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Written Answers to Questions
Thursday 18 October 1990
ATTORNEY-GENERAL
Personal Data
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Attorney-General whether his Department will take positive steps to discuss with the Data Protection Registrar all his Department's legislation that impacts on the use, collection, processing or holding of personal data ; and whether he will make a statement.
The Attorney-General : I am reminding my officials of the need to consult the registrar about proposed legislation which might affect or be affected by the Data Protection Act 1984.
Shops Act
Sir Bernard Braine : To ask the Attorney-General in the light of the High Court judgment of 18 July relating to the Shops Act 1950, what guidance he will be giving to local authorities and courts to enable them to enforce the law in a consistent manner.
The Attorney-General : I do not propose to give any guidance to local authorities, and it would be improper for me to offer guidance to the courts.
The judgment of Mr. Justice Hoffmann in Stoke-on-Trent City Council and Norwich City Council v . B&Q plc is clearly expressed, and neither local authorities nor courts should have any difficulty in understanding its effect and acting upon it. Mr. Justice Hoffman decided that the effect of the judgment of the European Court of Justice in Torfaen Borough Council v. B&Q plc is that the Sunday trading provisions of the Shops Act 1950 do not contravene the EEC treaty, and that accordingly for shops in England and Wales to be open for the serving of customers on Sunday otherwise than in accordance with the provisions of the Act continues to be an offence under the Act. It follows that local authorities continue to be subject to the duty of enforcement conferred on them by section 1 of the Act.
Electoral Law
Sir David Steel : To ask the Attorney-General what consideration has been given by the Director of Public Prosecutions to the contents of the document published by the Conservative party entitled "Offer from the Conservative Party", relating to registration of proxies by overseas voters, with respect of its compliance with electoral law.
The Attorney-General : I have invited the right hon. Member to forward a copy of the document to which he refers to the Director of Public Prosecutions indicating any criminal offence he believes may have been committed. The Director will then consider whether any action on his part is appropriate.
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Mr. Colin Wallace
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Attorney-General what consideration he has given to prosecuting Ministry of Defence officials over their handling of the case of Mr. Colin Wallace.
The Attorney-General : The Director of Public Prosecutions has received a letter from solicitors acting on behalf of Mr. Colin Wallace requesting that he initiate a criminal investigation and he is considering the matters raised.
NORTHERN IRELAND
Flooding
Mr. William Ross : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what damage was caused to (1) dwellings and (2) farmland and crops as a result of the breach in the river Roe floodbanks on Saturday, 6 October and what is his estimate of the sums required to (a) repair the banks and (b) restore the loss of (i) farmers crops and land damage and (ii) dwellings and household furniture and goods.
Mr. Brooke : As a result of a breach in the left floodbank approximately 160 hectares of land were flooded. There have been no reports of damage to dwellings received.
The cost of repairing the floodbank is estimated to be of the order of £11,000.
As the Government do not meet the cost of losses due to accidental flooding of farmland, crops or dwellings, no estimate of these costs has been made.
OVERSEAS DEVELOPMENT
Namibia
Sir David Steel : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what further economic help Her Majesty's Government proposes to give to Namibia in both the context of the European Community and the United Kingdom.
Mrs. Chalker : On 21 March I announced in this House that Britain would be providing £10 million of aid for Namibia, for commitment over three years. Technical assistance is already being provided for education, public sector reform and police training and the scope for assistance in certain other sectors is being explored with the Namibian Government. Military training is also being provided under separate arrangements. The European Community is meanwhile considering the terms of Namibia's accession to the Lome Convention and Britain is working to ensure a speedy and favourable outcome to this consideration. Pending accession, the Community is providing an interim package of aid totalling 19 million ecu (£13.24 million) in 1990, of which our share is about one fifth.
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THE ARTS
Cultural Property
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Minister for the Arts if Her Majesty's Government will ratify the 1970 UNESCO convention on illicit trade in cultural property ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Mellor [holding answer 15 October 1990] : Her Majesty's Government have no plans to ratify the 1970 UNESCO convention. While supporting the principles and objectives laid down in the convention, we consider that the convention's definition of cultural property is unduly wide. In addition, the requirements of the convention on imported and exported goods would impose a heavy administrative burden on both the Government and the art trade with, for example, the requirement for all dealers to keep registers of the material bought and sold. Implementation of the provision on restitution and prohibition of imports would require new legislation and allocation of substantial additional administrative resources, and the identification and verification of claims made against items imported into the United Kingdom would not be straightforward.
United Kingdom museums and the art trade already subscribe to codes of practice on the handling of items of dubious provenance, which help to uphold the objectives of the convention.
TRANSPORT
Road Safety
Mr. Spearing : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what information he has concerning the number of serious or fatal accidents where a hand-held car telephone was an element ; what assessment he has made of the road safety aspects of such instruments ; and what consideration he has given to alternatives not requiring use of either hand for conversation.
Mr. Chope : There is no information available on such accidents. The use of hand-held telephones while driving constitutes a potential road safety hazard and rule 54 of the highway code states that drivers should not use a hand-held telephone while their vehicle is moving. Drivers who need a car telephone should use hand-free equipment.
Mr. Spearing : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will state the proportion of serious or fatal road accidents occasioned by right turns ; and what action he is taking to reduce their occurrence.
Mr. Chope : A total of 17 per cent. of all fatal or serious road accidents involve a vehicle turning right. The highway code advises motorists on the correct procedure for making a right turn and this advice is reinforced in my Department's publicity programme. Many of the small- scale engineering works to improve road safety address this problem. The expanded national road building programme will create new higher-quality roads which are generally safer and on which right-turning accidents are less common.
Mr. Spearing : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many outstanding approvals there are for the provision of light-controlled right turns that eliminate
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conflicting movement ; what delay has occured in their installation ; and what plans he has to eliminate significant delay.Mr. Chope : The provision of signal-controlled right turns that eliminate conflicting traffic movements is within the scope of the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 1981. Equipment for this purpose is already type approved by the Department and does not require specific approval. Technical advice has been published showing correct layout of signals, signing and roadmarkings. In the case of trunk roads the Department's policy is to provide signal-controlled right turns where appropriate.
Transport Policy
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions he has had with his counterparts in the European Council over developments in environmental aspects of transport policy following the publication of the White Paper on the environment (Cm. 1200) in September.
Mr. Parkinson : None. But following consultation between our Departments, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment will press for the introduction of tight emission controls for cars of all sizes at the European Council of Environment Ministers on29 October. At a later stage he will press for the adoption by the Council of the tighest practicable emission standards for heavy diesel vehicles, and I understand that the European Commission expects to submit shortly to the Council of Transport Ministers proposals on transport and the environment generally.
Network SouthEast
Mr. Moate : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what investment plans he has approved for British Rail Network SouthEast with particular reference to new rolling stock for the north-east Kent routes ; and when he expects delivery of such stock.
Mr. Freeman : British Rail has not yet put to us investment proposals relating to new rolling stock to be deployed in north-east Kent. Last year we approved proposals for 400 vehicles for inner suburban services in south-east London and north-west Kent. We have approved in principle further vehicles and infrastructure works for this area. The whole scheme will cost £700 million in total. The new trains will begin operation from 1992 onwards.
Midland Line Electrification
Mr. Skinner : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what further representations he has received, and what meetings he has had, with east midlands local authorities, regarding the midland line electrification ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Freeman : I have received a number of representations about electrification of the midland main line and I recently met representatives from Leicestershire county council, Northamptonshire county council and Kettering borough council, to discuss this issue. British Rail has not so far identified a robust commercial case for electrification ; but I hope that the local authorities will continue to discuss their plans with BR.
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Kegworth Crash
Mr. Ashby : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when the official report into the cause of the accident to a Boeing 737 near Kegworth on 8 February 1989 will be published.
Mr. Parkinson : The report of the Department's air accidents investigation branch (AAIB) into the accident, which occurred on 8 January 1989, is being published today. Copies have been placed in the Library.
The report contains 31 safety recommendations addressed, directly or indirectly, to the Civil Aviation Authority which has the statutory responsibility for the safety regulation of civil aviation in the United Kingdom. The AAIB's recommendations are passed to the CAA as soon as they are determined and I understand that the CAA has already completed action or put research into train as a result. The report is very detailed and comprehensive and the AAIB is to be congratulated on a most thorough investigation into circumstances surrounding this accident.
Networker Trains (Kent Coast)
Sir John Stanley : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he has taken any decisions that will result in the delayed introduction of the new networker trains to serve the Kent coast routes ; and whether he will make a statement.
Mr. Freeman [holding answer 17 October 1990] : Decisions on the provision of external finance for British Rail for the three years to 31 March 1994 will be announced at the time of the autumn statement. It is for British Rail to decide its investment priorities in the light of the external and internal funds available to it ; and it will be updating its plans in due course.
SOCIAL SECURITY
Mobility Allowance
Ms. Short : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many reviews of mobility allowance claims were conducted during the last year for which statistics are available.
Mr. Scott : During 1989, the medical questions were reconsidered, on review, in 720 claims for mobility allowance.
Attendance Allowance
Ms. Short : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many reviews of attendance allowance claims were conducted during the last year for which statistics were available.
Mr. Scott : In 1989, the total number of decisions reviewed was 66, 574.
Pensions
Sir David Price : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what percentage of people currently retiring will receive the basic rate by way of retirement pension.
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Mrs. Gillian Shephard : In the six-month period ending March 1989, the latest date for which figures are available, there were 317,000 claims for retirement pension ; 244,940 awards were made of which 79.45 per cent. received the full rate basic retirement pension.
Elderly People (Residential Care)
Mr. Spearing : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when he received the report of Messrs. Price Waterhouse on the costs of residential care in charitable and proprietorial homes for elderly persons ; and if he will place a copy in the Library of the House of Commons.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : The report was received on 20 September. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State will be making a statement shortly.
Independent Living Fund
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when he expects to review the 75-plus age disqualification for access to assistance from the independent living fund.
Mr. Scott : The decision to restrict eligibility to those aged between 16 and 74 and who also receive attendance allowance at the higher rate was taken by the trustees in the light of the resources made available for this financial year. We understand that they are keeping this decision under review.
Mesothelioma
Ms. Harman : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what information the Government collect about the number of people suffering from mesothelioma ; and what action the Government have taken to support and compensate all victims.
Mr. Scott : The Health and Safety Executive collects figures from death certificates mentioning mesothelioma and the Department keeps records of the number of industrial injuries claims made for this disease. Industrial injuries benefit and war disablement pensions can be awarded to claimants with mesothelioma and additional benefits can be paid depending on other needs. In addition, the Pneumoconiosis (Workers Compensation) Act 1979 provides some measure of compensation to those people or their dependants who cannot sue their employer because he has gone out of business.
Community Charge
Mr. Battle : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many people are receiving the reduced personal allowance due to downrating after over six weeks hospitalisation and are still liable for community charge.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : Information is not available in the form requested. All hospital patients who are receiving Income Support, and who are not exempted from paying the community charge, are entitled to maximum community charge benefit.
Invalid Care Allowance
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the estimated total number of carers looking after disabled, sick or elderly people in the
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United Kingdom ; how many carers claimed (a) invalid care allowance and (b) income support in 1989 ; and if he will launch a review of carers' incomes.Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the estimated total number of carers looking after disabled, sick or elderly people in Wales ; and how many of these receive (a) invalid care allowance or (b) income support.
Mr. Scott [holding answer 17 October 1990] : The information is not available in the form requested.
Any estimate of the number of carers of disabled people has to make certain assumptions on the amount of care provided. The 1985 general household survey suggested that there were 1.4 million adults in Great Britain caring for disabled people for at least 20 hours a week.
The numbers of carers in Great Britain in receipt of invalid care allowance (which is intended for people who forgo work opportunities to care for an attendance allowance recipient for at least 35 hours a week) was 119,000 on 30 June 1989. On 31 May 1989, 23,000 people were receiving income support who were also receiving invalid care allowance, or whose partners were.
A report based on research commissioned by the Department into the effectiveness of invalid care allowance as an income maintenance benefit is expected to be published in the next few months.
PRIME MINISTER
Engagements
Mr. Rathbone : To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 18 October.
Mr. Harry Greenway : To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 18 October.
Mr. Pike : To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 18 October.
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 18 October.
The Prime Minister : This morning I presided at a meeting of the Cabinet and had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others. In addition to my duties in this House, I shall be having further meetings later today.
Separate Assessment
Q54. Sir David Price : To ask the Prime Minister if she will now introduce legislation to ensure that husbands and wives are assessed separately for social security and community charge.
The Prime Minister : No. All the income-related benefits including community charge benefit, follow the principle that couples share their income and capital resources, and their claims for benefit are assessed jointly. The Government believe that it is right for couples to share the responsibility of running their homes and paying their bills. There is no good reason why community charge benefit should differ from other income- related benefits in this respect.
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Macclesfield
Q169. Mr. Winterton : To ask the Prime Minister whether she has any plans to visit Macclesfield.
The Prime Minister : I have at present no plans to do so.
United Nations
Q172. Mr. Cryer : To ask the Prime Minister when she next expects to pay an official visit to the United Nations.
The Prime Minister : I visited the United Nations earlier this month. I have at present no plans for a further visit.
Child Benefit
Mr. Peter Bottomley : To ask the Prime Minister if she will estimate what proportion of (a) the value of personal tax allowances of people under retirement age, (b) the value of mortgage interest tax relief of people under retirement age and (c) child benefit goes to individuals or families with incomes of more than £20,000 a year.
The Prime Minister : The latest estimates in respect of 1990-91 are as follows :
Percentage benefiting single people or married couples
with incomes
over £20,000
|Percentage
----------------------------------------------------------
(a) Personal tax allowances<1> |35
(b) Mortgage interest tax relief<1> |50
(c) Child benefit |35
<1> The percentages benefiting individual taxpayers with
incomes over £20,000 are 20 per cent. and 30 per cent.
for (a) and (b) respectively.
Family Income
Mr. Peter Bottomley : To ask the Prime Minister if she will give updated estimates of the cost of achieving a £2 post-tax increase in the income of a two-child family by (a) increasing child benefit, (b) increasing the married man's allowance and (c) increasing the average level of male earnings.
The Prime Minister : Increasing the average level of earnings depends on the performance of the economy, as indeed does any general improvement in living standards. The estimated direct costs of increasing child benefit or the married couples' allowance to give an additional £2 per week to most two-child families are as follows, but it should be noted that the increase in income a family derives from them depends also on its individual circumstances.
(a) an increase in child benefit of £1 a week would have a gross cost of around £630 million a year.
(b) Increasing the married couple's allowance (together with the additional personal allowance) by £416 would have a gross cost of around £1,150 million a year.
Child Allowance
Mr. Peter Bottomley : To ask the Prime Minister (1) if it remains her policy that the level of the child cash allowance may still be dealt with in the Budget :
(2) if, while retaining the Department of Social Security to administer the child allowance scheme, she will limit the responsibility for determining the level of the child cash allowance to the Chancellor of the Exchequer and herself.
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The Prime Minister : The Social Security Act 1986 requires the Secretary of State for Social Security to review the level of child benefit each year having regard to the national economic situation and any other matters which he considers relevant. This duty is most appropriately discharged as part of the annual review of social security matters.Electoral Registration
Mr. Allen : To ask the Prime Minister what is the current level of electoral registration ; and what steps Her Majesty's Government proposes to increase the level of electoral registration before the closing date for entries.
The Prime Minister : The numbers of parliamentaryelec tors on the 1990 electoral register for each part of the United Kingdom, together with the corresponding figures for 1989, are given in the table. The Home Office has continued to assist electoral registration officers in their statutory duty of preparing the electoral register in a number of ways. It has again this year conducted a nationwide advertising campaign designed to encourage people to complete and return the electoral registration form ; and has produced publicity and an explanatory leaflet aimed at encouraging young people to register.
Research into the working methods of electoral registration officers is undertaken annually, and the results are used to inform Home Office guidance on best practice. It also amends and improves the electoral registration form, form A, where necessary, and is producing revised and updated practice notes for electoral registration officers. The most recent of these covers the effective use, at each stage of the compilation of the electoral register, of the electoral registration officer's statutory right of access to the community charge register.
Parliamentary electors
|1989 |1990
--------------------------------------------------
England |36,365,916|36,388,575
Wales |2,194,625 |2,207,542
Scotland |3,932,911 |3,936,704
Northern Ireland |1,120,508 |1,130,602
China
Mr. Sedgemore : To ask the Prime Minister if she has any plans to discuss with her European Economic Community counterparts the normalisation of relations with China ; and if she will make a statement.
The Prime Minister : Policy towards China has been regularly discussed within the Community and the measures adopted last year have been kept under review. We have been advocating for some time a steady resumption of normal relations. The subject is likely to be discussed again at the meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council on 22-23 October.
Mr. Sedgemore : To ask the Prime Minister if she has any plans to allow her Ministers to resume normal visits to China ; and if she will make a statement.
The Prime Minister : I hope that we can agree shortly with our Community partners on a steady resumption of normal Ministerial visits to and from China. Our partners have of course also always accepted our special need to maintain contact with China over Hong Kong.
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Mr. Sedgemore : To ask the Prime Minister if she has any plans to seek to persuade the International Monetary Fund and World Bank to resume normal lending to China ; and if she will make a statement.
The Prime Minister : China has not sought recently to borrow from the IMF. We fully supported the decision taken at the Houston economic summit in July to consider World Bank loans to China that would contribute to the reform of the Chinese economy, especially loans that would address environmental concerns.
WALES
Industrial Development
Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will convene a conference at Mold, Clwyd, to consider future industrial development in north-east Wales with Clwyd local authorities, the Confederation of British Industry, the Trades Union Congress and others.
Mr. David Hunt : No. Ministers held extensive consultations with local authorities and the representative bodies prior to the publication last December of the document "A55 : The Road of Opportunity", which sets out a range of policies and proposals to ensure the future success of North Wales.
Land Sales
Mr. Alan Williams : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many representations he has received opposing the sale of the Llwyn Mawr site owned by West Glamorgan county council.
Mr. Grist : Since he issued the direction to the county council on 22 August, my right hon. Friend has received 27 letters and one petition.
Mr. Alan Williams : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many representations he received, and how many were from developers, asking him to require West Glamorgan county council to sell the Llwyn Mawr site ; and on what dates these representations were received.
Mr. Grist : My right hon. Friend received one representation from a private developer on 20 April 1988 requesting that a direction be served on West Glamorgan county council to sell the land.
Mr. Alan Williams : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales in how many cases since June 1979 his Department has instructed an education authority to sell land being held for future school development.
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