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Mr. Archie Hamilton : The future requirements and organisation for training are kept under review.
Nuclear Accident, Greenwich
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans or studies have been made or commissioned by his Department to assess the measures that would have to be taken in the event of contamination by airborne plutonium resulting from a nuclear weapons accident aboard a Royal Navy ship docked at Greenwich.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply that I gave to the hon. Members for Newham, North-West (Mr. Banks) and for Islington, South and Finsbury (Mr. Smith) on 8 June, Official Report , column 724 .
Standing Military Forces
Mr. O'Neill : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans there are to alter the readiness and availability of British standing military forces.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The last ministerial session of the defence planning committee on 22 and 23 May decided to take steps to lower the readiness and availability of some of the alliance's standing forces. A copy of the communique is in the Library of the House. Work is in hand on the implications for British forces.
Retraining
Mr. O'Neill : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what retraining opportunities are offered to those personnel of his Department whose services are no longer required.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : Pre-release training to help in the preparation for civilian life is available to eligible personnel who are about to leave the services. Eligibility for this training is determined primarily by length of service and the circumstances of discharge. All civilian staff are given the opportunity of pre-retirement training, but no specific retraining is provided by the Department.
NATO Military Review
Mr. O'Neill : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans there are for British participation in the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation review of military strategy.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The United Kingdom will participate fully in the review of the alliance's military strategy to which my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State agreed at last month's ministerial meeting of the defence planning committee. Ministers also agreed that this review would be based on the continuing validity of the principles of alliance security set out in the comprehensive concept of arms control and disarmament.
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Defence Review
Mr. O'Neill : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what communications he has had with the defence industry regarding the economic and industrial consequences of the options for change study.
Mr. Alan Clark : The work on options for change is addressing policy issues in the light of changing international circumstances. As such, it has yet to identify the full consequences of possible changes for the equipment programme.
Conventional Forces in Europe
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make it his policy that no relevant equipment be moved out of the area of application of the proposed treaty on conventional forces in Europe before such a treaty comes into effect in order to (a) deploy the equipment elsewhere or (b) sell the equipment ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The United Kingdom attaches great importance to the NATO proposal that reductions of equipment holdings during the implementation of the conventional forces in Europe treaty should be by means of destruction. Before the treaty comes into effect, there will obviously be no legal bar to the transfer or sale of equipment outside the area of application. However, any large-scale activity of this sort would be contrary to the
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spirit in which we entered into the negotiations, and the United Kingdom would avoid such activities itself and discourage them on the part of others.HEALTH
Chiropractic Treatment
Mr. Atkinson : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he has any plans to introduce state recognition of registered members of the chiropractic profession and the availability of chiropractic treatment under the national health service in the light of the recent report of the Medical Research Council of the British Medical Association.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : Statutory regulation of the chiropractic profession is a matter for the profession itself to pursue. All medical treatment provided under the national health service must, by law, be given or presented by a registered medical practitioner. There are no plans to change that long-established principle.
Mortality Rates
Mr. Alexander : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the amount of (a) perinatal mortality and (b) neonatal mortality in each regional health authority area for England in each of the years 1986 to 1989.
Mr. Dorrell : The information is shown in the tables.
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|c|(a) Perinatal mortality and (b) Neonatal mortality: numbers and rates by Regional
Health Authority in England for the years 1986 to 1989|c|
|c|Table (a) Perinatal mortality|c|
Area 1986 1987 1988 <1>1989
|Number|Rate |Number|Rate |Number|Rate |Number|Rate
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
England |5,977 |9.5 |5,742 |8.9 |5,731 |8.7 |5,424 |8.3
Regional Health Authority
Northern |408 |10.1 |344 |8.5 |362 |9.0 |362 |9.2
Yorkshire |499 |10.3 |469 |9.5 |460 |9.2 |423 |8.5
Trent |606 |10.2 |572 |9.3 |567 |9.2 |524 |8.5
East Anglian |191 |7.7 |206 |7.9 |180 |6.7 |174 |6.7
North West Thames |416 |8.6 |430 |8.6 |410 |8.1 |414 |8.3
North East Thames |513 |9.6 |525 |9.4 |516 |9.1 |468 |8.3
South East Thames |407 |8.5 |428 |8.5 |468 |9.1 |433 |8.4
South West Thames |302 |8.2 |288 |7.5 |310 |7.9 |274 |7.0
Wessex |317 |8.8 |331 |8.9 |331 |8.7 |317 |8.3
Oxford |297 |8.9 |279 |8.0 |247 |6.9 |258 |7.2
South Western |363 |9.5 |302 |7.5 |324 |7.9 |273 |6.7
West Midlands |776 |11.0 |725 |9.9 |752 |10.3 |712 |9.7
Mersey |302 |9.2 |296 |9.0 |249 |7.4 |270 |8.2
North Western |580 |10.4 |547 |9.6 |555 |9.6 |522 |9.2
Perinatal mortality: stillbirths and deaths in the first week of life. Rate per 1,000
live and still births.
Neonatal mortality: deaths in the first 28 days of life. Rate per 1,000 live births.
<1> 1989 figures provisional.
|c|Table (b) Neonatal mortality|c|
Area 1986 1987 1988 <1>1989
|Number|Rate |Number|Rate |Number|Rate |Number|Rate
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
England |3,270 |5.2 |3,240 |5.0 |3,220 |4.9 |3,077 |4.7
Regional Health Authority
Northern |234 |5.8 |193 |4.8 |195 |4.9 |196 |5.0
Yorkshire |290 |6.0 |281 |5.7 |253 |5.1 |221 |4.5
Trent |351 |5.9 |325 |5.3 |327 |5.3 |293 |4.8
East Anglian |102 |4.1 |99 |3.8 |97 |3.6 |94 |3.6
North West Thames |233 |4.8 |232 |4.7 |240 |4.7 |222 |4.5
North East Thames |286 |5.4 |319 |5.8 |256 |4.5 |264 |4.7
South East Thames |194 |4.1 |255 |5.1 |233 |4.5 |246 |4.8
South West Thames |167 |4.5 |158 |4.1 |182 |4.6 |166 |4.3
Wessex |172 |4.8 |186 |5.0 |182 |4.8 |188 |5.0
Oxford |176 |5.3 |165 |4.8 |152 |4.3 |156 |4.4
South Western |176 |4.6 |181 |4.5 |204 |5.0 |158 |3.9
West Midlands |414 |5.9 |411 |5.7 |452 |6.2 |445 |6.1
Mersey |161 |4.9 |153 |4.7 |146 |4.4 |137 |4.2
North Western |314 |5.7 |282 |5.0 |301 |5.2 |291 |5.1
Perinatal mortality: stillbirths and deaths in the first week of life. Rate per 1,000
live and still births.
Neonatal mortality: deaths in the first 28 days of life. Rate per 1,000 live births.
<1> 1989 figures provisional.
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Dentists
Mr. Harry Greenway : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will publish a table showing for each of the last three years the gross annual earnings of national health service dentists in brackets of £10,000 up to £200,000 and over £200,000 ; and what was the highest gross earnings figure.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : The table shows the gross annual earnings of dentists in England who are in contract with a family practitioner committee. Similar information for dentists working in the hospital and community health service is not available.
|c|Gross earnings of dentists providing general dental services in the|c|
|c|NHS through contracts with family practitioner committees in|c|
|c|England|c|
Earnings Bands (as at |1988 |1989 |1990
31 March)
£
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
up to 10,000 |2,201 |2,061 |2,139
10,001 to 20,000 |1,135 |955 |969
20,001 to 30,000 |1,163 |993 |935
30,001 to 40,000 |1,459 |1,150 |1,137
40,001 to 50,000 |1,877 |1,412 |1,465
50,001 to 60,000 |2,296 |1,810 |1,850
60,001 to 70,000 |1,924 |2,028 |2,027
70,001 to 80,000 |1,526 |1,708 |1,756
80,001 to 90,000 |957 |1,368 |1,400
90,001 to 100,000 |592 |947 |938
100,001 to 110,000 |348 |638 |584
110,001 to 120,000 |195 |404 |407
120,001 to 130,000 |116 |233 |250
130,001 to 140,000 |65 |141 |149
140,001 to 150,000 |34 |88 |98
150,001 to 160,000 |29 |58 |57
160,001 to 170,000 |6 |35 |37
170,001 to 180,000 |11 |24 |24
180,001 to 190,000 |3 |16 |10
190,001 to 200,000 |5 |13 |9
over 200,000 |8 |18 |16
Highest individual
earnings |£311,469 |£376,543 |£280,777
Note:
Earnings figures refer to the total paid in fees for NHS treatment scheduled for payment by the Dental
Practice Board in the financial year quoted. Fees paid in respect of treatment carried out by assistants are
included in the gross figures quoted for their employment dentist.
NHS Trusts
Ms. Harman : To ask the Secretary of State for Health which national health service hospitals or other units have submitted draft business plans and draft applications for national health service trust status.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : Draft applications have been submitted in confidence to the Department but no draft business plans have been received to date. Until Parliament approves the necessary legislation, formal applications from those units wishing to pursue trust
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status cannot be submitted. When the legislation has been passed, applications will be made available by the regions concerned to interested parties locally during the period of public consultation.Ms. Harman : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will publish all advice of his Department to any national health service hospital or other unit which has expressed an interest in self-governing status.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : We intend to publish a compendium of guidance on national health service trusts in the autumn, which will update and bring together advice on the establishment and operation of NHS trusts which has been provided by the Department.
Ms. Harman : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will publish all draft business plans and draft applications for national health service trust status.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : All applications for NHS trust status will be publicly available documents. However, the supporting financial statements to be submitted by applicants for NHS trust status will include detailed information on their financial plans which it would not be appropriate to make publicly available.
Hospitals (Resource Management)
Mr. O'Brien : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what is the criterion for selecting hospitals for inclusion in the resource management scheme ;
(2) whether the Normanton and Castleford district hospital in the Pontefract district health authority area can be included in the resource management scheme ; and if he will make a statement ; (3) if he will publish the rules and regulations governing hospitals being included in a resource management scheme.
Mr. Dorrell : The criteria for including a hospital in the resource management extension programme are set out in the Government's White Paper "Working for Patients".
Since March 1989 a total of 14 of the larger acute hospitals in the Yorkshire regional health authority have been selected to join the programme. The Normanton and Castleford district hospital is not a large acute hospital and therefore does not meet the criteria for selection.
District Health Authorities
Mrs. Golding : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proposals there are to pay members to sit on district health authorities.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : Subject to parliamentary approval, the National Health Service and Community Care Bill makes provision for non- officer members of district health authorities to receive remuneration as determined by the Secretary of State with the approval of the Treasury.
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Mrs. Golding : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proposals there are for the future membership composition of district health authorities.Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : Subject to parliamentary approval of the National Health Service and Community Care Bill, it is proposed that the new style district health authorities shall comprise of a chairman, appointed by the Secretary of State, five non-officer members, appointed by the relevant regional health authority, and up to five officer members who must include the chief officer and the chief finance officer. "Teaching DHAs" will have to include a non-officer member from a university with a medical or dental school.
Complaints Procedures
Mr. Kennedy : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make it his policy to monitor and assess the operational procedure of district health authorities' complaints systems and publish their findings.
Mr. Dorrell : Directions on hospital complaints procedures made under section 17 of the National Health Service Act 1977 and issued to health authorities in June 1988, included a requirement for health authorities to monitor the arrangements made for dealing with complaints in the hospitals for which they are responsible. The directions also require quarterly reports to be made for use by the health authority to monitor progress on the procedure for dealing with complaints, for considering trends in complaints and for taking remedial action on complaints as appropriate. There are no plans to amend these arrangements.
Food Safety
Mr. Burns : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what arrangements the Government intend to introduce to strengthen microbiological surveillance of food as recommended in part I of the report of the committee on the microbiological safety of food.
Mr. Kenneth Clarke : My right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and I have decided to establish a national microbiological food surveillance and assessment system. This will be based on a new, independent advisory committee on the microbiological safety of food and a new steering group on the microbiological safety of food. These arrangements will complement those which already exist for labelling, composition and chemical safety of food, which are within the remit of the present food advisory committee and steering group on food surveillance. The new steering group will manage surveillance and research and will present policy conclusions to Ministers. It will consist both of officials and of experts from outside Government. The advisory committee will bring outside expertise to bear on the interpretation of the results of surveillance and on the policy formation process. The committee will have an entirely independent membership and chairman, who will be chosen for their expertise and invited from relevant backgrounds, including consumer interests.
These arrangements will give effect to the recommendation of the present committee on the microbiological safety of food that the Government should set up a system of microbiological surveillance and assessment. This committee, under the chairmanship of Sir Mark Richmond, has
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been invited to complete its work by the end of July. The Government plan to establish the new advisory committee in the autumn. The new steering group will be established as soon as possible before then as it can usefully begin preparatory work before the advisory committee first meets.The membership of the new advisory committee and steering group, and their formal terms of reference, will be announced as soon as possible. The food advisory committee and the steering group on food surveillance will continue to fulfil their present functions but some updating of their terms of reference also is envisaged, to underline the complementary roles of this committee and the new advisory committee.
Mental Illness
Mr. Barron : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to strengthen support within the community for sufferers of severe anxiety-related conditions, and in particular phobias and obsessional or compulsive disorders.
Mr. Dorrell : The Government have set out their proposals to strengthen support within the community for all sufferers of mental illness, including severe anxiety-related conditions, in the White Paper "Caring for People". Key elements will be the introduction of the care programme approach, and the specific grant to help increase the social care available for people with a mental illness, which we hope to introduce from April 1991. We are currently consulting with interested bodies on both these developments.
Mr. Barron : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much is currently being spent to fund community-based initiatives offering support and education to families and sufferers of phobias and obsessional or compulsive disorders in the United Kingdom as a whole and by regional health authority.
Mr. Dorrell : The information requested is not held centrally by the Department.
Mr. Barron : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what figures he has as to how many people in the United Kingdom currently suffer from severe phobias and obsessional or compulsive disorders, by sex, age, regional health authority and ethnic origin ; and what is his estimate of the cost to the national health service.
Mr. Dorrell : This information is not available centrally. Most national health service provision for the treatment of these disorders is provided by general practitioners and out-patient clinics for which figures are not collected centrally.
The latest available information on admissions to national health service mental illness hospitals in England during 1986 for treatment of these conditions is set out in the table. Information on admissions to mental illness hospitals in each regional health authority in England for treatment of some broad diagnosis groups is given in table A6 of "Mental Health Statistics for England 1986 : Booklet 7", a copy of which is in the Library. Severe phobias and obsessional or compulsive disorders are part of the neurotic disorders group, which accounted for around 8 per cent. of all admissions. No information is available on the hospital cost of treating the conditions.
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|c|All admissions in
England|c|
|c|by age, by sex, by ICD
code|c|
Age
--------------------------
Males
<15
15
16
17
18
19
20-24
25-44
45-64
65-74
75-84
85+
Total
Females
<15
15
16
17
18
19
20-24
25-44
45-64
65-74
75-84
85+
Total267
The figures for Wales and Northern Ireland are the responsibility of my right hon. Friends the Secretary of State for Wales and for Northern Ireland. The figures for Scotland are the responsibility of my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland.
NHS Salaries
Mr. Paice : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much he estimates would be added to the national health service wage bill if all national health service employees were paid at least two thirds of the national average wage in 1990-91.
Mr. Dorrell : This information is not available.
Cook-chill Food
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Health which regional health authorities have adopted or intend to adopt a regional catering policy based on cook-chill.
Mr. Dorrell : None. It is a matter for health authorities to use the catering system that they consider meets their requirements of quality and resources available, but we would expect health authorities to consider cook-chill as one of the alternatives.
Cancer Treatment
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list drugs for cancer treatment which have been through trials and been passed but which are not available on national health service prescriptions.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : All drugs licensed for use in the treatment of cancer are available for prescription
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under the NHS. However, some hospitals have drawn up formularies of preferred treatments for many conditions which the doctors involved would usually prescribe.Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects the drug ondansetron to be available on a national health service prescription.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : Ondansetron has been launched on to the market by its manufacturer. The drug is now therefore available for prescription by doctors throughout the national health service for the treatment of nausea and vomiting in patients undergoing chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy for cancer.
Diabetes and Glaucoma
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people he estimates were suffering from diabetes and glaucoma in (a) England, (b) each county in England during 1988-89 and 1989-90, respectively.
Mr. Dorrell : Precise information is not collected centrally. However, it has been estimated that there are about 1 million diabetics in the United Kingdom of whom about 200,000 inject insulin. The International Glaucoma Association estimates that glaucoma of some type is found in about 2 per cent. of the population over age 40.
NHS Pay Bargaining
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will list the changes in his responsibilities in relation to national or local pay bargaining arising from the changes in the National Health Service and Community Care Bill ;
(2) what responsibilities he has with regard to decisions made by the head of personnel in the national health service in relation to the pay bargaining structure within the national health service.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : The Bill provides for NHS trusts to have freedom to determine the pay and conditions of their staff. No other decisions have been taken about pay determination machinery.
NATIONAL FINANCE
Exchange Rate Mechanism
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he has made any assessment of the pound sterling's subsequent movement in the bands had the pound sterling entered the exchange rate mechanism at the exchange rate prevailing on 1 January 1988, 1 January 1989 and 1 January 1990.
Government Expenditure
Mr. Pawsey : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will set out in tabular form the main areas of Government spending, expressed as a percentage.
Mr. Norman Lamont : The most recent detailed summary information about Government expenditure was published in chapter 21 of the 1990 public expenditure White Paper "The Government's Expenditure Plans,
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1990-91 to 1992-93". Table 21.2.12 of this publication gives a percentage distribution of general Government expenditure on services by function.Inflation
Mr. Allen : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the inflation rate average in the calendar years 1978 and 1980.
Mr. Ryder : The average rate of increase in the retail prices index, compared with 12 months earlier, was 8.3 per cent. for 1978 and 7.8 per cent. for 1989.
Radioactive Material
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the amount of radioactive material, during the last five years, that has been checked by Her Majesty's Customs and Excise that has been (a) imported and (b) exported through the ports of (i) Barrow, (ii) Dover, (iii) Felixstowe, (iv) Harwich, (v) Hull, Immingham, (vi) Liverpool, (vii) Portsmouth, (viii) Southampton and (ix) Workington.
Mr. Ryder : I regret that the information is not readily available and could be answered only at the cost of a disproportionate amount of time and effort.
Value Added Tax
Mr. Wilson : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list those items of sporting equipment which are exempt from value added tax.
Mr. Ryder : All sporting equipment bears VAT at the standard rate. However sporting apparel falling within the description
"designed as clothing or footwear for young children and not suitable for older persons"
may be zero-rated.
Aggregate Taxable Income
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish his latest estimates of the aggregate taxable income for each (a) county, (b) former metropolitan county, (c) the Greater London area, (d) metropolitan district and (e) London borough area.
Mr. Lilley [holding answer 5 June 1990] : I regret that estimates below regional level are not presently available. As explained in "Inland Revenue Statistics, 1989" estimates for counties have been discontinued owing to the emergence of problems in attributing addresses containing a shire county name which properly fall within a metropolitan county. Further investigation, which is continuing, has cast further doubt on the reliability of information at this level of detail. The problems also affect the reliability of the information given to the hon. Member on 4 April 1989, Official Report, columns 9-10. Regional estimates for 1987- 88, the latest available year, are as follows.
Region |Taxable
|income
|£ million
---------------------------------------------
Northern |6,490
Yorkshire and Humberside |11,500
North West |15,000
East Midlands |8,880
West Midlands |12,600
East Anglia |5,460
South Eastern |60,000
South Western |11,900
Wales |5,350
Scotland |11,800
Northern Ireland |2,800
Community Charge
Sir Ian Gilmour : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer by how much the rates of personal income tax could need to be increased if (a) the whole of the community charge were transferred to income tax and (b) the whole of the community charge less expenditure on social services and housing were transferred to income tax.
Mr. Major [holding answer 6 June 1990] : Local authorities in Great Britain are forecast to raise £11.2 billion in community charge income. If the whole of this were to be raised from income tax, this would be equivalent to an increase of around 7 p in the basic rate of income tax.
Local authorities' expenditure on social services and housing, excluding the housing revenue account, is budgeted to be around £5.3 billion. If the whole of the community charge income less this expenditure were to be raised from income tax, this would be equivalent to an increase of around 4p in the basic rate.
Women
Ms. Richardson : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what are the latest estimated figures for the number of women in Britain, who have no regular income of their own from employment, investment or state benefits, excluding child benefit.
Mr. Lilley [holding answer 11 June 1990] : Estimates of total numbers of such women are not available. However, results of the 1988 family expenditure survey indicate that less than 10 per cent. of women (aged over 16 and not in full-time education) who live in private households in Great Britain had no regular income.
THE ARTS
Natural History Museum
85. Ms. Walley : To ask the Minister for the Arts what representations he has received on the implications for scientific research of the proposed cuts in services and staff at the natural history museum.
86. Miss Hoey : To ask the Minister for the Arts what representations he has received on the implications for scientific research of the proposed cuts in services and staff at the natural history museum.
Mr. Luce : I have received many representations about the natural history museum's restructuring proposals, including some 40 letters from hon. Members. I understand that the museum's director has invited leading scientists and researchers to a special seminar on 15 June, to present the museum's plans to them in detail and to give an opportunity for discussion.
Column 153
TRANSPORT
Road Accidents
Mr. Hind : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what new information he has on regional road accident statistics.
Mr. Atkins : I have today published a report "Road Accident Statistics English Regions". I have placed a copy in the Library of the House.
This information will be of particular value to local authorities in setting their own casualty reduction targets and in developing local road safety plans. It will also enable them to assess their own local performance against that of other areas.
Concessionary Fares, London
Mr. Bowis : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the future of concessionary fare schemes in London.
Mr. Freeman : The cost of concessionary travel in London is borne by the London boroughs. It must be for them to decide what form of concessionary travel scheme they want. However, if the boroughs cannot agree amongst themselves the terms of such a scheme, the statutory reserve free travel scheme in sections 51 and 52 of the London Regional Transport Act 1984 applies.
Roads, Essex
Mr. Burns : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he plans to increase the grants available to Essex county council for the building of new roads and bypasses in the next five financial years ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Atkins : Transport supplementary grant of more than £6.6 million will be paid to Essex county council in the current financial year towards expenditure on new roads and bypasses. Grant support will continue to be provided in future years to enable major projects currently under construction to be completed. All local highway authorities have been invited to bid for grant for 1991-92 and beyond for new schemes. We shall be studying the relative merits of all the bids and announcing our decisions later in the year.
Oil Tankers
Dr. Godman : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will place in the Library a copy of the review of tanker traffic in the deep water route west of the Hebrides and in the Minch ; and if he intends to make a statement on this subject in the near future.
Mr. McLoughlin : I shall make a statement and put a copy of the review report in the Library as soon as our detailed consideration of the findings is complete.
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