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computer facilities to Quantity Surveyors in PSA.Sophitscom Computer Services--Operational support to computer systems handed over from Crown Suppliers.
Computer Consultancy
Aptree Ltd.--Support for Computer Services help desk in Ashdown House, Hastings.
Mouncey and Partners Ltd.--Assist the introduction of Office Automation facilities in PSA.
P.A. Consulting Services Ltd.--Support to National Implementation of Strategic Infrastructure for Projects Business.
Vistec Business Systems Ltd.--Advice on use and implementation of Autocad software package into PSA.
P.E. Computer Services Ltd.--Assist design and installation of Government Car Service IT system.
Elan Computing Ltd.--Support within IT Directorate for resolution of system management queries.
Wocad Ltd.--Assist in the development of Autocad software package. MDA Computer Group plc.--Managing hardware/software and telecommunications network.
GECS Ltd.--Training in use of Reinforced concrete CAD software package.
Loadplan--Conversion of document-based Airfield Pavement specification to computer disc.
Oracle Corporation (UK) Ltd.--Provision of Oracle Programming Support.
Civil Defence
Mr. McCartney : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment which local government unions and professional bodies are being consulted about the provision of nuclear, biological and chemical defence clothing and equipment to local authority staff with a civil defence role.
Mr. John Patten : I have been asked to reply.
No formal consultations are being held with these bodies in regard to protective clothing for civil defence purposes. A current working party, including representation from the Society of County Emergency Planning Officers, is concerned with the possible use of radiation survey equipment in wartime.
AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD
Food (Value)
Mr. Ralph Howell : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will estimate the proportion of the value of food which has gone to (a) the producer and (b) the processor, wholesaler and retailer in each year since 1973.
Mr. Curry : Figures for the period 1973 to 1987 are as follows. However, this series was discontinued due to doubts about the validity and meaningfulness of the calculations and the difficulty of making the necessary estimates given the increasing complexity of the food chain.
|c|Percentage of the price of food going to the
producer or to the|c|
|c|processor, wholesaler and retailer|c|
|Producers |Processors,
|wholesalers
|and retailers
--------------------------------------------------------
1973 |51.9 |48.1
1974 |52.6 |47.4
1975 |49.9 |50.1
1976 |52.2 |47.8
1977 |52.5 |47.5
1978 |49.2 |50.8
1979 |40.0 |51.0
1980 |43.9 |56.1
1981 |44.0 |56.0
1982 |45.8 |54.2
1983 |44.1 |55.9
1984 |46.6 |53.4
1985 |44.1 |55.9
1986 |42.0 |58.0
1987 |40.5 |59.5
Notes:
1. The producers' share is derived from estimates of
agricultural products produced in the United Kingdom
for home consumption valued at farmgate prices and
imported food valued at shipside prices.
2. The share of processors, wholesalers and retailers
is derived from estimates of household expenditure on
food at retail plus the estimates of the wholsale value
of food used in the catering sector. The retail price
of food is valued less taxes but including subsidies.
3. More detailed figures are given in CSO's Annual
Abstract of Statistics, 1988 edition, Table 9.16.
Farms
Miss Emma Nicholson : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will give the proportion of total capital grant expenditure that is given to each category of small, medium and large farms.
Mr. Curry : Information on total capital grant expenditure is not available in the form requested. However, the proportion of grant expenditure in England and Wales under the agriculture improvement scheme is identifiable by size of farm holdings as measured in British size units (BSUs). The latest year for which data are available is 1988 and the proportions of total grant expenditure of £25.4 million for that year are as follows :
1988 Size of |Per cent. of Total Holding (BSU) |Grant Expenditure --------------------------------------------------------- 0-8 |14.8 8-24 |35.7 24-100 |43.3 100 plus |6.2
Marine Coastal Eutrophication
Mr. Malcolm Bruce : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food why his Department decided not to be represented at the international conference on marine coastal eutrophication from 21 to 24 March.
Mr. Curry : The conference was principally concerned with the problems which are experienced in shallow, static, warm seas such as the Mediterranean. These issues are not relevant to the colder, well mixed waters round the United Kingdom.
Salmonella
Mrs. Gorman : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many samples from live poultry of all types have been examined by Ministry laboratories for the presence of salmonella during 1988 and 1989 ; and how many samples from other animal species were similarly examined.
Mr. Maclean : From 1 January to 31 December 1989, a total of 131, 472 samples were submitted to the Department's veterinary investigation centres in England
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and Wales for testing for the presence of salmonella in poultry. It is not possible to say how many of these samples came from live birds, carcases of birds or the environment of live birds or how many were examined in 1988 from live birds or other animal species.Mrs. Gorman : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many times in 1989 his Ministry's laboratories have misidentified or misreported the serotypes of salmonellas they have examined.
Mr. Maclean : There have been no occasions in 1989 when a salmonella serotype was misidentified by the Ministry's veterinary laboratories. However on four occasions misreporting occurred, primarily due to clerical- typing errors.
Mrs. Gorman : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he has any plans to restrict the spreading of manure from calves and pigs infected with salmonella on to farmland in line with his restrictions on the spreading of manure from infected poultry flocks.
Mr. Maclean : We have no plans to do so.
Mrs. Gorman : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assessment he has made of whether intact grade A eggs, derived from flocks infected with salmonella enteritidis, delivered to egg producing plants and pasteurised immediately after breaking out, would introduce such heavy contamination into the pasteurisation process that it would overwhelm the process and cause it to fail.
Mr. Maclean : As I explained to my hon. Friend in my answers to earlier questions, only a moderate heat treatment can be applied to liquid egg during the pasteurisation process otherwise its functional properties are destroyed. It is also important in processing to prevent salmonella contamination of the plant environment which would put the final pasteurised product at risk. For these reasons, processing plants cannot accept raw product from infected flocks which may be contaminated with salmonella enteritidis.
Mrs. Gorman : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is his assessment of the possibility of domestic wild birds infecting farm animals with salmonella typhimurium and enteritidis through their droppings.
Mr. Maclean : Salmonella organisms are widespread in the environment and the potential for the infection of farm animals through wild birds exists.
Mrs. Gorman : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what provisions apply to the slaughter of laying flocks found to be infected with salmonella enteriditis ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Maclean : The provisions relating to the compulsory slaughter of poultry laying flocks are contained in the Animal Health Act 1987 as applied in respect of salmonella through the provisions of the Zoonoses Order 1989.
Mrs. Gorman : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether there is a difference in multiplication rates between salmonellas introduced into eggs and those introduced naturally into intact grade A eggs.
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Mr. Maclean : Little information is available to indicate whether differences exist in the multiplication rates between salmonellas introduced into eggs and those introduced naturally into intact grade A eggs and research continues to investigate the factors which govern the multiplication rates of salmonella in shell eggs.
Mrs. Gorman : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will define the terms egg and egg product as used by his Department.
Mr. Curry : An egg is a poultry egg in shell and an egg product is whole egg--a mixture of yolk and albumen--or its constituent parts, not in shell.
Mrs. Gorman : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the current financial position of the egg producer industry and his assessment of the likely impact on it of the refusal to issue licences to producers with flocks subject to infected place notices under the Zoonoses Order 1989.
Mr. Curry : The market for eggs is firm and packer to produce prices are currently at high levels.
In granting licences for the removal of material from premises subject to an infected place notice under the Zoonoses Order 1989, the Government's priority is to protect public health. The reply given to my hon. Friend on 5 February, Official Report, column 499, explains why eggs from an infected flock cannot be removed for processing. But it was announced on 26 March, Official Report, columns 54-55, that carcases from infected flocks may be sold for processing under carefully controlled conditions and subject to stringent safeguards.
Mrs. Gorman : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what financial contributions are intended to be made from former eggs authority funds to the British Egg Industry Council and the British egg information service during the financial year 1990-91 ; and what part of that sum is intended to support the recently announced British lion scheme.
Mr. Curry : Subject to the approval of the European Commission it is proposed to make up to £350,000 available to the British Egg Industry Council (BEIC) for the 1990-91 promotional campaign. In the financial year 1989-90, a total of £107,000 was made available to the BEIC for programmes previously approved by the European Commission. These sums include the cost of work carried out by the British Egg Information Service on behalf of the BEIC.
Mrs. Gorman : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is his response to the recent report sent to him by the Secretary of the United Kingdom Egg Producers Association.
Mr. Maclean : I assume that the hon. Member is referring to a letter from the Secretary of the United Kingdom Egg Producers' Association dated 6 February to which officials replied on my behalf on 28 February.
Mrs. Gorman : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) why it has been decided not to make residual Eggs Authority funds available to organisations representing the majority of egg producers ;
(2) why the Government provide funding to the British Egg Industry Council only ; and if he will make a statement.
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Mr. Curry : The Argriculture Act 1986 requires the Agriculture Ministers to dispose of the net assets of the Authority for the benefit of persons engaged by way of business in the production, marketing and processing of eggs.
When the egg industry was consulted in 1986 on how the net assests should be used the National Farmers Union of England and Wales, the National Farmers Union of Scotland, the Ulster Farmers Union, the Scottish Egg Producer Retailers Association, the British Egg Association, the British Poultry Breeders and Hatcheries Association, the National Egg Marketing Association and the British Egg Products Association all urged that the Government should disburse these assets through the British Egg Industry Council. UKEP Association Ltd was the only association to dissent from that view.
The Government considered that it would be appropriate to follow the advice tendered by nearly all the industry associations which between them clearly represented the majority of those engaged in the production, marketing and processing of eggs.
Poultry Industry Mrs. Gorman : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in light of his proposals to restrict the spreading of manure from infected broiler flocks, whether he intends to introduce compulsory testing of broiler flocks to enable identification of potentially contaminated manure.
Mr. Maclean : We have no plans to restrict the spreading of manure from infected broiler flocks or to introduce the compulsory testing of these flocks. Isolations of salmonella by laboratories are required to be reported to MAFF under the Zoonoses Order 1989. Flock owners are advised to stack and disinfect manure removed from houses where salmonella infected broilers have been kept.
Wild Birds (Infection) Mrs. Gorman : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he has any plans to restrict the access of wild birds to sewage works and refuse tips.
Mr. Maclean : We have no plans to do so.
Pesticides
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) what information he has concerning the research currently being undertaken in Reading university on the toxicity of pesticide mixes ; and if he will make a statement ;
(2) what research he is undertaking into the toxicity of approved pesticides when ingested in combination.
Mr. Maclean : Research into this subject has been carried out jointly by Reading university and the Institute of Terrestrial Ecology, part of the National Environment Research Council. One of the Reading team, Dr. Colin
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Walker, is a member of the environmental panel of the advisory committee and a proposal for the funding of follow-up studies is currently lodged with the Department of the Environment.Dairy Crest (Redundancies)
Mr. Skinner : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many jobs are to be lost in the latest round of Dairy Crest creamery closures ; how many redundancies are expected in Derbyshire ; what are the levels of redundancy payments arising directly, or indirectly, from European Economic Community funds ; what steps he is taking to prevent the closures ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Curry : Dairy plant closures are a matter for the firms concerned. Dairy Crest Limited has announced a rationalisation programme involving the loss of 450 jobs, of which 153 are at the company's Alfreton creamery which will close at the end of December 1990. There are no Community funds for redundancy payments, but the company's own arrangements provide for payments which exceed the statutory minimum. In addition, the company is setting up job shops at the various sites and is confident that most of those looking for new jobs will be successful.
Agriculture Council
Mr. John Greenway : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the outcome of the Agriculture Council held this week in Luxembourg.
Mr. Gummer : I represented the United Kingdom at the meeting of the Agriculture Council from 26 to 29 March together with the Parliamentary Secretary, my hon. Friend the Member for Skipton and Ripon (Mr. Curry). Discussion concentrated on the 1990 price fixing. Detailed and intense discussions over several days resulted in two presidential compromises. However, a qualified majority could not be found. Discussion is expected to resume at the next meeting of the Council beginning on 25 April.
EMPLOYMENT
Earnings
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what was the proportion of female and male full-time workers in the United Kingdom, the south-west and Avon, respectively, whose hourly earnings, exclusive of overtime, fell below (a) £2.80, (b) £3.00, (c) £3.20, (d) £3.60, (e) £4.00 and (f) £4.50 in April 1989.
Mr. Nicholls : The estimated percentages of full-time adult female and male employees earning below specified amounts in the new earnings survey sample in April 1989 are provided in the table. Figures for Great Britain are given as the equivalent information for the United Kingdom as a whole is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
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|c|Hourly earnings less than:-|c|
per cent.
|£2.80|£3.00|£3.20|£3.60|£4.00|£4.50
--------------------------------------------------------
Females
Great Britain |14 |19 |25 |36 |46 |57
South West |16 |21 |28 |41 |52 |64
Avon |10 |14 |21 |33 |46 |59
Males
Great Britain |5 |7 |10 |17 |24 |35
South West |5 |8 |12 |20 |28 |39
Avon |4 |6 |9 |15 |21 |31
Hourly earnings excluding overtime, earnings not
affected by absence.
YTS Allowances
Mr Speller : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will arrange for YTS allowances to be increased to cover community charge payments for young people who have never paid rates and who are on a scheme living away from home.
Mr. Nicholls : There are no plans to do so. YTS non-employed trainees who need to live away from the parental home in order to benefit from a training course receive a lodging allowance to cover their lodging costs.
Wakefield TEC
Mr. O'Brien : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will publish the names of the business people who are involved with the Wakefield training and enterprise council ; and if he will give information as to their business interests.
Mr. Eggar : The Wakefield TEC is currently drawing up its corporate plan which will list the board of directors.
Mr. O'Brien : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment on what date the Wakefield training and enterprise council was established ; what consultations took place with interested organisations including the trades councils and local authority ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Eggar : An employer-led group was awarded development funding to establish a training and enterprise council in Wakefield on 25 January 1990. It is now preparing its corporate and business plans and I expect it to consult all relevant local interests in drawing up these Plans.
Mr. O'Brien : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what amount of funds has been allocated to the Wakefield training and enterprise council for the current year.
Mr. Eggar : Development funding of £109,000 has been awarded to an employer-led group in Wakefield to set up a training and enterprise council for the area.
Consultancies Mr. Tim Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what was the total amount spent by the Training Commission in 1989 on management and computer consultancy contracts, excluding hardware and software purchases ; if he will list each management or computer consultancy contract awarded by the Training Commission in 1989, giving in each case the name of the consultancy firm and the subject of the assignment ; and what is the total amount that the Training Commission has budgeted to spend in the current year.
Mr. Eggar : [holding answer 28 March 1990] ; The Training Agency estimate, that expenditure in the financial
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year 1989-90 will be £3.4 million on management and computer consultancy contracts, excluding hardware and software purchases. No management consultancy contracts were awarded during 1989-90. The total budget for 1990-91 has not yet been agreed. The list of computer consultancy contracts awarded during the financial year 1989-90 is as follows :Consultants and Subject of Assignment
Arthur Young--Consultant to review a payment system.
MFT Computer Systems--Amendments to the file registry System. RTI-- Consultants to establish the environment within the field system.
Computer People North--SSADM System Analyst.
Telfast Computer Service--Analyst for development work.
Softel--Oracle Project
PA--Head office configuration technical study.
Arthur Young--A consultant to assist in developing the accounting structure of training and enterprise councils.
PA--To examine implications of procuring terminals and keyboards capable of supporting X-Windows.
AMP Systems Ltd.--Support for small firms.
D. England--Assistance with the Cimetrics package.
BIS Applied Systems--Consultancy support for the local area network project.
RTI--Consultancy to resolve problems when trying to run ingres on NCR computer.
Yale Data--Technical assurance co-ordinator.
CCTA--Financial and management accounting post-implementation review.
Easams Ltd.--Ingres application developers for the field system. RTI-- Training access point scoping study.
Yale Data Management Consultants--A consultant to assist the stage manager.
Relational Technology--Supply of Ingres training.
Ernst and Whinney--Consultant to advise on the field system and training and enterprise councils.
Relational Technology--Assisting with the setting up of accounts, directories etc.
CSL--Review of system methodology.
Price Waterhouse--Ingres developers/testing.
Yale Data--Ingres developers/testers.
SEMA Group--Ingres support.
Telfast Computing--Ingres application developer with accountancy experience.
CCTA--Service agreement hardware/software.
CCTA--Migration study X25 1980 to X25 1984.
Level 7--Network names and addressing.
CCTA--Telecommunications section--study to look into staffing needs. FM-- Provide software support to regional and HQ systems. CCTA--CCTA support agreement.
MFT--Contract programmer ( C') for 4 weeks.
RTI--Consultant to assist in setting up Ingres database. Yale Data--Ingres application developer (4 weeks).
Scientific Business Systems--Applications developers to work on the record trainee system.
PA--Assistance with the Mascot operational requirement.
Hoskyns Group--Project management for privatisation of the Skills Training Agency.
Meridan Systems Management Ltd.--Online access to a Polis database. Yale Data Management--Applications developer to help on trainees volume system.
Skills Training Agency--Training in Q-office development. RTI--Application developers to assist with development work.
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