| Previous Section | Home Page |
Mr. Alan Clark : Discussions on the interpretation of aspects of the MOD-UKSL contract are commercially confidential. It is not possible to predict when they might be completed.
Search and Rescue Helicopters
Mr. Menzies Campbell : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 11 January, Official Report, columns 690-91, how many persons were in the Independent Television network camera crew which embarked on the search and rescue helicopter from HMS Gannet at Glasgow airport ; and whether any facility fee was paid to his Department.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : Two persons were carried. No charges were levied against the camera crew. The extra costs to the Ministry of Defence were small.
Mr. Menzies Campbell : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 11 January, Official Report, columns 690-91 , what landing charges were paid for the search and rescue helicopter from HMS Gannet which landed at Glasgow airport ; and who paid them.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : Landing charges of £23.20 for landing at Glasgow on the outbound and return trips were paid by the Ministry of Defence.
Mr. Menzies Campbell : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 11 January, Official Report, columns 690-91 , what were (a) the times of departure from Prestwick of the search and rescue helicopter from HMS Gannet, (b) the time of its arrival at Glasgow airport, (c) the time of its departure from Glasgow airport and (d) the time of its arrival over the search area.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The times were as follows : (a) 08.04, (b) 08.15, (c) 08.34 and (d) 09.13.
Mr. Menzies Campbell : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 11 January, Official Report, columns 690-91 , at what time the radio breakdown was discovered which delayed the departure of the search and rescue helicopter from HMS Gannet ; and when this fault was rectified.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The defect was discovered at approximately 07.20 and was rectified at approximately 08.00.
Mr. Menzies Campbell : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 11 January, Official Report, columns 690-91 , what is the normal route to the Ben Nevis area from Prestwick by the search and rescue helicopter from HMS Gannet.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The route from Prestwick to Fort William taken by search and rescue crews will vary depending on circumstances such as predicted weather over the flight paths and the time of day. Given the prevailing weather conditions of the area the normal route is via the Crinan canal and then along the coast to Ben Nevis.
Column 579
Mr. Menzies Campbell : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 11 January, Official Report, columns 690-91 , what time the request was received that an Independent Television network camera crew be carried on the search and rescue helicopter from HMS Gannet ; and when the request was granted.Mr. Archie Hamilton : The request was received by HMS Gannet at approximately 07.20 and permission was given shortly afterwards.
Mr. Colin Wallace
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what was the source or sources of his statement of 12 February, Official Report, column 116, that by all accounts Colin Wallace took a great interest in collecting any information, story or rumour which might be of interest.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The collection of information as background for briefing is a normal feature of the duties of information officers. The statement to which the hon. Member has referred was intended as a general acknowledgement of the long hours and considerable effort expended by Mr. Wallace in understanding all aspects of the Northern Ireland situation which might have been relevant to the fight against terrorism. Evidence to that effect was given to the Civil Service appeal board, and is available to Mr. David Calcutt QC in his inquiry.
Submarines
Mr. Boyes : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on progress in the ELF submarine communications programme ; what are the reasons for the delays in installation of a trial ELF transmitter in Glengarry ; and when he now expects to submit a notice of intention to develop an ELF facility to the Highland regional council.
Mr. Neubert [holding answer 9 February 1990] : Work on ELF communications continues at the Admiralty research establishment. A decision to proceed with limited testing of the technology at Glengarry will depend on the availability of resources. I cannot speculate therefore when a notice of proposed developments might be submitted.
US Military Personnel
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many United States military personnel are living off-base in the United Kingdom ; and what estimate he has made of the lost revenue to local authorities arising from these persons being exempted from paying the community charge.
Mr. Chope : I have been asked to reply.
The Ministry of Defence estimates that 12,500 US military and civilian personnel currently live off-base. I estimate that if they were subject to the community charge for standard spending these personnel would pay a total of £3,475,000 to local authorities in 1990-91. Individual local authorities in England will, however, receive sufficient revenue support grant to enable them to set a charge, before the safety net, at the level of the community charge for standard spending (£278 in 1990-91) if they budget to spend at the level of their standard spending assessment. The grant system therefore compensates for the fact that US military and civil personnel do not pay the personal charge.
Column 580
AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD
Private Security Firms
Mr. George : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the names of all the private security firms currently employed by his Department, the number of employees for each firm on the contract, the total value of each contract and the total value of all contracts for each financial year since 1984-85.
Mr. Curry : The following list shows the companies that currently have contracts with the Department to provide private security guarding, together with the number of employees involved :
|Number
|of posts
---------------------------------------------------------
Blackwater Property Protection Service |1
Compass Security Ltd. |4
Reliance Security Ltd. |1
Securiguard (London) Services Ltd. |2
Shorrock Guards Ltd. |10
UK Security Services Ltd. |2
Wakenhut (UK) Ltd. |1
In keeping with normal commercial practice it would not be appropriate in these cases for me to give the value of each individual contract. Contracts are not necessarily made for financial years but our calculation of the total value of all the contracts in each financial year is as follows :
|£'000
--------------------
1984-85 |170
1985-86 |277
1986-87 |297
1987-88 |312
1988-89 |329
1989-90 |358
Meat Exports (West Germany)
Mr. Pawsey : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assessment he has made of the level of redundancies or lay-offs in the meat industry following the decision of the West German Government to ban meat imports from the United Kingdom.
Mr. Maclean : The German authorities have not banned imports of meat from the United Kingdom, but have imposed additional certification requirements for beef. I understand that these requirements do not now apply to boneless beef and that trade in bone-in beef is continuing. Thus the impact on our total meat export trade is only limited. Moreover, in 1989 our beef exports to Germany represented only about 1 per cent. of our total beef production.
Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy
Mr. Alan W. Williams : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) how many bulls at artificial insemination centres in the United Kingdom have been found to be afflicted by bovine spongiform encephalopathy ; and what estimate can be made of the number of calves that these would have fathered during their lives ;
Column 581
(2) what are the latest figures for the number of (a) bulls and (b) cows affected by bovine spongiform encephalopathy ; (3) whether there is any restriction on the sale of calves from bulls later diagnosed as affected by bovine spongiformencephalopathy.
Mr. Maclean : Up to 9 February, BSE had been confirmed in 9,976 cows and 22 bulls in Great Britain. Five of those bulls were found at artificial insemination centres and are estimated to have sired around 1,000 calves between them. Research is in hand to establish whether the BSE agent is transmitted in semen. However, analogy with sheep scrapie suggests that such transmission will not occur and restrictions on the progeny of affected bulls are not, therefore, appropriate.
Mr. Alan W. Williams : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will consider introducing a substantial educational programme for farmers including leaflets, booklets and the use of video film to help them recognise the symptoms of bovine spongiform encephalopathy-infected animals.
Mr. Maclean : Information about BSE has been disseminated extensively through the farming press and has received wide coverage in other press and media. Advisory leaflets are given to all farmers who report a suspect case of BSE. In addition, Ministry veterinary staff make regular presentations, involving widespreadmaterial, to farming groups.
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the regulations concerned with preventing meat from cattle slaughtered because they are infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy from reaching the human food chain and for ensuring that cattle slaughtered for food are not infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy.
Mr. Maclean : The legislation is as follows :
The Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (No. 2) Order 1988 (as amended).
The Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Compensations Order 1990. The Bovine Offals (Prohibition) Regulations 1989.
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is (a) the largest number of cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy recorded on a single farm, (b) the average number of cases per affected herd, (c) the proportions of herds which have had a single case, (d) the proportion of all dairy herds that have had one or more cases and (e) the proportion of all beef herds that have had one or more cases.
Mr. Maclean : The information for Great Britain is as follows : (a) 29
(b) 1.75
(c) 63.3 per cent.
(d) 10.3 per cent.
(e) 0.7 per cent.
Scrapie
Mr. Alan W. Williams : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he plans to place any restriction on the sale of breeding rams affected by scrapie.
Mr. Maclean : Research into scrapie has shown that the infective agent is not transmitted in semen. Controls on breeding rams are not, therefore, appropriate.
Column 582
Paternity Leave
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what paternity leave is allowed to staff in his Department ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Curry : At present paternity leave is not available to civil servants. The Treasury is, however, finalising arrangements for the introduction of an entitlement to two days' paid paternity leave.
NATO Exercises
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what contribution his Department will make to the NATO exercises due to be held in Norway during March.
Veterinary Officers
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many veterinary officers were permanently employed in all grades of the state veterinary service throughout England, Scotland and Wales in 1989 and currently ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Gummer : In 1989 422 veterinary staff were permanently employed in all grades of the state veterinary service throughout England, Scotland and Wales. The current figure is 430. It is likely that this number will increase particularly for food safety work including meat hygiene. This was recognised in the recent review of veterinary manpower under the chairmanship of Dr. Ewan Page.
Food Research
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) if he will list all the research projects currently being carried out at the Institute of Food Research in Bristol and indicate which ones will be transferred to other research establishments, giving the name of the research establishment in each case ; (2) if he will list the projects his Department is funding and the amount of this financial contribution to these projects at each of (a) Leatherhead Food Research Association, (b) Campden Food Preservation Research Association, (c) Huddersfield polytechnic, (d) Sheffield polytechnic and (e) Dorset Institute of Higher Education for (i) 1988, (ii) 1989, (iii) 1990 and (iv) 1991.
Mr. Gummer : I have placed in the Library of the House a copy of my Department's programme of external research and development on food for 1988-89 and 1989-90. Proposals for 1990-91 are currently under consideration.
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the organisations and committees which give him advice on food safety research ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Gummer : I receive advice on research and development (R&D) into food safety from my own officials and the following bodies : (
(a) the Priorities Board for R&D in Agriculture and Food ; (
Column 583
(b) the Steering Group on Food Surveillance ;(c) the Food Advisory Committee ;
(d) the Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment ;
(e) the Veterinary Products Committee ; and
(f) the Advisory Committee on Pesticides.
From time to time, I also receive suggestions from other outside organisations.
The Government are firmly committed to funding research and development on food safety and hygiene issues of concern to consumers, producers and industry.
Perrier
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will place the results of his Department's tests on Perrier water in the Library.
Mr. Gummer : The results of my Department's tests on Perrier water were made available by the Food Safety Directorate in the form of news release 67/90 on 15 February. A copy has been placed in the Library of the House.
Pesticides
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list all (a) pesticide residue levels and (b) levels of pesticide residue breakdown products he has set, indicating the level and type of food and the date when the levels were set ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Gummer : Statutory maximum residue levels (MRLs) for a range of pesticides used on the more important components of the United Kingdom diet are set out in the Pesticides (Maximum Residue Levels in Food) Regulations 1988, SI No. 1378, made on 1 August 1988. Schedule 1 of the regulations lists MRLs for cereals and products of animal origin and came into force on 2 August 1988. Schedule 2 lists MRLs mainly for fruit and vegetables and came into force on 31 December 1988. Schedule 3 lists the individual pesticides and describes how their residues are to be defined in terms of their metabolites or breakdown products.
Fungicides
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will place the results of his Ministry's tests on the presence of the ethylene biodithiocarbonate fungicides and ethylene thiourea in various foods in the Library.
Mr. Gummer : The Government's working party on pesticide residues carries out a programme of tests on food for pesticide residues, which has included these substances. The results are published : the latest report covering 1985-88 came out on 13 March 1989. Very recently the results of tests for residues of these substances in a range of foodstuffs have been published by Friends of the Earth and Parents for Safe Food. These were carried out by an independent analyst and showed that the majority of the produce had negligible or no detectable residues. A few samples showed levels which, while giving no cause for concern, on health grounds were above predicted levels. With the agreement of the sponsors MAFF will be repeating these tests, both on the samples used by their analyst and on further samples. The results will be placed in the Library of the House, and published.
Column 584
Domestic Animals (Diseases)
Mr. Morley : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the diseases known to his Department that can cause domestic animal death, but which would not bar their meat from human consumption.
Mr. Maclean : Any animal which has died from any disease is prohibited from being sold for human consumption under the Slaughterhouse (Hygiene) Regulations 1977. The Meat Inspection Regulations 1987 require the meat inspector to have regard to the indications of unfitness set out in schedule 2 to those regulations : those indications include both specific diseases and more general symptoms or conditions.
Poultry Slaughtering
Mr. Morley : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food why poultry slaughter figures are being reorganised from 10-day to monthly figures ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Maclean : There are no such 10-day statistics on poultry slaughter.
Cattle Offal
Mr. Illsley : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the food products and types of food products which are made, have added to them or are constructed from (a) beef cattle offal, (b) mechanically recovered beef or beef offal and (c) beef cattle residues.
Mr. Maclean : The Department does not hold such information. However, all meat products offered for sale must comply with the provisions of the Food Act 1984, the Food Labelling Regulations 1984 and the Meat Products and Spreadable Fish Products Regulations 1984. In addition, the Bovine Offal (Prohibition) Regulations 1989 prohibit the sale, or use in the preparation of foods for sale for human consumption, of bovine brain, spinal cord, spleen, thymus, tonsils and intestines.
Salmon
Mr. Trotter : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will list the organisations which have made representations to his Department in support of the commercial drift netting salmon industry of the coast of north-east England.
Mr. Curry : The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food has received a large number of letters from organisations and individuals about this fishery and the current statutory review following section 39 of the Salmon Act 1986. Those who have made representations in favour of the fishery include :
Anglo-Scottish Fish Producers Organisations Ltd.
Beadnell Parish Council
Cornish Fish Producers Organisation Ltd.
Federation of British Port Wholesale Fish Merchants Associations
Fisheries Organisation Society Ltd.
National Federation of Fishermen's Organisations
North Eastern Sea Fisheries Committee
Whitby Cobleman's Association
Yorks and Anglia Fish Producers Organisation.
Column 585
Ministers in the Department have also held meetings with representatives of the National Federation of Fishermen's Organisations and a number of local salmon net fishermen.Intervention Board for Agricultural Produce
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will make it his policy to relocate the Intervention Board for Agricultural Produce, currently in Reading, into the premises at Crown buildings, Cathays park, Cardiff, to be vacated in April 1991 by the insurance services group of the Export Credits Guarantee Department.
Mr. Curry : My right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland, my right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Wales and for Northern Ireland and myself are currently examining the location of part of the work of the intervention board away from Reading.
TRANSPORT
Severn Crossing
Mr. Stern : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what is the target date for the completion of the second Severn crossing and its approach roads.
Mr. Atkins : The decision on timing will depend on our final evaluation of the tenders ; we remain on course to provide the second crossing by the mid-1990s.
Paternity Leave
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what paternity leave is allowed to staff in his Department ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Atkins : At present paternity leave is not available to civil servants. The Treasury is, however, finalising arrangements for the introduction of an entitlement to two days' paid paternity leave.
NATO Exercises
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what contribution his Department will make to the NATO exercises due to be held in Norway during March.
A27, Worthing
Mr. Higgins : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many houses on the preferred route announced for the development of the A27 in the Worthing area are officially blighted ; how many owners have begun negotiations for their sale to his Department ; and how many sales have now been completed.
Mr. Atkins : The Department's preferred route for the A27 Worthing to Lancing would involve the acquisition of land from some 120 houses. Blight notices have been accepted from 79 owners. Of these, 59 have settled compensation with the district valuer and 25 have completed sales to the Department.
Column 586
Air Safety
Mr. Kirkwood : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what representations he has received from interested parties regarding the near miss involving an Air UK civil airliner and a military Tornado aeroplane which occurred over Kelso on Wednesday 31 January.
Mr. McLoughlin : The responsibility for investigating airmiss reports rests with the independent joint airmiss working group. This group arranges for all interested parties to make representations to the investigators and in this case it includes the Ministry of Defence, the civil operator and the air traffic control unit which was providing an advisory service to the civil aircraft at the time.
Mr. Kirkwood : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he is taking to investigate the near miss involving an Air UK civil airliner and a military Tornado aeroplane which occurred over Kelso on Wednesday 31 January ; if he will make it his policy to publish a report on the background to the incident ; and if he will make a statement.
| Next Section
| Home Page |