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Iraq (Chemical Weapons)
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether he has any information about the involvement of the Salman Pak underground plant, 35 miles from Baghdad, in work related to chemical and biological weapons.
Mr. Waldegrave : Iraq has used chemical weapons on a number of occasions in the past, indicating that it has a production capability. We are aware of recent media reports concerning the Salman Pak facility. It is not our practice, however, to comment on information which may be available to us on such matters.
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether he has any information regarding the possession by Iraq of the anti-personnel biological agents tularemia, anthrax and equine encephalitis ; whether these agents have been weaponised ; and what discussions have been held with the United States administration on these matters.
Mr. Waldegrave : We are aware of recent media reports alleging Iraqi development of biological weapons. Iraq has signed but not ratified the 1972 biological weapons convention which prohibits such weapons. It is not our practice, however, to comment on information which may be available to us on such matters. We have regular consultations with the United States on a full range of issues including chemical and biological weapons.
TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Tampons
Ms. Walley : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will review his decision not to require further warning labels, additional to those referred to in his answer of 5 April, Official Report, column 804, to be compulsorily provided on the packaging of tampons.
Mr. Forth : No. Toxic shock syndrome is a very rare illness and I am not prepared unnecessarily to frighten women off buying tampons by asking the industry to put a warning about toxic shock syndrome on the outside of the packet. I am however asking it to put a warning on the leaflet inside the packet on how to recognise the symptoms of TSS and the fact that very occasionally it can be fatal : and to put on the packet itself guidance as to what degree of absorbancy should be used.
Company Accounts
Mr. David Howell : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many prosecutions have been initiated by the solicitors' office of Companies house against companies for failure to file accounts by the due date during (a) 1 January to 1 February, (b) 1 February to 1 March, (c) 1 March to 1 April and (d) 1 April to 1 May.
Mr. Redwood : Prosecutions for failure to file accounts are initiated against directors, not companies. The table gives details of those commenced by the Department's solicitor since 1 January 1990.
|Period in 1990
|commenced
---------------------------------------------
January |<1>140
February |80
March |335
April |265
<1>Estimated.
Iraq
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list the contracts arising from the April 1989 international exhibition for military production in Baghdad.
Mr. Redwood : We do not have this information, the publication of which would be a matter for the firms concerned.
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether his Department has issued any export licences for vacuum pumps to Iraq.
Mr. Redwood : No licences have been granted for the export of vacuum pumps to Iraq in the last year. Information on licences granted prior to this is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Caborn : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, pursuant to his answer of 15 May, Official Report, column 365, of the trade delegations that visited Iraq with Government support in 1989-90, 1988-89, 1987-88 and 1986-87, how many companies which made up the delegations have, or had, contracts with the Ministry of Defence.
Mr. Redwood [holding answer 21 May 1990] : One hundred and seventeen of the companies in question appear in the records the Ministry of Defence keeps of firms currently or formerly qualified to bid for defence contracts. It would involve disproportionate cost to identify the number of firms which were awarded contracts.
Mr. Caborn : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, pursuant to his answer of 15 May, Official Report, column 365, of the trade delegations that visited Iraq with Government support in 1989-90, 1988-89, 1988-88 and 1986-87, how many companies and from which sectors of industry made up the delegations.
Mr. Redwood [holding answer 21 May 1990] : Two hundred and ninety-two companies participated in officially supported events in the years in question. They were drawn from a wide range of industries, which our records broadly classified as : healthcare, energy-oil field equipment, electrical-electronic engineering, water technology, automotive transport, domestic appliances-consumer goods, scientific-environmental equipment and mechanical engineering.
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps his Department took to satisfy itself that the 10,000 protection kits exported to Iraq were to be used only for non-military purposes.
Mr. Redwood : It is the practice to retain records of export licence applications for no longer than seven years. No information is therefore available on any exports to Iraq which may have taken place before 1983.
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Energy Consumption
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will give for each year from 1978 the energy consumption, broken down by fuel, of the buildings occupied by his Department, expressing the figures in (a) cash terms, (b) 1978-79 money terms and (c) units of consumption for electricity in kilowatt hours, gas in therms, liquid fuel in litres and solid fuel in tonnes.
Mr. Forth : I am sorry that the information is not available in the form requested.
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will give the number of energy audits carried out in his Department in the last five years and for each audit a statement of its main conclusions.
Mr. Forth : No full energy audit has been carried out in my Department in the past five years, but energy usage is closely monitored. The Department is investing in energy saving projects with the aim of saving 15 per cent. of energy costs over the next five years.
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will give the number of dedicated energy managers in his Department and the number of person years devoted to energy management in the latest year.
Mr. Forth : Twenty staff are designated energy managers as part of their duties. The Department devoted about three person years to energy management last year. This does not include the resources deployed by the Property Services Agency in our buildings.
Audit Committees
Mr. Cousins : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he has any information on the number of companies which have audit committees.
Mr. Redwood : No. There is no requirement to notify the Department of the establishment of an audit committee.
Investment (Cumbria)
Mr. Campbell-Savours : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will set up an inquiry into the level of inward investment inquiries being referred by the regional office of his Department to the industrial development authorities in Cumbria.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : No. All inward investor inquiries are sent routinely to all regions of the United Kingdom, where the regional development body, INWARD in the case of the north-west, maintains information on local site availability and conditions through regular contact with local authorities and other development bodies. Inquiries are then forwarded to those localities which have indicated their ability to meet the specific needs of the investor.
Hungary
Mr. Ward : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what efforts his Department is making to encourage joint ventures between British and Hungarian companies and between British companies and Hungarian state enterprises.
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Mr. Redwood : My Department is doing a great deal. We are providing companies with information about the legislative and fiscal framework for investment in Hungary. My Department also makes available to British business information about specific investment opportunities and details of Hungarian enterprises seeking joint venture partners.DTI Ministers are actively involved. I myself have led a trade mission to Hungary, and the Secretary of State expects to visit the country next month with a group of business men. Together with the Foreign Secretary, I participated in a major conference on 22 May sponsored by my Department, the CBI and others to draw companies' attention to business and investment opportunities arising from western economic assistance to eastern Europe.
ECGD's investment insurance scheme has recently been expanded to cover eastern Europe ; and the Government's know-how fund can now be used to provide support for pre-investment feasibility studies and training of prospective joint venture partners.
Financial Reporting Council
Mr. Cousins : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list the members of the Financial Reporting Council, together with information as to their experience, directorships and partnerships.
Mr. Redwood : The membership of the Financial Reporting Council was announced in a press release issued by the council on 17 May, a copy of which has been placed in the Library.
CFCs and Halons
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he intends to publish the study commissioned by his Department into the use of chlorofluorocarbons and halons in the United Kingdom and the scope for their recovery for recycling and destruction.
Mr. Forth : I have today published this study in a report entitled "CFCs and Halons : Alternatives and the Scope for Recovery for Recycling and Destruction". Copies have been placed in the Libraries of the House. The report is available on sale from the publishers HMSO.
The Government have made it clear that they are fully committed to the elimination of ozone-damaging CFCs as soon as practically possible, and certainly by the year 2000.
The report finds that by adopting alternatives and developing cost- effective recycling, it would be possible to eliminate virtually all consumption of ozone-damaging chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in the UK by 1997. It also finds that similar action, particularly on recycling, could allow consumption of halon fire-extinguishing agents to be similarly reduced by the year 2000.
In examining current levels of CFC use, the report finds that the UK halved its consumption of CFCs between 1986 and 1989, thus meeting the controls on consumption in the present Montreal protocol almost 10 years ahead of requirements. The Montreal protocol is to be strengthened at a conference in London at the end of June, against a background of strong calls for complete phase-out of CFCs by the year 2000. This report provides further evidence that UK industry is responding well to this
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particular environmental challenge and is well placed to meet a more stringent regulatory regime over the next 10 years.This will, however, require greater recycling of ozone-damaging substances, particularly in the refrigeration, fire-extinguishing and solvent areas. I urge all those involved in producing or using products made with CFCs or halons to increase their level of recycling. This action needs to form part of each company's overall strategy for reducing their use of these substances.
Local authorities and the private sector also have a role to play in the safe disposal of CFCs from domestic refrigerators. The report highlights a number of successful recovery and recycling schemes that have been set up. I hope that this report will encourage others to follow this lead.
Eastern Europe
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list the support being given by his Department to the newly emerging democracies in eastern Europe.
Mr. Redwood : My Department seeks to help the process of reform in these countries by encouraging the involvement of British companies in their economic transformation and reconstruction. In particular we provide information on opportunities for direct investment, including joint ventures and other forms of industrial co-operation ; for increased exports of goods and services ; and for consultancy and management training.
DTI Ministers play their part by receiving incoming delegations and by taking with them groups of business men on visits to those countries. In recent months, the Secretary of State and I have led parties of business men to the USSR, Hungary, Poland, Czechoslovakia and Romania. I shall shortly be taking a group of business men with me to the GDR. The Minister for Trade visited the Leipzig fair in support of British exhibitors and attended the recent CSCE conference in Bonn on economic co-operation in Europe.
My Department also encourages British business to take full advantage of the several United Kingdom, EC and multilateral schemes introduced to assist projects of reform and reconstruction in the emerging countries of eastern Europe, including the United Kingdom know-how funds.
The DTI co-sponsored a major conference in London on 22 May which sought to alert British companies to the possibilities of winning aid-financed business in eastern Europe. A DTI official was recently seconded to the joint assistance unit in the FCO to help in the administration of the United Kingdom know-how fund.
In addition the Department continues to offer its established export services and to finance the activities of the East European Trade Council, the BOTB's area advisory group for eastern Europe.
Bankruptcies
Mrs. Margaret Ewing : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will institute an inquiry or take any other steps to ascertain the reasons for the increase in bankruptcies.
Mr. Redwood [holding answer 24 May 1990] : No.
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Environmental Policies
Ms. Quin : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he has any proposals to ensure that United Kingdom trade promotes the goal of sustainable development.
Mr. Redwood [holding answer 22 May 1990] : I shall continue to consider the links between trade and environmental policies and their relationship to promoting sustainable development.
Maccorp Holdings Ltd.
Mr. Tim Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will appoint inspectors to inquire into the affairs of Maccorp Holdings Ltd. and to establish the extent to which the prospectus issued by the company contained false and misleading information about the position and experience of director Arden McClelland.
Mr. Redwood [holding answer 22 May 1990] : My Department is prepared to consider any information my hon. Friend may provide which might warrant an inquiry.
Bankruptcy
Mrs. Margaret Ewing : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will take steps to increase from £750 the minimum level of debt in respect of which a creditor may in terms of the Bankruptcy (Scotland) Act 1985 petition for the sequestration of his debtor.
Mr. Redwood : There are no current plans to increase this figure.
Mrs. Margaret Ewing : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will instigate a review of all aspects of the scheme of payment from public funds to trustees in sequestrations under the provisions of the Bankruptcy (Scotland) Act.
Mr. Redwood : Insolvency service officials are currently undertaking an evaluation of the Scottish bankruptcy system with particular regard to funding.
TRANSPORT
Radioactive Waste
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) if his Department is currently assessing the British Nuclear Fuels Ltd. approved design for the transportation of vitrified high-level waste ; if compliance with this design is required for transportation by road, rail and ship ; and if he will make a statement ; (2) if he has any plans to allow the transportation of vitrified high-level radioactive waste flasks (i) through the channel tunnel and (ii) overland by rail from Sellafield to shipping ports including Dover ; and if he will make a statement ;
(3) if it is his policy to agree in advance the overland and sea routes of future exports of vitrified high-level radioactive waste flasks.
Mr. Freeman : Shipments of vitrified high-level waste by any mode of transport will be required to be carried in containers which have been certified by my Department as
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fully complying with stringent and national and international safety regulations which require safety to be built into the design. Safety does not depend on the choice of route used which is a matter for the carrier.I understand that a package design is currently under development by British Nuclear Fuels plc (BNFL) but that it may be some months before this design is submitted to the Department for assessment and subsequent approval.
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps have been taken by the marine directorate to satisfy itself that the type of ship used by Pacific Nuclear Transport Ltd. to transport vitrified high-level radioactive waste is appropriate to that function ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. McLoughlin : The ships used by Pacific Nuclear Transport Ltd. are dedicated to the transport of nuclear materials. They operate under schemes of work approved by the Department, which ensure that crew members benefit from national and international radiation protection standards.
The Department has not yet received an application from British Nuclear Fuels plc for the transport of vitrified waste on these ships. Their suitability for carrying this material will be assessed by the marine directorate as part of the Department's approval and certification process.
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport under what circumstances radioactive material is kept overnight in parked vehicles at Swynnerton, Stoke-on-Trent ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Archie Hamilton [holding answer 24 May 1990] : I have been asked to reply.
I assume the hon. Gentleman is referring to military vehicles parked at the Army training area at Swynnerton, Staffordshire. As he will appreciate, however, it is the longstanding policy of this and previous Governments neither to confirm nor deny the presence of nuclear materials at particular military locations, or to comment on their methods of transport.
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) whether shipments of plutonium nitrate from Dounreay to Workington will cease following the recent decision to abandon fast breeder reactor research at Dounreay ; and if he will make a statement ; (2) what type of irradiated fuel flask is used for the shipment of plutonium nitrate from Dounreay to Workington ; and if he will make a statement ;
(3) when was the first shipment of plutonium nitrate from Dounreay to Workington.
Mr. McLoughlin : Shipments of plutonium nitrate are carried in containers to design No. 1763 and have been certified by my Department as fully complying with stringent international safety regulations. The first such shipment took place in June 1981. The decision as to whether such shipments will continue is a matter for the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority.
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the role of the marine directorate in respect of the transportation of radioactive waste.
Mr. McLoughlin : The marine directorate enforces the Merchant Shipping (Dangerous Goods) Regulations 1981,
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as amended, under which the transport of radioactive waste by ships is regulated. The carriage requirements follow the international maritime dangerous goods code published by the International Maritime Organisation which in turn incorporates recommendations issued by the International Atomic Energy Agency. The radioactive materials transport division represents the Department in this agency.A30
Mr. Maxwell-Hyslop : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will indicate his best estimate of the relevant timings of events concerned with the routing and construction of the replacement A30 between Honiton and Exeter.
Mr. Atkins : The Department expects to publish its proposals at about the end of the year. A public inquiry, which will, no doubt, be necessary, could be held in 1991. Subject to the satisfactory completion of the statutory procedures I expect construction work to start in 1993 and then to take up to two years to complete.
EUROSID
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what contribution he is making to the EUROSID project ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Atkins : My Department has taken a major role in the development of the EUROSID side-impact test dummy through the transport and road research laboratory. Researchers from TRRL have led the working group within the European experimental vehicles committee which has designed, developed and tested EUROSID. TRRL was responsible for the development of the important thorax of the dummy. The dummy is now fully tested and in production through Ogle Design Ltd. of the United Kingdom.
The Department has similarly taken a lead in development of the full-scale side-impact test procedure for cars. The United Kingdom is pressing for early agreement within the European Community on a side-impact directive incorporating this test. This work is expected to be completed in the next two to three years. When implemented, this should ensure that cars are designed to offer better protection to their occupants in collisions to their sides, saving considerable life and injury. EUROSID is a central requirement of the test, since it measures the likely injury to the occupants.
Northern Line
Mr. Cox : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he intends to make an official journey on the southern section of the Northern line ; and if he will invite hon. Members from those areas of London to accompany him on his visit.
Mr. Freeman : I hope to visit the southern section of the Northern line at the end of this month. I would be glad to do so with the hon. Member.
Travel (London)
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he has undertaken any survey of reasons for travel in London ; and if he will make a statement.
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Mr. Atkins : The most recent comprehensive source of information on reasons for travel in London is the 1981 Greater London transportation survey carried out by the Greater London council. My Department is planning to conduct a major new survey in 1991 in collaboration with the London Research Centre, British Rail and London Transport.
Information on reasons for travel is also collected in the national travel survey and although this survey does not identify where the travel took place it does provide figures for travel by people resident in London. Some results are given in "Transport Statistics for London", a copy of which is in the Library.
Energy Consumption
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will give for each year from 1978 the energy consumption, broken down by fuel, of the buildings occupied by his Department, expressing the figures in (a) cash terms, (b) 1978-79 money terms and (c) units of consumption for electricity in kilowatt hours, gas in therms, liquid fuel in litres and solid fuel in tonnes.
Mr. Atkins : A full answer cannot be provided. I shall write to the hon. Member.
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will give the number of dedicated energy managers in his Department and the number of person years devoted to energy management in the latest year.
Mr. Atkins : In 1989-90 the Department devoted approximately 2.5 person years to energy management. This included the time of a central energy manager.
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will give the number of energy audits carried out in his Department in the last five years and for each audit a statement of its main conclusions.
Mr. Atkins : The number of energy audits carried out in the Department of Transport were :
|Number
----------------------
1985-86 |0
1986-87 |1
1987-88 |7
1988-89 |4
1989-90 |1
In each case a variety of measures to produce energy savings were recommended and have been implemented.
Buscough and Ormskirk Bypasses
Mr. Hind : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) if he will appoint traffic consultants to advise his Department on the line of the Buscough bypass on the A59 ; and if he will make a statement ;
(2) if he will appoint traffic consultants to advise his Department on the line of the Ormskirk bypass on the A570 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Atkins : We shall be inviting competitive offers from selected consultants within the next two months for the design of three schemes in the Liverpool-Preston corridor ; the A59 Ormskirk-Walmer bridge improvement (which will incorporate a bypass of Buscough) ; the A570 Ormskirk bypass ; and the A570 Scarisbrook and Pinfold bypass.
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