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Maintenance
Mr. Meacher : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, pursuant to his statement of 30 January, Official Report, column 197, when the survey of courts and local Department of Social Security offices commissioned by his Department in conjunction with the Lord Chancellor's Department, the Home Office, the Scottish Office and the
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Lord Advocate's Department, will be completed, and if it will include data on lone parents not in receipt of state benefits.Mrs. Gillian Shephard : The maintenance survey of courts and Department of Social Security local offices will be completed in the summer and I can confirm that it will include data on lone parents not in receipt of state benefits. Further information about the survey is given in my answer yesterday to my hon. Friends the Members for Medway (Dame P. Fenner), for Rochford (Dr. Clark), for Bury, South (Mr. Sumberg), for Pembroke (Mr. Bennett) and for Orpington (Mr. Stanbrook).
ENVIRONMENT
Storm Damage Assistance
Dame Janet Fookes : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if the city of Plymouth will be eligible for assistance under the Bellwin scheme following severe storm damage on 25 January ;
(2) what practical steps he is taking to advise local authorities of help available in the wake of severe storm damage.
Mr. David Hunt : My Department wrote on 26 January to all local authorities in England to notify them that the Bellwin scheme for special financial assistance to authorities in emergencies had been activated. We have written again today with full details of the operation of the scheme and application forms. A copy of our letter has been placed in the Library of the House.
The scheme covers the cost of emergency work resulting from the storms of 16 and 17 December and 25 January, and also the floods in the Severn valley, which began on 29 January. If the city of Plymouth has incurred eligible expenditure above a threshold equivalent to a 0.15p rate, it will qualify for assistance under the scheme.
Peak and Northern Footpath Society
Mr. Andrew F. Bennett : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when the Peak and Northern Footpath Society was informed of the inquiry under the Town and Country Planning Act 1971, section 210, into the Metropolitan Borough of Bury (Definitive Right of Way No. 3 St. John's Radcliffe) (Public Path Stopping-up) Order 1989 ; and whether as an objector the society was given sufficient notice.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : Notification of the inquiry under the Town and Country Planning Act 1971, section 210, into the Metropolitan Borough of Bury (Definitive Right of Way No. 3 St. John's Radcliffe) (Public Path Stopping-up) Order 1989, was sent by the Department on 26 January, four days before the inquiry. It is accepted that as a statutory objector, the Peak and Northern Footpath Society was given insufficient notice, and the inquiry has been adjourned until 21 March.
Common Land
Mr. Chris Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he expects to come forward with legislation arising out of the report on common land produced by the working party established by the Countryside Commission.
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Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 27 November 1989 by my hon. Friend the Minister for the Environment and Countryside, the Member for Rossendale and Darwen (Mr. Trippier), to my hon. Friend the Member for Harborough (Sir J. Farr), ( Official Report, Vol. 162, c. 89 ).Rate Support Grant
Sir Peter Hordern : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish a table showing the cost of rate support grant in each of the last five years, and the proportion that rate support grant bears to total local government expenditure in each of those years.
Mr. David Hunt : The information for English authorities is as follows :
--------------------------------------- 1985-86 |9,153 |21,662|42.3 1986-87 |9,051 |23,729|38.1 1987-88 |9,467 |25,677|36.9 1988-89 |9,687 |27,835|34.8 1989-90<1> |9,577 |29,564|32.4 <1> Polytechnics were transferred from the local authority sector in April 1989.
Computer Security
Mr. Colvin : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what steps his Department has taken and is taking to improve the security of its computer systems.
Mr. Chris Patten : For unclassified but sensitive systems, Departments are expected to follow CCTA 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 and management methodology (CRAMM), which has also been made commercially available.
EC Water Directive
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what action his Department is taking to deal with levels of aluminium, nitrate and trihalomethanes above the European Commission's maximum admissible concentrations in Wakefield ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : My right hon. Friend has accepted programmes of works drawn up by Yorkshire Water services to achieve compliance with the standards in the EC drinking water directive on aluminium and trihalomethanes. The drinking water inspectorate established last month will monitor progress, and advise my right hon. Friend if any further action is necessary. I am not aware of any evidence that nitrate levels in Wakefield exceed the limit in the directive.
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Unleaded Petrol
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what level of naturally occurring lead is present within unleaded petrol ; and what volume of lead is released into the atmosphere per annum by this means.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : In 1988, the latest year for which figures are available, the concentration of lead in unleaded petrol averaged 0.002 grammes per litre, much of which was residual lead being flushed out of the distribution system. Combustion of the unleaded petrol sold in that year resulted in the emission of 0.5 tonnes of lead.
However, use of this fuel rather than leaded petrol avoided the emission of 35 tonnes. In 1989, we expect that the remarkable increase in the use of unleaded petrol will avoid emissions of around 600 tonnes of lead.
Yorkshire's Water Environment
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the distribution of the NRA report entitled "Guarding Yorkshire's Water Environment" ; what was the cost incurred in the production and distribution of this document ; and how it was paid for.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : I am informed by the NRA that its brochure, "Guarding Yorkshire's Water Environment", has been distributed to the media, local Members of Parliament, local authorities, NRA Yorkshire region staff and advisory committees, internal drainage boards and other relevant organisations. It is also made available to members of the public and others seeking information about the role of the NRA. A total of 4,000 copies of the brochure were printed at a cost of £11,410, paid for out of the NRA Yorkshire region public relations budget. So far, around 2,000 have been distributed, mainly by post.
Local Government Finance
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the percentage of rate fund revenue account income represented by rate support grant for each charging authority for (a) 1978-79 and (b) 1989-90 ; and if he will give the equivalent figure for revenue support grant in 1990-91.
Mr. David Hunt [holding answer 30 January 1990] : The available information has been placed in the Library.
Mr. Nellist : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will update the answer to the hon. Member for Coventry, South-East, of 28 July 1989, Official Report, columns 1200-2, listing all recent sources of legislation and official guidance on the operation of the community charge, and any further orders and regulations (a) laid before and agreed to by the House, (b) laid before, but not yet agreed to by the House and (c) yet to be laid before the House, giving in each case an outline of the area of implementation affected.
Mr. Chope [holding answer 5 February 1990] : I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Birmingham, Perry Barr (Mr. Rooker) on 17 January 1990, Official Report, column 254, which gave details of statutory instruments laid before Parliament up to that date. The other information requested is as follows :
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Statutory Instruments laid before Parliament since 17 January 1990The Relevant Population (England) Regulations 1990--
23 January 1990.
The Charging Authorities (Notification of Population to Precepting Authorities) (England) Regulations 1990--
23 January 1990.
The Standard Community Charge (Multipliers) Order--
5 February 1990.
Community Charge (Co-owners) Regulations 1990--
5 February 1990.
Statutory Instruments to be laid before Parliament
Form of the Community Charge and Rate Bill and accompanying information.
Exemption for the severely mentally impaired.
Exemption for 18 and 19 year olds in full-time non-higher education.
Other funds.
Levying bodies.
Payment to and from authorities.
Practice Notes issued to local authorities
Collection Fund--August 1989.
Students and the Community Charge--August 1989.
Transitional Relief Scheme for England--December 1989.
Environmental Protection Bill
Mrs. Ann Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the organisations that have been sent a copy of the schedules of prescribed processes and substances under clause 2 of the Environmental Protection Bill.
Mr. Trippier [holding answer 5 February 1990] : The current schedules of processes and substances are working drafts which have been made available to Standing Committee H to inform discussion of part I of the Environmental Protection Bill. They are not the subject of a public consultation exercise, because they do not yet incorporate our proposals for processes to be prescribed on account of special waste arisings, or for waste substances. The drafts will be finalised as soon as possible, and incorporated in a draft of the regulations provided for under clause 2 of the Bill. This will be published for comment as soon as it has been prepared.
Protected Species
Mr. Morley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he intends to include the brown hare on the wildlife and countryside list of protected species.
Mr. Trippier [holding answer 5 February 1990] : We have no current plans to include the brown hare on the list of species protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. Its position will be considered further during the Nature Conservancy Council's second quinquennial review of species protection under the 1981 Act, due in late 1991.
Newsprint
Mr. Robert B. Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will set out for the most recent year available a table showing for the United Kingdom (a) the total usage of waste newspapers, (b) the volume of imports of newsprint and (c) the volume of imports of newsprint from the United States of America.
Mr. Forth : I have been asked to reply.
The information requested is as follows :
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-------------------------------------------------------------
(a) Usage of newsprint-grade waste paper by United
Kingdom paper and board manufacturers
(see note below)
(b) Total imports of newsprint
(c) Imports of newsprint from the United States of
America (included in (b))
Note: The above information has been provided by the British
Paper & Board Industry Federation. The figure at (a)
includes certain periodicals, magazines and telephone
directories, as well as newspapers (for which no separate
information is available).
Canals
Mr. Simon Coombs : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he next intends to meet the chairman of the British Waterways Board to discuss future policy for canals.
Mr. Chris Patten [pursuant to his reply, 24 January 1990, c. 742] : The Government have today published their response to the Environment Committee's report on the British Waterways Board. The Committee's report appeared at a significant stage in the management of the board's affairs and addressed some key issues which were under consideration by the Government. In our response, which reflects consultation with BWB where findings were directed at the board rather than the Government, we reply to the Committee's detailed recommendations and outline policy developments since the report was published.
NORTHERN IRELAND
Water Supplies (Disconnections)
Ms. Harman : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what are the latest figures for the number of people who were disconnected from their water supplies in Northern Ireland.
Mr. Peter Bottomley [holding answer 2 February 1990] : In Northern Ireland, 292 metered water supplies were disconnected during 1989.
None of these supplies was for use by domestic households only.
Residents' Parking Permits
Rev. Martin Smyth : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans he has for introducing residents' parking permits in Northern Ireland.
Mr. Peter Bottomley [holding answer 2 February 1990] : Legislation to permit the introduction of residents' parking schemes does not currently exist in Northern Ireland. Consideration is being given to taking enabling powers.
Stalker Inquiry
Mr. McNamara : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list the dates of formal requests from the Royal Ulster Constabulary to his Department for an investigation into alleged leaks emanating from the
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Stalker inquiry, specifying whether the requests were made verbally or in writing and his reasons for acceding to or refusing such requests.Mr. Brooke [holding answer 5 February 1990] : Requests were received both verbally and in writing on 20 June 1986. Further requests were made in writing on 18 July and 20 August 1986 and 1 March 1987 and verbally on 6 April 1987.
It was decided that in all the circumstances it would not be productive to mount a separate inquiry in an attempt to identify the individual or individuals alleged by Sir John Hermon to be leaking information from the inquiry by the Greater Manchester police into the Royal Ulster Constabulary.
ENERGY
National Grid Interconnector
Mr. Beith : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what is the present capacity of the national grid interconnector between Scotland and England ; whether it has been operated at full capacity ; and what works would be required to increase the capacity by specified percentages.
Mr. Baldry : This link is a matter for the electricity industry, and I will ask the chairman-designate of the National Grid to write to the hon. Member. However, I understand that the firm capacity available for transfers between Scotland and England in normal circumstances is about 850MW, but this depends on system conditions.
Electricity Supply Industry
Mr. Dewar : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if, pursuant to his answer of 14 December 1989, Official Report, column 779, he will now publish in the Official Report the dates on which the reports of the constituent bodies of the electricity supply industry in England and Wales have been published in each year since nationalisation, either for existing or predecessor corporations.
Mr. Baldry : In recent years these reports have been published in the period late July to early August. In 1989 the Electricity Council and the Central Electricity Generating Board published theirs in December.
Connah's Quay Power Station
Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will meet a deputation of Alyn and Deeside council concerning the future of the site of Connah's Quay power station.
Mr. Baldry : Decisions on the future of power station sites are presently a matter for the day-to-day management of the CEGB.
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EDUCATION AND SCIENCE
Drugs
Mr. Butler : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if, pursuant to his reply of 23 January, Official Report, columns 594-96, to the hon. Member for Warrington, South, he will describe the arrangements for monitoring actual expenditure and claims by local education authorities for initiatives aimed at combating the misuse of drugs ; and if he will publish relevant details of actual expenditure for this purpose in recent years.
Mr. Alan Howarth : Expenditure on which local education authorities have claimed grant is as follows :
Financial year |Education support |LEA training grants
|grant |scheme
|£ million |£ million
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1986-87 |1.50 |-
1987-88 |2.22 |1.28
1988-89 |<1>2.40 |1.60
<1>Figures for 6 local education authorities still to be submitted.
Grant is paid on the basis of claims from local education authorities, which must submit an auditor's certificate confirming that the claims have been made in accordance with the requirements of the programme in question.
Teachers
Mr. Steinberg : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many teachers have left the profession in each year since 1979.
Mr. Alan Howarth : I refer the hon. Member to the reply that I gave on Monday 8 January, ( Official Report, columns 186-87 ) to the hon. Member for Vauxhall (Miss Hoey).
Special Education
Mr. Wilshire : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will list by education authority (a) the total number of children in receipt of full-time compulsory education, (b) the total number of such children statemented as being in need of special educational provision and (c) the percentage of each authority's total thus statemented.
Mr. Alan Howarth : The total number of pupils in maintained primary, middle, secondary and special schools and the number and percentage with statements of special educational needs in each local education authority in England in January 1989 are given in the table. The number of pupils with statements includes all pupils in maintained special schools.
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Number of pupils in maintained schools and proportion with statements
January 1989
|All pupils in |Statemented pupils |Statemented and
|maintained schools |and special school |special school pupils
|pupils |as a percentage of
|all pupils
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Barking |23,307 |272 |1.17
Barnet |40,178 |525 |1.31
Bexley |31,627 |564 |1.78
Brent |32,499 |458 |1.41
Bromley |34,948 |844 |2.42
Croydon |40,916 |862 |2.11
Ealing |37,755 |634 |1.68
Enfield |37,894 |480 |1.27
Haringey |25,350 |376 |1.48
Harrow |26,077 |420 |1.61
Havering |35,714 |486 |1.36
Hillingdon |32,469 |453 |1.40
Hounslow |31,016 |780 |2.51
Kingston upon Thames |17,002 |334 |1.96
Merton |21,069 |341 |1.62
Newham |35,209 |672 |1.91
Redbridge |30,363 |459 |1.51
Richmond upon Thames |16,813 |284 |1.69
Sutton |22,193 |405 |1.82
Waltham Forest |30,386 |864 |2.84
Birmingham |169,359 |3,670 |2.17
Coventry |47,266 |1,078 |2.28
Dudley |45,575 |794 |1.74
Sandwell |49,191 |994 |2.02
Solihull |33,089 |480 |1.45
Walsall |46,394 |752 |1.62
Wolverhampton |40,597 |761 |1.87
Knowsley |27,609 |738 |2.67
Liverpool |78,809 |1,842 |2.34
St. Helens |30,819 |573 |1.86
Sefton |45,377 |699 |1.54
Wirral |51,772 |1,236 |2.39
Bolton |43,936 |588 |1.34
Bury |26,132 |605 |2.32
Manchester |69,686 |1,931 |2.77
Oldham |38,634 |813 |2.10
Rochdale |34,668 |724 |2.09
Salford |35,729 |811 |2.27
Stockport |42,131 |828 |1.97
Tameside |35,900 |662 |1.84
Trafford |28,710 |672 |2.34
Wigan |51,611 |895 |1.73
Barnsley |34,822 |381 |1.09
Doncaster |49,095 |854 |1.74
Rotherham |42,505 |783 |1.84
Sheffield |70,577 |1,430 |2.03
Bradford |82,745 |1,278 |1.54
Calderdale |31,933 |392 |1.23
Kirklees |61,908 |1,183 |1.91
Leeds |106,874 |2,525 |2.36
Wakefield |49,054 |805 |1.64
Gateshead |30,276 |524 |1.73
Newcastle upon Tyne |38,844 |938 |2.41
North Tyneside |30,841 |595 |1.93
South Tyneside |23,942 |461 |1.93
Sunderland |49,151 |835 |1.70
Isles of Scilly |265 |0 |0.00
Inner London |278,279 |8,568 |3.08
Avon |129,965 |4,108 |3.16
Bedfordshire |83,075 |1,518 |1.83
Berkshire |105,319 |1,963 |1.86
Buckinghamshire |94,119 |2,499 |2.66
Cambridgeshire |96,970 |1,826 |1.88
Cheshire |152,211 |3,509 |2.31
Cleveland |101,668 |2,334 |2.30
Cornwall |68,549 |1,552 |2.26
Cumbria |73,107 |1,410 |1.93
Derbyshire |141,040 |3,407 |2.42
Devon |132,008 |3,378 |2.56
Dorset |82,434 |1,729 |2.10
Durham |92,117 |1,479 |1.61
East Sussex |81,859 |1,472 |1.80
Essex |222,742 |4,214 |1.89
Gloucestershire |74,550 |1,394 |1.87
Hampshire |211,733 |5,042 |2.38
Hereford and Worcester |95,318 |1,455 |1.53
Hertfordshire |147,794 |3,299 |2.23
Humberside |138,596 |2,062 |1.49
Isle of Wight |17,113 |375 |2.19
Kent |217,501 |4,417 |2.03
Lancashire |210,702 |4,458 |2.12
Leicestershire |138,339 |1,998 |1.44
Lincolnshire |83,052 |1,907 |2.30
Norfolk |101,465 |2,035 |2.01
North Yorkshire |99,190 |1,851 |1.87
Northamptonshire |93,894 |1,679 |1.79
Northumberland |48,480 |836 |1.72
Nottinghamshire |152,683 |2,449 |1.60
Oxfordshire |72,212 |940 |1.30
Shropshire |61,826 |1,516 |2.45
Somerset |62,022 |1,617 |2.61
Staffordshire |157,364 |2,572 |1.63
Suffolk |89,296 |2,088 |2.34
Surrey |120,101 |2,980 |2.48
Warwickshire |71,496 |1,674 |2.34
West Sussex |89,457 |1,468 |1.64
Wiltshire |77,603 |2,201 |2.84
England |6,945,860 |142,922 |2.06
City Technology Colleges
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what were the number and the percentage of pupils suspended (a) in each of the city technology colleges in their first year of operation and (b) in the education authority surrounding each of the city technology colleges.
Mr. Alan Howarth : No pupils have been excluded from Kingshurst (Solihull) or Macmillan (Teesside) city technology colleges, and four pupils (some 2 per cent.) have been temporarily excluded from Djanogly college (Nottingham) in their first year of operation. No pupils have been permanently excluded.
Over the same period in each case, 126 pupils (some 1 per cent.) in Solihull and 108 (0.3 per cent.) in Cleveland education authorities have been excluded from maintained secondary schools ; and 67 (0.1 per cent.) have been permanently excluded in Nottinghamshire education authority. The authority does not keep records of temporary exclusions, since it regards these as simply a form of internal discipline.
Teachers' Pay
Sir Peter Hordern : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will publish a table showing the cost of teachers' salaries in each of the last five years, and the percentage increase in each year.
Mr. Alan Howarth : Spending by local education authorities in England on school teaching staff, including national insurance and superannuation, is recorded in the annual expenditure returns to the Department of the Environment. Spending in the last five years for which such data are available was as follows :
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Year |£ million |Year on year
|(Cash) |increase
|per cent.
----------------------------------------------------
1983-84 |4,752 |-
1984-85 |4,946 |4.1
1985-86 |5,233 |5.8
1986-87 |5,765 |10.2
1987-88 |6,325 |9.7
The changes in spending reflect changes in the number of teaching staff, as well as in teachers' salaries.
Capital Allocations
Mr. Cousins : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what were the education capital allocations to each of the Tyne and Wear metropolitan boroughs in 1989-90 and 1990-91, in both cash and current prices ; and what was the capital grant to city technology colleges in the Tyne and Wear area, in cash and current prices for the same years.
Mr. Alan Howarth : For 1989-90, local education authorities received capital allocations for education. With the introduction of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989, the Department has issued an annual capital guideline to each local education authority for 1990-91, which is one element in the calculation of each local authority's basic credit approval for 1990-91 announced by the Department of the Environment. Table A shows the figures for the Tyne and Wear area. Table B shows the estimated total capital expenditure for the new build for Tyneside's CTC, which will be divided on a ratio of 80 : 20, split between the Department and sponsors.
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LEA Allocations 1989-90 Annual Capital Guidelines 1990-91
|Cash |Current prices|Cash |Current prices
|(1989-90) |(1989-90)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Table A
Gateshead |1,052 |1,052 |1,082 |1,031
Newcastle upon Tyne |1,566 |1,566 |1,564 |1,490
North Tyneside |1,577 |1,577 |1,265 |1,205
South Tyneside |3,372 |3,372 |1,894 |1,804
Sunderland |3,859 |3,859 |1,883 |1,793
Table B
Tyneside CTC |3,490 |3,490 |2,800 |2,667
Notes
1. All figures are in thousands.
2. Current prices are calculated at 1989-90 prices using the GDP deflator.
DEFENCE
United States Forces
4. Mr. Terry Fields : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what new facilities are being prepared in the United Kingdom for use by United States defence personnel.
54. Mr. Flannery : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what new facilities are being prepared in the United Kingdom for use by United States defence personnel.
113. Mrs. Mahon : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what new facilities are being prepared in the United Kingdom for use by United States defence personnel.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The United States maintains a continual programme of construction and works projects at its facilities in the United Kingdom. I understand that some 39 projects of various sizes are currently under construction for United States forces in this country. Around 120 further projects are currently at some stage in the design process. These totals include both United States and NATO-funded projects.
84. Mr. Carrington : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what contribution United States military forces make to the defence of the United Kingdom ; and if he will make a statement.
112. Mr. Fishburn : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the contribution United States military forces make to the defence of the United Kingdom.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The United States makes the largest single contribution to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, membership of which is fundamental to the defence of the United Kingdom.
European Co-operative Long-Term Initiative for Defence
14. Mr. Jack Thompson : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much money his Department has committed to the European co-operative long-term initiative for defence.
Mr. Alan Clark : No money has yet been committed by any nation to this initiative. We expect that the first
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