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Mr. Freeman : I understand that railway services from Paddington to the south-west were disrupted by a number of factors on a total of seven days in the first four months of this year. These are operational matters for British Rail and my right hon. Friend has received no special request from BR for financial assistance.
Loran C Station, County Kerry
Mr. John D. Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans there are for the provision of a Loran C base station in County Kerry ; whether its services will be available to fishermen from the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland ; how the provision of this station will be financed ; and whether any financial contribution towards this new service will be required from United Kingdom and Irish Republic fishermen.
Mr. McLoughlin : The proposals for a north-west European Loran C system currently envisage a new transmitter station in south-west Ireland, but I understand that no site has yet been chosen. The system, if established, would be available for all marine users around the British Isles. Subject to an international agreement being reached, the participating countries would share the cost of establishing and running the system. The United Kingdom's cost-sharing obligations would be a charge against the general lighthouse fund through the light duties levied on shipping, including fishing vessels liable to such dues. The financial obligations of the Republic of Ireland are a matter for the Irish Government, as also is the determination of light dues charges in the Republic.
Air Passengers
Mr. Hayward : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many United Kingdom airports with an annual throughput of over 750,000 passengers have passenger forecast levels to the year 2005 at the same or within 10 per cent. of that level forecast by the Civil Aviation Authority.
Mr. McLoughlin : Individual airports forecast their own levels of traffic, in some cases to 2005. Where forecasts are supplied to the Department, they are provided in confidence, and my hon. Friend should approach the airports themselves for information about them. Any comparison with the CAA forecasts in CAP 548, published in January 1989, would need to take account of the variety of scenarios considered by the CAA for 2005.
King's Cross
Mr. Gerald Bowden : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list his responsibilities in relation to the development of the King's Cross railway lands.
Mr. Freeman : Apart from the general policy objective of encouraging the British Railways Board to dispose of non-operational land on a proper commercial basis, my right hon. Friend has a responsibility to consider the possible impact which the development may have on the public transport system and the adjacent trunk road.
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East London Assessment Study
Mr. Sedgemore : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he intends to publish details of his junction schemes at the Old street roundabout and in the Shoreditch one-way system arising out of his decisions on the east London assessment study.
Mr. Atkins : The Department will be discussing with the boroughs concerned a co-ordinated approach to the improvement of the inner ring road which, at the points mentioned, is not a trunk road. It is too soon to say if those discussions will lead to the publication of possible schemes.
Energy Consumption
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the answer of 30 April, Official Report, column 434, if he will give the expenditure on energy consumption, broken down by fuel, of the buildings occupied by his Department for the latest year available.
Mr. Atkins : Expenditure on energy consumption by the Department of Transport in 1989-90 is calculated to have been :
|£ (thousands)
------------------------------------------
Electricity |1,698
Gas |559
Liquid fuel |335
Solid fuel |10
|-------
Total |2,602
EDUCATION AND SCIENCE
Energy Consumption
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science, pursuant to the answer of 30 April, Official Report, column 392, if he will give the expenditure for the latest year available on energy consumption, broken down by fuel, of the buildings occupied by his Department.
Mrs. Rumbold : The information requested by the hon. Member is as follows :
|c|Expenditure on energy
consumption for calendar
year 1989|c|
|£
----------------------------
Electricity |268,252
Gas |33,953
Liquid Fuel |32,473
This information relates to the Department's headquarters premises and all Her Majesty's inspectorate's local offices.
EMPLOYMENT
Youth Training
Ms. Short : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will publish details for each of the standard economic regions within Great Britain for each
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year from April 1986 to the most recent date, the number of contracted YTS places (a) in total and (b) contracted to schemes specifically catering for trainees with disabilities.Mr. Nicholls : Details for each of the standard economic regions within Great Britain for each year from April 1986 to the most recent date, the number of contracted YTS places (a) in total ; and (b) contracted to schemes specifically catering for trainees with disabilities are as follows :
|<1>1987|<1>1988|<1>1989|<1>1990
----------------------------------------------------------
Scotland |55,384 |63,285 |62,493 |60,989
Northern |35,155 |42,288 |39,781 |37,490
North West |78,406 |90,069 |81,112 |76,962
Yorkshire and
Humberside |53,592 |60,987 |61,469 |60,197
Midlands |68,136 |77,342 |68,962 |62,067
Wales |31,061 |32,311 |29,019 |29,326
South West |36,427 |46,363 |43,397 |41,282
South East |59,266 |66,301 |58,907 |58,722
London |37,249 |36,320 |30,383 |32,699
East Midlands and
East |58,510 |68,455 |61,533 |60,679
|-------|-------|-------|-------
Great Britain |513,186|583,721|537,056|520,413
<1> To the 31 March
The figures showing the number of YTS places contracted to schemes specifically catering for trainees with disabilities are not available.
Ms. Short : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list and make available any research on young people with disabilities and YTS undertaken or commissioned by the Manpower Services Commission, the Training Commission and the Training Agency.
Mr. Nicholls : Reports of relevant research are listed and include reports on young people with special training needs in YTS where disability issues are a major component of the research concerned. I will place copies of these documents in the Libraries of both Houses.
--Going on YTS : The recruitment of young people with disabilities ;
--Note on YTS experience of young people with special training needs ;
--Young people with special training needs : the survey report ; --Employer involvement in special training needs training.
Biotechnology
Mr. Ted Garrett : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he has estimated the number of new jobs that will be created by the development of biotechnology.
Labour Statistics
Mr. Ralph Howell : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will state the total number of persons engaged in (i) agriculture, (ii) steel industry, (iii) coal mining, (iv) the car industry, (v) the electrical goods industry, (vi) local government and (vii) the National Health Service in 1979 and 1989, showing the percentage increase or decrease in each case.
Mr. Nicholls : The Department's estimates of employment are categorised according to the 1980 standard industrial classification (SIC80). This classification does not specifically identify the industries requested.
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Medical and other health services (SIC80 groups 951, 952, 953 and 954) covers the National Health Service along with other employers.Column 220
Estimates for the steel industry are available only from periodic censuses of employment, the results of which are published in the Employment Gazette.The available information is given in the table.
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|c|Employees in employment-Great Britain|c| Thousands (unadjusted for seasonal variation) Industries (SIC80) |June 1979 |June 1989 |Change |Percentage change ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Agriculture and horticulture (class 01) |339 |263 |-77 |-22.6 Coal extraction and manufacture of solid fuels (group 111) |299 |102 |-198 |-66.0 Manufacture of motor vehicles and parts (class 35) |464 |268 |-196 |-42.2 Electrical and electronic engineering (class 34) |752 |548 |-204 |-27.1 Local government service not elsewhere specified (activity 9112) |662 |570 |-91 |-13.8 Medical and other health services (group 951, 952, 953 and 954) |1,170 |1,386 |216 |18.5
Coal Mines (Inspectors' Visits)
Mr. Strang : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what was the number of (a) British Coal deep coal mines, (b) licensed private deep coal mines, (c) British Coal opencast mines and (d) licensed private opencast coal mines visited by Her Majesty's mines inspectors in (i) 1986- 87, (ii) 1987-88, (iii) 1988-89 and (iv) 1989-90.
Mr. Nicholls : The numbers of British Coal deep coal mines in operation for the years given are 110, 94, 86 and 73 respectively. Each mine was visited by the Health and Safety Executive's inspectorate of mines.
The number of operating licensed coal mines is normally between 170 and 180 and all major sites are visited at least once a year. The numbers of opencast coal mines in operation for the years given are 186, 194, 179 and 178 respectively. All sites would normally be visited at least once a year.
Tourism
Mr. Simon Coombs : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many United Kingdom workers in the tourism industry have been assisted by the European social fund's training programmes.
Mr. Eggar : The information requested is not available.
Training and Enterprise Councils
Mr. Blair : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment when he next expects to terminate contracts with training providers including TECs.
Mr. Eggar : Training providers are currently re-negotiating contracts with the Training Agency or with training and enterprise councils (TECs) where these are now operational. As further TECs become operational they will take over contracts with training providers in line with their approved corporate and business plans. Termination of contracts with training providers will depend on the terms of individual contracts and on operational requirements.
Sheltered Places Scheme
Sir David Steel : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make more funds available to the sheltered place scheme to increase the number of new places on that scheme.
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Mr. Eggar : An additional £4.2 million has been made available towards the cost of expenditure on sheltered employment by local authorities and voluntary bodies this year, an increase of 14 per cent. over 1989-90. I do not at present expect that it will be possible to add further resources, but I shall keep the matter under review.
Energy Consumption
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment, pursuant to the answer of 30 April, Official Report, column 448, why figures for energy consumption by unit of consumption are not available for his Department.
Mr. Nicholls : The nature of the Department of Employment group estate and the methods by which energy bills were paid is such that overall records by unit of consumption are not available. Where PSA was responsible for payment of energy bills information by unit of consumption is available. Where the Department has paid energy bills direct, only the cost element of the bill has been recorded and information by unit of consumption is not available.
Unemployed Claimants
Mr. Nellist : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will estimate for 1988 and 1989 (a) the number of claimants without paid jobs who wanted full-time jobs, (b) the number who wanted part-time jobs, (c) the number who had no preference and (d) the number who did not want a job who (i) had not looked for a job in the last week, (ii) had not looked for a job in the last four weeks, (iii) were not available for work within the next two weeks, (iv) were in categories (i) and (iii), (v) were in categories (ii) and (iii), breaking the estimates down by sex and according to whether the main reason for not seeking work in the last week was (1) looking after family/home, (2) long-term sick/disabled, (3) believed no jobs available, (4) retired, (5) temporarily sick, on holiday, awaiting results of job applications or waiting to start a job already obtained, (6) did not want/need work, (7) studying, (8) not yet started looking, (9) other reasons/no reply/not applicable and (10) all reasons.
Mr. Nicholls [holding answer 30 April 1990] : The available information is given in the tables. It is not possible to provide a reliable analysis of these figures by reason for not seeking work in the last week.
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|c|Claimants (aged 18 and over) not in employment, Spring 1988|c|
|c|Great Britain|c|
|(i) |(ii) |(iii) |(iv) |(v)
|Not looked |Not looked for |Not available to|Both (i) |Both (ii)
|for work in |work in last |start work |and (iii) |and (iii)
|reference week |four weeks
|'000s |'000s |'000s |'000s |'000s
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
All persons
(a)Would like a full-time job |260 |150 |60 |50 |40
(b)Would like a part-time job |100 |60 |20 |20 |20
(c)No preference |40 |30 |10 |<2> |<2>
(d)Does not want a job |290 |<1> |<1> |<1> |<1>
Men
(a)Would like a full-time job |200 |120 |40 |30 |30
(b)Would like a part-time job |40 |20 |<2> |<2> |<2>
(c)No preference |30 |20 |<2> |<2> |<2>
(d)Does not want a job |190 |<1> |<1> |<1> |<1>
Women
(a)Would like a full-time job |50 |30 |20 |10 |10
(b)Would like a part-time job |70 |40 |20 |20 |10
(c)No preference |20 |<2> |<2> |<2> |<2>
(d)Does not want a job |100 |<1> |<1> |<1> |<1>
<1> Not asked.
<2> Less than 10,000.
Notes: Table excludes people who said they would like work as self employed.
Figures are individually rounded to the nearest 10,000.
The reconciliation of the claimant count with the claimant figures obtained from the 1989 Labour Force Survey has been affected by
an improvement in the design of the questionnaire and also by the change in benefit regulations for under 18 year in September 1988.
As a result the reconciliations for both 1988 and 1989 have been restricted to claimants aged 18 and over to enable valid
comparisons to be made between the two years.
Source: Derived with reference to both the claimant count and the 1988 Labour Force Survey results.
|c|Claimants (aged 18 and over) not in employment, Spring 1989|c|
|c|Great Britain|c|
|(i) |(ii) |(iii) |(iv) |(v)
|Not looked |Not looked for |Not available to|Both (i) |Both (ii)
|for work in |work in last |start work |and (iii) |and (iii)
|reference week |four weeks
|'000s |'000s |'000s |'000s |'000s
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
All persons
(a)Would like a full-time job |190 |110 |50 |30 |30
(b)Would like a part-time job |50 |30 |20 |10 |10
(c)No preference |30 |20 |10 |<2> |<2>
(d)Does not want a job |130 |<1> |<1> |<1> |<1>
Men
(a)Would like a full-time job |140 |80 |30 |20 |20
(b)Would like a part-time job |20 |<2> |<2> |<2> |<2>
(c)No preference |20 |10 |<2> |<2> |<2>
(d)Does not want a job |80 |<1> |<1> |<1> |<1>
Women
(a)Would like a full-time job |40 |20 |20 |10 |<2>
(b)Would like a part-time job |30 |20 |10 |10 |<2>
(c)No preference |10 |<2> |<2> |<2> |<2>
(d)Does not want a job |60 |<1> |<1> |<1> |<1>
<1> Not asked.
<2> Less than 10,000.
Notes: Table excludes people who said they would like work as self employed.
Figures are individually rounded to the nearest 10,000.
The reconciliation of the claimant count with the claimant figures obtained from the 1989 Labour Force Survey has been affected by
an improvement in the design of the questionnaire and also by the change in benefit regulations for under 18 year in September 1988.
As a result the reconciliation has been restricted to claimants aged 18 and over.
Source: Derived with reference to both the claimant count and the 1989 Labour Force Survey results.
Coal Mining (Fatal Injuries)
Mr. Strang : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what was the number of fatal injuries in (a) British Coal deep coal mines, (b) licensed private deep coal mines, (c) British Coal opencast mines and (d) licensed private opencast mines in 1989-90.
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Mr. Nicholls [holding answer 4 May 1990] : This information is not yet available.
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Education Business Partnerships
Mr. Paice : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what will be the total level of financial support made available by his Department for the initial funding of the local education business partnerships and the maximum receivable by each partnership.
Mr. Eggar [holding answer 8 May 1990] : I refer my hon. Friend to the announcement made by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry on 24 April 1990 at column 116.
NATIONAL FINANCE
Local Enterprise Companies
Mr. Hanley : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he intends to introduce a tax relief for contributions by businesses to local enterprise companies in Scotland.
Mr. Lilley : Yes. As was foreshadowed in the Inland Revenue's Budget day press release, my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer is today tabling amendments to clause 68 of the Finance Bill to extend to local enterprise companies in Scotland the proposed new tax relief for business contributions to training and enterprise councils in England and Wales on the same terms and for the same period.
European Monetary System
Mr. Shore : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what swap arrangements are available to the United Kingdom from other central banks in the European monetary system ; and what additional funds are available to those European monetary system members that are also members of the exchange rate mechanism.
Mr. Major [holding answer 3 May 1990] : Since 1984, a mobilisation mechanism has existed which allows EMS members to obtain dollars in exchange for the ecu provided by the European monetary co- operation fund (EMCF) against the deposit of 20 per cent. of gold and 20 per cent. of dollars in official reserves.
In addition, some credit facilities are available to EMS members. All members have access to medium-term financial support (MTFS), which is an inter-governmental facility to help member states with balance of payments difficulties, and short-term monetary support (STMS), which is a central bank facility providing support for temporary balance of payments difficulties. ERM members also have access to the very short-term financing facility (VSTF) to enable interventions to be made in Community currencies.
CIVIL SERVICE
COSH Regulations
Dr. Marek : To ask the Minister for the Civil Service, pursuant to his answer of 20 April, Official Report, column 1042-43, whether assessments under the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations have been undertaken for all workplaces used by civil servants in the Department for which he has responsibility.
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Mr. Luce : With professional guidance from the civil service occupational health service, assessments are now under way in all the Cabinet Office buildings, which will concentrate particularly on areas where chemicals are used as part of the work. Staff have been encouraged to comment on anything which they regard as hazardous.
PRIME MINISTER
Edinburgh
Q53. Mr. Ron Brown : To ask the Prime Minister if she will make an official visit to Edinburgh.
The Prime Minister : I hope to visit Edinburgh shortly.
European Union
Q159. Mr. Dykes : To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her proposals for presentation to European Community Heads of Government to develop United Kingdom participation in aspects of European union.
The Prime Minister : As I made clear in the House on 1 May, we shall be putting forward a series of constructive ideas for strengthening the Community by making its institutions more effective and efficient.
West German Chancellor
Q167. Mr. Hunter : To ask the Prime Minister when she will next meet the Chancellor of West Germany ; and what matters she will discuss with him.
The Prime Minister : I meet Chancellor Kohl frequently. We met at the Anglo-German summit on 30 March and at the special European Council meeting in Dublin on 28 April. I expect that there will be further contacts soon. Subjects for discussion include EC and NATO issues, east-west relations and German unification.
Engagements
Mr. Conway : To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 10 May.
Mr. Harry Greenway : To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 10 May.
Mr. Stern : To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 10 May.
The Prime Minister : This morning I presided at a meeting of the Cabinet and had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others. In addition to my duties in the House, I shall be having further meetings later today.
OVERSEAS DEVELOPMENT
Eastern Europe
Mrs. Clwyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many staff of the Overseas Development Administration worked full time on matters concerning eastern Europe in each month in the current year ; and how many staff worked part time on east European issues in each month.
Mrs. Chalker : The numbers of Overseas Development Administration staff who have worked full time on assistance to eastern Europe in each month of the current year are :
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|Staff
---------------------
January |3
February |3
March |5
April |6
The number of staff who spend some part of their time on bilateral or multilateral matters concerning eastern Europe varies greatly from day to day. It is not possible to provide a breakdown of the numbers involved in each month.
Mr. McFall : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many staff with the Overseas Development Administration have been relocated from work on development issues with the Third world to work on assistance to eastern Europe : and if they have been replaced.
Mrs. Chalker : To date, six ODA staff have been assigned to posts exclusively concerned with assistance to eastern Europe. All of them have been, or will be, replaced in their previous jobs.
Budgetary provision has been made for a further six such posts to be filled by the ODA in 1990-91.
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
Mrs. Clwyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the planned United Kingdom contribution to the European bank for reconstruction and development ; and whether this will come from existing budgets.
Mrs. Chalker : Subject to parliamentary approval and the deposit of an instrument of ratification, it is envisaged that the United Kingdom will subscribe to 85,175 shares of the initial authorised capital stock of 1 million shares. The cost per share will be 10,000 ecu. Thirty per cent. of each shareholding would be for paid-in shares, with payment in five equal annual instalments ; half of each instalment being paid in cash, and half in non-negotiable, non-interest-bearing promissory notes. On this basis, the current annual cost to the United Kingdom of taking up the full shareholding allocated would be about £19 million, depending on the sterling/ecu exchange rate at the time of payment. Provision of such sums for the years to 1993-94 will be discussed in this year's public expenditure survey.
AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD
Biotechnology
Mr. Ted Garrett : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what are the benefits to the farming, fishing and food processing industries of the development of biotechnology.
Mr. Maclean : Biotechnology offers a wide range of opportunities within the farming, fishing and food processing industries for the development of safer, more effective and less costly products and processes, for the benefit of consumers, producers and the environment generally.
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British Horse Society
Mr. Bellingham : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he next expects to meet the president of the British Horse Society.
Mr. Maclean : The Department is regularly in touch with the British Horse Society on matters of mutual interest, but I have no immediate plans to meet its president.
Beef and Butter
Mr. Speller : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what representations he has received complaining that the distribution scheme for surplus EC beef and butter is too complex ; and how long was allowed from notification date to submission of applications to become a distributor.
Mr. Curry : Since my announcement on 19 March that the EC surplus food scheme should operate for one further year, I have received two representations critical of the administrative arrangements for the operation of this scheme. Charitable and other non-profit-making organisations interested in participating in the scheme were allowed nearly seven weeks--until 4 May--in which to apply.
Mr. Speller : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many organisations have co-operated with the scheme to distribute surplus EC butter and beef in 1990 and in previous years ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Curry : Some 127 organisations were originally designated to distribute surplus EC produce during 1988 and 1989. There has been a large response to the invitation to charitable and other non-profit-making organisations to participate in the distribution during 1990. Applications are currently being considered and I will make a statement once decisions have been taken.
Energy Consumption
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his answer of 30 April, Official Report, column 458, why figures for energy consumption by unit of consumption are not available for his Department.
Mr. Maclean : For the 1989-90 financial year the Department was billed for energy use by the Property Services Agency in financial terms. MAFF has some 300 properties throughout the country, many of which are shared premises without separate meters, where an agreed proportion of the energy cost is paid. The total number of energy units, even if it could be worked out in detail, could be compiled only at disproportionate cost.
Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how much he has either spent or allocated on bovine spongiform encephalopathy (a) research or (b) compensation for each year from 1985 to 1992 in the United Kingdom ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Gummer [pursuant to his reply, 30 April, 1990, column 456] : The amount given for expenditure on BSE
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compensation in the financial year 1989-90 was incorrect and should read £4,028,063. I should also make clear that the information provided refers to expenditure in Great Britain only.NORTHERN IRELAND
Inward Investment
13. Mr. Michael Brown : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the progress of inward investment.
Mr. Needham : The Industrial Development Board will shortly be announcing its results for 1989-90 and the inward investment achievements will show a further improvement on the very encouraging figures of the previous year.
House Prices
14. Mr. Harry Greenway : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what was the average price of a house in the Province in each of the past three years ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Peter Bottomley : The average price of second-hand dwellings sold on the open market in the Province during 1987 was £27,750. In 1988 this rose by 7 per cent. to £29,730.
During the first three quarters of 1989 the average price was £30, 840, a 3.7 per cent. increase on 1988.
The average price of new-build properties was £31,060 in 1987 and, after a 2.2 per cent. rise, £31,740 in 1988. No figure is yet available for 1989.
The lower cost of housing means that more people can buy. At a given level of income, many people in Northern Ireland can be better housed or better off than in parts of Great Britain.
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