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Chile
53. Mr. Wray : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the support which Her Majesty's Government are giving to the democratic Government of Chile.
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Mr. Sainsbury : We have increased our contribution to the World University Service to enable it to help with the repatriation of exiled Chileans. We have also doubled our bilateral technical assistance programme.
European Community Foreign Ministers
54. Mr. Riddick : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he last met the Foreign Ministers of the other European Community countries ; and whether he discussed the importance attached by the European Community to the implementation of measures agreed by the Twelve.
Mr. Maude : My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs raised the subject of implementation of European Community legislation at the informal meeting of European Community Foreign Ministers on 19 and 20 May.
Nuclear Arms
Mr. Morley : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) what assessment he has made of how proposals to extend the competence of the European Economic Community into matters of non-proliferation would affect the United Kingdom's obligations under the non-proliferation treaty ;
(2) what is the policy of Her Majesty's Government towards extending the competence of the European Economic Community into matters of non- proliferation.
Mr. Waldegrave : There are no proposals for such extension of European Community competence.
Mr. Morley : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the British Government's preparations for the non-proliferation treaty fourth review conference in Geneva in August-September.
Mr. Waldegrave : We have played a full and constructive role in the preparations for the fourth review conference of the
non-proliferation treaty. The third preparatory committee successfully concluded procedural matters and the allocation of administrative posts.
Mr. Campbell-Savours : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on his proposals to extend and develop the non-proliferation treaty.
Mr. Waldegrave : I refer the hon. Gentleman to my reply of 15 December 1989 to the hon. Member for Meirionnydd Nant Conwy (Dr. Thomas).
Mr. Campbell-Savours : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what proposals Her Majesty's Government intend to put forward at the fourth review conference of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty in regard to developing energy aid via provisions of articles III and IV of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.
Mr. Waldegrave : We do not intend to put forward any proposals in this regard. We do, however, already provide assistance to a number of developing countries, via the "Footnote A" projects, under the International Atomic Energy Agency's technical assistance programme, for the development of peaceful uses of nuclear energy.
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Mr. Morley : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the extent to which the development of the British Trident system is compatible with the Government's obligations under article VI of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.
Mr. Waldegrave : Negotiations on the reduction of strategic weapons are being conducted by the United States and Soviet Union. We welcome the prospect of a START agreement this year. Our position with regard to the British strategic deterrent is that, if United States and Soviet strategic arsenals were further reduced very substantially and there had been no significant improvements in defensive capabilities, we would consider how best we might contribute to the arms control process in the light of the changed circumstances.
Mr. Morley : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the composition of the British delegation to the fourth review conference of the non-proliferation treaty in Geneva in August-September.
Mr. Corbyn : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which United Kingdom-based non-governmental organisations have been granted observer status for the fourth non- proliferation treaty review conference ; how non-governmental organisations obtain such status ; and what financial assistance is Her Majesty's Government giving to United Kingdom non-governmental organisations to attend the conference.
Mr. Waldegrave : I refer the hon. Gentlemen to my answer of 11 June to the hon. Member for Stockton, North (Mr. Cook).
Mr. Campbell-Savours : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether his Department has prepared an educational video on the nuclear non-proliferation treaty for use in schools and colleges.
Mr. Waldegrave : No. However, the arms control and disarmament research unit of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office publishes notes on arms control on an approximately monthly basis and a quarterly review. Both publications regularly include information on the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and the fourth review conference and are available on request.
Mr. Corbyn : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what actions Her Majesty's Government have taken to fulfil their obligations under article IV of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty ; and what initiatives the Government are considering to expand the provisions of article IV to include other energy sources.
Mr. Waldegrave : We contribute annually to the "Footnote A" projects, under the International Atomic Energy Agency's technical assistance programme, and there is a considerable amount of trade and co- operation in the nuclear area involving British companies. We are not considering any initiatives to expand the provisions of article IV.
Mr. Corbyn : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what actions Her Majesty's Government have taken to encourage Albania to become a party to the nuclear
non-proliferation treaty.
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Mr. Waldegrave : None. In common with the other depository powers of the NPT, we do not have diplomatic relations with Albania.
Mr. Corbyn : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list those meetings concerning nuclear weapons proliferation and non-proliferation measures at which his Department will be represented between now and the fourth quinquennial review conference of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.
Mr. Waldegrave : The three preparatory committees for the NPT review conference have been concluded. No further multilateral meetings devoted specifically to this subject are planned before the review conference, although the subject will be on the agenda of a number of bilateral meetings.
Mr. Corbyn : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what initiatives are being considered by Her Majesty's Government to expand the terms of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty so that source or special fissionable material or equipment or material specially designed or prepared for the processing, use or production of special fissionable material, can no longer be transferred from states party to the treaty to non-nuclear weapons states for non-peaceful purposes without the application of treaty safeguards.
Mr. Waldegrave : None. In accordance with article III of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and the nuclear suppliers guidelines to which all major nuclear suppliers subscribe, source or special fissionable material or equipment or material especially designed or prepared for the processing, use or production of special fissionable material may be transferred to non-nuclear weapon states only for peaceful purposes and only if the source or special fissionable material is subject to safeguards.
Afghanistan
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will now re-open the British embassy in Afghanistan ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Sainsbury : We have no plans at present to re-open our embassy in Kabul.
Drugs
Mr. Butler : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the progress of the interdiction of drug trafficking in the Caribbean basin.
Mr. Sainsbury : Local Governments and aid donors have taken steps to combat the flow of drugs through the Caribbean, but trafficking remains a major problem. We recognise the seriousness of this threat and are committed to helping Caribbean nations fight it. We have provided over £3 million of anti-drugs assistance to the region since 1987 and will provide a further £1.2 million to help our Caribbean dependent territories in their efforts. We co-operate fully with other anti-drugs agencies in the region.
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Lithuania
Mr. Stern : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the current situation in Lithuania ; and what Her Majesty's Government are doing to assist its economic recovery.
Mr. Waldegrave : Unfortunately, talks between Vilnius and Moscow have still not been launched, despite the readiness of the Lithuanians to suspend the legislation adopted since the declaration of independence. The economic measures imposed by Moscow continue. We have no programme of assistance specifically for Lithuania. But Lithuania is able to participate in our wider programme of exchange and co-operation with the Soviet Union.
Open Skies Conference
Mr. Corbyn : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the outcome of the open skies conference in Budapest which closed on 13 May.
Mr. Waldegrave : We are disappointed that it was not possible to reach agreement on an open skies regime at the last round of negotiations in Budapest. We remain determined to pursue an open skies agreement, which could make a significant contribution to confidence building. We hope for an early indication that the Soviet Union is willing to negotiate constructively on the outstanding issues.
EMPLOYMENT
Mentally Ill People
Sir David Steel : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what action he proposes to take to avert staff redundancies and unfilled training places in the programmes run by the providers of training for those with mental health problems.
Mr. Nicholls : Contracts with providers are negotiated for the number of places considered appropriate to meet local needs and in particular those who have special training needs. Training providers are responsible for running their programmes in accordance with their contract. Thus they are responsible for their own staff, including staff redundancies should they occur.
Training and Enterprise Councils
Mr. Neil Hamilton : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the total sum of money allocated to training and enterprise councils ; what percentage of this sum has been taken up ; and what percentage of training and enterprise council funding is provided from European Community sources.
Mr. Eggar : The total budget allocated to training and enterprise councils in 1990-91 will be dependent on when individual training and enterprise councils become operational. To date the combined budget for the first 13 training and enterprise councils that have signed operational contracts is £215 million.
The extent to which training and enterprise councils will receive funding from the European Community
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through the European social fund cannot be determined fully until individual projects are considered by my Department.National Insurance Credits
Ms. Short : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment whether a person who has been disallowed national insurance credits for not being available for or not actively seeking work has the right to appeal against the decision ; what other procedures are open to them if they wish to dispute the disallowance ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Eggar : The employment service became an executive agency on 2 April 1990. Mr. Mike Fogden, the Employment Service Agency's chief executive, will be replying in writing to the hon. Lady.
Employment Exchanges
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will give full details of the consultative process to be undertaken by his Department before he considers closing any local part-time employment exchange.
Mr. Eggar : When the employment service plans to close a part-time local office it follows the established practice of ensuring that the hon. Member in whose constituency the part-time office is located is informed of the reason for the planned closure.
Repetitive Strain Injury
Mr. Tony Lloyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on Her Majesty's Government's policy on (a) research, (b) prevention and (c) compensation for repetitive strain injuries.
Mr. Nicholls : Section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 places general duties on employers to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of all their employees ; and in particular the provision and maintenance of plant and systems of work that are, so far as is reasonably practicable, safe and without risks to health. These general duties apply to the prevention of repetitive strain injury and are enforced by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and local authorities. The HSE intends to publish later this year new guidance on work-related upper limb disorders which will give authoritative advice to employers on ways to prevent them. HSE funds an extramural biomedical research programme which includes support for research into repetitive strain injury. A report from the Institute of Occupational Medicine (IOM), "Clinical Epidemiological Study of Relations between Upper Limb Soft Tissue Disorders and Repetitive Movements at Work", has recently been published.
The HSE has also funded research projects at the IOM and the university of Birmingham which investigate the relationship between work routines and activities and specific upper limb disorders. Reports on these studies are still awaited.
State compensation for industrial injuries is a matter for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Social Security.
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AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD
Fisheries
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will give details of any research commissioned or financed by him on square mesh panels as a means of conservation.
Mr. Curry : We are currently spending about £1.25 million a year on research related to fishing gear. Square mesh panels are one of the several options presently under investigation in our work to develop more selective fishing gear which will improve conservation by reducing the take of undersized fish. The marine laboratory of the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for Scotland at Aberdeen has already undertaken, in addition to basic research on square mesh netting, a study on the behaviour of fish in codends with a square mesh panel and a further study on the process of capture in a seine net with various codends including one with a square mesh panel. This summer a study, in conjunction with the Shetland islands council, will investigate as part of a wider project the comparative catches of a codend with a square mesh panel and a conventional codend in a twin trawl. Depending upon the results further studies may then be made.
Further, the Government work with and fund work by the Sea Fish Industry Authority. In 1989-90 a trial was undertaken comparing the catches of a conventional 90mm trawl and one fitted with an 80mm square mesh panel and a further trial mainly looking at codend circumference and extension length also did some work on a square mesh panel. Further trials are taking place this summer in both trawl and seine nets and directed at haddock and cod as trials so far have focused on whiting. The effect of factors such as gear shape and towing on the openness of square mesh will also be studied. We also authorised an industry-led and funded trial to use 80mm square mesh panel rather than the minimum legal size of 90mm.
Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy
Mr. Alex Carlile : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will estimate losses to farmers and dealers in the United Kingdom 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. Curry : At any time there are many factors affecting markets and no meaningful estimate can be made of the specific impact of the prohibitions on trade recently applied by several member states. In the wake of increased support to the market under the CAP regime for beef and the agreement reached last week in the Agriculture Council, I am pleased to note that market prices have improved significantly.
Mr. Speller : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will support a unified European Community research programme to study the causes and treatments of BSE.
Mr. Maclean : Yes. The Council of Ministers agreed on 7 June to ask the European Commission to implement a Community-wide programme of research into BSE.
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Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the (a) number and (b) percentage of beef herds affected by bovine spongiform encephalopathy on a county-by-county basis.
Mr. Maclean : Bovine spongiform encephalopathy is not a disease affecting cattle herds but rather one which affects individual animals within a herd.
The information requested for Great Britain up to 11 June 1990 is as follows :
County |Confirmed |Per cent. of
|cases |total beef
|herds in
|county
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scilly Isles |0 |0.00
Cleveland |0 |0.00
Durham |9 |0.96
Tyne and Wear |0 |0.00
Northumberland |12 |1.06
Cumbria |15 |0.56
Yorkshire North |22 |0.97
Yorkshire South |1 |0.31
Yorkshire West |2 |0.24
Humberside |12 |2.42
Lancashire |6 |0.63
Merseyside |0 |0.00
Manchester |0 |0.00
Derbyshire |5 |0.49
Leicestershire |5 |0.78
Nottinghamshire |3 |0.97
Cheshire |0 |0.00
Shropshire |7 |0.52
Staffordshire |7 |0.67
Herefordshire and Worcestershire |23 |1.41
Warwickshire |5 |1.00
West Midlands |1 |0.97
Lincolnshire |5 |0.65
Norfolk |18 |2.65
Suffolk |9 |2.37
Bedfordshire |3 |2.17
Cambridgeshire |6 |2.12
Northamptonshire |5 |1.44
Essex |5 |1.66
Hertfordshire |6 |3.16
London |1 |2.08
Berkshire |3 |1.67
Buckinghamshire |2 |0.51
Oxfordshire |6 |1.45
Hampshire |12 |2.32
Isle of Wight |1 |0.93
Surrey |9 |3.14
Sussex West |9 |3.07
Kent |11 |1.96
Sussex East |10 |2.22
Gloucestershire |7 |0.97
Avon |8 |2.00
Wiltshire |20 |3.78
Dorset |12 |2.02
Somerset |27 |2.01
Devonshire |37 |1.10
Cornwall |42 |2.01
Gwynedd |7 |0.37
Clwyd |8 |0.68
Powys |63 |2.08
Dyfed |25 |0.72
Glamorgan South |1 |0.81
Glamorgan Mid |1 |0.25
Glamorgan West |1 |0.30
Gwent |11 |1.54
Highland |13 |0.73
Grampian |35 |1.85
Tayside |16 |2.04
Strathclyde |10 |0.47
Central |4 |1.14
Fife |6 |2.76
Lothian |2 |0.92
Borders |6 |0.87
Dumfries |13 |0.93
Western Isles |0 |0.00
Orkney |4 |0.48
Shetland |0 |0.00
Agricultural Improvements
Mr. Colin Shepherd : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he expects to publish his review of standard costs for agricultural improvements ; and what aspects he will be taking into account in determining the uprating factor.
Mr. Curry : The Department is currently reviewing labour and material costs relevant to the setting of standard costs for agricultural grants. The question of any announcement must await the outcome of this review.
Nuclear Accidents
Mr. Corbyn : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he is aware of any recently produced reports by the French nuclear authorities indicating the potential dangers posed to agriculture in France and the United Kingdom arising from an accident at nuclear power stations located on the channel coast in northern France.
Mr. Curry : I understand that an annual report produced recently by the head of Electricite de France's general inspectorate for nuclear safety presented an overview of nuclear safety within the company as at the end of 1989. I am not aware that it indicates any new or increased threat to agriculture in France and the United Kingdom. Under an existing bilateral agreement, signed in July 1983, we would be notified immediately of a serious incident involving the release of radioactivity in France. We would also be informed under the terms of both the International Atomic Energy Agency convention on early notification and decision 87/600/Euratom of the European Community Council of Ministers.
Prompt notification of a nuclear incident in France would enable the Department to initiate precautionary monitoring and other action to protect the food chain. We would do this within the framework of the new national response plan established by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment, which encompasses the radioactive incident monitoring network (RIMNET).
Scrapie
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is his estimate of the percentage of the British sheep flock which had scrapie in 1984.
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Mr. Maclean : Accurate information about its incidence is not available since scrapie is not a notifiable disease but it is currently estimated to affect about 10 per cent. of British sheep flocks.
Poultry
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what information he has with regard to the chemicals used on Spanish poultry post slaughter ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Maclean : We have no information about the use of chemicals on Spanish poultry post slaughter.
The rules for the production of poultry meat for intra-Community trade are laid down in EC directive 71/118. All consignments of poultry meat imported from other EC member states for human consumption must be accompanied by a veterinary health certificate confirming that they have been produced in accordance with the directive and passed as fit for human consumption.
Slaughterhouse Standards
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food following the report by his veterinary officers on slaughterhouse standards, what percentage of premises visited had satisfactory health standards in each of the last five years ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Maclean : The reports by the veterinary officers are made to the local authorities (district councils) which are responsible for the enforcement of hygiene legislation. The information provided is for the local authority to act upon.
Contaminated Feed
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, further to his answer to the hon. Member for South Shields of 15 May, Official Report, column 395, if he will make a further statement about animals, other than pigs, having been affected by contaminated feed.
Mr. Maclean : We have now received a report that some of the contaminated feed was fed to breeding geese and mallard on a Derbyshire farm in March. A sample of feed has been analysed by the Ministry and traces of isofenphos have been detected in it but at very much lower levels than those found earlier in contaminated pig feed.
Set-aside Land
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he has any plans to permit the grazing of set-aside land by farm livestock.
Mr. Curry : One of a number of options for the better management of set-aside land which I have been considering is a limited form of grazed fallow. I shall shortly be inviting applications for the third year of the scheme and will announce then any changes to the conditions which I decide to introduce.
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