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ENVIRONMENT
Regional Functions
Mr. Caborn : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what functions his Department carries out at the regional level ; where the regional offices are located in
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each of the regions ; what staff are employed and at what grades ; what proportion of his Department's budget is spent in each of the regions ; and what geographical boundaries determine his Department's regions.Mr. Chris Patten : The regional offices of DOE (Central) perform a general representational role, involving liaison with local authorities and other bodies, and also carry out a number of executive functions in the housing, planning and urban policy fields. These include, for example, on housing distributing resources through the housing investment programme (HIP) system and establishing housing action trusts (HATs) ; on planning, advising on strategic planning, handling the approval of structure plans, and issuing decisions on certain types of planning appeals and other casework ; and on urban policy, promoting urban development corporations (UDCs), liaising with local authorities on the urban programme (UP), participating in (and in some cases providing the secretariat for) city action teams (CATs), and processing applications for derelict land grant (DLG).
DOE(C) has nine regional offices, in the north, north-west, Yorkshire and Humberside, east midlands, west midlands, eastern region, south-west, south -east and London. In addition there is a task force based in Merseyside. The geographical coverage of each region and the location of the main office is as set out in table A. I will write to the hon. Member with regard to the PSA at a later date.
Table A Location and geographical boundaries of DOE(C) regional offices
The staff employed, by grade, in each regional office on 1 February are set out in table B. These figures include staff in common service posts who provide support to the Department of Transport as well as DOE ; regional directors also have responsibility for transport.
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Table B: Staff in post in DOE regional offices by grade (or equivalent grade) on 1 February 1990
NRO |1.0 |- |2.0 |1.0 |9.0 |10.0 |13.0 |22.0 |25.0 |8.0 |91.0
NWRO |1.0 |- |2.0 |3.0 |15.5 |9.0 |23.0 |29.0 |47.5 |24.0 |154.0
YHRO |1.0 |- |2.0 |1.0 |10.0 |15.0 |14.0 |21.0 |22.0 |13.5 |99.5
EMRO |- |1.0 |- |2.0 |7.0 |10.0 |11.0 |17.0 |23.0 |13.0 |84.0
WMRO |1.0 |- |3.0 |1.0 |11.0 |6.0 |17.5 |23.5 |29.5 |3.0 |95.5
ERO |1.0 |- |2.0 |1.0 |11.0 |7.0 |11.0 |16.0 |10.0 |6.0 |65.0
SWRO |1.0 |- |1.0 |2.0 |8.0 |5.0 |12.0 |13.0 |14.0 |4.0 |60.0
SERO |1.0 |- |3.0 |1.0 |10.0 |10.5 |13.0 |27.0 |16.0 |1.0 |82.5
LRO |1.0 |- |3.0 |2.0 |18.0 |7.5 |24.0 |33.0 |24.0 |1.0 |113.5
MTF |- |- |2.0 |- |6.0 |5.0 |11.0 |11.0 |11.0 |1.0 |47.0
|-------
Total |8.0 |1.0 |20.0 |14.0 |105.5 |85.0 |149.5 |212.5 |222.0 |74.5 |892.0
The proportion of the Department's central administration vote spent in each of the regions in 1989-90 is set out in table C.
Table C DOE Regional Offices Administrative expenditure as a percentage of the DOE (C) Central Administration Vote (1989-90)
Per cent.
NRO 1.01
NWRO 1.56
YHRO 1.11
EMRO 0.82
WMRO 1.07
ERO 0.76
SWRO 0.69
SERO 1.01
LRO 1.32
MTF 0.55
Total 9.90
Housing Starts
Mr. Gregory : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many new housing starts there were in the Yorkshire and Humberside region for 1979, 1983, 1987 and the most recent year ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Chope : There were 15,800 starts in Yorkshire and Humberside region in 1989. Figures for the earlier years appear in table 6.4(a) of "Housing and Construction Statistics, 1978-1988", which is in the Library.
Neighbourhood Noise
Mr. David Martin : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when his Department's special working group on neighbourhood noise problems and the law is likely to produce its report.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : The working party on the review of noise, chaired by Mr. James Batho, should produce its report in the summer.
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Radioactivity
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list all the occasions in the last 10 years that Her Majesty's Government have been informed under international agreements of any release of radioactive material that could be of radiological significance for the United Kingdom.
Mr. Trippier : Her Majesty's Government have never been informed of a release of radioactive material of radiological significance to the United Kingdom under international agreements.
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list all the occasions in the last 10 years that RIMNET has detected abnormal levels of radiation in the United Kingdom.
Mr. Trippier : The RIMNET monitors were installed in June 1988. No abnormal levels of radiation have been detected since that date.
Water Privatisation
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he proposes to report to Parliament the proceeds of the water share offers and associated costs ; whether that report will include the total value of land and assets privatised under the Water Act 1989 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Trippier : Figures for proceeds from and overall costs to the Government of the water share offers are being compiled and will be reported shortly. Information on the assets of all the water holding companies was set out in the water share offers prospectus in November 1989.
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Waste Paper
Mr. Mills : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will introduce measures to prevent the importation of waste paper from the United States of America.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : No. Such measures are not required. In 1989 United Kingdom mill consumption of waste paper and board amounted to some 2.578 million tonnes. Only 80,000 tonnes were imported, and of this less than 3 per cent. originated from north America.
Mr. Mills : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what representations he has had about market, legal or other obstacles faced by enterprises seeking to develop recycling of waste paper.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : My Department and the Department of Trade and Industry have received many representations and comments about issues concerning the recycling of waste paper. For this reason the Government have established a recycling forum with a series of expert groups, including one specifically dealing with waste paper recycling. We hope to make the conclusions of the expert groups public shortly.
East European Countries
Mrs. Gorman : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what request he has received for assistance towards improving the environment in (a) Poland, (b) Hungary, (c) Czechoslovakia, (d) East Germany and (e) the Soviet Union ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Trippier : The Government are receiving a good deal of information from formal and informal sources about the environment in eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. We provided experts for two fact- finding missions to Poland and Hungary earlier this year. We are working actively through the G24 process--in which we are playing a leading part-- and other appropriate multilateral and bilateral mechanisms to promote the adoption of environmentally sustainable policies within Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, East Germany and the Soviet Union. Our overriding concern is to ensure that assistance for tackling the wide range of complex environmental problems involved should be based on sound science and a knowledge of the different priorities within each country.
New Town Corporation Properties
Mrs. Gorman : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he has yet made an assessment of the desirability of introducing a rents into mortgages scheme for the tenants of new town corporation properties.
Mr. Chope : No, but we are following the progress of the experimental rents into mortgages schemes for tenants of Scottish Homes and the Development Board for Rural Wales.
Language Teachers
Mr. Andrew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if foreign nationals temporarily resident in the United Kingdom for the purpose of foreign language teaching are liable to pay the poll tax.
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Mr. Chope : Everyone aged 18 or over, who is not exempt, and who is solely or mainly resident in England, Scotland or Wales will be subject to the personal community charge for the days on which the community charges registration officer for the area determines that they are so resident. The matter will be determined by the community charges registration officers in light of the facts of each case. Anyone who is aggrieved by a decision made by a community charge registration officer to enter him on the charging authority's registers as subject to a community charge may appeal to valuation and community charge tribunal.
Drought Risk
Mr. Shore : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether water levels are now sufficient to avoid an immediate risk of drought conditions in 1990.
Mr. Trippier : Water resources are now normal apart from a few pockets in Kent, East Anglia and east Yorkshire where groundwater levels have been slow to recover and supply difficulties may arise.
Cash Limits
Mr. Colvin : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he has any changes to announce to his Department's cash limits for 1989-90.
Mr. Chope : Yes. To enable the transfer of some 4,500 dwellings from the Commission for the New Towns to Peterborough city council, I have issued a supplementary capital allocation of £24,039,200 to the council covering the transfer price. The non-voted cash limit DOE/NT1 (New Towns) has been correspondingly reduced by £24,039,200 from minus £420,646,000 to minus £444,685,200. The transaction will not therefore add to the total of planned public expenditure.
Collective Community Change
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he has any plans to make additional resources available to local authorities for the monitoring of the collection of moneys by landlords within properties designated for the collective community charge.
Mr. David Hunt : I am confident that charging authorities have sufficient resources to collect the personal, standard and collective community charges. The chargeable person who is shown in the community charges register as subject to the collective charge will be required to maintain a record of the payments of contributions which he collects. The charging authority will be able to inspect these records.
Water Privatisation
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how much was paid in fees to the organisations listed in his answer on 13 March, Official Report , columns 186-87 .
Mr. Trippier : It is not the normal practice of Her Majesty's Government to publish the sums paid to individual advisers and contractors in a privatisation, as this information is a matter of commercial confidentiality.
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Figures for overall costs to the Government of the water share offers are being compiled and will be reported shortly.Council Tenants (Transfers)
Mr. Fearn : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he has received any representations about the likely effects of part VI of the Local Government Act 1989 on the movement of council tenants from the south to the north of England.
Boundary Review, Oxford
Mr. Andrew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he intends to announce the outcome of the boundary review in respect of Oxford city.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory [holding answer 21 March 1990] : My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State hopes to announce his decision this month.
Leeds Development Corporation
Mr. Fatchett : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, further to his answer of 12 March, if he will list the amounts spent by the Leeds development corporation in 1989-90, and planned to be spent in 1990- 91 on (a) the promotion and marketing of the urban development area and of Leeds in general, (b) the promotion and marketing of specific sites, (c) keeping the local community informed of the development corporation's activities and (d) the production of an annual report.
Mr. Moynihan [holding answer 21 March 1990] : The information for 1989-90 is as follows :
(a) the promotion and marketing of the urban development area and of Leeds in general : £175,000 ;
(b) the promotion and marketing of specific sites : £30,000 ; (
(c) programme of liaison with the local community : £95,000 ; (
(d) the production of an annual report : £18,000.
The total expenditure on the items identified in my substantive answer of 14 March is now estimated to be £335,000.
Urban development corporations are responsible for determining their own spending priorities within budgets, and similar details are not available for 1990-91.
Local Government Finance
Mr. Matthew Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is (a) the latest estimate of the total cost of collecting and administering the community charge for 1990-91, excluding set-up costs, (b) the total set-up costs of the introduction of community charge, locally and nationally, (c) the estimated cost of the collection and administration of the rates in 1989-90 and (d) the number of staff employed in the calculations, collection and administration of the rates in 1989-90.
Mr. Chope [holding answer 20 March 1990] : The latest estimate of the total cost of collecting and administering the community charge in 1990-91 is £400 million. The latest estimate made by authorities of the current cost of preparation is £207 million. The estimated capital cost of
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preparation is £160 million. The estimated cost of collecting rates in 1989-90 was £200 million. The total number of staff employed in the calculation, collection and administration of the rates in 1989-90 is not separately distinguishable in the available statistics.Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will now publish in the Official Report recalculations of the tables in annex J of Cmnd. 9714, "Paying for Local Government."
Mr. David Hunt [holding answer 21 March 1990] : I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave him on 15 March, Official Report, volume 169, column 313.
FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS
Advertising Expenditure
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what was the total publicity and advertising expenditure of his Department and public bodies for which his Department has responsibility in (a) 1979 and (b) 1989.
Mr. Sainsbury : Total expenditure by the FCO (diplomatic wing) in 1979-80 on publicity and advertising was £100,226. For 1989-90 the estimated expenditure is £329,115.
The expenditure for the public bodies for which the FCO is responsible is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Romanian Children (Adoption)
Mr. Andrew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many visas have been (i) applied for and (ii) issued since December 1989 in respect of Romanian children adopted by United Kingdom citizens.
Mr. Sainsbury : Four such visas have been applied for and one has been granted.
Mr. Andrew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will estimate the average time between applications for, and the issuing of, visas in respect of Romanian children adopted by United Kingdom citizens.
Mr. Sainsbury : Our visa procedures are designed to ensure that proper safeguards apply in cases of children brought to this country for adoption. These include inquiries into the child's circumstances overseas and reports by the prospective adopter's local authority. The length of time taken to complete these inquiries will depend on the circumstances of individual cases and it is not possible to estimate the average time for processing visa applications in respect of Romanian children adopted by United Kingdom citizens.
Sudan
Mr. Bermingham : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Sudanese Government concerning the arrest of Farouk Mohammed Ibrahim of the university of Khartoum ; and if he will make a statement.
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Mr. Waldegrave : Her Majesty's embassy has reported that Dr. Farouk Mohammed Ibrahim was released from custody on 10 March and has returned to his work at the university of Khartoum.Immigration
Mr. Franks : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when the entry clearance officer's statement of refusal of entry was completed and the clearance officer's statement was forwarded to (i) the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, London, and (ii) the immigration appeals office, London, in respect of Juliet C. Melville, ne e Crave, who applied for entry clearance in October 1989 at the British embassy in Manila, Philippines.
Mr. Sainsbury : The entry clearance officer's explana-tory statement accompanying Mrs. Melville's appeal, which had been lodged at the embassy in Manila in September 1989, was sent direct to the immigration appeals office on 5 March 1990.
The delay in processing this appeal was due to disruption to the work of the embassy in November 1989 (move to new premises) and December 1989 (attempted coup), and increased demands on secretarial resources. The post in Manila has now taken on extra staff to help reduce the delay in processing appeals.
Mr. Madden : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when a decision will be taken on the application to enter the United Kingdom made to the United Kingdom's post in Islamabad by Abdul Hamid, who was born on 14 February 1964 (Serial Number : 64050) ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Sainsbury : In accordance with the guidelines on the handling of representations by Members of Parliament in immigration cases, issued to Members on 14 December 1988, I have referred the question to the correspondence unit of the migration and visa department of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The hon. Member will receive a reply from the unit as soon as possible.
Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if the United Kingdom has discussed with its fellow depository member states for the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, the implications of German state unification for its membership of the non- proliferation treaty.
Mr. Waldegrave : We have not yet discussed this question with the other depository states of the non-proliferation treaty (NPT). Both the German Democratic Republic and the Federal Republic of Germany are parties to the NPT.
Hong Kong
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement regarding the provenance of the 116 tonnes of ivory in Hong Kong that does not have CITES documents specified in the letter sent by the Hong Kong Agriculture and Fisheries Department to the World Wide Fund for Nature, Hong Kong, dated 27 February, a copy of which has been made available to him.
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Mr. Waldegrave [holding answer 8 March 1990] : The Hong Kong authorities cannot provide a breakdown of the places of origin of the 116 tonnes of ivory in the territory that do not have CITES documentation. But these have been inspected by the Hong Kong authorities, which have found no evidence that any of these were illegally acquired. No stocks without CITES documentation may be exported from Hong Kong.
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his reply of 2 February, Official Report, column 405, what further information he has about ivory stocks currently held in Hong Kong (a) that are not marked and registered in accordance with CITES regulations or (b) were illegally acquired.
Mr. Waldegrave [holding answer 8 March 1990] : There are 116 tonnes of ivory in Hong Kong which do not have CITES documentation. The Hong Kong authorities have inspected all commercial ivory stocks in the territory. They have found no evidence that any of these stocks were illegally acquired.
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the latest available figure for the current stock of elephant ivory held in Hong Kong under CITES regulations ; and if he will indicate the reasons for the changes in the totals between (a) this figure, (b) the figure given in his answer of 2 February, Official Report, column 405 and (c) the figure given in his answer of 20 July 1989, Official Report, column 334.
Mr. Waldegrave [holding answer 8 March 1990] : The latest available figure for the current stock of elephant ivory held in Hong Kong under CITES regulations (to the nearest tonne) is 356 tonnes, including 102 tonnes of worked ivory and 254 tonnes of raw ivory. The figure for worked ivory is slightly smaller than that given on 2 February (104 tonnes) because exports of two tonnes have been notified to the Hong Kong authorities since then. The reason why the total figure for the current ivory stock is substantially less than the figure of 670 tonnes given by my hon. Friend, the then Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, on 20 July 1989 is that the earlier figure was an estimate based on voluntary declarations by traders. The introduction of a statutory requirement for all commercial holdings of ivory to be licensed has made it possible to produce a much more accurate figure. Moreover, some 50 tonnes of ivory have been exported since the original declaration was made.
DEFENCE
Regional Functions
Mr. Caborn : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what functions his Department carries out at the regional level ; where the regional offices are located in each of the regions ; what staff are employed and at what grades ; what proportion of his Department's budget is spent in each of the regions ; and what geographical boundaries determine his Department's regions.
Mr. Alan Clark : Information relating to the regional distribution of service and civilian personnel together with
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expenditure on defence equipment is already published in the Statement on the Defence Estimates 1989, Cm. 675, volume 2. Expenditure across the defence budget as a whole is not accounted for on a regional basis.Personnel (Loans and Secondments)
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list all the countries where service personnel are currently on (a) loan service and (b) secondment.
Mr. Neubert : Members of Her Majesty's armed forces are currently on loan service in the following countries.
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Barbados
Belize
Bermuda
Botswana
Brunei
Dominica
Fiji
Gambia
Ghana
Grenada
Hong Kong
Indonesia
Jordan
Kenya
Lesotho
Malaysia
Mauritius
Namibia
New Zealand
Nigeria
Oman
Qatar
Saudi Arabia
Singapore
St. Lucia
St. Vincent
Sudan
Swaziland
Turks and Caicos Islands
United Arab Emirates
Zimbabwe
Since January 1986 a wing of the British military advisory and training team has been specifically allocated to train Mozambican troops within Zimbabwe.
Current policy is for overseas military assistance to foreign Governments to be provided on loan service rather than secondment terms but, in accordance with particular longstanding arrangements, some personnel are serving on secondment in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.
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