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(2) when, and for what reasons, his Department decided to investigate the value of whooping cough vaccines other than the whole-cell one.Mrs. Virginia Bottomley [holding answer 30 March 1990] : It was decided that acellular vaccines should be studied when it became known that such vaccines were becoming available. In a phase two trial, three acellular vaccines (one made in Britain, one in France and one in Japan) have been compared with British whole-cell vaccine for toxicity and immune response. A phase three (main trial) study to compare the protective efficacy of one or more of these acellular vaccines with whole-cell vaccine is now being planned in the United Kingdom. These investigations into whole -cell and acellular vaccines are being undertaken by the Medical Research Council
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(MRC), which is the body funded by the Government to support clinical research. The MRC receives its grant in aid from the Department of Education and Science.NHS Costs
Mr. Robin Cook : To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Livingston of 5 April, Official Report, columns 753-54, if he will publish the average cost figures shown there adjusted by the HCHS pay and prices index.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley [holding answer 25 April 1990] : Pursuant to the reply of 5 April 1990 at columns 753-54, following is a table which shows the figures at 1989-90 prices revalued by the use of the hospital and community health services (HCHS) pay and prices index.
The source and general notes to the earlier reply continue to apply.
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|c|England-Average hospital costs|c|
In-patient case Out-patient case Day case attendance
|£ |£ |£ |£ |£ |£
|(cash) |(at 1989-90 |(cash) |(at 1989-90)|(cash) |(at 1989-90
|prices) |prices) |prices)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1979-80 |466.72 |1,108.28 |61.58 |146.23 |35.80 |85.01
1980-81 |593.08 |1,100.68 |78.22 |145.17 |45.16 |83.81
1981-82 |640.40 |1,098.40 |87.55 |150.16 |51.74 |88.74
1982-83 |689.83 |1,110.58 |94.23 |151.70 |59.53 |95.84
1983-84 |687.74 |1,053.29 |98.21 |150.41 |58.71 |89.92
1984-85 |708.29 |1,025.43 |102.25 |148.03 |60.69 |87.86
1985-86 |718.94 |989.89 |108.88 |149.91 |65.80 |90.60
1986-87 |759.52 |978.05 |116.14 |149.56 |70.60 |90.91
Patients using a bed- Out-patient referral
consultant episode
|£ |£ |£ |£
|(cash) |(at 1989-90|(cash) |(at 1989-90
|prices) |prices)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1987-88 |445.60 |528.81 |96.71 |114.76
EMPLOYMENT
Employment Training
Mr. Leighton : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the average time in London that training agents take to assess employment training clients' training needs and draw up an action plan.
Mr. Nicholls : The length of time a client spends in assessment will always vary according to individual needs. Some clients may need to spend several days with a training agent before a realistic action plan can be agreed. Others with a clear and realistic idea of their own employment aims can be referred directly to training with minimal need for counselling, assessment etc.
The average length of time that training agents in London take to assess employment training clients' needs and draw up an action plan is about five hours spread over one to two days.
Energy Grant
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what was the total expenditure by his Department on the administration of the energy grant through employment training in (a) 1988-89 and (b) 1989-90.
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Mr. Nicholls : This information is not available.
Training and Enterprise Councils
Mr. McLeish : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if trainees from ethnic minorities and trainees with special needs and projects covering both categories are excluded from the positive outcome criteria being used to deliver output-related funding for training and enterprise councils.
Mr. Eggar [holding answer 3 May 1990] : No.
SCOTLAND
Local Government Finance
Mr. Allan Stewart : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement about the profile of 1990-91 revenue support grant payments to Scottish local authorities.
Mr. Rifkind : Having considered the case submitted by the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities on 9 April and in particular the points they put to me about the effect of the introduction of the community charge transitional relief scheme on their billing arrangements, I have decided that the profile of revenue support grant payments for
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1990-91 should be advanced so that authorities receive 25.2 per cent. of their total entitlement to grant by the end of May.TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Osteopaths
Sir Gerard Vaughan : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he has plans to introduce legislation to permit osteopaths to advertise by direct mail ; what representations he has had against such advertising from professional bodies ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Forth : Representations against direct mail advertising have been received from the General Council and Register of Osteopaths (GCRO). The Secretary of State is considering these in the light of the Monopolies and Mergers Commission's recommendations on advertising by professionally regulated osteopaths.
Export Licences
Mr. Matthew Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he will set up an inquiry into export licence applications and the way in which these are vetted within his Department.
Mr. Ridley : The administration of export licensing by my Department was thoroughly reviewed in 1988 and the need for changes to ensure that the controls remain effective, and are efficiently administered, is kept under continuous study.
Internal Market Council
Ms. Quin : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry which Minister from his Department is to attend the EC Internal Market Council on 8 May.
Mr. Ridley : The next meeting of the EC Internal Market Council is on 14 May ; the United Kingdom will be represented by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Corporate Affairs.
Recycled Paper
Mr. Campbell-Savours : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what measures are being considered for publishing nationally the advantages of recycling paper in order to stimulate demand for recycled paper products.
Mr. Forth [holding answer 3 May 1990] : We are considering a large number of options aimed at stimulating all parts of the recycling chain not just for paper but for a wide range of materials. The outcome of this examination will be put forward in the White Paper on the environment, due to be published in the autumn.
Obscene Telephone Calls
Ms. Gordon : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he expects to receive a report from British Telecom on the findings of its task force on obscene telephone calls ; and if he will place it in the Library.
Mr. Forth [holding answer 3 May 1990] : This is a matter for the director general of Telecommunications, who has maintained a close interest in British Telecom's initiative on nuisance calls.
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The report has been sent by British Telecom to the director general in view of his responsibilities under the Telecommunications Act 1984. He is currently considering the findings of the report.The Three Graces"
Mr. Bowis : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he will further defer a decision on the application for a licence to export Antonio Canova's "The Three Graces" ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Ridley [pursuant to his reply, 2 March 1990, c. 344] : On 2 March I announced that in considering whether or not to grant an export licence for heritage items I proposed from now on to take account of an offer to buy the object from any source, whether public or private. I then invited representations from people who might be affected by this change of policy. I received a number of comments on the proposal and, with my right hon. Friend the Minister for the Arts, have considered them very carefully. I can now confirm that offers to an owner from any source, whether public or private, will be taken into account in making the decision on the export licence. I believe that it would be useful now to set out in some detail the context of this change of policy and the reasons for it.
The purpose of the policy for controlling the export of heritage items is to provide a balanced system for retaining the most important items of our cultural heritage in this country. Retention has been the main consideration underlying the policy and will continue to be so in the future.
The policy which I am confirming today will ensure that our export control system provides reasonable protection for our heritage in an increasingly competitive world art market.
The Export of Goods (Control) Order 1989 prohibits, with very limited exceptions, the export without a licence of goods manufactured or produced more than 50 years before the date of export. The responsibility for granting or refusing a licence is mine, as the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry ; however, in exercising these functions I am advised by my right hon. Friend the Minister for the Arts who in turn receives valuable advice from the reviewing committee on the export of works of art.
Our system is based on the procedures recommended in the report of the Waverley committee in 1952. This report proposed criteria for determining whether an object is of national importance. Where an individual licence is required and the reviewing committee considers that the item meets any of the Waverley criteria the policy up till now has been to defer consideration of the application for the licence for a short period, usually up to six months. The purpose of this deferral was to give a public institution in the United Kingdom the chance to make an offer to the owner at a specified price which the reviewing committee had recommended as the fair market price. The aim has been that an export licence should not normally be refused unless the owner has received an offer at the fair market price, or has made it clear that he would not accept such an offer were it to be made.
That such offers would be financed from public resources was assumed in the Waverley report. But it has always been possible for an offer to come from a private source. At all stages in the consideration of an application for a licence the applicant is free to accept, or indeed reject,
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an offer from any source at any price. There has never been any question of the Government having power to accept or reject offers or to make anyone else do so.The new policy is much the same as the old, with one important difference. Under the new policy there will be, as there is now, a deferral to enable an offer to be made to the owner at the fair market price recommended by the reviewing committee. It may be an offer from a public institution or from a private source. As now, the owner will be free to accept or refuse any offer. He may also, if he chooses, make it clear that he would not accept an offer from any source. If he does this or if there is an offer in existence following deferral, whether from a public or private source, this will be taken into account and normally a licence will be refused. Of course, if he accepts an offer the application for a licence will lapse. The new elements are that the existence of an offer from a private source will be taken into account when the decision on the export licence is made, as will a general refusal to consider offers from either source in advance of their being made.
So the existence of any offer from any source will influence my decision on whether an export licence should be granted. I should emphasise that the only decision I am empowered to take is whether to grant an export licence or not. I have no power to decide who is to be the owner of the item.
I must emphasise, too, that where a private offer for a heritage item is successful and the new owner then, at any time, wishes to sell or take the object abroad, he will be subject to the normal export licensing requirements.
The consequence of public ownership, which was assumed and encouraged by the Waverley report, has been to ensure public access to the objects purchased. Obviously I am keen that the public should have access to important heritage items, and the extent to which private offers involve some kind of arrangement enabling the public to have access could be an important factor in my consideration. Indeed, my right hon. Friend will be glad to use his good offices to assist in establishing such arrangements. But even where a private offer does not involve any kind of public access we should not presume that ultimately such access would never occur or that the item in question would never be publicly owned. Where an owner of a heritage item wishes to export it and refuses an offer from a private source which involves significant and continuing public access arrangements, I believe that normally he should not be granted a licence to export the item and even when minimal or no public access is provided for in an offer, I will wish to take the existence of that offer into account in deciding whether to grant an export licence. But I must reiterate that the main purpose of the controls is to retain these few important items in this country.
I believe that this extension of our policy to take account of private offers can only enrich our heritage. We have a long and continuing tradition in this country of private collections of antiques and works of art. Private ownership in this as in all other spheres is to be encouraged. It is neither possible nor desirable for the retention of major items of our heritage to be dependent on one source of funding--the taxpayer.
By encouraging the continuing injection of private money into the acquisition of heritage items, we will be creating a greater funding base for them. I am confident that this will enable a larger number of these outstanding heritage items to remain in this country.
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It is my intention in due course to issue a revised "notice to exporters" containing guidance on the detail of procedures which will be put into effect as a result of the change of policy outlined above. When issued, a copy of this notice will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.I have carefully considered all the circumstances of the application for a licence to export "The Three Graces" by Canova, including the representations made by interested parties. I have noted the existence of the offer by Messrs. Barclay to purchase the statue at the price recommended by the reviewing committee. The choice before me, as I have said, is to refuse or to grant an export licence.
I have taken into account also the recommendation of my right hon. Friend the Minister for the Arts that a licence be refused. In all the circumstances, I have decided that the new policy should apply to this export licence application and decided to refuse the licence. If I had taken a decision to grant an export licence "The Three Graces" would have gone abroad.
FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS
Lithuania
Mr. Colvin : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with Sajudis, the pro- independence movement in Lithuania.
Mr. Waldegrave : Our officials have met members of Sajudis in London and the Soviet Union on a number of occasions.
Mr. John Evans : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he has made any representations to the Soviet Union about the situation in Lithuania.
Mr. Waldegrave : We have constantly stressed the need for progress to be made through dialogue between the Soviet authorities and the Lithuanians, so that a settlement acceptable to both sides can be reached, enabling the Lithuanian people to decide their own future. We do not believe that coercive measures will contribute to such an outcome. We have emphasised that restraint is necessary on both sides.
Multiple Warheads
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with his counterparts in other Governments and NATO about the possibility of agreement restricting multiple warheads on (a) land-based missiles and (b) sea-based missiles ; and if he will make a statement.
Poland
Mr. Pawsey : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for Rugby and Kenilworth of 27 April, Official Report, column 372, about Community support for Poland, if he will detail the specific measures which have been put in place by the Community to help Poland.
Mr. Maude : In order to support the political and economic reforms in Poland, the European Community
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has : removed/suspended all quantitative restrictions on Polish imports to the Community ; donated £117 million of free food to Poland ; granted generalised scheme of preferences status and reduced some associated tariffs/levies on Polish imports ; approved £210 million for structural project aid expenditure on agriculture, environment and training in Poland and Hungary in 1990 ; granted a £750 million lending facility with the European investment bank. The establishment of the European Training Foundation, the TEMPUS student exchange programme and the European bank for reconstruction and development will also benefit Poland.Mr. Pawsey : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for Rugby and Kenilworth of 27 April, Official Report, column 372, over what period the £117 million of free food has been provided to Poland ; and what plans exist for further shipments of such food over the course of the next 12 months.
Mr. Maude : In the period August 1989 to March 1990, £117 million of food was delivered by the European Community to Poland. The Polish Government have not requested any further food aid.
Antarctica
Mr. Barry Field : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what further protection will be given to Antarctica when the Antarctic minerals convention is ratified.
Mr. Sainsbury : The Antarctic treaty system currently provides no formal means of protecting the Antarctic environment against mineral activities.
The Antarctic minerals convention (CRAMRA) would provide for a rigorous regulatory mechanism to control, or prevent, mineral exploration and development. Consent to proceed with any mineral activity would, under CRAMRA, be permitted only after consensus agreement by all Antarctic treaty consultative parties (numbering 22) and then only if the activity in question was judged not to have a significant impact on the environment. CRAMRA incorporates some of the strictest environmental protection provisions known in international law and its ratification would greatly enhance existing provisions for the protection of the Antarctic environment.
Greenland
Sir Dudley Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the United Kingdom's current relationship with Greenland ; when a Minister of the Crown or senior official last visited there ; and if any such visit is planned in the near future.
Mr. Maude : Greenland is an autonomous region of Denmark, with which the United Kingdom enjoys good relations. The last visit to Greenland by a senior United Kingdom representative was by Her Majesty's ambassador at Copenhagen in February 1990. During that visit, the ambassador installed the first honorary British consul. There are no plans for other visits in the immediate future.
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CSCE Conference
Mr. Atkinson : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the outcome of the recent conference on security and co-operation in Europe in Bonn.
Mr. Waldegrave : I refer my hon. Friend to the written answers given to the hon. Member for Meirionnydd Nant Conwy (Dr. Thomas) on 27 April and 1 May at columns 369 and 480 .
Iceland
Sir Dudley Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the United Kingdom's current relationship with Iceland ; when a Minister of the Crown or senior official last visited there ; and if any such visit is planned in the near future.
Mr. Maude : The United Kingdom and Iceland have close and friendly bilateral relations reflecting historical ties and common interests. My hon. Friend the Minister of State for the Armed Forces visited Iceland in April 1989, and Her Majesty the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh are to pay a state visit to Iceland in June this year. My right hon. Friend the Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office will be in attendance.
Diplomatic Immunity (Drink-driving Offences)
Mr. Livsey : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what proposals his Department has for amending the diplomatic immunity conventions to withdraw immunity from drink-driving offences.
Israel
Mr. Matthew Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether there are any negotiations to encourage Israel to support the amendment of the partial test ban treaty to a comprehensive test ban treaty at the test ban treaty conference, January 1991.
Mr. Matthew Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether there are any negotiations to seek to persuade Israel to sign the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.
Mr. Waldegrave : The United Kingdom is not currently involved in any such negotiations, but we have frequently made clear our view that the best way to achieve a nuclear weapons-free zone in the middle east is for all states in the region to accede to the non-proliferation treaty.
Know-how Fund (Seminars)
Mr. Morley : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether seminars for Polish Members of Parliament funded through the know-how fund on introduction to British parliamentary concepts, took place in the United Kingdom or Poland ; and how many British hon. Members were involved.
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Mr. Waldegrave : A seminar for Polish Members of Parliament on British parliamentary and political organisation, financed by the know-how fund and organised by the Great Britain/East Europe Centre, took place in the United Kingdom last October. Approximately 17 British hon. Members were involved in either discussions in the House or constituency visits.A further seminar for Polish parliamentary officials, requested by the Polish Senate, will take place in the United Kingdom later this month. It will also be organised by the Great Britain/East Europe Centre with the close involvement of the Inter-Parliamentary Union and the overseas office of the House of Commons.
Iraq
Mr. Matthew Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when Iraq's nuclear installations at Osiraq and Tuwaitha were last inspected by IAEA ; and when they are expected to be inspected again.
Mr. Waldegrave : The most recent inspection of nuclear facilities in Iraq by the International Atomic Energy Agency was in the early part of April 1990. Dates of future inspections are treated as confidential between the state concerned and the IAEA inspectorate.
AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD
Drift Nets
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list areas designated by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea in which drift nets are used by United Kingdom fishing boats.
Mr. Gummer : United Kingdom vessels may use drift nets in any ICES zone save where there are specific provisions applicable to United Kingdom waters out to six miles.
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement about the management measures applied specifically to the United Kingdom herring drift net fishery.
Mr. Gummer : All British fishing boats over 10 m overall length are prohibited from fishing for herring unless authorised by a licence. No new licences are available ; to obtain one a fisherman would have to take over a licence given up by another fisherman, or buy an already licensed boat. In addition, boats 10 m and under need a licence to fish for herring in the Irish sea--including the area known as the Mourne--and the Thames and Clyde estuaries. Exceptionally in the Mourne and Thames estuary, fisheries drift netting is the only permitted method of fishing. Fisheries departments closely monitor uptake from all United Kingdom herring fisheries and regulate catches where necessary with the aim of maximising fishing opportunities to the extent compatible with national quotas and a responsible conservation policy.
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the average length of drift nets in use on United Kingdom fishing boats.
Mr. Gummer : The length of drift nets varies widely by locality. An average figure cannot be readily calculated,
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but it is estimated that a substantial proportion are between 200 and 400 m. These figures refer to the overall length of netting used which normally comprises several individual nets joined together.Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether there is a restriction on the total length of net which may be used or carried by United Kingdom drift net fishing boats.
Mr. Gummer : As the drift net fisheries around the United Kingdom are relatively small scale, they do not give rise to the same environmental concerns as the very large-scale drift netting operations for tuna in the Pacific, in respect of which restrictive action has been taken. There is therefore no general restriction, but some specific restrictions are provided for under legislation concerned with salmon, trout, freshwater fish and eels.
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what information he has on the incidence of drift nets in use on United Kingdom fishing boats being joined together in use to form a single length of a longer net ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Gummer : It is the common practice to join together a number of individual drift nets, each typically about 50 m in length, to form a longer net, most frequently between 200 and 400 m. This facilitates net handling and repairs.
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement about the type of net filament in use on United Kingdom drift netting boats and the mesh size of these nets for each species fished.
Mr. Gummer : United Kingdom drift netters generally use either monofilament or multifilament nets. Monofilament nets predominate except in Scottish inshore waters where they are banned. The filaments are usually of nylon, but non-synthetic yarn is still used in certain areas.
The mesh sizes used normally range from 40 to 60 mm for herring and mackeral, 90 to 130 mm for bass and mullet, and 100 to 130 mm for salmon and trout.
Badgers
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his answer of 19 April, Official Report, column 980, what conclusion he has drawn from the Stormont study's findings that the presence of a substantial population of infected badgers was not associated with tuberculosis breakdown in the study area.
Mr. Maclean : An internal study by the Department of Agriculture for Northern Ireland concluded that the main origin of breakdowns in the limited study area appeared to be cattle-to-cattle contact. There is no reason to doubt the validity of this conclusion for the area studied. Nor is there any contradiction between this conclusion and the firm evidence that exists of badgers being implicated in outbreaks of tuberculosis in other areas of the United Kingdom.
Mr. Alex Carlile : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what estimate he has made of the connection between local badger populations and the level of local cattle infected with tuberculosis.
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Mr. Maclean : In 1989, badgers were implicated in 69 of the 96 new confirmed cattle breakdowns in south-west England and in one of the 28 occurring elsewhere in Great Britain.Cattle Exports
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what restrictions are currently enforced by West Germany on the import from the United Kingdom of live cattle or cattle products.
Mr. Maclean : Under a European Community decision, exports of cattle from the United Kingdom to West Germany and other member states are restricted to animals under six months which are slaughtered before they reach that age. West Germany did seek additional certification requirements for exports of beef and offal, which for a time restricted trade, but for the principal trade in boneless beef this is no longer required.
Salmon Netting
Mr. Morley : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he intends to announce the results of his review into commercial salmon netting.
Mr. Maclean : I refer the hon. Member to the reply which I gave to my right hon. Friend the Member for Woking (Mr. Onslow) on 26 April, at column 317.
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