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Mr. Peter Lloyd : No records are maintained of specialist civilian firearms officers employed to supervise the Firearms (Amendment) Act 1988 though returns made by provincial forces to Her Majesty's inspectorate of constabulary at the end of December 1989 indicated that 80 civilian staff were employed on firearms registration duties with a further 151 in support duties--part-time staff are counted on a two for one basis. The Metropolitan police have 24 such staff. Home Office guidance on the use of civilian staff suggests that they can be used on clerical and administrative duties involved with firearms and other functions where there is no need for police powers.
Mr. Paice : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received regarding the implementation of the Firearms (Amendment) Act 1988 by different police forces ; and what steps he is taking to promote a consistent approach across different forces.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : My right hon. and learned Friend has received representations from a number of different sources including Members of both Houses of Parliament, the shooting organisations and individual members of the public about the implementation of the Firearms
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(Amendment) Act 1988. Administration of firearms controls is the responsibility of individual chief officers of police. To help ensure consistency of practice in and between police forces, the Home Department has issued advice on the administration of all aspects of firearms legislation, including the new controls, in the publication "Firearms Law : Guidance to the Police". Copies of the document, which is available to the public, have been placed in the Library. The advice in the guidance is subject to review both by the Home Department and the Firearms Consultative Committee.Daylight Saving
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will invite public consultation on the introduction of daylight saving by initiating differential time zones between Scotland and the rest of the United Kingdom.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : No. I do not consider that this would be a practical proposition.
Immigration Ministers
Mr. Aitken : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement about the outcome of the meeting of Trevi and European Community Immigration Ministers in Dublin on 14 and 15 June.
Mr. Waddington : A major theme of Trevi Ministers' discussions was the need to improve further co-operation against drug trafficking. We approved a paper examining the links between drug trafficking and other organised crime, and endorsed new arrangements for a co-ordinated response to requests for technical assistance including training from drug producer and transit countries. At my instigation, Trevi Ministers also agreed to an accelerated timetable for work on the proposal for a European drugs intelligence unit, and to examination of the need for such a unit to have effective links with other European countries including those in eastern Europe. As Trevi Ministers, we also reviewed progress during the Irish Presidency on measures to develop police co-operation across the whole range of crime in the light of completion of the single European market after 1992. We approved a programme of action setting out a range of measures, a copy of which I am placing in the Library.
The meeting of Ministers concerned with immigration, attended also by a Vice-President of the Commission, was the eighth in the series of such meetings held towards the end of each Presidency since 1986. Ministers took stock of the work carried out in the ad hoc working group on immigration during the Irish Presidency and considered the future programme of work. The main conclusions which we reached are set out in a press release of which I am placing a copy in the Library.
I was pleased to join 10 of my Community colleagues in signing a convention on asylum which establishes criteria for determining which member state is responsible for examining a claim for asylum when more than one member state is involved. I am placing a copy of the convention in the Library, and it will also be laid before the House in the normal way.
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Dogs
Mr. Knowles : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to announce proposals for the control of dogs.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : The Government have today published a consultation paper, "The Control of Dogs", to seek public reaction to proposals which my right hon. and learned Friend the Home Secretary together with my right hon. Friends, the Secretaries of State for Scotland, for Wales and for the Environment wish to make. This paper co-ordinates a number of proposals aimed at tackling dog control problems directly and without the need for a national dog registration scheme.
Proposals to improve the control of dogs canvassed in the paper include a new offence of allowing a dog to be dangerously out of control ; additional powers for local authorities and the police to seize and detain or destroy a dangerous dog ; new powers for the courts to impose muzzling and other controls on dogs ; additional controls which might apply only to certain breeds or types of dogs, or the banning of such dogs ; a new offence of allowing a dog to stray persistently ; and a fixed penalty system for enforcement of the collar and tag rules or other dog control provisions. Copies of the paper have been placed in the Library. Comments on these proposals are requested by15 November.
Race Relations
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prosecutions (a) under the race relations provisions of the Public Order Act 1986 and (b) under the Malicious Communications Act there have been since their passing.
Mr. John Patten : Information is given in the table. The 1989 data will not be available until the autumn.
Number of prosecutions under section 18 of the
Public Order Act
1986 and the Malicious Communications Act 1988
England and Wales
Act |1987|1988
----------------------------------------------------
Public Order Act 1986<1> Section 18 |6 |22
Malicious Communications Act 1988<2> |n/a |3
<1> Came into force on 1 January 1987.
<2> Came into force on 29 September 1988.
n/a=Not available.
Ambulance Dispute
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the total of costs billed to health authorities by the Metropolitan police to cover emergency cover during the ambulance workers' dispute.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : The Metropolitan police have charged the South West Thames regional health authority £9.68 million for its assistance.
Murder Statistics
Mr. Amess : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the murder rate per 1,000 of the population in the constituency of Basildon in 1989.
Mr. John Patten : The available information is that there were 11 homicides recorded by the Essex police force in 1989, a rate of 0.008 per 1,000 population.
Mr. Amess : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many persons were (a) charged with and (b) convicted of the killing of children in (i) England and Wales and (ii) the Basildon constituency in each year since 1965.
Mr. John Patten : The numbers of persons indicted and convicted for homicide offences are published annually in Table 4.7 of "Criminal Statistics, England and Wales", copies of which are available in the Library. The number of such cases where one or more victims was less than 16 years of age are given in the table for the years 1982-88. Information on homicides in the Basildon constituency is not available, but figures for the Essex police force area for the years 1982-88 are included ; corresponding figures for the years 1965-1981 could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
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Persons indicted<1> for homicide where one or more of the victims
was aged under 16 years of age, by outcome of proceedings
Number of persons
Convicted of homicide
Year |Indicted |Murder |Sec. 2 |Other |Infanticide
|for homicide |manslaughter|manslaughter
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
England and Wales
1982 |68 |18 |22 |19 |6
1983 |72 |16 |11 |28 |10
1984 |64 |8 |13 |29 |2
1985 |79 |22 |9 |26 |8
1986 |60 |18 |7 |18 |3
1987 |77 |20 |11 |36 |1
<2>1988 |58 |12 |6 |28 |6
Essex police force area
1982 |1 |1 |- |- |-
1983 |2 |- |1 |1 |-
1984 |1 |- |- |1 |-
1985 |2 |1 |- |1 |-
1986 |2 |- |- |1 |-
1987 |1 |- |1 |- |-
<2>1988 |3 |- |- |2 |1
<1>As at 1 June 1989.
<2>1988 figures are not yet complete: there were 277 suspects for whom court proceedings were not
completed by 1 June 1989.
Football Grounds
Mr. Pendry : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what advice his Department has issued to local authorities on their responsibilities for granting safety certificates for, and overseeing reductions in, standing accommodation at football grounds in England and Wales for the 1990-91 football season.
Mr. John Patten [holding answer 25 June 1990] : The Home Office has given advice to local authorities in England and Wales on their responsibilities under the Safety of Sports Grounds Act in a number of circulars over the past 15 years. The safety standards which local authorities are currently advised to apply for both seated and standing accommodation are those recommended in the 1986 edition of the "Guide to Safety at Sports Grounds" produced by the Home Office and the Scottish Office, subject to certain changes recommended in Lord Justice Taylor's interim and final reports on the Hillsborough tragedy of which local authorities in England and Wales were advised in circulars on 4 August 1989 and 7 February 1990.
We are advised that it would not be appropriate to use safety certificates to require football grounds to reduce standing accommodation which meets accepted standards of safety or when specific powers are available in other legislation. The circular of 7 February 1990 therefore advised local authorities that they should not be used for this purpose. It is for the football clubs to respond to Lord Justice Taylor's recommendations on all- seated accommodation in the first instance. Powers under section 11 of the Football Spectators Act will be used in due course if it proves necessary to do so.
ENERGY
Civil Servants (Workplaces)
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what assessments under Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations have been undertaken at all workplaces used by civil servants in his Department.
Mr. Wakeham : Assessments under the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations have been carried out by the Department of Energy at those premises where it is the major user. Where the Department is a minor occupier the responsibility for such assessments lies with the major occupier.
Hinkley Point C
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy whether he intends to seek the views of Parliament in the form of a debate before he makes any recommendations on the report of the inspector on the Hinkley Point C pressurised water reactor proposal.
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Mr. Baldry : No. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State set out his intentions for handling the inspector's report in his reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Wanstead and Woodford (Mr. Arbuthnot) on 14 June at column 287.
SOCIAL SECURITY
Community Charge Rebates
122. Mr. Janner : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what representations he has received regarding eligibility for community charge rebates.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : The Department of Social Security is responsible for the community charge benefit scheme. I refer the hon. Member to my reply to him on 23 May at column 208. In the one month since that reply the Department has received a further 526 items of correspondence about the community charge benefit scheme.
Pensioners' Incomes
Mr. Meacher : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will provide what information he has about the level of investment income for pensioners, according to the level of their weekly pension income.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : The latest available information, from the 1987 family expenditure survey, is set out in the table.
Table<1>: Average investment income according to levels of weekly income from state pension and supplementary benefit<2> RP and supplementary |Average savings/ benefit |investment income £ |£ --------------------------------------------------------------- 00.00 to 39.93<3> |13.45 40.00 to 59.99 |15.24 60.00 plus |33.56 <1> Source: Family expenditure survey. <2> It is not possible to identify the state retirement pension separately from supplementary benefit from the family expenditure survey. <3> Income bands selected to provide representative sample sizes.
Blind People
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what steps he is taking to ensure provision of social security benefits to blind people with additional costs.
Mr. Scott : I refer the hon. Member to my reply to the hon. Member for Moray (Mrs. Ewing) on 26 February at column 61.
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Industrial Deafness
Dr. Godman : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many people who were previously denied benefits under the five-year rule governing claims for industrial deafness benefit have re-applied since the ruling of the Law Lords in October 1989 on good cause grounds in (a) Greenock and Port Glasgow, (b) Strathclyde and (c) Scotland as a whole.
Mr. Scott : Eleven applications for review have been received from people in the Greenock and Port Glasgow area following the Court of Appeal ruling. Figures for Strathclyde and Scotland as a whole can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Income Support
Mr. Paice : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how much it would cost in the current financial year to extend to transitional protection claimants the full annual uprating of income support.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : The cost in additional income support has been estimated at about £35 million.
Energy Costs
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, pursuant to the answers of 10 May, Official Report, column 191, and 30 April, Official Report, column 419, about energy consumption, what is the square footage of office space to which these figures relate.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard [holding answer 25 June 1990] : The area is 17,383,684 sq ft.
Energy Efficiency
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how much was invested in improving the energy efficiency of his Department in the latest available year.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard [holding answer 25 June 1990] : Information is not available separately for the Departments of Health and Social Security. In the financial year 1989-90, the Departments combined invested £133,000 in energy efficiency measures. Further investment was made by the Property Services Agency, but the amount cannot be identified separately from the agency's overall expenditure on energy efficiency.
Housing Benefit
Mr. Geraint Howells : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many tenants qualify for housing benefit in Ceredigion ; what were the corresponding figures for the last three years ; and if he will make a statement.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard [holding answer 22 June 1990] : The information requested is in the table.
|1987-88|1988-89|1989-90
---------------------------------------------------------------
Number of Local Authority and
private tenants receiving
housing benefit (rounded to
the nearest 50) |4,600 |3,750 |3,500
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TRADE AND INDUSTRY
EC Legislation
Mr. William Powell : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list the short title of any legislative Act approved by European Community member states since 1 January in relation to which each state must take national implementing measures ; and what action has been taken by each state in relation to each such measure.
Mr. Redwood : The table lists the directives relevant to completion of the single European market which have been formally adopted by the Council of Ministers since 1 January 1990. A period of grace, typically 18 months, is allowed for member states to transpose directives into national law. It is generally too early, therefore, to comment on what action member states will take to implement these directives. In addition, directives in other areas of application, most notably concerning health and safety at the workplace, have also been adopted during this period. A full list of these and other legislative acts--regulations, decisions and recommendations--is recorded in the Official Journal of the European Communities, copies of which are available in the House of Commons Library.
Directives relevant to completion of the single market adopted since 1 January 1990
Marketing of compound feedingstuffs
Amendment to Directive 87/102 concerning consumer credit Bovine semen-- amendment to Directive 88/407
Acceptance of pure-bred breeding pigs for breeding
Acceptance of hybrid breeding pigs for breeding
Production and trade in medicated feedingstuffs
Amendment to Directive 77/93 on protective measures against the introduction into member states of organisms harmful to plants or plant products.
Amendment to Directive 80/390 in respect of mutual recognition of public offer prospectuses and stock exchange listing particulars. Third Directive concerning motor liability insurance
Maximum tar yield of cigarettes
Active implantable electromedical devices
Non-automatic weighing instruments.
Chinese Bicycles
Mr. Brandon-Bravo : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what consultations have been undertaken within the EEC on the French Government plan to control the importation of bicycles of Chinese origin by quota ; and if he will support similar measures to be extended to the United Kingdom.
Mr. Redwood : Member states have not yet been consulted about any plans by the French Government to restrict imports of bicycles from China. In seeking such action the French Government would have to submit a formal application to the Commission giving detailed evidence of the injury, or threat of injury, to domestic producers from the imports in question. My officials have received no requests from United Kingdom manufacturers for action to restrict imports into the United Kingdom of Chinese bicycles, but we will consider carefully any case with supporting evidence put forward by the industry.
Mr. Brandon-Bravo : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what has been the percentage increase in Chinese bicycle imports in the current year over 1989 ; and what action he is proposing to take to protect United Kingdom manufacturing interests.
Column 227
Mr. Redwood : The percentage increase in imports of bicycles from China to the United Kingdom, for January to April 1990 over the same period for 1989 was 30.1 per cent. by volume. Imports of bicycles from China into the United Kingdom are covered by the EC's generalised system of preferences. My Department is in contact with United Kingdom bicycle manufacturers and will be meeting them shortly to discuss what action could be taken.Securities Regulation
Mr. Hardy : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what action he will take with regard to the regulatory position in the light of the case of Dunsdale Securities ; and if he has any plans to increase the powers of the Financial Intermediaries, Managers and Brokers Regulatory Association.
Mr. Redwood : It is the responsibility of the Securities and Investments Board to ensure that the regulatory framework established by its own rules and those of the self-regulating bodies, including FIMBRA, provides the appropriate level of protection for investors. The Secretary of State has responsibilities for general oversight of the regulatory system under the Financial Services Act, but not for its day-to-day operation.
Consumer Affairs Council
Mr. Barry Field : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on what matters were agreed at the European Community Consumer Affairs Council on 13 June.
Mr. Forth : The directive on package travel was adopted. There was agreement in principle that the European home and leisure accident surveillance system should be extended and that the programme should be adoped later in June. It was agreed that the rapid exchange of information system should be extended, the matter being remitted to the Committee of Permanent Representatives to consider further detailed procedures.
Consumer Credit Advertising
Mr. Cousins : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) whether he proposes to make changes in the consumer credit advertising regulations with regard to low start mortgage repayments ;
(2) whether he proposes to make changes in the consumer credit advertising regulations with regard to home income plans.
Mr. Forth [holding answer 25 June 1990] : I have no plans to do so, but I am always ready to consider reasoned suggestions for amending regulations.
National Front (Printers) Ltd.
Mr. Cousins : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he gave his approval to the company name National Front (Printers) Ltd. under section 26 of the Companies Act 1985.
Mr. Redwood [holding answer 25 June 1990] : Applications for names requiring the Secretary of State's approval under section 26 of the Companies Act 1985 are considered using established criteria and within the
Column 228
framework of administrative law. There were no grounds on which the application could properly have been rejected.End User Certificates
Dr. Moonie : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what action he intends to take to prevent the abuse of end user certificates ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Redwood [holding answer 18 June 1990] : Where there is evidence of attempts to provide misleading information about the end use of equipment which is the subject of an export licence application, the matter is carefully investigated.
WALES
Teachers (Welsh Language)
Dr. Thomas : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is his estimate of the number of teachers of Welsh language and literature required to implement the national curriculum for Welsh ; and what proposals he has to make up any shortfall.
Sir Wyn Roberts : Estimates of the number of teachers required to deliver the national curriculum for Welsh are being prepared in the light of discussions with local education authorities, and using recent information on pupil numbers. It is clear that additional teachers of Welsh will be required as the national curriculum is introduced.
The need for additional teachers will be met through a mix of initial teacher training--ITT--and in-service training. With regard to ITT we have issued new criteria for the training of primary teachers which will require all initial teacher training institutions in Wales to provide opportunities for students to learn Welsh and improve their Welsh language skills while they are training ; added Welsh to the list of secondary shortage subjects for which a bursary of £1,500 will be available in initial teacher training ; and introduced the Welsh-medium supplement which could produce teachers capable of teaching Welsh in English medium primary schools if students fail to gain posts in Welsh medium schools.
In order to take advantage of the skills available within the existing teaching force we have provided funding to enable courses to be developed for serving primary and secondary teachers to prepare them to teach Welsh as a second language ; and provided additional funding for LEA in-service training for Welsh--£900,000 has been made available this year.
The teaching as a career unit was established to promote teaching as a career. Its activity in Wales is sharply focused on the need to recruit additional propsective teachers of Welsh and Welsh-medium teachers. A total of £116,000 has been made available through education support grants for LEAs in Wales to support the development of measures to increase the recruitment of teachers in the shortage subjects including Welsh.
Column 229
Teacher Training Courses
Dr. Thomas : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many postgraduate students in Wales pursued initial teacher training courses in 1989 ; and how many benefited from his Department's initiative for meeting the shortfall in Welsh-medium teachers.
Sir Wyn Roberts : A total of 883 post graduate students commenced initial teacher training in 1989. Forty-two of these students are benefiting from the Welsh incentive supplement.
Teaching (Welsh-speaking Graduates)
Dr. Thomas : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will extend his initiative to train additional Welsh-medium teachers to graduate in Welsh language and literature in order to attract sufficient Welsh- speaking graduates into the teaching profession to implement the objectives of the national curriculum.
Sir Wyn Roberts : The Welsh incentive supplement is aimed at encouraging students who need additional help to develop their language skills to train for Welsh-medium teaching. Additional work is required of these students. Graduates in Welsh would clearly not need additional help and thus there is no case for making the supplement available to this group.
Countryside Change (Survey)
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what contribution his Department is making to the survey on countryside change being conducted by the institute of Terrestrial Ecology at the University college of North Wales for the Natural Environmental Research Council.
Sir Wyn Roberts : None. This is a Great Britain-wide survey funded by the Department of the Environment and the Natural Environment Research Council.
Computers
Mr. Martyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what percentage of the school timetable on average Welsh school pupils spend using computers.
Sir Wyn Roberts : This information is not held centrally.
Obstetrics
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many junior doctors are employed in obstetrics on a whole-time equivalent basis in the national health service in Wales in the current year ; and how many were employed in each of the past five years.
Mr. Ian Grist : The available information, which relates to staff in obstetrics and gynaecology, is as follows :
Junior doctors in
post as at 30
September<1> (
whole-time
equivalents)
|Number
----------------------
1984 |109.6
1985 |116.4
1986 |111.7
1987 |113.4
1988 |122.0
<2>1989 |127.2
<1>Senior registrar,
registrar, senior
house officers and
house officers.
Excluding locums.
<2>Provisional.
Column 230
Elderly People
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) whether he will list, by health authority, the number of beds available in continuing care for elderly people in the national health service in Wales ;
(2) what steps he is taking to ensure continuing care provision in the national health service for elderly people in Wales ; (3) whether he will list, by health authority, the number of beds in continuing care for elderly people which have been contracted out in Wales.
Mr. Grist : The information requested is not held centrally. It is for local health authority management to decide the nature of the continuous care service it provides, in the light of local needs and circumstances and the overall level of provision.
Mental Illness
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how much money has been allocated in the current financial year by his Department to support the implementation of the all-Wales strategy on mental illness (a) to each local authority in Wales, (b) to voluntary organisations in each local authority area and (c) to voluntary organisations in Wales as a whole.
Mr. Grist : Provisional allocations have been made in respect of proposals put forward by each of the eight county joint planning teams as follows :
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