| Previous Section | Home Page |
Column 573
Radiation Exposure
Mr. Andrew F. Bennett : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the distribution of total radiation exposure for Clyde submarine base workers in the ranges (a) 0 to 5 mSv, (b) 5 to 10 mSv, (c) 10 to 15 mSv, (d) 15 to 20 mSv, (e) 20 to 25 mSv, (f) 25 to 30 mSv, (g) 30 to 35 mSv, (h) 35 to 40 mSv, (i) 40 to 45 mSv, (j) 45 to 50 mSv, (k) greater than 50 mSv, (l) greater than 100 mSv, (m) greater than 200 mSv, (n) greater than 300 mSv, (o) greater than 400 mSv, (p) greater than 500 mSv, (q) greater than 600 mSv, (r) greater than 700 mSv, and (s) greater than 750 mSv, in numbers and in terms of percentage of the overall work force.
Mr. Neubert : A breakdown of cumulative radiation exposures for workers currently registered in DRP's record-keeping system as employed at Clyde submarine base is as follows :
|c|Cumulative radiation
exposures-Clyde submarine
base|c|
-------------------------------
0 - 5 |274 |7.33
5 - 10 |61 |1.63
10 - 15 |25 |0.67
15 - 20 |20 |0.54
20 - 25 |8 |0.21
25 - 30 |13 |0.35
30 - 35 |14 |0.37
35 - 40 |9 |0.24
40 - 45 |2 |0.05
45 - 50 |5 |0.13
Greater than
50 (50 - 100) |28 |0.75
100 (100 - 200) |12 |0.32
200 (200 - 300) |1 |0.03
300 (300 - 400) |0 |0.00
400 (400 - 500) |0 |0.00
500 (500 - 600) |0 |0.00
600 (600 - 700) |0 |0.00
700 (700 - 750) |0 |0.00
750 |0 |0.00
Mr. Andrew F. Bennett : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the distribution of total radiation exposure for Aldermaston workers in the ranges (a) 0 to 5 mSv, (b) 5 to 10 mSv, (c) 10 to 15 mSv, (d) 15 to 20 mSv, (e) 20 to 25 mSv, (f) 25 to 30 mSv, (g) 30 to 35 mSv, (h) 35 to 40 mSv, (i) 40 to 45 mSv, (j) 45 to 50 mSv, (k) greater than 50 msv, (l) greater than 100 mSv, (m) greater than 200 mSv, (n) greater than 300 mSv, (o) greater than 400 mSv, (p) greater than 500 mSv, (q) greater than 600 mSv, (r) greater than 700 mSv, and (s) greater than 750 mSv in numbers and in terms of percentage of the overall work force.
Mr. Neubert : Data on the lifetime aggregate whole-body external radiation exposure of workers employed by AWE since it commenced operations are presented in the table. The data are for all AWE sites, including Aldermaston, and represent the situation as at the end of 1989. In the interests of national security, it is inappropriate to provide the figures in terms of percentage of the overall work force or to provide the number of workers in the 0-10 millisievert category. I can confirm, however, that the majority of workers are in this category. A more detailed breakdown could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Column 574
Millisieverts |Number of Staff ------------------------------------------------- 10-15 |1,095 15-20 |753 20-30 |740 30-50 |576 Greater than 50 |528 Greater than 100 |<1>166 Greater than 200 |<1>49 Greater than 500 |<1>1 Greater than 750 |<1>1
One case resulted from a single high result of 1600 mSv in 1979 from a film dosimeter which, after investigation, was shown to have been exposed while not being worn. Without this false exposure, the individual would have appeared only in the greater than 50 category.
Mr. Andrew F. Bennett : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the distribution of total radiation exposure for Devonport dockyard workers in the ranges : (a) 0 to 5mSv, (b) 5 to 10mSv, (c) 10 to 15mSv, (d) 15 to 20mSv, (e) 20 to 25mSv, (f) 25 to 30mSv, (g) 30 to 35mSv, (h) 35 to 40mSv, (i) 40 to 45mSv, (j) 45 to 50mSv, (k) greater than 50mSv, (l) greater than 100mSv, (m) greater than 200mSv, (n) greater than 300mSv, (o) greater than 400mSv, (p) greater than 500mSv, (q) greater than 600mSv, (r) greater than 700mSv and (s) greater than 750mSv in numbers and in terms of percentage of the overall work force.
Mr. Neubert : The information requested is a matter for the contractor, Devonport Management Ltd, which assumed responsibility for the health and safety of persons employed within the nuclear licensed site at Devonport on 5 April 1987.
Falkland Islands
Dr. Woodcock : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will estimate the marginal cost of the British military presence in the Falkland Islands.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The estimated extra cost to the defence budget of the Falkland Islands commitment in 1989-90, as published in the Statement on the Defence Estimates 1990, is £63 million.
Dr. Woodcock : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will estimate the cost to the Exchequer in each of the last five years of emergency assistance by British military forces to foreign fishing vessels in waters surrounding the Falkland Island.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : Where British military forces are available in the area of an incident emergency assistance is provided free of charge ; therefore no comprehensive records are kept and no estimate of the costs involved can be made.
Detention Centres, Hong Kong
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if there is any intention to use British troops to prevent escapes from Vietnamese detention centres in Hong Kong.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : Camp security is the responsibility of the civil authorities in Hong Kong, and no request for military assistance has been received from the Hong Kong Government.
Column 575
Regular Forces (Fatal Injuries)
Mr. Onslow : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proportion of the fatal road traffic accidents that resulted in the death of regular forces personnel in each of the years 1984 to 1989 occurred when the personnel concerned were on duty.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The proportion of fatal road traffic accidents that resulted in the death of regular forces personnel in each of the years 1984 to 1989, which occurred when the personnel concerned were on and off duty are as follows :
Year |On duty |Off duty |Not known
|per cent.|per cent.|per cent.
--------------------------------------------------
1984 |12 |88 |-
1985 |29 |71 |-
1986 |23 |76 |1
1987 |17 |83 |-
1988 |22 |78 |-
1989 |20 |80 |-
Mr. Onslow : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proportion of the fatal injuries to regular forces personnel in each of the years 1984 to 1989, other than road traffic accident injuries, occurred when the personnel concerned were on duty.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The proportions of fatal injuries, other than road traffic accidents, to regular forces personnel in each of the years 1984 to 1989, which occurred when the personnel concerned were on and off duty are as follows :
Year |On duty |Off duty |Not known
|per cent.|per cent.|per cent.
--------------------------------------------------
1984 |36 |25 |38
1985 |46 |18 |36
1986 |42 |14 |43
1987 |46 |21 |33
1988 |32 |19 |49
1989 |38 |16 |46
A90 Project, Aldermaston
Sir Michael McNair-Wilson : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether he has received the Property Services Agency report on the management of the A90 project at atomic weapons establishment, Aldermaston.
Mr. Neubert : Yes. The report has been submitted to both the Ministry of Defence and the Department of the Environment. Investigations by both the PSA's central inquiry unit and the MOD police found no evidence of wrongful substitution of materials, fraudulent activity or financial loss to the Government under the A90 mechanical and electrical contract at AWE Aldermaston. The outcome of these investigations was reported to the House of Commons Defence Committee in March 1990 in a memorandum submitted by the PSA.
Sir Michael McNair-Wilson : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if progress with the construction and commissioning of the A90 plant at atomic weapons establishment, Aldermaston is within its scheduled programme ; and whether any special difficulties are being experienced with the ducting to remove radioactive gases from the plutonium processor.
Column 576
Mr. Neubert : The overall A90 programme remains within the scheduled time scale to achieve the Trident warhead production programme. The replacement of the zone 1 ductwork in A90 by a pipework system was completed in April 1990 and full leak testing has been carried out successfully. No special difficulties with the replacement pipework system have been encountered. Memorandum No. 5 in the House of Commons Defence Committee's fifth report on the progress of the Trident programme (HC374) gives full details of the reasons for the replacement of the zone 1 ventilation ductwork.
Templeton Airfield, Pembrokeshire
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the purpose of the installation recently constructed on the site of the wartime Templeton airfield, Pembrokeshire ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The newly constructed building at Templeton airfield is intended to house an automatic telephone exchange which will form part of a country-wide system to provide modern communications for the Royal Air Force. Equipment installation will be undertaken by GEC Plessey Telecommunications Ltd. later this year. When operational, the facility will be unmanned except during periodic maintenance visits.
Manorbier Range, Pembrokeshire
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether he has any plans to close or reduce the use of the Manorbier range, Pembrokeshire ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : There are no plans either to close or to reduce the use of the Manorbier range.
RAF Brawdy
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has as to the annual expenditure by RAF Brawdy on the purchase of goods and services from local suppliers.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : RAF Brawdy spends some £2.5 million a year locally on a range of goods and services, including some building work. In addition, I understand that the United States authorities have estimated the local expenditure of the United States navy oceanographic research centre at Brawdy was some £700,000 in 1989-90.
Defence Installations, Pembrokeshire
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list all the installations under his Department's control, situated in the former county of Pembroke together with the number of (a) civilian and (b) service personnel at each location, the annual cost of running each installation, the total wage bill for (a) civilian and (b) service personnel and any estimate he has of the benefits which each installation provides to the local economy.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : My noble Friend the Parliamentary Under- Secretary of State for the Armed Forces will write to my hon. Friend.
Column 577
Penally Range, Pembrokeshire
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether he has any plans to close or reduce the use of the Penally range, Pembrokeshire ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : There are no plans either to close or to reduce the use of the Penally range.
Land Force Districts
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the review of United Kingdom land force districts.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The structure of United Kingdom land force districts is currently the subject of an internal review by the Commander in Chief United Kingdom Land Forces. It is expected that recommendations will be made to the Ministry of Defence later this year.
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make it his policy that should the Wales land force district be amalgamated with any English land force district the new land force district will include the name of Wales in the title.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : No proposals have yet been put forward concerning the reorganisation of the Army district structure in the United Kingdom. It would therefore be premature to discuss any retitling that may be recommended.
Castlemartin Range, Pembrokeshire
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether he has any plans to close or reduce the use of the Castlemartin range, Pembrokeshire ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : There are no plans either to close or to reduce the use of the Castlemartin range.
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the use by the German armed forces of the Castlemartin range and any proposals to increase or reduce their usage of the range.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The German army has shared the use of the Royal Armoured Corp range at Castlemartin with the British Army under a Government-to-Government arrangement since 1961. This sharing arrangement is considered by both sides to be highly satisfactory. I am not aware of any intention on the part of the German army to alter its level of activity at the range.
WALES
Health Service, Gwynedd
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is regarded by the Welsh office as the appropriate number of dentists working as general dentistry practices to serve the needs of Gwynedd ; and how many such dentists are in post on the latest available date.
Mr. David Hunt : As at 3 September 1989 there were 70 general dental practitioners operating within Gwynedd. This figure includes 67 principals and three assistants.
Column 578
It is essentially for the Gwynedd family practitioner committee, in consultation with the district health authority, to assess the need for general dental services in Gwynedd, taking into account the demography and epidemiology of the population.Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many general practitioner practices in Gwynedd have expressed an interest in becoming fund-holding practices ; and how many doctors are involved in these practices.
Mr. David Hunt : To date, two practices in Gwynedd comprising six general practitioners have expressed an interest in becoming fund-holding practices.
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, pursuant to his reply of 14 May, Official Report, column 294, what factors account for the rise in Gwynedd health authority's capital allocation from 1982-83 to 1990-91 by a lower proportion than any other district in Wales ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. David Hunt : I will write to the hon. Gentleman and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.
Computerisation
Mr. Campbell-Savours : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales whether he will list the value of orders given by the Welsh Office for computer equipment for each month from 1 August 1988 to 1 May 1990.
Mr. David Hunt : The value of orders placed by my Department for computer equipment was as follows :
|£
--------------------------
1988
August |30,514
September |121,723
October |69,525
November |25,477
December |19,176
1989
January |100,797
February |225,422
March |29,094
April |19,519
May |82,210
June |51,185
July |38,858
August |82,413
September |32,817
October |65,042
November |64,429
December |78,768
1990
January |106,998
February |237,091
March |239,101
April |47,011
National Parks
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how much money is currently granted by the Government to each national park authority in Wales to set up an effective wardening scheme ; and what plans there are to increase these sums.
Mr. Roberts : The three Welsh national parks have allocated over £600,000 towards wardening in 1990-91 out
Column 579
of an estimated accepted expenditure of £4,573,000 of which the Government will contribute £3,430,000 by way of the national park supplementary grant. The amount allocated to wardening each year is entirely a matter for each individual park.Farms
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how much money is currently allocated to the farming industry in Wales to counteract the problems caused by visitors' presence.
Mr. David Hunt : No money is paid directly to the farming industry by my Department in relation to visitors' presence on farmland. However, I understand that the three national parks in Wales are likely to pay grants of the order of £50,000 in 1990-91 to farmers and landowners in this connection. In addition, the Brecon Beacons national park, in conjunction with the Countryside Commission, is establishing an experimental project on the black mountains to test new ways of improving and maintaining rights of way, including payments to farmers.
Chernobyl
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how long the restrictions on the sale and movement of sheep due to the Chernobyl nuclear disaster will continue in Wales.
Mr. David Hunt : It is not possible to predict how long restrictions on the sale and movement of sheep due to the Chernobyl nuclear accident will need to remain in force. Restrictions will be lifted as soon as I am satisfied it is possible to do so without compromising food safety.
Single-parent Families
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many families and what percentage of families in Wales are single-parent families.
Mr. David Hunt : Preliminary results from the 1989 labour force survey estimate that there are 58,000 single-parent families with children under the age of 16 years living in private households in Wales, which represents 16.9 per cent. of all Welsh households with dependent children.
Labour Statistics
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what was the number of people in employment in (a) primary industry and (b) manufacturing in Wales in the first quarter of 1979 and the last quarter of 1989.
Mr. David Hunt : In March 1979 there were 85,000 employees in employment in primary industry (divisions 0 and 1 of standard industrial classification 1980) and 314,000 in manufacturing industry (divisions 2 to 4.)
The figures for December 1989 are 50,000 and 250,000 respectively.
Disabled Children
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many children and what percentage of the children of Wales are disabled.
Column 580
Mr. David Hunt : Surveys of disability in Great Britain carried out by the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys between 1985 and 1988 suggest that there are about 18,000 disabled children under the age of 16 years in Wales, which represents 3.1 per cent. of the child population of Wales.
Local Government Finance
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what definition of main residence is used by his Department for community charge purposes.
Mr. David Hunt : None. Decisions as to individuals' sole or main residences are matters for community charge registration officers, who will have regard to the provisions of subsections 2(3) to 2(6) of the 1988 Act. Further guidance for CCROs has been issued in community charge practice note No. 9, "Sole or Main Residence". A copy of the practice note is in the Library.
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) if he will introduce into Wales a transitional relief scheme for disabled community charge payers comparable to that applying in England ; (2) if he will bring forward proposals for Wales to have a community charge transitional relief scheme for elderly relatives who were not previously ratepayers.
Mr. David Hunt : The Government are reviewing the operation of the community charge system. It is too early to say what changes might be made.
British Coal
Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what plans he has to meet the chairman of British Coal to discuss redundancies in the south Wales coalfield.
Mr. David Hunt : My predecessor met with the chairman of British Coal on 23 April and I hope to do so shortly.
Brymbo Steelworks
Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what plans he has to meet the owners of Brymbo steelworks to discuss the future of Brymbo ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. David Hunt : I met with the owners of Brymbo steelworks at Gwydyr house on Wednesday 16 May. United Engineering Steel Ltd. has agreed to have immediate discussions with the Welsh Development Agency about the options open to the company for the future of the steelworks at Brymbo.
Hospital Closures
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales whether a hospital can be deemed to be closed prior to all of the activities at that hospital being terminated.
Mr. David Hunt : Closure of a hospital may involve a staged reduction of services. However, I would not consider a hospital to be fully closed until all patient services there had ceased.
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will publish in the Official Report the exact conditions which he has stipulated prior to the closure of the cottage hospital, Caernarfon.
Column 581
Mr. David Hunt : The exact conditions to be met before the full closure of the cottage hospital can be completed were set out at paragraph 42 of annex A to the letter of 20 April 1990 from the Welsh Office to the general manager of the health authority, a copy of which was sent to the hon. Gentleman.War Memorial Institute
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will announce his decision in respect of the urban aid grant sought for Llandough and Leckwith War Memorial Institute.
Mr. David Hunt : An application for grant aid has been made in respect of Llandough and Leckwith War Memorial Institute under the capital grants to voluntary youth services, village halls and community centres programme. South Glamorgan local education authority was notified on 11 May that this project was successful in attracting grant.
National Health Service
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many members of his staff are involved in responsibilities relating to the National Health Service in Wales.
Mr. David Hunt : As at 1 April 1990--338.5 (full-time equivalents).
Column 582
Health Authorities
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how each health authority in Wales responded to the requirement laid down by the Welsh Office in 1987 to transfer 0.5 per cent. per annum towards priority services ; how much money was diverted by each authority in 1987-88 and 1988-89 for this purpose ; and whether any such requirement is still operational for any specific purpose in any health authority in Wales.
Mr. David Hunt [holding answer 14 May 1990] : In 1983 the Department introduced a requirement for district health authorities to redeploy efficiency savings amounting to a minimum of 0.5 per cent. of recurring revenue expenditure to the continuing care services, specifically for people with a mental handicap, for people suffering from mental illness, and elderly people. From 1988-89 no minimum level of redeployment has been stipulated by the Department. Expenditure on these services in 1987-88 and 1988-89, taken from health authority financial returns, is given by health authority in the table. In respect of services for the elderly, expenditure is shown for the geriatrics specialty only although elderly patients are also treated in other specialties such as general medicine, general surgery and orthopaedics. Care in the community is not separately identified, costs being generally subsumed within patient treatment services such as district nursing, health visiting, chiropody, and so on.
Directly comparable figures for earlier years are not available.
Column 581
£
Geriatrics<2Mental Handicap Mental Illness
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1987-88 |(<1>) |(<1>) |(<3>) |(<1>) (<5>)|(<4>)
Pembrokeshire |1,822,733 |409,699 |18,558 |245,461 |94,070
Clwyd |7,666,607 |922,444 |227,582 |5,963,107 |800,911
East Dyfed |4,549,917 |462,485 |121,369 |6,512,926 |552,505
Gwent |8,250,795 |3,113,079 |290,531 |9,761,446 |758,127
Gwynedd |5,938,671 |2,595,592 |90,836 |1,330,158 |367,714
Mid Glamorgan |8,409,299 |5,743,148 |72,520 |12,280,112 |467,639
Powys |2,650,704 |2,423,604 |72,437 |2,753,664 |337,373
South Glamorgan |8,235,709 |3,653,904 |112,945 |7,977,621 |325,431
West Glamorgan |6,299,904 |744,581 |113,318 |5,098,206 |439,720
|----- |----- |----- |----- |-----
Total |53,824,339 |20,068,536 |1,120,096 |51,922,701 |4,143,490
1988-89
Pembrokeshire |2,283,163 |422,781 |12,824 |427,069 |103,647
Clwyd |8,576,817 |994,811 |331,817 |7,716,060 |810,888
East Dyfed |5,056,018 |690,450 |144,498 |7,739,875 |575,426
Gwent |9,647,059 |3,557,989 |321,027 |11,541,789 |966,543
Gwynedd |6,808,664 |3,057,594 |109,038 |1,744,850 |567,413
Mid Glamorgan |9,856,418 |6,256,565 |179,490 |14,386,295 |635,331
Powys |3,085,714 |2,704,192 |95,571 |3,401,677 |466,258
South Glamorgan |10,387,908 |4,475,559 |134,778 |9,642,005 |388,812
West Glamorgan |7,627,215 |1,030,093 |181,811 |5,535,776 |552,567
|----- |----- |----- |----- |-----
Total |63,328,976 |23,190,034 |1,510,854 |62,135,396 |5,066,885
<1> Net hospital expenditure on patient treatment services only (ie. excluding general
services).
<2> Expenditure in geriatrics specialty only-note that elderly patients are also
treated in other specialties (eg. general medicine, general surgery, orthopaedics
etc.)
<3> Mental handicap nursing (sub code 106)-ie. only the nursing element can be
separately identified.
<4> Psychiatric nursing (sub code 105)-ie. only the nursing element can be separately
identified.
<5> Classed as other psychiatric' on the FR12 return.
Hospitals
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list all the district general hospitals in Wales, indicating for each (a) the year of opening, (b) the
Column 582
number of staff employed on the most recent available date, (c) the original capitial cost of constructing and equipping each hospital and the equivalent of each of those figures adjusted for inflation and (d) the gross revenue cost of running each hospital in 1989-90.Column 583
Mr. David Hunt [holding answer 17 May 1990] : Information on the capital cost of constructing and equipping all district general hospitals in Wales or the gross revenue cost of running each hospital in 1989-90 is not available. The information on the number of staff employed and the year of opening is given in the table :
Hospital |Year of |Staff in post<1>
|opening
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ysbyty Glan Clwyd |1980 |989.7
Ysbyty Maelor |1986 |1,697.1
Bronglais |1966 |508.1
West Wales General |1958 |621.2
Royal Gwent/St. Woolos |Pre 1948 |2,407.0
Nevill Hall |1969 |995.8
Ysbyty Gwynedd |1984 |1,084.6
Princess of Wales/Bridgend General |1985 |1,147.1
East Glamorgan |Pre 1948 |1,078.2
Prince Charles |1977 |784.8
Withybush |1978 |876.9
University Hospital of Wales<2> |1971 |2,306.1
Cardiff Royal Infirmary |Pre 1948 |1,005.9
Llandough |Pre 1948 |752.2
Singleton |1967 |949.6
Morriston |1985 |1,674.4
Neath |Pre 1948 |808.2
Prince Philip |1990 |<3>-
<1>Whole-time equivalents as at 30 September 1989. Excludes medical and dental staff
and learner nurses as these cannot be easily allocated to individual hospitals. The
figures are based on pay records for staff paid at the named hospitals and it is not
possible to adjust for staff paid at one unit working partly at another.
<2>Includes the dental hospital.
<3>Information not yet available.
TRADE AND INDUSTRY
International Investments Ltd.
Mr. Beggs : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he will urgently seek co-operation from the Government of the Irish Republic to jointly fund legal actions against those persons suspected of fraudently acquiring investors' monies from International Investments Ltd.
Mr. Redwood : No. As the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry understands the position, International Investments Ltd. is a company which was incorporated in Gibraltar and is now in liquidation. The Secretary of State is not aware of any activities of the company which would bring it within the jurisdiction of the statutes for which he is responsible.
Eastern Europe
Mr. Simon Coombs : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many of his Department's staff are actively engaged in promoting trade with the countries of eastern European (a) based in the United Kingdom and (b) based in those countries ; and what are the comparable figures for 1979.
Mr. Redwood : The answers to the first two parts of the question are 28 and none. The answer to the third part is more complicated but as far as I can tell the equivalent figure in 1979 was 24. Staff have recently been increased by the appointment of a G5 officer and secretary and an HEO and EO to reflect the opportunites and larger workload in eastern Europe. Similarly the Foreign and Commonwealth Office is strengthening its staff numbers in this area. In
Column 584
addition, both now and in 1979, staff in other parts of my Department, including regional offices, spend part of their time in helping to promote trade with these countries.Auditors
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he will introduce legislation providing that auditors owe a duty of care to each shareholder.
Mr. Redwood : I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to his question on 26 February at column 15.
Manufacturing
Mr. Oppenheim : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what has been the real terms increase in productivity and manufacturing output in the periods 1960 to 1969, 1970 to 1979 and 1980 to 1989 for (a) Britain, (b) France, (c) Italy, (d) West Germany, (e) the Netherlands, (f) Sweden, (g) the United States of America and (h) Japan ; and what was the average inflation rate for those countries in those decades.
| Next Section
| Home Page |