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Functional Foods
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) what labelling requirements apply to the sale of functional foods ;
(2) whether he intends to impose restrictions on the sale of functional foods.
Mr. Maclean : Food legislation already addresses the safety of all foodstuffs, their labelling and description and claims that can be made about them. We have no plans at present to make any specific rules about foods which are being described as "functional" but we shall, as is normal, watch developments and will act if the consumer requirement suggests such a need.
Irradiated Food
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for Normanton (Mr. O'Brien) of 17 May, Official Report, column 554 , if he will list those interested parties to which he refers.
Mr. Curry : We shall be consulting more than 300 organisations representing trade, consumer, health and enforcement interests for their views on our proposals for legislation in this area. A full list will be placed in the Library of the House.
Eggs
Mr. Ralph Howell : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was (a) the number and (b) the value of eggs imported into the United Kingdom in each month since January 1989 to the latest date available.
Mr. Maclean : The number and value of eggs imported into the United Kingdom monthly during 1989 and up to April 1990 (inclusive) is set out in the table :
|'000 Eggs |Value £
--------------------------------------------
1989
January |14,371 |454,818
February |7,553 |254,033
March |7,956 |275,402
April |40,073 |1,387,578
May |28,172 |895,365
June |25,961 |861,535
July |22,794 |729,146
August |35,120 |1,308,199
September |58,044 |2,532,210
October |38,285 |1,513,155
November |74,354 |3,401,470
December |53,882 |2,643,422
|------- |-------
Total |406,565 |16,256,333
1990
January |37,755 |1,670,107
February |34,982 |1,520,792
March |66,290 |3,226,961
April |54,212 |2,187,086
|------- |-------
Total |193,239 |8,604,946
Exports of Live Animals
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food under what legal provisions the United Kingdom Government have banned the export of live animals for slaughter to Spain.
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Mr. Maclean : Licences are issued under the Export of Animals (Protection) Order 1981 only for exports to those countries which have properly implemented EC directives on welfare during international transport and on pre-slaughter stunning. We await assurances from the Commission that these requirements are fully in force in Spain.
Chernobyl
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list by county for England and Wales (a) how many sheep and (b) how many farms still have restrictions in force because of the Chernobyl explosion.
Mr. Maclean : The information requested is as follows (estimated maximum post-lambing figures) :
|Holdings|Sheep
------------------------------------
Cumbria |150 |170,000
Clwyd |4 |2,500
Gwynedd |407 |282,500
Powys |5 |15,000
Less-favoured Areas
Mr. Speller : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will seek to progress a decision on the United Kingdom application to extend the less-favoured areas which was lodged with the European Community in July 1989.
Mr. Curry : We have been pursuing this point with the European Commission and we expect to be able to announce the outcome shortly.
Wylfa Power Station
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he has received any results from the assessment of the effects of the radioactive discharges from the nuclear power station at Wylfa in Anglesey.
Mr. Curry : The effects of radioactive discharges from the nuclear power station at Wylfa are continually being assessed by this Department's scientists on behalf of the Secretary of State for Wales. The results of environmental monitoring, together with the assessments made of doses to members of the public via both terrestrial and marine pathways, are published in reports produced by this Department, copies of which are placed in the Library of the House. The doses received by the most exposed members of the public continue to be well within the internationally recommended limits.
Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy
Mr. Matthew Taylor : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps he is taking to act on the recommendations from the Tyrrell report with regard to holding a formal study of the health of species fed offal, including pigs and poultry, and of animals such as hounds fed fallen livestock ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Maclean : Studies are being conducted at the central veterinary laboratory involving the parenteral and
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oral exposure of pigs and poultry to brain material from cattle confirmed as having BSE. An examination of hounds' brains is being planned.Mr. Matthew Taylor : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps he has taken to satisfy himself that the infective agent responsible for bovine spongiform encephalopathy cannot be transmitted through milk ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Maclean : Milk has never been shown to transmit any of the spongiform encephalopathies, and studies into scrapie have not found the agent in milk. Nevertheless, studies are taking place, using milk from BSE cattle, to confirm these findings. In addition, as a precautionary measure, milk from animals suspected of having BSE is banned from human and animal consumption.
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he expects to receive a copy of the longer report from Dr. Tyrrell referred to in the Official Report on 21 May, column 85.
Mr. Maclean : My right hon. Friend the Minister has asked the Tyrrell committee to provide the report as soon as possible.
Mr. Alex Carlile : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he has any proposals for the payment of compensation for losses incurred by United Kingdom farmers and dealers incurred as a result of bans on imports by European Community Governments in the light of the bovine spongiform encephalopathy outbreak ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Maclean [holding answer 8 June 1990] : No sir. Community market support continued throughout the period covered by the French, German and Italian import bans. It would not be possible to isolate the market impact of these bans.
Of course individuals would be able to obtain legal advice as to whether they could seek damages in the country concerned for specific effects of the disruption.
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food under what circumstances histopathological examination is undertaken of bovines born since August 1988 ; and how many such examinations have been carried out.
Mr. Maclean [holding answer 8 June 1990] : The brains of all animals suspected of being affected by BSE are examined by histopathology. To date, four such examinations have been conducted on bovines born since August 1988 ; all were negative for BSE.
Animal Feedstuffs
Mr. Morley : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he proposes to end the practice of feeding chicken manure and litter to beef cattle.
Mr. Maclean : I have no plans to do so. Anyone who ensiles poultry manure or litter for use as animal feed is subject to the requirements of the Processed Animal Protein Order 1989 which inter alia requires registration with the Department and microbiological testing. Regular checks on the ensiling process are carried out by representatives of the state veterinary service.
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ENERGY
Insulation
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy, pursuant to his answer of 5 June, Official Report, column 409, (a) who estimated that 5.5 TWh of electricity could be saved, (b) whether this estimate has been published, (c) which insulation measures were included and (d) what other estimates made during the last two years on potential savings from better insulation are known to his Department.
Mr. Peter Morrison : The estimate was derived from a publication by the Building Research Establishment (BRE) entitled "Energy Use in Buildings and Carbon Dioxide Emissions"--BR 170 HMSO ISBN 085125 4365, £25. It is estimated in table 11 at page 36 that cost-effective insulation measures applied to houses in the United Kingdom would save 23.3 PJ of electricity corresponding to 6.5 TWh. The figure has been scaled down to 5.5 TWh to cover England and Wales only. The recommended cost-effective insulation measures covered all existing houses and assumed that :
(i) 80 per cent. of all houses with cavity walls would be insulated.
(ii) Lofts with less or equal to 25mm insulation would be insulated up to 150mm.
(iii) All houses would be draughtproofed.
(iv) All hot water tanks with less than 50mm insulation would be insulated up to 80mm.
(v) All windows would be double-glazed when the existing window frames need to be replaced.
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State will be writing to the hon. Member and will supply a list of publications, produced over the past two years, covering the potential for energy saving through better insulation of the housing stock.
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what was the number of community insulation projects and the number of participant workers and trainees at end-year in 1987, 1988 and 1989 and at the latest available date for each region, Wales, Scotland and Great Britain as a whole.
Mr. Peter Morrison : The figures requested in respect of 1987 and 1989 are as follows :
|c|Number of draughtproofing jobs completed|c|
|1987 |1989
-------------------------------------------------
East Midlands |10,236 |10,245
London |7,839 |1,353
North East |13,867 |9,983
North West |16,125 |22,230
Scotland |30,349 |37,154
South East |6,728 |4,942
South West |9,489 |4,368
Wales |15,017 |13,371
West Midlands |11,957 |12,051
Yorkshire and Humberside |17,100 |15,186
|-------|-------
Total |138,707|130,883
Neighbourhood Energy Action advises that equivalent information in respect of 1988 is not available, and that reliable information in respect of early months of 1990 for comparison with the same periods in previous years is not yet available.
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Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what was the number of draughtproofing jobs completed so far in the current year and completed in the equivalent periods of 1987, 1988 and 1989 for each region, Wales, Scotland and Great Britain as a whole ; and what were the full-year figures for 1987, 1988 and 1989.Mr. Peter Morrison : Available information in respect of the last three complete years is as follows :
|c|Number of participating
workers/trainees at period end|c|
|1987 |1989
-------------------------------------------
East Midlands |505 |271
London |617 |31
North East |493 |253
North West |1,051|672
Scotland |978 |780
South East |566 |116
South West |534 |190
Wales |1,047|335
West Midlands |775 |314
Yorkshire and Humberside
|679 |353
|-----|-----
Total |7,245|3,315
|c|Number of participating
workers/trainees at period end|c|
|1987 |1989
-------------------------------------------
East Midlands |505 |271
London |617 |31
North East |493 |253
North West |1,051|672
Scotland |978 |780
South East |566 |116
South West |534 |190
Wales |1,047|335
West Midlands |775 |314
Yorkshire and Humberside
|679 |353
|-----|-----
Total |7,245|3,315
Neighbourhood Energy Action advises that information on numbers of participating workers/trainees at end 1988 is not available, and that reliable information in respect of the early months of 1990 for comparison with the same period in previous years is not yet available.
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy (1) what was the spending on the community insulation programme in each year from 1983- 84 and including estimated spending in 1989-90 for (a) the London borough of Camden and (b) the London borough of Islington ; (2) what was the number of community insulation projects and the number of participant workers and trainees at end-year 1987, 1988 and 1989 and at the latest available date for (a) the London borough of Camden and (b) the London borough of Islington.
Mr. Peter Morrison : There are no community insulation projects currently operating in the London boroughs of Camden and Islington. Detailed information on projects under the community programme which served those areas prior to 1988 is not available.
Nuclear Waste
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will give the radioactive inventory, in terms of alpha and gamma/beta components, together with a listing
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of the principal fission products and acticides and the properties thereof, contained within a single vitrified high-level waste container for liquid wastes arising from the reprocessing of magnesium oxide uranium alloy irradiated fuel at 4 to 5 GWeday/tonne uranium burn-up for irradiated oxide fuel of advanced gas-cooled reactor 18 and 24 GWeday/tonne uranium burn-up and light water reactor fuel at 33 GWeday/tonne uranium burn-up ; and if he will make a statement.Mr. Baldry : The detailed radioactive inventory for vitrified high- level waste containers is a matter for British Nuclear Fuels plc. This inventory has to be taken into account in preparing the safety case for the on-site storage of these canisters, which has to be agreed by the Health and Safety Executive's nuclear installations inspectorate before the plant can be operated.
Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Mr. Gould : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what arrangements he is now making to allow independent scientists to scrutinise "An Evaluation of Energy Related Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Measures to Ameliorate Them".
Mr. Peter Morrison : This document referred to was widely available within the intergovernmental panel on climate change, which is an open forum, from November 1989, and was published as energy paper 58 in January 1990. It was, and remains, open to any scrutiny.
DEFENCE
Iraq (Missiles)
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will provide a table of the missiles Iraq is known to possess, together with their ranges.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The armed forces of Iraq deploy the following ballistic missiles :
Scud B--300 km range
Al Hussein--650 km range
Iraq also possesses a variety of anti-tank guided weapons--ranges between 0.5 km and 4 km ; air-to-surface missiles--ranges between 10 km and 400 km ; surface-to-air missiles--ranges between 3 km and 50 km ; and air-to-air missiles--ranges between 3 km and 30 km.
HMS Warspite
Mr. John Evans : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 22 May, Official Report, column 94, if he will make a statement on what details he may release on the condition of HMS Warspite with respect to national security considerations, and if he will list (a) the date of entry into dock of HMS Warspite for refit, (b) the date, within the nearest four weeks, on which the Warspite was expected to finish her refit and (c) which British nuclear-powered submarines have so far been inspected following the report of defects in British nuclear-powered submarines.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : HMS Warspite's refit began in 1988 with a planned completion date towards the end of 1990. This date is currently under review. With regard to the nuclear submarine inspection programme I have nothing further to add to the reply given to the hon. Member on 22 May 1990 at column 94.
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Devonshire Dock
Mr. Campbell-Savours : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether he has ordered an inquiry into breaches of security by persons seeking access to the Devonshire dock, Barrow-in-Furness, on the advice of Messrs. Nicholas Labour Hire of Preston.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : No such breaches of security at the Devonshire dock hall have been reported.
Low Flying
Mr. Kirkwood : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what regulations are in force concerning the height to be maintained by military aircraft crossing the coast at low level in the United Kingdom.
Mr. Neubert : Pilots of military aircraft are advised to cross coastlines, as a general rule, at a minimum height of 500 ft above ground or sea level in order to reduce the risk of birdstrike.
Mr. Kirkwood : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what consideration has been given to the fitting of ground proximity warning systems to RAF aircraft.
Mr. Neubert : The Ministry of Defence is sponsoring a trials programme to develop a ground proximity warning system. No decision about whether the equipment will be fitted to RAF aircraft will be made until the results of the trials are available.
Mr. Kirkwood : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence at what height the specified weather minima for military aircraft operating in the United Kingdom low-flying system require pilots to remain vertically clear of cloud during low-level flight.
Mr. Neubert : When operating in the United Kingdom low-flying system, military pilots are required to remain a minimum of 500 ft vertically clear of cloud at indicated airspeeds in excess of 140 knots.
Mr. Kirkwood : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what actions have been taken to change or re-emphasise aspects of RAF aircrew training by syllabuses for low flying in the light of the findings of the board of inquiry into the accident to a Jaguar at St. Abb's Head on 13 April 1989.
Mr. Neubert : None. As no deficiencies in the RAF's present low- level training syllabuses were revealed during the board of inquiry's investigation into this accident, no further action was considered necessary.
Mr. Kirkwood : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if a survey has been conducted of the extent to which reheat is used by aircraft operating in the United Kingdom low-flying system ; and what plans he has to carry out such a survey in future.
Mr. Neubert : Aircraft are instructed to use reheat as little as possible when flying overland at low level and use would be unusual unless required for flight safety reasons. This is confirmed by RAF police surveys which give no indication that reheat is regularly used in the United Kingdom low-flying system.
Aircraft Noise
Mr. Kirkwood : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the changes made since 1984 in his Department's policy on exposure to
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aircraft noise levels in excess of 125 dB (A) ; and if he will list all Ministry of Defence commissioned research on the health effects of aircraft noise carried out since 1983 (a) within his Department, (b) by other Government Departments and (c) by non-governmental scientists upon which such changes in policy were based.Mr. Neubert : There have been no changes since 1984 in MOD policy on exposure to aircraft noise levels in excess of 125 dB (A). No Ministry of Defence commissioned research into the health effects of aircraft noise has been carried out since 1983 within the Department or by another Government Department but, as I announced on 17 May at columns 517-18, a study to review available information is in progress.
Nuclear Weapons
Mr. Andrew F. Bennett : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will review his policy of not indicating which of Her Majesty's ships are carrying nuclear weapons.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : It has been the invariable practice of successive British Governments neither to confirm nor deny the presence of nuclear weapons in any particular ship at any particular time. There are no plans to change this policy.
RAF Recruitment
Sir John Hunt : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he anticipates any reduction in the annual officer recruitment targets for the RAF following the recent improvements in east-west relations.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : It is too early to say whether there will be a reduction in RAF officer recruitment, but the changing international situation gives us hope that we shall be able to maintain our security and sustain our responsibilities overseas with lower force levels and less cost.
RAF Biggin Hill
Sir John Hunt : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what are the current estimates for the building of the additional accommodation required at RAF Cranwell following the closure of the officer and aircrew selection centre at RAF Biggin Hill.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The estimated cost of the new facilities required at RAF Cranwell amounts to some £7.5 million at current prices. This figure now allows for VAT and current levels of inflation in the construction industry.
Sir John Hunt : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what are the current estimates for the likely level of capital receipts from the disposal of the site at present occupied by RAF Biggin Hill.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : Estimates of expected receipts are commercially confidential, but we expect income from disposals at Biggin Hill to more than cover the cost of reproviding facilities for the officer and aircrew selection centre at RAF Cranwell.
Sir John Hunt : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the anticipated demand for officers'
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married quarters in the Greater London area over the next five years ; and whether accommodation is to be provided at RAF Biggin Hill to meet this demand.Mr. Archie Hamilton : Present plans envisage that the requirement for officers' married quarters in the Greater London area will, over the medium to long term, be reduced. It is our intention to dispose of all the officers' married quarters at RAF Biggin Hill when the station closes. Present plans anticipate that the various elements of the Biggin Hill site will become available for disposal towards the end of 1992, excluding the memorial chapel enclave which will be retained.
Salerno Incident, 1943
Mr. Menzies Campbell : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many representations he has received in the last 12 months concerning the incident at Salerno on 20 September 1943 which resulted in the court martial of 91 soldiers of the 51 Highland Division and 50 Northumbrian Division ; and if he proposes to take the steps necessary to obtain a free pardon for them.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : My noble Friend the Under-Secretary of State for the Armed Forces will write to the hon. and learned Member.
Radar
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on developments in the detection by radar of missile attacks.
Mr. Alan Clark : Steady progress has been made in developing the ability of radar to detect missile attacks. Work continues on a number of fronts.
Service Accommodation
Mr. Rogers : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the current backlog of unavoidable repairs to service accommodation.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The backlog of maintenance for essential and unavoidable repairs to service accommodation at 1 April 1990 was estimated at £36 million.
Mr. Rogers : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment has been made of the influence of the quality of rented service accommodation on the rate of premature voluntary release.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : No single factor influences personnel to leave the services prematurely and the results of attitude surveys conducted among service personnel indicate that the quality of service accommodation is not a major factor in the decision to leave.
Mr. Rogers : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many representations he has received from service personnel regarding the quality of service accommodation.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : No records are kept centrally of representations on behalf of service personnel regarding the quality of service accommodation, but we are aware of a small number of such representations over the last 12 months.
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Military Training
Mr. O'Neill : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what examination there has been of the options for changing the current requirements for military training in (a) the British Army, (b) the Royal Air Force and (c) the Royal Navy ;
(2) what plans there are to make adjustments to training programmes for the armed forces.
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