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Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : Inquiries have been received from individual tenants about a possible extension to the scheme but no such representations have been submitted by tenant groups.
Protection of Birds
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list those areas of special protection for birds as well as those Ramsar sites and areas with dual designation for the protection of birds.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : The sites designated in Scotland thus far are :
Special Protection Areas
Rhum
Priest Island
Laggan Peninsula
Firth of Forth Islands
Abernethy Forest
Handa Island
Ailsa Craig
Ramsar
Loch an Duin
Combined Special Protection Areas and Ramsar Sites
Loch Druidbeg
Loch of Skene
Loch Gye
Gruinart Flats
Glean Na Muice Duibhe (Duich Moss)
Bridgend Flats
Gladhouse Reservoir
Din-Moss-Hoselaw Loch
Fala Flow
Glac na Criche
Feur Lochairn
Sheltered Housing
Mr. Dunnachie : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will provide extra funds to local authorities to enable them to build more sheltered housing complexes ; and if he will make a statement.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton [holding answer 2 July 1990] : Resources for housing capital expenditure in 1990-91 were allocated to local authorities in March on the basis of their relative housing needs and with reference to their capital programmes and housing plans. It is for local authorities to determine their own priorities for use of these allocations in the light of local circumstances, including the need for sheltered housing projects if this is seen as a priority in their area.
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Sites of Special Scientific Interest
Mr. Maclennan : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what advice he has received from the Nature Conservancy Council on the designation of extensive sites of special scientific interest as a means of protecting the natural environment in Caithness and Sutherland ; and what response he has made.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton [holding answer 2 July 1990] : The Nature Conservancy Council provided advice on the need to protect peatland areas of international significance in Caithness and Sutherland in its two publications : "Birds, Bogs and Forestry" and "The Flow Country". The council also gave detailed evidence to the Highland regional council working party on land use strategy in Caithness and Sutherland and set out a two-stage notification programme of SSSIs. The working party report listed the areas of actual and potential SSSI and recommended an indicative forestry strategy. My right hon. and learned Friend endorsed that report and in his announcement of 21 March 1989 encouraged the relevant public agencies to use it as a framework for land use change.
Mr. Maclennan : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what steps he will take to ensure that the recommendations of the Highland regional council working party report on land use strategy are followed by the Nature Conservancy Council in its proposed descriptions of sites of special scientific interest in Caithness and Sutherland.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton [holding answer 2 July 1990] : The Nature Conservancy Council was one of the bodies which gave unanimous support to the report produced by the Highland regional council on land use strategy in Caithness and Sutherland. I have no evidence to suggest that any of these bodies, including the Nature Conservancy Council, have taken any action contrary to the indicative forestry strategy recommended in the report and endorsed by my right hon. and learned Friend on 21 March 1989.
Mr. Maclennan : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will take steps to ensure that the 20,000 hectares of land in Caithness identified by the Highland regional council working party report on land use strategy as possible forestry area contained in stage 1 SSSI proposals are retained as a reservoir of plantable land eligible for assistance within the woodland grant scheme.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton [holding answer 2 July 1990] : The Highland regional council working party report provides a framework within which relevant public agencies can exercise their statutory duties, whether in approving an application for grant under the woodland grant scheme or notifying an area as an SSSI. The total amount of land in the possible and preferable forestry areas, taking account of the whole of NCC's actual and intended notification programme, is greater than the area of land required to establish a viable forestry industry.
Mental Handicap
Mr. Dunnachie : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will provide additional funds to Scottish local authorities to enable them to increase respite care provision for carers of profoundly mentally handicapped persons ; and if he will make a statement.
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Mr. Lang [holding answer 2 July 1990] : It is for local authorities to decide on the allocation of funds to particular services for which they may be responsible. The revenue support grant settlements in recent years will have enabled local authorities to increase their support for carers of handicapped persons where this was deemed a priority.A1 (Dual Carriageway)
Mr. Home Robertson : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he intends to incorporate a new Haddington bypass to his plans to extend the A1 dual carriageway from Tranent to Haddington ; and if he will make a statement on the timetable for this project.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton [holding answer 25 June 1990] : Following the routes south of Edinburgh report on public consultation and the Government's decisions published in April, consultants are to be appointed to assess the feasibility of the various dualling options between Bankton (near Tranent) and Dunbar. The Government have concluded that the dualling of the section between Bankton and Haddington should be brought forward in the shorter term. It is intended that the terminal point for the dualling to Haddington will be to the west of the town and it is envisaged that a new junction will be constructed at this location to cater for the very substantial flow to Haddington itself. It is estimated the total flow on the A1 will drop by one third at this point. At Haddington, several options will be available for the route of a dual carriageway and these will have to be considered so that a robust decision can be taken on the precise junction location west of the town. For this reason, the first report to be submitted under the feasibility study will include recommendations for both the section from Bankton to Haddington and the Haddington bypass. This report is programmed for completion by summer 1991, and it is not possible to give specific details on the termination of the initial dualling and the phasing of the bypass until the detailed engineering and economic evaluations are concluded. However, it is the intention to complete the necessary preparatory work to allow a start of the dualling by the mid-1990s.
RENAVAL Programme
Dr. Godman : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he has received a response from the European Commission concerning the eligibility of Strathclyde region under the terms of the RENAVAL programme ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Lang [holding answer 29 June 1990] : The Commission has not yet informed us of its decision on the eligibility application submitted in May 1989 on behalf of the shipbuilding areas of Strathclyde. On receipt of a favourable decision a programme of measures will be prepared and submitted to the Commission for approval.
EMPLOYMENT
Tourism
Mr. Fearn : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what action he intends to take to encourage tourist agencies, airlines and the Civil Aviation Authority
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to work together to stimulate new tourist trade by promoting new British destinations ; and if he will make a statement.Mr. Nicholls : The British Tourist Authority and the regional tourist boards are actively engaged with all interested parties in developing and promoting the tourism industry in all regions of the United Kingdom.
Mr. Fearn : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what plans he has to encourage the tourist market from Japan to Britain.
Mr. Nicholls : The British Tourist Authority already actively promotes the United Kingdom as a tourist destination to the Japanese. In addition the BTA has established the "Britain Welcomes Japan" group under the chairmanship of Countess Spencer. This group is looking at ways of encouraging more tourism from this vitally important market, particularly by highlighting the steps the tourism industry needs to take to make Britain more attractive to Japanese visitors. An action plan with recommendations for the industry will be produced shortly.
Mr. Fearn : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what action he intends to take to encourage air travel tourists to use regional entry points, rather than London ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Nicholls : The British Tourist Authority promotes the advantages and benefits of using regional airports to foreign visitors and airlines. This is particularly important if we are to encourage overseas visitors to the regions and thereby spread the economic benefits that tourism brings.
Mr. Fearn : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what assessment he has made of the effect that the decline in the number of young travellers between the ages of 16 to 24 years as a proportion of all incoming tourists will have on the tourist market.
Mr. Nicholls : International passenger survey figures show that the number of young travellers between the ages of 16 to 24 years has remained broadly constant over the three years from 1986 to 1988, at about 17 per cent. of all visitors.
One of the key objectives of the European year of tourism is to encourage travel by younger people. It is recognised that the young traveller of today is the mature tourist of tomorrow.
The British Tourist Authority, through its promotion of the United Kingdom, encourages a broad spectrum of age groups to visit this country.
Mr. Fearn : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if his Department has any plans to further increase investment in the British Tourist Authority from next April ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Nicholls : The British Tourist Authority will receive grant in aid amounting to £27.7 million in 1990-91, an increase of over 11 per cent. compared to 1989-90. Funding in subsequent years will be considered in the light of the Government's overall public expenditure plans.
Mr. Fearn : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is his policy on encouraging airport and other tourist-related staff to learn European languages ; and if he will make a statement.
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Mr. Nicholls : It is very important that all employees in the tourism industry should be encouraged to learn foreign languages. Foreign language competencies are an important element of the skills they need to welcome overseas visitors to this country. This is fully recognised in the British Tourist Authority's recent report "Lost for Words-Language Skills in the British Tourism Industry" and in its related European tourist year language campaign.Mr. Fearn : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what plans he has to encourage other British cities to follow Birmingham's worldwide promotion scheme.
Mr. Nicholls : The British Tourist Authority has been actively involved in the "Birmingham Invites You" overseas marketing campaign. A number of other cities have undertaken joint promotions overseas with BTA and the authority is always happy to consider proposals. I would welcome similar initiatives by British cities and recommend they make use of BTA's expertise in promoting Britain abroad.
Mr. Fearn : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what plans he has to increase the accessibility of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland for the European tourist.
Mr. Nicholls : The British Tourist Authority is keen to spread tourists throughout Britain and widely promotes the attractions of the country worldwide.
The British Tourist Authority continually assesses transport links between all areas of the United Kingdom and points of entry, making appropriate representations to the responsible Government Departments, and potential transport operators.
Employment Credit
Ms. Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list the various employment credit schemes apart from action credit which his Department has been involved with since 1979 ; the areas where the schemes have run ; and for how long.
Mr. Eggar : During the consideration of the action credit pilots, my Department was aware of a small number of "employment credit" schemes in various parts of the country. Officials were not involved with the schemes except to the extent of gaining some information about the way in which they were run and establishing that they complied with social security rules.
Health and Safety
Mr. Bill Michie : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment, pursuant to his answer of 16 May, Official Report, columns 435-36, what proportion of the Health and Safety Executive factory inspectorate's resources each year is spent on the identification and inspection of unregistered workplaces.
Mr. Nicholls : Resources devoted to identifying and inspecting unregistered workplaces vary but between 1 April 1988 and 31 March 1989 the Health and Safety Executive's factory inspectorate spent 6.5 per cent. of its resources on this work.
Mr. Tony Lloyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment, pursuant to his reply of 24 April, Official
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Report, column 170, if he will give details of the cases prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive which resulted in suspended custodial sentences ; and what criteria were used by the Health and Safety Executive in deciding to prosecute.Mr. Nicholls [holding answer 2 July 1990] : Two suspended custodial sentences have been imposed. Both followed prosecutions for failing to comply with a prohibition notice.
In 1985 the managing director of an asbestos stripping company was prosecuted for failing to comply with a prohibition notice. He received fines and costs totalling £7,500 and a 28-day suspended sentence.
In 1987 a director of another asbestos stripping company received two suspended sentences of nine months to run consecutively, for contravening a prohibition notice.
The Health and Safety Executive will generally institute criminal proceedings in cases where the offence is of a flagrant, wilful or reckless nature which either has, or could have, resulted in serious injury.
Mr. Bill Michie : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment in relation to local initiatives by Health and Safety Executive areas which have concentrated on premises within a particular geographical area or sector of economic activity, what proportion of premises inspected have been found to be unregistered with the Health and Safety Executive.
Mr. Nicholls : The information requested is not centrally available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Bill Michie : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what information the Health and Safety Executive's SHIELD database records about the registration of factory premises under section 137 of the Factories Act 1961 ; whether the information is available on the basis of Health and Safety Executive area by year ; and at what cost in terms of person hours and computer time the information is compiled.
Mr. Nicholls : The Health and Safety Executive's SHIELD database has the facility to record the following information upon receipt of a notice of occupation under section 137 of the Factories Act : Establishment keyname
Full name and address
Postcode
Local authority code
Main economic activity code
Number employed
Telephone number
Enforcing authority area
Health and Safety Executive area
Date record opened
Ownership code
Information on the registration of factory premises under section 137 of the Factories Act 1961 by Health and Safety Executive area and the cost in terms of person hours and computer time is not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Bill Michie : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what estimate by area the Health and Safety Executive has made of the approximate proportion of factory premises that are not registered with the Health
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and Safety Executive ; and what approximate proportion of the factory work force is believed to work in unregistered premises.Mr. Nicholls : The Health and Safety Executive has made no estimate of the number or proportion of unregistered factory premises or the number of employees who work in such premises.
Mr. Tony Lloyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will give (a) the number of prosecutions and (b) the average fine under the Asbestos (Licensing) Regulations 1983 for each year from 1983 to 1989 inclusive.
Mr. Nicholls : The information is not available in the exact format requested in the question. However, the table shows the numbers of informations laid, the number of convictions and the average fine made under the Asbestos (Licensing) Regulations 1983 since they came into force on 1 August 1984.
Prosecution action taken under Asbestos (Licensing) Regulations
1983 by the HSE's Factory and Agricultural Inspectorates 1984 to
1988-89
Date of hearing |Number of |Convictions |Average fine
|informations |on conviction
|laid | £
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1984 |5 |2 |500
1985 |82 |73 |423
1986<1> |15 |7 |293
1986-87<2> |45 |40 |350
1987-88<2> |35 |30 |328
1988-89<3> |14 |13 |217
<1> 1st quarter of year 1 January-31 March.
<2> Year commencing 1 April
<3> Provisional.
Mr. Tony Lloyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what were (a) the numbers of prosecutions and (b) the average fine under the Asbestos Products (Safety) Regulations 1985 for each year from 1985 to 1989 inclusive.
Mr. Forth : I have been asked to reply.
According to the returns made by the enforcement authorities, the number of prosecutions and the fines paid for breaching the Asbestos Products (Safety) Regulations 1985, which came into force on 1 January 1986, as amended by the Asbestos Products (Safety) (Amendment) Regulations 1987, were as follows :
Year |Cases|Fine
|£
------------------------
1986 |Nil |-
1987 |1 |3,000
1988 |1 |500
1989 |Nil |-
The regulations have been largely effective in eliminating the use of asbestos in consumer products, and I am not aware of any general problem.
Mr. Tony Lloyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list the number of prosecutions resulting from a fatality within the construction industry for each year from 1974 to 1989.
Mr. Nicholls : The information requested is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
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Mr. Tony Lloyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many Health and Safety Executive field inspectors were (a) appointed, (b) resigned and (c) retired for each year from 1974 to 1989.
Mr. Nicholls : I refer the hon. Member to my reply to him on 24 April at column 172.
Mr. Tony Lloyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will give the date and location by borough of the deaths of construction workers in the London area between the dates of 1 April 1988 and 31 March 1990.
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