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Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : My right hon. and learned Friend has set both broad aims and specific targets for Scottish Homes and agreed with the body its first strategic plan. All of these will be reviewed annually to identify, determine priorities and quantify the action which can be taken on specific fronts. In addition, there is in place a comprehensive framework of documents which set out the parameters within which Scottish Homes may operate, where this is required by section 2 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 1988. Responsibility for the effective internal management of Scottish homes rests with the board and with the chief executive as accounting officer.
Neptune Consortium
31. Mr Salmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board's involvement with the Neptune Consortium.
Mr. Lang : I refer the hon. Member to the reply that I gave him on 26 February 1990, ( Official Report, col. 84-85 ). I would like to clarify one point in that reply. Although the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board informed me about various detailed aspects of the development, including the identity of possible large customers earlier this month, as I informed the hon. Member on 26 February, it had informed me in November 1989 of the possibility that it might wish to involve itself in the development at some future date
Scotrail
32. Mr. Foulkes : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he last met the general manager of Scotrail ; and what subjects were discussed.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : My right hon. and learned Friend and I discussed various topics relating to rail transport when we met the general manager of Scotrail in the company of the chairman of British Rail, Sir Robert Reid, on 31 October 1989.
CBI
33. Mr. Oppenheim : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he last met the Confederation of British Industry Scotland ; and what matters were discussed.
Mr. Lang : I refer my hon. Friend to my reply to him on 20 December 1989.
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Rating (Debt Collection)
34. Mr. Dunnachie : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the cost of collecting debts due to default on the payment of domestic rates in 1988-89 ; and what are the current and projected costs for the collection of poll tax debts.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : I refer the hon. Member to the reply which my right hon. and learned Friend gave to the right hon. Member for Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale (Sir D. Steel) on 15 January.
Children (Employment)
36. Mr. Michael J. Martin : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what steps he will take to assist local authorities in their duty to prevent employers from employing schoolchildren in the early hours for several hours per day before they commence school.
Mr. Lang : Schoolchildren in employment in Scotland are protected by existing legislaton and by local authority byelaws. Enforcement is, in the first instance, a matter for the police.
Private Landlords
37. Mr. Galloway : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he has any plans to require private sector landlords to reduce bills to tenants to take account of the abolition of domestic rates.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : Tenants with registered rents are already paying a rent which contains no element for rates ; and assured tenants should have a written statement of their liability for rent, exclusive of rates, which is all they need pay. Any regulated tenant who has not had a rent registered need only do so in order to ensure that the rent does not include rates.
Acute Services (Lanarkshire)
40. Mr. Ingram : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he has received from Lanarkshire health board the report "Acute Services Strategy, Options Appraisal"; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : The board submitted a consultative document on its acute services strategy on 3 November 1989. The public consultation period ended on 31 January 1990. Once the board has reached a final decision on its preferred option, it will make a submission to my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for approval in principle.
Land (Use of Ownership)
41. Mrs. Ray Michie : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what steps his Department has taken to promote the equitable ownership and use of land in Scotland.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : It is not the Government's policy to intervene on matters of land ownership. The function of the land use planning system is to regulate the use of land in the interests of economy, efficiency and amenity.
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Religious Education
43. Mr. Harry Greenway : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what action he is taking to improve the teaching of Christian-centred religious education in Scotland ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Lang : My right hon. and learned Friend expects to issue shortly for consultation a draft circular on religious education in schools.
Equal Opportunities
44. Mr. Norman Hogg : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what action he has taken to implement an equal opportunities policy in his Department.
Mr. Rifkind : Since 1984 my Department has had a designated equal opportunities officer who, in addition to other duties, has to co-ordinate policy and advise on all aspects of racial and sexual discrimination. A joint management and trade union group has met regularly to take forward the proposals set out in the programme of action on equal opportunities for women in the Civil Service. Progress has been made on all fronts.
The amount of part-time working has increased and a much greater use is made of reinstatement. Staff have been advised of progress through office notices and specially prepared leaflets, and training courses and guidance material now give prominence to the anti-discrimination legislation. My Department is currently considering the case for provision of child care facilities and will shortly apply the recent relaxation of Civil Service rules which allow special unpaid leave for domestic reasons to be granted for up to five years.
Ethnic monitoring of recruitment is undertaken and efforts will continue to increase the ethnic intake to better reflect the proportion in the community. My Department has also undertaken a survey of the ethnic origins of staff as part of the nationwide survey of civil servants. The information is kept up to date by the completion by new entrants to the Department of a questionnaire showing their ethnic origin.
Legal Reforms
45. Mr. Menzies Campbell : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what research his Department has conducted into the effect of the proposed legal reforms on rural practices.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : I refer the hon. and learned Gentleman to the reply that I gave to the hon. Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire (Mr. Kirkwood) on 18 January 1990, Official Report, column 418.
Warrant Sales
47. Mr. McAllion : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the Government's policy in relation to the use of warrant sales for the recovery of poll tax arrears from domestic poll tax taxpayers.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : My right hon. and learned Friend is satisfied that the present powers available to local authorities to collect community charge arrears--including, where necessary, the use of warrant sales--are both adequate and appropriate for this purpose.
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NHS Staff
48. Mr. Watson : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what action he intends to take to address the wastage of highly trained staff by Greater Glasgow health board, and to provide employment to the nurses who graduated from Glasgow college in November 1989 and the midwives awarded qualifications by the Eastern college of nursing and midwifery in January.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : The number of nurses and midwives completing training in certain areas sometimes exceeds the number of jobs immediately available in the NHS in these areas. This need not imply waste as trained staff are widely required throughout the public and private sectors.
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Homelessness
Mr. Dewar : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will provide a table showing the number of applications to local authorities under the homeless legislation for all cases where the household was deemed to be in priority need because of vulnerability due to old age ; and if he will provide this information for every available year since 1977 and for each local authority and for Scotland as a whole.
Mr. Rifkind : The homeless persons legislation did not come into effect until 1 April 1978. There are therefore no figures for before that date. The number of applicant households assessed by local authorities as homeless or potentially homeless, and in priority need for reasons which included a person vulnerable because of old age, for the years 1978-79 to 1988-89, are set out in the following table.
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Applicant households under the Homeless Persons Legislation assessed by Local Authorities as homeless or potentially homeless and
in priority
need which include a person vulnerable because of old age
Scotland, by District, 1978-79 to 1988-89
District |1978-79 |1979-80 |1980-81 |1981-82 |1982-83 |1983-84 |1984-85 |1985-86 |1986-87 |1987-88 |1988-89
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scotland |545 |572 |427 |644 |519 |535 |552 |697 |747 |613 |681
Borders
Berwickshire |- |- |- |- |- |- |1 |- |1 |1 |1
Ettrick and Lauderdale |- |- |- |- |4 |1 |- |- |- |- |-
Roxburgh |- |- |- |- |- |- |1 |2 |- |- |1
Tweeddale |6 |4 |5 |5 |- |- |- |- |- |<1>- |<1>-
Central
Clackmannan |11 |16 |14 |14 |17 |17 |14 |22 |7 |11 |6
Falkirk |3 |1 |1 |- |1 |1 |9 |32 |50 |32 |28
Stirling |7 |6 |6 |5 |21 |22 |17 |2 |16 |16 |12
Dumfries and Galloway
Annandale and Eskdale |1 |8 |4 |12 |5 |10 |2 |- |5 |4 |7
Nithsdale |14 |9 |2 |9 |5 |5 |3 |6 |13 |5 |17
Stewartry |1 |7 |4 |6 |5 |8 |12 |7 |7 |10 |10
Wigtown |5 |2 |1 |- |- |- |- |- |3 |- |2
Fife
Dunfermline |22 |8 |10 |11 |16 |13 |13 |14 |32 |20 |15
Kirkcaldy |13 |4 |4 |11 |3 |6 |8 |16 |14 |17 |23
North East Fife |4 |3 |6 |6 |6 |7 |13 |18 |14 |20 |24
Grampian
Aberdeen |21 |13 |10 |19 |22 |25 |31 |62 |34 |39 |63
Banff and Buchan |- |- |- |- |1 |- |- |5 |2 |1 |2
Gordon |1 |1 |4 |1 |1 |2 |5 |3 |3 |7 |14
Kincardine and Deeside |- |2 |- |2 |- |2 |- |1 |2 |- |2
Moray |5 |5 |9 |9 |8 |7 |11 |13 |12 |4 |12
Highland
Badenoch and Strathspey |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |1
Caithness |- |2 |- |1 |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
Inverness |6 |12 |5 |18 |13 |24 |13 |9 |9 |7 |7
Lochaber |1 |1 |1 |- |2 |- |4 |1 |2 |2 |2
Nairn |1 |4 |2 |1 |1 |- |- |- |2 |- |1
Ross and Cromarty |- |1 |- |1 |- |- |- |- |- |1 |2
Skye and Lochalsh |- |1 |1 |2 |2 |4 |5 |3 |3 |3 |4
Sutherland |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
Lothian
East Lothian |3 |4 |4 |14 |15 |13 |17 |21 |32 |9 |20
Edinburgh |24 |30 |31 |23 |26 |18 |25 |32 |57 |38 |52
Midlothian |2 |4 |1 |44 |1 |2 |- |- |- |6 |2
West Lothian |5 |6 |- |16 |3 |3 |2 |4 |1 |3 |3
Strathclyde
Argyll and Bute |19 |16 |7 |10 |12 |11 |13 |13 |16 |10 |7
Bearsden and Milngavie |- |- |- |- |- |- |1 |2 |5 |5 |1
Clydebank |1 |- |3 |3 |5 |1 |12 |11 |10 |19 |18
Clydesdale |9 |8 |1 |3 |3 |- |- |3 |4 |13 |7
Cumbernauld and Kilsyth |2 |2 |7 |7 |6 |- |20 |19 |10 |3 |11
Cumnock and Doon Valley |- |- |- |1 |2 |1 |- |1 |1 |2 |1
Cunninghame |20 |14 |13 |8 |16 |11 |12 |13 |10 |10 |5
Dumbarton |5 |16 |13 |5 |11 |5 |15 |23 |26 |28 |24
East Kilbride |10 |5 |8 |14 |9 |13 |5 |15 |7 |5 |8
Eastwood |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |1
Glasgow |103 |163 |123 |104 |145 |131 |101 |125 |130 |90 |112
Hamilton |20 |31 |12 |86 |9 |11 |13 |19 |10 |11 |13
Inverclyde |4 |10 |10 |30 |13 |11 |18 |14 |28 |18 |13
Kilmarnock and Loudoun |2 |2 |3 |4 |1 |4 |7 |11 |7 |- |13
Kyle and Carrick |36 |20 |15 |24 |20 |24 |46 |28 |25 |25 |28
Monklands |16 |9 |5 |12 |6 |6 |4 |7 |12 |10 |5
Motherwell |14 |12 |13 |21 |14 |30 |10 |12 |15 |10 |8
Renfrew |53 |34 |7 |8 |9 |20 |8 |17 |7 |13 |4
Strathkelvin |5 |12 |23 |32 |15 |16 |9 |5 |13 |7 |13
Tayside
Angus |11 |12 |10 |8 |6 |6 |8 |6 |10 |18 |11
Dundee |14 |4 |2 |3 |1 |4 |5 |23 |15 |10 |7
Perth and Kinross |30 |34 |23 |35 |33 |26 |34 |53 |55 |46 |34
Orkney Islands |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |2 |- |<1>- |<1>-
Shetland Islands |3 |6 |- |- |2 |2 |2 |1 |5 |2 |2
Western Isles |12 |8 |4 |6 |3 |2 |3 |1 |5 |2 |2
<1> Not available.
Mr. Wray : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many homeless children there are in (a) Glasgow, (b) Strathclyde and (c) Scotland.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : This information is not collected centrally.
Higher Education
Mr. Wray : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what studies have recently been carried out by his Department on higher education students annual and monthly expenditure on (a) accommodation, (b) food, (c) transport and (d) other necessary items in (i) Glasgow, (ii) Strathclyde and (iii) Scotland.
Mr. Lang : No separate Scottish studies have been undertaken, but a survey of students' income and expenditure covering Great Britain as a whole was commissioned in 1989. The results of the study provided benchmark information on the financial position of students during the 1988-89 academic year. The report of the survey, by Research Services Ltd., was published in November 1989 and copies have been placed in the Library.
Schools (Self-Government)
Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether any organisations seeking to encourage schools to opt out of the local authority education system have applied for any financial assistance from his Department.
Mrs. Margaret Ewing : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what plans he has to establish a Scottish self-governing schools trust ; what meetings have so far been held to this effect ; and who has been involved in the discussions.
Mr. Lang [holding answer 27 February 1990] : My right hon. and learned Friend has no such plans.
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Cash Limits
Mr. Allan Stewart : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he proposes to make further changes to the cash limits for 1989-90 within his responsibility.
Mr. Rifkind : Yes. Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimate, the cash limit for class XVI, vote 27, Hospital and Community Health Services, Scotland, will be increased by £16,237,000 from £8,697,000 to £24,934,000 to take account of increased expenditure by health boards. This increase will be partially offset by savings of £4,500,000 elsewhere within the Scottish block. The balance will be charged to the reserve.
Training Schemes
Mr. Wallace : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how standards of quality are maintained on the employment training scheme and YTS in Scotland ; and what comparable studies he has made of major European competitors in their provision of training.
Mr. Lang : The Training Agency ensures standards of quality on employment training and YTS by requiring all employment training training agents and managers and YTS managers to become approved training organisations. In awarding approved training organisation status, the Training Agency verifies the design and delivery of the training as consistent with the aims of employment training and YTS. Furthermore the training standards advisory service provides an independent advisory service which has as its main role to assess the overall quality of training provision and to undertake evaluations of individual projects.
There is a lack of internationally comparable data on training volumes and expenditure. National surveys have been carried out in most countries, but their coverage and the definitions used often differ widely. The Scottish Office itself has made no study of provision of training in major European countries, but "Training in Britain", a report produced by the Training Agency, does make reference to training in France and Germany. In addition, a study is presently being carried out by the European centre for the
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development of vocational training and the Commission of European Communities to obtain systematic and comparable data of training expenditure at the European level, but results are not yet available.Mr. Wallace : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he has any plans to publish the recent survey of training within the tourism sector undertaken by the Scottish tourist board ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Lang : No decision has yet been taken. I shall write to the hon. Member.
Mr. Wallace : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what are the procedures by which the employment training scheme is monitored by his Department in Scotland.
Mr. Lang : The monitoring of employment training in Scotland is undertaken by the Training Agency which is at present part of the Department of Employment. My officials in the Industry Department for Scotland liaise closely with the Training Agency on employment training issues.
Lothian Health Board
Mr. Nigel Griffiths : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what are the terms of his loan to fund Lothian health board's deficit.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : Subject to the approval of Parliament, I am providing additional resources to enable Lothian to meet the overspend of its 1989-90 cash limit. This is a short term measure which will add to the board's cumulative deficit in 1990-91. I have asked the board to prepare proposals designed to bring its underlying income and expenditure into balance in the medium term. In the light of the decisions on the board's proposals I will consider with the board the management of its cumulative deficit.
Dounreay
Mr. Malcolm Bruce : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he expects to make an announcement concerning the application by the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority to drill two boreholes at Dounreay.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : This planning application is the subject of an appeal which is currently before my right hon. and learned Friend for decision. I expect that his decision on the matter will be issued shortly.
Housing
Mr. Norman Hogg : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what representations the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State has received from Councillor Gordon Murray of Cumbernauld concerning housing modernisation and improvements in the Balloch, Ravenswood, Seafar North and Carbrain East areas of Cumbernauld new town ; if he will place a copy of his response in the Library ; and if he will make a statement.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : During my visit to Cumbernauld and Kilsyth district council on 16 February, Councillor Murray gave me a letter about the distribution of resources for housing projects within the district. I do
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not consider it appropriate for me to place a copy of Councillor Murray's letter in the Library, or a copy of the reply.Mr. Norman Hogg : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what criteria his Department applies to district councils seeking grants for housing modernisation and improvements ; and if he will make a statement.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : The Scottish Development Department does not give grants to district councils for this purpose. Capital allocations for local authorities' housing capital programmes are determined each year, within the aggregate public expenditure resources that can be made available, on the basis of the relative needs of individual authorities.
Mr. Norman Hogg : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what recent advice his Department has given to district councils on the allocation of grants for having modernisation and improvements ; and if he will make a statement.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : The Scottish Development Department issued a circular to local authorities on 16 January advising them of an amendment to the scheme of assistance for eligible owners of houses designed as defective under part XIV of the Housing (Scotland) Act 1987. The Department also issued a circular on 14 June 1989 concerning the preparation of housing plans by authorities and the relationship of these to capital programmes.
Radon Gas
Mr. Malcolm Bruce : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on levels of radon gas in the Aberdeen area.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : Measurements of radon gas levels in homes in the Grampian region have been carried out by the National Radiological Protection Board (NRPB). The average value found in a representative sample is 16 Bq m- (becquerel per cubic metre of air). In Aberdeen city and in parts of Kincardine and Deeside district, additional measurements were made. The average for Aberdeen city is 18 Bq m- and the average for Kincardine and Deeside is 105 Bq m- . These values are to be compared with the average for the whole of the United Kingdom of about 20 Bq m- . The NRPB estimates that between 0.3 per cent. and 1.0 per cent. of homes in the Grampian region will exceed the new action level of 200 Bq m- advised by the NRPB.
The NRPB, on behalf of the Scottish Office, is carrying out further measurements in those areas where high levels have been discovered. These measurements are expected to be completed by the end of the year. In the meantime, the Government will continue to offer free radon measurements by the NRPB, available on demand to any householder in an area with potential for high radon levels. Also, grants continue to be available, through the present improvement grant system for any remedial action which may be necessary.
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Innerclyde Enterprise Zone
Mr. Clay : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will place in the Library an explanatory note and any other relevant documents setting out the terms on which the Commission of the European Communities approved the designation of the Inverclyde enterprise zone.
Mr. Lang [holding answer 27 February 1990] : In accordance with usual procedures, the Government's
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intention to create a new enterprise zone in Inverclyde and the European Commission's decision to raise no objection to the proposed measure were dealt with in an exchange of letters between the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Commission of the European Communities. It is not normal practice to publish suchcorrespondence. The Commission's approval was subject to the standard terms and conditions regarding observance of the Community rules and regulations applicable to such measures.
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