work undertaken, drawing as necessary on relevant expertise within the Department and in line with the guidance issued by Treasury on employment of external consultants.
Financial Year 1988-89
Accountancy Firm and Details of Contract |Amount paid/
|contracted
|£
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Touche Ross (a) Statutory Audit of NHS |147,954.70
Touche Ross (b) Paymaster (Methods in NHS) |20,000.00
2. Ernst Young Statutory Audit of NHS |181,806.80
3. Coopers Lybrand Deloittes Statutory Audit of NHS |153,872.90
4. Price Waterhouse (a) Statutory Audit of NHS |148,329.43
Price Waterhouse (b) FMI policy and Financial Management Review of CCETSW<1> |60,000.00
5. Hodgson Impey Statutory Audit of NHS |120,555.10
<1> Central Council for Education and Training in Social Work.
Financial Year 1989-90
Accountancy Firm and Details of Contract |Amount paid/
|contracted
|£
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Touche Ross Statutory Audit of NHS |301,011.52
2. Ernst Young Statutory Audit of NHS |204,413.49
3. Coopers Lybrand Deloittes (a) Statutory Audit of NHS |221,694.87
Coopers Lybrand Deloittes (b) Hospital Cost Arrangements, Procedures and Systems |40,000.00
4. Price Waterhouse Statutory Audit of NHS |187,488.29
5. Hodgson Impey Statutory Audit of NHS |135,663.45
NHS Assets (Interest)
Mr. Ralph Howell : To ask the Secretary of State for Health at what level the interest elements of capital charges are set for National Health Service assets ; how this figure is arrived at ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Freeman : When capital charging is introduced in April 1991, the interest rate to be applied to the current value of National Health Service assets will be 6 per cent. This rate is based on the discount rate used for the non-trading part of the public sector, as published by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury in 1989.
Tobacco-related Diseases
Mr. Colvin : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the annual cost to the National Health Service of treating
tobacco-related diseases.
Column 567
Mr. Freeman : I refer my hon. Friend to the reply that I gave him on 17 January 1990 at column 277.Computer Security
Mr. Colvin : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department has taken, and is taking to improve the security of its computer systems.
Mr. Freeman : For unclassifed but sensitive systems the Department of Health is expected to follow Central Computer and
Telecommunications Agency guidance covering all aspects of IT security, and the application of this has been tightened recently. CCTA advice is kept under continuous review and is based on analysis of security risks and requirements using structured methods such as CCTA's risk analysis management methodology (CRAMM), which has also been made available commercially.
More stringent conditions apply to classified systems.
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