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Mr. Gummer : New procedures for the commissioning and assessment of research and development by the Ministry were formally introduced with effect from 1 April 1990. These will ensure that policy requirements are brought to bear more directly on the research that MAFF funds and, equally, that the research funded by MAFF has a direct impact on policy formation, as well as securing the best value for money in terms of both scientific quality and relevance to the Ministry's aims.
Cereals
71. Mr. David Davis : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the largest green pound discrepancy for cereals in the periods 1974 to 1979 and 1980 to 1989 ; and what was the largest devaluation achieved.
Mr. Curry : The largest green pound discrepancies for the cereals sector in the periods referred to by my hon. Friend, as measured by the percentage monetary compensatory amount (MCA), were 45.0 per cent. in November 1976 and 32.8 per cent. in February 1987. The largest devaluation of the green pound for cereals was 9.75 per cent. in August 1979.
Agricultural Subsidies
Mr. Allen : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what estimate he has made of the cost per head of the subsidies given to British farmers as against the prices which would prevail in a free market in world agricultural produce.
Mr. Maclean : The estimate requested would be possible only by making a large number of assumptions about the extent of support policy adjustment worldwide, the impact of this on production, consumption and exchange rates and the extent to which these factors would influence world prices. No such estimates are available for the United Kingdom. The Government fully support the agreed long-term objectives of the GATT Uruguay round negotiation, namely substantial, progressive reductions in agricultural support and protection : this would reduce the cost of agricultural support borne by consumers and taxpayers.
Live Exports
Mr. Lewis : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps he is taking to ensure that after 1992 calves exported live will not be housed subsequently in veal crates.
Mr. Maclean : Discussions are continuing in the European Community on Commission proposals for welfare standards for calves. I am pressing for the Community to adopt the present United Kingdom requirement for veal calf pen widths and for the EC legislation to be implemened at the earliest possible date.
Mr. Lewis : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what procedures he is proposing to ensure that current minimum standards in the care of live animals for export will be maintained after 1992.
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Mr. Maclean : We will be pressing for measures which fully safeguard animal welfare in negotiations on the Commission proposals for a Council regulation on the protection of animals during transport.
Mr. Lewis : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what procedures he is proposing to ensure that live animals, exported after 1992, are killed in slaughterhouses which match current United Kingdom standards.
Mr. Maclean : The EC Commission is preparing proposals for new rules on the welfare of animals at the time of slaughter. I shall be seeking to ensure that the standards which we consider to be necessary are applied thoughout the Community.
Mr. Lewis : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what efforts he is making to establish protection for live animals after 1992.
Mr. Maclean : Negotiations have been proceeding on Commission proposals for the protection of pigs and calves and at the Agriculture Council on 25 and 26 June I pressed for the earliest possible introduction of this legislation. I am also pressing for further comprehensive welfare safeguards to be introduced on a Community basis.
Caseous Lymphadentitis
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for South Shields of 21 June, Official Report, column 652, whether the goats imported from Germany that were found to have caseous lymphadentitis were inspected by veterinarians for diseases other than foot and mouth, during their period of post-import quarantine ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Gummer : Animals in post-import quarantine are examined by official veterinarians on a number of occasions, including within 72 hours of the end of the quarantine period, for signs of notifiable disease. If, during the course of quarantine signs of other diseases are noted, a report must be made to the state veterinary service, and the owner of the quarantine premises can arrange for veterinary treatment as appropriate.
Animal Feed (Ingredients)
Mrs. Ray Michie : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make it his policy to introduce regulations under the Agriculture Act 1970 to require the declaration of the ingredients of animal feedstuffs ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Maclean : The United Kingdom is in fact a prime mover in the work that is going forward to produce regulations for the whole of the EC on ingredient listing. I have very recently pressed the Agriculture Commissioner for rapid progress on this.
Zoo Animals
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for South Shields of 25 June, Official Report, column 28, how many animals in zoos have died of
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spongiform encephalopathies ; if he will list the species involved, the zoos concerned and the date detected in each case ; and if he will make a statement.Mr. Gummer : Spongiform encephalopathies have been confirmed in five antelope in British zoos :
-- a nyala, died June 1986
-- a gemsbok, died June 1987
-- an Arabian oryx, died March 1989
-- a greater kudu, died August 1989
-- an eland, died December 1989
A scientific paper published in 1980 reported the occurrence between 1974 and 1979 of chronic wasting disease, a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy, in 63 mule deer, one black-tailed deer and one mule deer crossed white-tailed deer in two wildlife parks in the United States of America. A paper published in 1982 reported the occurrence of the disease in six Rocky mountain elk in the same two wildlife parks.
A spongiform encephalopathy was confirmed in four white tigers which died or were killed in Bristol zoo between 1970 and 1977. Experimental inoculations of brain material from the tigers gave no indication that the disease is transmissible.
Surplus Food
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the outcome of the invitation to organisations to participate in the 1990 surplus food scheme ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Curry : I announced to the House on 19 March that the surplus food scheme would be continued for a further year. Following that announcement, the press coverage that attended it and the individual invitations issued by my Department, we have been able to designate 420 organisations to distribute approximately 3,800 tonnes of butter and 3,000 tonnes of beef to the most needy citizens of the United Kingdom.
I have deliberately designated more organisations than in previous years in order to meet the criticism that there was "patchiness" in the availability of food across the country. But as the quantities are limited, it must be understood that the assistance must, necessarily, be spread more thinly as a result.
The charitable and voluntary organisations wishing to participate asked for far more than is available under the scheme. I have therefore had to share the butter and beef as fairly as possible between them, by allocating to each organisation an amount proportional to the number of needy people it will reach. I have given special priority in allocating this food to organisations providing prepared meals and to those serving the homeless and destitute.
I am placing a list of all the organisations I have designated to participate in this year's scheme in the Library of the House and my officials will now be writing to all organisations that applied.
Fisheries Council
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the Fisheries Council held in Luxembourg on 27 June.
Mr. Curry : I represented the United Kingdom at the Council of Fisheries Ministers in Luxembourg on 27 June 1990 together with my noble Friend the Minister of State, Scottish Office.
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There was a substantial discussion of the EC technical conservation arrangements. The Council agreed on the urgent need for action in the North sea. I stressed particularly the need to improve the selectivity of gear so that catches of immature North sea haddock and cod are reduced. As agreed at last December's Council, the Commission is to make proposals by the end of July ; and the Council agreed to take decisions on these at the earliest possible opportunity. We also secured some valuable new fishing opportunities. The EC has gained increased west Greenland cod ; and the Council agreed that this should be allocated according to the principle of relative stability, bringing our fleet 1,410 tonnes. In addition, in the light of scientific evidence, the Council agreed to increase the Irish sea sole TAC, bringing us an extra 170 tonnes, including a swap with the Netherlands.In response to strong Irish concerns, the Council agreed to adjust the staging of the EC catch of western horse mackerel. We safeguarded the position of our fishermen by ensuring that the tonnage put aside for the last four months of the year is more than the catch in the same period last year.
EMPLOYMENT
Health and Safety Commission
Mr. Tony Lloyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what was the Health and Safety Commission's financial bid for the financial year 1990-91 ; and how much it received.
Mr. Nicholls : The Government met the Health and Safety Commission's bid for 1990-91 in full and the financial provision is set out in the supply estimates published in March 1990.
Mr. Tony Lloyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list the grant in aid given to the Health and Safety Executive for each financial year since 1979.
Mr. Nicholls : Grant in aid provided for the Health and Safety Commission is as follows :
Financial |Grantin aid year |£000s ------------------------------------ 1979-80 |55,757 1980-81 |70,970 1981-82 |80,816 1982-83 |81,335 1983-84 |87,993 1984-85 |90,298 1985-86 |93,283 1986-87 |94,334 1987-88 |94,235 1988-89 |97,390 1989-90 |102,974 1990-91 |116,557
Mr. Tony Lloyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list the dates of his last three meetings with the members of the Health and Safety Commission ; and what was the purpose of each meeting.
Mr. Nicholls : My right hon. and learned Friend has had two meetings with members of the Health and Safety Commission since becoming Secretary of State. He met the
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chairman of the commission on 31 January for a wide-ranging discussion on the work of the Health and Safety Commission and the Health and Safety Executive. He also met the chairman with five members of the commission on 31 May when they discussed the commission's plan of work for 1990-91 and beyond.Training
Ms. Short : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment (1) for each standard region and for Great Britain as a whole, how much expenditure, excluding administration costs, at cash and constant prices, was spent in each year since 1979 on (a) employment training, and the earlier programmes it replaced, (b) the youth training scheme, earlier youth opportunities programme, and (c) the enterprise allowance scheme ;
(2) for each Training Agency, formerly MSC, area and for Great Britain as a whole, how much expenditure, excluding administration costs, at cash and constant
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prices, was spent in each year since 1979 on (a) employment training, and the earlier programmes it replaced, (b) the youth training scheme, earlier youth opportunities programme, and (c) the enterprise allowance scheme.Mr. Nicholls : The following table shows expenditure for Great Britain at cash and constant 1989-90 prices, excluding administration costs, in each year since 1983-84, on (a) employment training, (b) youth training scheme and (c) enterprise allowance scheme. It is not possible separately to identify administration costs in earlier years. A breakdown at levels lower than Great Britain is not available. Constant prices were calculated by use of the GDP deflator index from the Chancellor's "Financial Statement and Budget Report" published March 1990.
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£ million
Employment traininYouth training schEnterprise allowance schem
|Cash |Constant|Cash |Constant|Cash |Constant
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1983-84 |618.2 |850.6 |720.6 |991.5 |23.2 |31.9
1984-85 |749.1 |981.3 |796.5 |1,043.4 |76.8 |100.6
1985-86 |867.2 |1,077.7 |818.2 |1,016.8 |103.9 |129.1
1986-87 |1,255.1 |1,510.4 |875.1 |1,053.1 |143.4 |172.6
1987-88 |1,328.0 |1,517.5 |1,007.3 |1,151.0 |195.9 |223.9
1988-89 |1,290.0 |1,373.5 |993.2 |1,057.8 |196.7 |209.5
1989-90 |1,120.8 |1,120.8 |976.0 |976.0 |170.9 |170.9
Ms. Short : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will give for each region, and for Great Britain, for each month since July 1989, the number of employment training special group starts, separately for skill shortage recruits, labour market returners and single parents ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Nicholls : The information requested can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Safety Procedures (Departmental Guidance)
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what guidance is offered by his Department to industrial companies wishing to implement safety procedures set out in the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 1988.
Mr. Nicholls : The Health and Safety Executive has committed substantial resources to ensuring industry's awareness and understanding of the requirements of the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) Regulations. Over 4 million free information leaflets have been distributed and detailed national guidance has been published including six approved codes of practice, a guide to assessment for employers and an open learning course. In addition, HSE inspectors have contributed to discussions, lectures, seminars and conferences on the regulations and offered guidance during the course of their visits to employers' premises. HSE has been working closely with industry organisations and employers to develop guidance for their members. There has also been a national publicity campaign and extensive use of local TV, radio and the press.
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New Businesses
Mr. Oppenheim : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many new businesses have registered for value added tax in (a) Derbyshire and (b) the east midlands in the latest year for which figures are available.
Mr. Nicholls : The latest available information is for 1988 and is given in the table. Early indications for 1989 from data collected by Her Majesty's Customs and Excise are that in the United Kingdom as a whole, there was a net increase of 1,500 a week on average, compared with 1,200 a week in 1988.
|Derbyshire |East Midlands
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Registrations |3,100 |15,200
Deregistrations |2,400 |11,100
Net Change (per cent.) |3.3 |4.0
Wages Councils
Mr. Tony Lloyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment which classes of retail employers are covered by wages councils.
Mr. Nicholls : Employers engaged in the retail sale of items listed in schedule 2 to the Retail Trades Wages Council (Non-Food) (Abolition and Establishment) Order 1979 (Statutory Instrument No. 863 1979) and the Retail Trades Wages Council (Food and Allied Trades) (Abolition and Establishment) Order 1979 (Statutory Instrument No. 862 1979) are covered by the retail non-food and retail food wages councils respectively. Copies of the statutory instruments have been placed in the Library.
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Disablement Advisory Service
Mrs. Mahon : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he has any plans to modify or alter the services offered by the Disablement Advisory Service within the next two years.
Mr. Nicholls : The service offered by the Disablement Advisory Service has been considered in the review of services for people with disabilities which my Department has just undertaken. We shall be publishing the consultative document giving the results of the review in the next few days.
Mrs. Mahon : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list for each of the disablement advisory offices covering the district of West Yorkshire (a) the current action case load, (b) the case load for the preceding two years and (c) the current annual budget.
Mr. Nicholls : 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.
NORTHERN IRELAND
Bus Privatisation
Mr. Stott : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether he has any plans to privatise Ulster Bus and City Bus.
Homelessness
Mr. Alex Carlile : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will give an estimate of the current number of homeless in Northern Ireland ; and, of those, how many suffer from (a) alcoholism or drug dependency, (b) AIDS and (c) mental illness.
Mr. Peter Bottomley [holding answer 25 June 1990] : No.
Cerebral Palsy
Mr. McGrady : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what are the long-term plans for dealing with educational, medical and social needs of children who suffer from cerebral palsy.
Dr. Mawhinney [holding answer 26 June 1990] : The Government will continue to provide a wide range of services and facilities for children with cerebral palsy and other motor disorders. In addition, the United Kingdom is negotiating access to a planned new international institute for conductive education in Hungary and the role of that technique in complementing existing services in Northern Ireland will be considered when those negotiations are concluded.
Anaesthetist, Downpatrick
Mr. McGrady : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when a decision will be taken about the appointment of a third anaesthetist to the Down group of hospitals in Downpatrick.
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Mr. Needham [holding answer 26 June 1990] : The Eastern health and social services board has yet to decide whether the third anaesthetist post at the Down group of hospitals should be filled on a permanent basis. The matter will be considered by the board's policy and care review committee on 5 July 1990.
Summer School, Dungannon
Mr. McGrady : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will meet the officers of the Buddy Bear committee to discuss requirements for the summer school to be held in Dungannon.
Dr. Mawhinney [holding answer 26 June 1990] : The Buddy Bear Trust has already provided me with details of its proposed summer school but, given the Government's overall policy on the introduction of conductive education into this country and the continuing need for evaluation of the technique, I have concluded that it would not be appropriate to provide financial assistance for this from public funds.
I understand that the trust is also developing detailed proposals for a permanent institute for conductive education in Northern Ireland and I will carefully consider those proposals when they are made available.
Dental Services
Mr. Hume : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what measures have been taken or are planned with the introduction of a capitation scheme within the Government dental services to take account of the particular dental care needs of children in Northern Ireland with regard to levels of dental disease, deprivation factors and age profile of population.
Mr. Needham [holding answer 27 June 1990] : It is not intended to introduce any specific measures particular to Northern Ireland. Additional payments to dentists, in the form of a one-off entry payment and an increase in the capitation fee, are made for children with excessive dental decay.
Energy Consumption
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will give for each year from 1978 the energy consumption, broken down by fuel, of the buildings occupied by his Department, expressing the figures in (a) cash terms, (b) 1978-79 money terms and (c) units of consumption for electricity in kilowatt hours, gas in therms, liquid fuel in litres and solid fuel in tonnes.
Mr. Cope [holding answer 25 June 1990] : The information requested for the years prior to 1983-84 is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. From 1983-84 onwards the energy consumption and costs for the Northern Ireland Government Office estate, broken down by fuel, are as follows :
|Electricity|Oil |Gas
---------------------------------------------------------------
1983-84
Consumption |25.5m KWh |4.25m L |72K th
Cash prices |£1,140,000 |£680,000 |£58,000
1978-79 prices |£619,691 |£286,181 |£26,342
1984-85
Consumption |27.2m KWh |4.65m L |79K th
Cash prices |£1,065,000 |£684,000 |£58,000
1978-79 prices |£567,279 |£267,630 |£25,784
1985-86
Consumption |29.2m KWh |4.8m L |53K th
|Cash prices|£1,423,000 |£861,000
1978-79 prices |£728,940 |£339,070 |£18,996
1986-87
Consumption |34.1m KWh |5.19 L |27K th
Cash prices |£1,496,000 |£532,000 |£27,000
1978-79 prices |£766,335 |£261,884 |£11,541
1987-88
Consumption |33.3m KWh |5.14m L |37K th
Cash prices |£1,540,000 |£437,000 |£26,000
1978-79 prices |£788,874 |£231,000 |£11,637
1988-89
Consumption |33.3m KWh |5.11m L |-
Cash prices |£1,594,000 |£359,000 |-
1978-79 prices |£751,875 |£185,413 |-
1989-90
Consumption |32.75m KWh |4.98m L |-
Cash prices |£1,601,000 |£449,000 |-
1978-79 prices |£708,835 |£202,660 |-
Note: Cash prices have been converted to 1978-79 prices by
reference to the rates of the elements of the retail prices
index applicable to the respective fuels.
DEFENCE
Astra (Ammunition Supplies)
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the dates when, and persons with whom, his Department was in communication concerning the possible granting of contracts for the supply of ammunition to Her Majesty's forces by the Astra company ; and what representations he has received since then from Astra concerning assurances allegedly given at that time.
Mr. Alan Clark : As part of their normal duties, many persons employed in my Department have been involved on numerous occasions in discussion with Astra regarding the supply of ammunition. My Department has no record of representations about alleged assurances.
Security
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he has had any discussions with his American counterpart concerning the development of the security posture called "special operations and low-intensity conflict" for western Europe and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation's northern flank.
Research
Dr. Thomas : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what was the total identifiable expenditure on research by his Department in each year since 1979 ; what proportion
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was awarded on a customer-contractor basis ; and what proportion of his total departmental budget was expended on research for each year.Mr. Neubert : Research expenditure by the Ministry of Defence, net and inclusive of VAT, was as follows :
Year |£ million |Percentage of
|defence
|budget
--------------------------------------------------------
1982-83 |305 |2.2
1983-84 |358 |2.2
1984-85 |393 |2.3
1985-86 |399 |2.2
1986-87 |408 |2.2
1987-88 |396 |2.1
1988-89 |386 |2.0
Comparable figures are not available for years before 1982-83. Customer/supplier arrangements apply throughout MOD-funded research.
Christmas Island
Dr. Thomas : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if, pursuant to the reply to the hon. Member for Islington, North (Mr. Corbyn), Official Report, 13 June, column 243, he will set out the total financial compensation paid to the United Kingdom by the United States of America for the clean-up of the Christmas Island test site following the 1962 Operation Dominic tests to which he refers.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The Operation Dominic tests were all high air bursts off Christmas Island, and did not result in significant contamination of the island ; no special clean-up operations by the United Kingdom were, therefore, necessary as a result of these tests.
RAF Stanmore Park (Explosion)
Mr. Dykes : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make an urgent statement on the explosion which occurred at RAF Stanmore Park on Thursday 21 June at 9.35 am.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : At approximately 8.15 am on 21 June a sports holdall was found by a civilian worker on the ground inside the perimeter fence at RAF Stanmore Park adjacent to a civilian workshop. The area was immediately cordoned off and evacuated.
A bomb disposal team had begun clearance operations with the civil police when the holdall exploded at approximately 9.30 am. There were no injuries, but a nearby workshop was damaged.
The police investigation is continuing.
Airbus
Mr. Rogers : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if any unsolicited proposal has been received from Airbus Industrie, or either of its partners, for adaptation of airbus civil aircraft for maritime reconnaissance or other weapons-carrying role.
Boeing AWACS
Mr. Rogers : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if his Department intends to purchase Boeing 707 aircraft to provide on-going training for aircrew of Royal Air Force Boeing AWACS aircraft.
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Mr. Alan Clark : No.Low Flying
Mr. Jack Thompson : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what was the ratio of low-altitude military flights as part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation exercises in the United Kingdom to those in the Federal Republic of Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Canada, the United States of America, Belgium and Turkey in 1985, 1986, 1987 and 1988.
Mr. Neubert : I regret that the information requested is not available.
Mr. Jack Thompson : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he has any plans to limit the speed of aircraft involved in low-flying military exercises to 420 knots maximum.
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