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Mr. Churchill : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his estimate of the cost to the Exchequer of higher rate tax relief on mortgage interest in the year 1990-91 ; and what is (a) the likely number of beneficiaries and (b) the average size of the mortgage involved.
Mr. Lilley [holding answer 30 March 1990] : Estimates for 1990-91 are not available. In 1989-90, the estimated cost of relief at excess over the basic rate of income tax is £430 million. About 700,000 mortgagors are beneficiaries and their average mortgage is estimated at £28,500. Estimates are provisional.
PRIME MINISTER
Art Treasures
Mr. Wray : To ask the Prime Minister what specific measures have been taken by Her Majesty's Government, alone or with other European Community countries, in order to (a) identify and (b) protect from permanent removal from the United Kindom national artistic treasures after the single market comes into completion in 1992.
The Prime Minister : The Waverly system has worked well in enabling us to identify and protect national artistic
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treasures without infringing the rights of owners and unnecessarily impeding the operation of the market. We are considering what measures might be needed to strengthen its operation in the changed conditions after 1992.Members of Parliament (Bribery)
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Prime Minister which action she is taking on the Salmon committee recommendation that Parliament should consider bringing corruption, bribery and attempted bribery of an hon. Member, acting in his parliamentary capacity, within the ambit of the criminal law.
The Prime Minister : The corruption, bribery and attempted bribery of Members of Parliament acting in their parliamentary capacities would be a contempt and would be a matter for the Committee of Privileges to deal with. We would consider bringing forward legislation to make the corruption or attempted corruption of hon. Members a criminal offence only if there was clear evidence that the present arrangements were ineffective and the House agreed.
European Monetary System
Mr. Teddy Taylor : To ask the Prime Minister if she will seek to ensure that each Department affected publishes a statement on the implications for its activities of the joining of the exchange rate mechanism of the European monetary system.
The Prime Minister : No. The Government have made it clear that sterling will join the exchange rate mechanism (ERM) when the conditions set out at Madrid are met.
President Havel
Dr. Thomas : To ask the Prime Minister what matters were discussed during her meeting with President Havel of Czechoslovakia on 21 and 22 March.
The Prime Minister : I discussed with President Havel his ideas for the future shape of Europe and some of the security problems which arise from the new situation. I also announced the extension of the know-how fund to Czechoslovakia.
ATTORNEY-GENERAL
Appeals
66. Mr. Kirkwood : To ask the Attorney-General what is the average period between a conviction and the hearing of an appeal against that conviction ; and if he will make a statement.
The Attorney-General : In England and Wales the average period between lodgment of a notice of appeal against a decision of the magistrates court and hearing of the appeal in the Crown court is 8.36 weeks.
Of appeals to the Court of Appeal, criminal division, against convictions in the Crown court 32.3 per cent. are ready for hearing within six months and 84.3 per cent. are ready within 12 months. The time taken for an appeal to be heard is governed by the amount of preparatory work involved, and in trying to list cases with the minimum of
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delay the registrar of criminal appeals must ensure that counsel and solicitors acting for each appellant have adequate time to prepare their cases. Where delays in listing appeals occur they tend to be caused by the court's obligation to balance the conflicting needs of applicants who all wish their appeals heard as soon as possible. Those with leave to appeal against conviction, or short sentences, are, wherever possible, given earlier consideration than those appealing against long sentences.Estate Agents
69. Mr. Favell : To ask the Attorney-General what recent representations he has received on the proposals to reform the legal profession in so far as they affect estate agents.
The Attorney-General : Since the publication of the Courts and Legal Services Bill on 6 December 1989, the Lord Chancellor has received eight representations concerning estate agency. The representations have been concerned with the suitability of allowing estate agents to offer conveyancing services as well as providing financial services in the house purchase market.
Director of Public Prosecutions
70. Mr. Allen : To ask the Attorney-General when he last met the Director of Public Prosecutions ; and what was discussed.
The Attorney-General : I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Walsall, North (Mr. Winnick) earlier today.
County Courts
72. Mr. Alex Carlile : To ask the Attorney-General if there are any proposals to change the level of staffing in the county courts ; and if he will make a statement.
The Attorney-General : The number of court staff will be increased by about 350 in the coming financial year, and subsequently by up to a further 100 during the transitional period while new initiatives are being introduced.
At the same time the introduction of a computerised summons production centre and the curtailment of the county court banking function will release staff time savings equivalent to about 350 staff.
Immigration Appeals
Mr. Harry Barnes : To ask the Attorney-General what is the average length of time taken by the independent appellate authority in dealing with an appeal against a decision of an entry clearance officer on an immigration matter.
The Attorney-General : The immigration appellate authorities (IAA) do not record information on the average time taken to deal with appeals. It is, however, possible to give an estimate of the average time taken by the IAA to deal with appeals at each stage of the proceedings, as follows :
(a) from the date of receipt of the notice of appeal and the explanatory statement at the IAA's headquarters to the date of dispatch of the case papers to the parties' representatives in the United Kingdom : two to three months ;
(b) from the date on which both parties indicate readiness to proceed to a hearing to the date of the hearing : one and a half to two months ;
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(c) from the date of hearing to the date of dispatch of the adjudicator's determination to the parties' representatives in the United Kingdom : one month.Thus, the current estimate of the average time taken by the IAA to deal with a case is four and a half to six months, to which must be added the time taken by the parties' representatives in the United Kingdom to indicate readiness to proceed after receipt of the case papers from the IAA. This latter period can vary considerably but the current estimate is from two to six months.
In addition, an appeal from a determination by an adjudicator to the immigration appeal tribunal is estimated to take four to six months.
TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Regional Functions
Mr. Caborn : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry 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. Douglas Hogg : The regional network of the Department of Trade and Industry comprises eight regional offices in England together with their sub-offices and satellites. Their main tasks are : (1) To promote a better understanding of Government policies in the regions, to gather intelligence about industry and commerce, and to represent regional interests to Government.
(2) To promote and administer all parts of the Enterprise Initiative.
(3) To co-operate with other Government Departments, particularly through the City Action Teams, and with regional development organisations, local authorities, chambers of commerce, local enterprise agencies and other regional and local bodies.
Details of the geographical boundaries and location of
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the regional offices are contained in the DTI guide for business, a copy of which can be found in the House of Commons Library. While some DTI programmes have a strong regional emphasis, the vast majority are delivered nationally and it is not therefore possible to provide precise figures for expenditure by region for all schemes. For areas where programme spend can be attributed to individual offices the proportional spends are as follows :
|Per cent. of |Per cent. of
|spend under The|spend under The
|Industrial |Consultancy
|Development |Initiatives
|Act 1982
----------------------------------------------------------------
DTI NE |39.6 |4.8
DTI NW |25.6 |17.4
DTI YH |16.0 |11.2
DTI EM |3.2 |6.6
DTI WM |9.2 |12.2
DTI SE |2.1 |19.3
DTI SW |4.2 |7.0
DTI East |- |5.4
Scotland and
Wales |- |16.6
The budget for administrative expenditure in 1989-90 by the regional offices is £18.8 million, some 6 per cent. of the total administrative expenditure of the Department. The expenditure by region is as follows :
|£ million
------------------------------
DTI EM |1.6
DTI NE |3.4
DTI WM |3.0
DTI SE |2.7
DTI YH |2.3
DTI NW |3.7
DTI East |0.5
DTI SW |1.5
A breakdown of staff by grade in each of the regional offices is as follows :
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|c|Staff by grade (including casually employed staff) as at 1 February 1990|c|
|DTI NE |DTI NW |DTI YH |DTI EM |DTI |DTI East|DTI SE |DTI SW |Total
|WM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Grade 3 |2.0 |1.0 |1.0 |- |1.0 |- |- |- |5.0
Grade 4 |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
Grade 5 |1.0 |2.0 |1.0 |1.0 |1.0 |1.0 |1.0 |1.0 |9.0
Grade 6 |4.0 |4.0 |3.0 |3.0 |3.0 |2.0 |5.0 |3.0 |27.0
Grade 7 |10.0 |10.0 |7.0 |4.0 |9.0 |3.0 |5.0 |4.0 |52.0
SEO |15.0 |14.0 |10.0 |5.0 |14.0 |- |4.0 |1.0 |63.0
SPTO/SSO |2.0 |1.0 |1.0 |2.0 |1.0 |- |- |2.0 |9.0
HEO |29.0 |33.0 |21.0 |18.0 |24.0 |7.0 |19.0 |12.0 |163.0
HPTO/HSO |1.0 |1.0 |3.0 |1.0 |2.0 |- |1.0 |- |9.0
IO |- |- |- |- |- |- |1.0 |- |1.0
EO |51.0 |39.0 |26.0 |15.0 |31.0 |10.0 |32.0 |19.0 |223.0
AO |32.5 |38.5 |21.0 |17.5 |35.0 |15.0 |43.5 |25.5 |228.5
AA |25.5 |28.0 |19.0 |9.0 |27.5 |3.0 |13.0 |5.5 |130.5
TM/Typist |8.0 |8.0 |5.0 |5.0 |12.5 |3.0 |- |7.5 |49.0
PS/SPS |6.0 |7.0 |4.0 |3.0 |5.0 |2.0 |5.0 |2.0 |34.0
Support staff |3.0 |- |6.0 |5.0 |6.0 |- |0.5 |1.0 |21.5
-------
Total |190.0 |186.5 |128.0 |88.5 |172.0 |46.0 |130.0 |83.5 |1,024.5
In addition to its regional office structure, a number of other operations of the Department are sited, in whole or in part, in the regions. These include the inner-city task forces ; provincial offices of the insolvency service ; offices of the radio investigations service and the Department's financial investigations division ; and a number of the
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Department's research establishments. Information broken down by region on the administrative costs of these operations is not readily available.The staff that they employ, however, represent some 14 per cent. of total DTI staffing (excluding Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) and are located as follows :
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|c|Staff in post as at 1 January 1990|c|
|Number
----------------------------------------------
North East |58
North West |184
Yorks and Humberside |100.5
East Midlands |87
West Midlands |276
South West |125.5
South East (excluding London) |547
|-------
Total |1,378
Government Expenditure
Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will provide the information contained in tables 4.11, 4.12 and 4.14 of "The Government's Expenditure Plans 1990-91 to 1992-93" for Wales only.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : I am afraid that this information is not available.
Buy British Campaign
Mr. Amess : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations he has received in favour of a Buy British campaign ; and what response he has made.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : The Secretary of State has received a number of representations on this topic. Our response recognises the advantages of purchasing United Kingdom goods and services where they are competitive in design, quality and price.
Telecommunications
Miss Emma Nicholson : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) if he will set out the terms of reference of the telecommunications review due to start later in the current year ; (2) what plans he has to extend the present duopoly in the provision of basic telephone services.
Mr. Forth : The Government will review the present duopoly in the provision of telecommunications over fixed links starting in November of this year. The terms of reference of the review have yet to be decided. I do not at present have any plans to extend the current duopoly.
Computer Programs (Copyright)
Miss Emma Nicholson : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps are being taken to ensure that the proposals for harmonised copyright protection for computer programs in the European Community that result from the Commission's 1989 draft directive do not permit (a) unfair competition and (b) trade secrets embodied in proprietary software to be published.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : We--and, I believe, all other member states--are concerned to ensure that competition in the supply of computer software is fair. There is no provision in the draft directive requiring the publication of trade secrets embodied in such software.
Miss Emma Nicholson : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps are being taken to ensure that the proposals for harmonised copyright protection for
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computer programs in the European Community do not prevent Britain from restraining unauthorised imports of copies of computer programs marketed outside the EEC.Mr. Douglas Hogg : There are no provisions in the draft directive which would prevent the owners of the United Kingdom copyright in a computer program from taking action to restrain the importation of infringing copies of that program from outside the EEC.
Miss Emma Nicholson : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what steps are being taken to ensure that the proposals for harmonised copyright protection for computer programs in the European Community that result from the Commission's 1989 draft directive protect (a) members of the British software industry against uncontrolled access by competitors to the details and workings of their proprietary software and (b) the investment in research and development incurred by the British software industry in creating proprietary software ;
(2) what steps are being taken to ensure that the proposals for harmonised copyright protection for computer programs in the European Community resulting from the Commission's 1989 draft directive provide sufficient protection to encourage long-term research and development ;
(3) what steps are being taken to ensure that the proposals for harmonised copyright protection for computer programs in the European Community that result from the Commission's 1989 draft directive do not undermine the protection presently afforded the British software industry by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and other relevant legislation ;
(4) what steps are being taken to ensure that the proposals for harmonised copyright protection for computer programs in the European Community resulting from the Commission's 1989 draft directive do not discourage innovation ;
(5) what steps are being taken to ensure that the proposals for harmonised copyright protection for computer programs in the European Community that result from the Commission's 1989 draft directive do not by permitting limited access for specified reasons allow details and workings of proprietary software to become available to commercial competitors.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : The draft directive does not provide for uncontrolled access to the details and workings of proprietary software, although the question of whether access should be allowed in certain limited circumstances is receiving further consideration. Investment by the British software industry will continue to be safeguarded in the United Kingdom by the rights accorded under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, which is not undermined by the draft directive. The draft directive would, however, improve the general level of protection of computer programs in the Community and should therefore further encourage investment, innovation and long-term research and development in this field.
European Regional Development Fund
Mr. Butler : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will give the total of European regional development fund moneys given to the borough of St. Helens in each of the last five years.
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Mr. Douglas Hogg : The totals of commitments from the European regional development fund in respect of projects in St. Helens, Merseyside in the last five years have been as follows :
|Industrial |Infrastructure|Total
|£ |£ |£
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
1985 |55,783 |142,500 |198,283
1986 |144,002 |29,500 |173,502
1987 |45,057 |185,400 |230,457
1988 |12,057 |- |12,057
1989 |50,958 |- |50,958
The absence of commitments to infrastructure projects in 1989 is due to the European Commission's delay in approving the Mersey basin programme which includes St. Helens. With the recent approval of this programme commitments will resume.
Televisions
Mr. Steinberg : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many British-made televisions were exported to European Economic Community countries, and how many were sold on the British market, in the latest available 12 months.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : A total of 1.2 million British-made television sets were exported to European Economic Community countries and 1.82 million British-made sets were sold on the British market in 1989.
Company Accounts
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he will make it his policy as a condition of recognition to require the accountancy bodies seeking supervisory recognition under the Companies Act 1989 to make the minutes of their council meetings available (a) to their members and (b) to any member of the public on payment of a small fee.
Mr. Redwood : No. It is for a supervisory body itself to decide what arrangements are appropriate for informing its members and the public about its proceedings.
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether his Department has any plans to legislate to strengthen controls over auditors establishing whether or not a business is a going concern.
Mr. Redwood : No. I refer the hon. Member to the answers that I gave to his questions on 5 March at column 415 and 27 March at column 125.
European Postal Monopoly
Mr. Teddy Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what proposals have emerged from the European Economic Community Commission on the establishment of a European postal monopoly ; what assessment has been made of the implications for the United Kingdom and for private delivery services ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Forth : Discussions on postal policy in Europe are taking place in Brussels between member states and the European Commission but no proposals have yet been made by the Commission and it is too early to speculate
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what the implications might be for the United Kingdom and for private delivery services. I understand that the Commission intends to publish a Green Paper in June.Radiocommunications Division
Mr. Bowis : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what progress has been made towards establishing his Department's radiocommunications division as an executive agency.
Mr. Ridley : I am establishing the radiocommunications executive agency today. It is the seventh executive agency to be established within DTI.
Operating as an agency will give the agency further incentive in its efforts to provide an effective, quality service to radio users throughout the country. To that end I have set the
radiocommunications agency the following efficiency and quality of service targets for 1990-91 :
(a) to achieve an efficiency increase of 3 per cent. in its overall operations ;
(b) to maintain and improve existing levels of quality of service in its licensing and enforcement activities through a comprehensive set of quality of service targets as follows :
(i Licensing
Aeronautical-90 per cent. of new applications to be processed and despatched within one working day;
Aircraft--90 per cent. of new applications to be processed and despatched within two working days ;
Ships radio--80 per cent. of licences to be issued within one month ;
Maritime business radio--90 per cent. of cases to be actioned within three months ;
Private mobile radio
Average time for processing applications :
New applications--within 15 working days ;
Amendments--within 30 working days ;
On-site paging--90 per cent. of new applications and amendments to be processed and, where appropriate, despatched within three working days.
In each case the target is for action within the number of days specified, following receipt by the agency ;
(ii Enforcement :
95 per cent. of safety of life services complaints to be handled within 24 hours ;
95 per cent. of business complaints to be handled within five working days ;
95 per cent. of domestic complaints to be handled within one month.
I propose in due course to set the radiocommunications agency similarly challenging targets for the improvement of efficiency in later years.
Textile and Clothing Industry
Mr. Henderson : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if any studies have been conducted on the likely impact of the changes in central and eastern Europe on the textile and clothing industry in the United Kingdom.
Mr. Douglas Hogg [holding answer 28 March 1990] : I am not aware of any such study.
Consultancies
Mr. Tim Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what was the total amount spent by his Department 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 his Department in 1989, giving in each case the name of the consulting firm and the
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subject of the assignment ; and what is the total amount that his Department has budgeted to spend in the current year.Mr. Forth [holding answer 28 March 1990] : My Department's expenditure on consultants engaged in the financial year 1989-90 is estimated to be £6,979,000 of which £3,967,000 is for computer consultancy contracts excluding hardware and software purchases. The allocation for 1990-91 will be set shortly in the light of the Department's annual activity and resource management review. Expenditure on management consultants is not recorded separately. The following is the list of management or computer consultancy contracts awarded for the financial year 1989-90 :
Firm and subject of assignment
National Computing Centre--Focus Software Quality Paper Update Trichem Consultants Limited--Petrochemical Industry Study Trichem Consultants Limited--Petrochemical Industry Study Trichem Consultants Limited-- Petrochemical Industry Study Ernst and Whinney--Inward Investment Study
SEMA Group (UK) Limited--IT Security Standards
Benchmark--Engineering Computer Survey
Martec Associates--Diesel Generating Sets Market Study
Policy Studies Institute--Evaluation of OSTT and AIT Ref (1725) March-- Maintenance Initiative Report
Coopers and Lybrand--Barriers To Takeover
Victor Hausner & Associates--Task Forces Advice and Support On Policy Guidance
Taylor Hitec--Famos Management
W. S. Atkins--IMM Market Study
SEMA--Slumen MR OSI Network Management
J. Westgate (Consultants) Limited--OSI Network Study
EOSYS Limited--OSI Implementor Groups
National Economic Research Association (NERA)--Copyright Protection Study
T. William Olle Associates--Open Distributed Processing Reference Model
T. William Olle Associates--Data Management Reference Model SEMA Group Limited--OSI Upper Layer Architecture
Data Dictionary Systems Limited--Study On International Standards Lighting Industry Federation--Certification of Lighting Equipment Secure Information Systems Limited--Cleft Test Evaluation Standardcorp--Nursery Goods European Standards
International Project Councellors Limited--Feasibility Study Open Cast Mine
SEMA Group Limited--OSI Upper Layer Architecture
Coopers & Lybrand--Scrutiny Of Demand And Funding For Departmental Central Services
Malcolm Associates--Safety Critical Systems
Business in the Community (BIC)--Enterprise and education Sectoral Initiative
Coopers and Lybrand--Environmental/safety controls on chlorinated substances
Intermatrix--Study on the Japanese market for speciality chemicals :
Opportunity Japan campaign stage II
Metra Martech Limited--Expo 92--Spaniards' attitudes towards Britain survey
P-Four Consultancy Limited--Open systems technology transfer module (OSTT)
Segal Quince Wicksteed Limited--Consultancy initiatives evaluation next phase 1989/90
Dodwell Marketing Consultants--Study on the Japanese market for speciality food and drink
PA Consulting Group--Microengineering study
British Mining Consultants Limited--Mining sector study in Latin and South America
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