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Written Answers to Questions
Friday 26 October 1990
EDUCATION AND SCIENCE
Local Management of Schools
Mr. Jack : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is his assessment of the impact on local government expenditure if all the primary and secondary schools now allowed to opt out did so.
Mr. Eggar : The impact would depend on what changes were made to the arrangements for funding grant-maintained schools.
HOME DEPARTMENT
Special Constables
Mr. Lawrence : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is Her Majesty's Government's policy towards special constables ; and what have been the difficulties in the implementation of that policy.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : Our policy is to encourage chief officers of police to increase the numbers of special constables and to deploy them, after suitable training, on interesting and challenging duties in support of the regular police. Over the past 10 years there has been a decline in the number of special constables, but we hope to redress this through a national publicity campaign starting in 1991 and extending over the next three years.
Mr. Lawrence : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many special constables there are at present ; how many there have been in each of the past 10 years ; and how many there are expected to be over the next five years.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : At the end of 1989 there were 15,589 special constables in England and Wales. The numbers enrolled on 31 December of each year from 1980 were as follows :
|Special
|constables
---------------------------------
1980 |15,108
1981 |14,978
1982 |15,160
1983 |15,331
1984 |16,021
1985 |16,161
1986 |16,070
1987 |16,209
1988 |15,788
It is not possible to predict the number of special constables for the next five years but we shall be launching a national publicity campaign in 1991 with the aim of increasing the numbers.
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Civil Servants
Ms. Richardson : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many civil servants are employed by his Department at each grade ; and how many in each grade are women.
Mr. Waddington : The Home Office employs some 42,000 non-industrial staff in more than 150 grades. The information requested is therefore provided in the table by occupational group. Each occupational group comprises staff in a number of grades dealing with similar work.
Females
Group or class |Total |Number |Per cent.
|staff
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Administration Group |9,189 |5,363 |58
Cleaners |131 |126 |96
Immigration Service |2,025 |526 |26
Instructional Officer Class |1,050 |112 |11
Medical Officer |227 |23 |10
Messenger Grades |323 |201 |62
Paperkeeper Grades |172 |123 |71
Personal Secretary Class |417 |416 |99
Prison Officer Grades |3,614 |482 |13
Prison Service |21,215 |1,367 |6
Professional and Technical
Officer Group |414 |10 |2
Science Group |661 |222 |34
Typing Class |814 |809 |99
Nursing Grades |140 |134 |96
Reprographics Class |44 |30 |68
Information Officer Group |36 |18 |50
Psychologist Class |93 |53 |57
Other |1,871 |274 |15
|------- |------- |-------
Total |42,436 |10,289 |24
Prison Population
Miss Lestor : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what information he has on the percentage of the prison population, according to latest available figures (a) under the age of 21 years and (b) under the age of 18 years in (i) the United Kingdom, (ii) France, (iii) Germany, (iv) Italy, (v) Spain and the Republic of Ireland, (vi) Belgium, (vii) Denmark, (viii) Greece, (ix) Luxembourg, (x) the Netherlands and (xi) Portugal.
Mrs. Rumbold : The information requested is published twice a year by the Council of Europe in its prison information bulletin. The latest information, for 1 September 1988, is given in the table and appears in table 1 of issue No. 12, a copy of which is held in the Library. The information for Denmark and West Germany is not available. The proportion of the prison population aged under 21 in England and Wales has subsequently fallen to 21 per cent. on 31 August 1990.
An article on "International comparisons of prison populations" by Collier and Tarling (Home Office research bulletin No. 23, pages 48 to 54) showed that the figures for different countries are unlikely to be strictly comparable because the definitions of prisons and prisoners vary from one country to another, reflecting different legal and administrative systems. Examples of differences in the definitions are the inclusion or exclusion in a country's figures of juvenile offenders and mentally disordered offenders.
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Proportion of prison population under selected ages
held in the custody of the prison administrations
of selected member states of the Council of Europe
on 1 September 1988
Percentage
Member state |Proportion
|in age
|group
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Aged under 18
Belgium
Italy |1
England and Wales<1><2> |1
Aged under 21
France |12
Greece |6
Ireland |29
Luxembourg |5
Portugal |10
Spain |8
United Kingdom<1>
of which: |23
England and
Wales<1> |23
Aged under 23
Netherlands |15
<1>Includes those in police cells.
<2>Proportion on 30 June 1988.
Source: Council of Europe.
Marital Rape
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he has any plans to bring in legislation to make it a criminal offence for men to rape their wives.
Mr. John Patten : The Law Commission is reviewing the law in this area in conjunction with its work on domestic violence. I understand that it plans to publish a consultation paper next month. We shall consider any final recommendations the Law Commission may make.
Broadcasting Bill
Mr. Corbett : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many representations in writing he has received (a) criticising, (b) opposing or expressing reservations and (c) supporting his announcement on 4 September that the Government intend to ask the Commons to overturn amendments to the Broadcasting Bill passed by the House of Lords concerning the inclusion in the quality threshold documentaries of programmes with an educational purpose and social action programmes ; and if he will list the persons and organisations from whom representations were received.
Mr. Mellor : I have been asked to reply.
By Tuesday 23 October 1990 the Home Office and the Office of Arts and Libraries had received about 120 representations from members of the public or organisations urging us not to seek to reverse these amendments.
Daylight Saving
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to report his conclusions and recommendation on the consultation on possible changes in time to produce daylight saving.
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Mrs. Rumbold : The views expressed in response to the Green Paper "Summer Time--A Consultation Document" (Cm 722) disclosed a considerable difference of opinion in the United Kingdom. The Government have not yet reached a decision on what further action might be taken.
Conservative Party Conference
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what were the total policing costs arising from the Conservative party conference in Bournemouth ; and what proportion of the cost will be met by the local authorities in Bournemouth.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : I understand from the chief constable of Dorset that the additional costs of policing the 1990 Conservative party conference in Bournemouth were estimated at £2 million. The additional costs of policing will be met by the Dorset police authority. Under the normal police funding arrangements, the Government contribute both directly through police grant--which is at 51 per cent.--and indirectly through revenue support grant.
TRANSPORT
Roll-on Roll-off Ferries
Mr. Spearing : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what approaches he has made to the International Maritime Organisation, Lloyd's of London, or other similar insurance markets concerning minimum safety standards of construction and operation of roll-on roll-off ferries or similar ships and where details of such communications may be found ; if he will consider setting a date by which a programme of rising standards can be applied to all such ships arriving at or departing from British ports ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. McLoughlin : Amendments to the international convention for the safety of life at sea 1974, proposed by the United Kingdom in 1987-- concerning safety standards for the construction and operation of ro-ro ferries are now in force. In addition, my Department is urgently seeking agreement at the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) to higher residual stability standards for existing ferries. The standard proposed is that which came into force earlier this year for new passenger ships. The time scale for implementation within the proposed amendment is three years. I will place copies of the paper to IMO in the House Library.
Approaches to improve ferry safety have also been made to our near European maritime neighbours.
British Rail
Mr. Wray : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list his Department's statutory responsibilities to overview and control the operations of British Rail trains especially those concerning their (a) safety, (b) availability of proper accommodation, (c) cleanliness and (d) punctuality.
Mr. Freeman : The responsibility for running a safe and efficient railway is placed by statute on British Rail. The Secretary of State has powers under the Regulation of Railways Act 1871, the Road and Rail Traffic Act 1933
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and level crossing enactments, relating to the approval and inspection of new works and to the investigation of accidents. The Secretary of State sets British Rail three-year objectives covering financial performance and quality of service on a non-statutory basis, and the Department monitors BR's performance on these matters.MV Derbyshire
Mr. Loyden : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will now initiate an inquiry into the loss of MV Derbyshire ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. McLoughlin : A formal investigation into the loss of the Derbyshire took place between October 1987 and March 1988. New material is now being examined by the marine accident investigation branch. Once it has concluded its investigations, a report will be sent to the Secretary of State. After consideration of that report, he will decide whether or not the formal investigation should be reopened.
Mr. Loyden : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he is now taking to assist the families bereaved after the loss of the MV Derbyshire.
Mr. McLoughlin : I have no plans to offer financial assistance to the dependants of those who were lost in the MV Derbyshire tragedy in 1980.
Pipes and Cables
Sir Trevor Skeet : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to his answer of 23 October to the hon. Member for Bedfordshire, North, what instructions he has given to local authorities about the depositing of pipes and cables in common ducts ; and for what reasons intermittent digging of streets for pipes and cables by a variety of statutory undertakers is permitted.
Mr. Chope : None. It is for local highway authorities to determine whether or not it is feasible or desirable to provide common ducts below streets. The powers of statutory undertakers to break open streets are governed by the Public Utilities Street Works Act 1950, which contains no requirement on highway authorities or undertakers to co-ordinate their digging up of streets. This is a matter we intend to put right in the proposed legislation to implement the recommendations of the Horne report.
Sir Trevor Skeet : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what he estimates to be the cost to local authorities of failing to implement the powers granted to them for rationalising the laying of pipes and cables below ground.
Mr. Chope : It is not possible to make any such estimate.
EMPLOYMENT
Mr. Patrick Sheri
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment whether a work permit was issued to Mr. Patrick Sheri to allow him to perform in the production of "Land of Dreams" broadcast on BBC television on8 August ; and if he will make a statement.
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Mr. Forth : A work permit was not issued in respect of this performance.
HEALTH
Osteoporosis
Mrs. Fyfe : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to fund the development of the new test which identifies women at greatest risk of osteoporosis.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : The Department of Health has commissioned a critical review of screening techniques for detecting osteoporosis. We hope to have the results next year. I understand that the Medical Research Council, which receives its grant in aid from the Department of Education and Science, funds research into biochemical screening techniques for identifying women at greatest risk of osteoporosis.
North East Thames RHA
Mr. Corbyn : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list all land sales approved by his Department by North East Thames regional health authority for each of the last 10 years.
Mr. Dorrell : The Department's approval is not needed for land sales carried out by regional health authorities and the information requested is not held in the Department. The hon. Member may wish to contact the chairman of North East Thames RHA for details.
Community Care
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will set out the finances he proposes to make available to local authorities in England in each year of his timetable for the implementation of those parts of the National Health Service and Community Care Act that relate to the development of community-based care for elderly and disabled people.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : For details of the finance to be made available to local authorities for phase 1 of the implementation of our community care proposals in 1991-92, I refer the hon. Member to the statement my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State made on 18 July at columns 999-1014. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment expects to make an announcement shortly on the local authority grant settlement which will include proposals for standard spending assessments for personal social services. Decisions on resources for phases 2 and 3 will be taken in the appropriate public expenditure survey years.
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will set out his timetable for the implementation of those parts of the National Health Service and Community Care Act that relate to the development of community-based care for elderly and disabled people in England.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : I refer the hon. Member to the statement my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State made on 18 July at columns 999-1014.
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Abortion
Sir Michael McNair-Wilson : To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he will issue guidelines to the medical profession relating to the interpretation of the clause added to the Abortion Bill about the termination of pregnancies where there may be grave permanent injury to the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman or where there is a substantial risk that if the child were born it would suffer from such physical or mental abnormalities as to be seriously handicapped.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : The category of
"substantial risk that if the child were born it would suffer from such physical or mental abnormalities as to be seriously handicapped"
is one of the grounds for abortion in the Abortion Act 1967. The application of that test is, and will remain, a matter of clinical judgment for decision by the two doctors who are required under the Act to form their opinion in good faith. That will also be the case for the new ground
"to prevent grave permanent injury to the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman",
a form of words already specified as a ground for abortion in the emergency provisions in section 1(4) of the 1967 Act.
Residential Home Patients
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he has any proposals to amend local authority regulations concerning the treatment of capital of residents of local authority residential homes to bring them into line with similar regulations for the payment of income support.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : The White Paper, "Caring for People", makes it clear that our intention is to align the local authority charging rules for residential care with those for the treatment of resources, both income and capital, under the income support scheme. The details of the alignment have yet to be worked out.
WALES
Community Care
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will set out the finances he proposes to make available to local authorities in Wales in each year of his timetable for the implementation of those parts of the National Health Service and Community Care Act that relate to the development of community-based care for elderly and disabled people in Wales.
Mr. Grist : The cost of implementing the first stage of the changes in 1991-92 has been taken into account in the figures for the revenue support grant settlement announced in July. The indicative amount for local authority expenditure on personal social services will be announced later in the year, along with the level of specific grant for community care training and support purposes. In addition, central expenditure of £330,000 is planned for 1991-92 for the continuation of demonstration projects on assessment and care management begun in 1990-91 with a similar level of central expenditure.
The allocation of earmarked central resources in respect of bids for schemes to promote more flexible forms of community care for elderly people and those with physical or sensory disabilities will be announced in January 1991.
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For future years central support for local authority expenditure will be determined as part of each year's local authority revenue settlement and the public expenditure survey. The level of resources to be transferred from social security programmes to the local authorities in 1993-94 to enable them to carry out the full range of their new responsibilities for assessment and the procurement of care will be determined in the 1992 public expenditure survey.Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will set out his timetable for the implementation of those parts of the National Health Service and Community Care Act that relate to the development of community-based care for the elderly and disabled people in Wales.
Mr. Grist : I refer the hon. Gentleman to the statement made by my right hon. Friend on 18 July and the detailed programme of implementation sent to him under cover of the Department's letter of 10 September--a copy of which was placed in the Library of the House.
ENVIRONMENT
London Docklands Development Corporation
Mr. Leighton : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how much the London Docklands development corporation has spent on infrastructure in the area of the Royal Docks since its inception ; and how much further it is committed to spend.
Mr. Portillo : The London Docklands development corporation has spent from 1981 to the end of September 1990 £222 million on infrastructure in the royal docks area. A further £28 million is committed. The corporation is also funding the DLR Beckton extension estimated to cost £248 million, most of which falls in the royal docks area.
Mr. Leighton : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how much of the memorandum of agreement between the London Docklands development corporation and the Newham borough council has been carried out ; and what remains to be carried out.
Mr. Portillo : I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him on 5 April 1990 by my hon. Friend the Member for Lewisham, East (Mr. Moynihan) at column 777.
Over £26 million has now been spent on the projects which were listed in that reply.
Of the projects originally identified as possible in the memorandum, 12 have been completed or started, or will start this financial year and two are contingent on the content of future development yet to be determined.
Mr. Leighton : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how much is in the budget of the London Docklands development corporation for the community services division for the current year ; and what it has been in each of the last five years.
Mr. Portillo : The current budget for the community services division in the financial year 1990-91 is £27 million.
The community services division has existed only since 1988. However, expenditure on community projects in the last five years is as follows :
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|£ million
------------------------------
1989-90 |<1>44
1988-89 |9
1987-88 |5
1986-87 |4
1985-86 |4
<1> This figure includes
£19.8 million for the
development of over 400 new
homes by a consortium of
housing associations at
Winsor Park.
LDDC's major transport programme is also of substantial benefit to local communities.
Golf Courses
Mr. Lee : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on Her Majesty's Government's policy towards the development of new golf courses.
Mr. Michael Spicer : Proposals for the development of new golf courses fall to be considered under normal planning policies. The draft planning policy guidance note on sport and recreation issued on 16 October indicates that sites for recreational use--which could in suitable circumstances include golf courses--may in some areas of the urban fringe act as an important buffer between agricultural and urban uses to protect crops from damage.
River Estuaries
Mr. Sims : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what plans he has to ensure that the needs of conservation are taken into account when considering developments in river estuaries.
Mr. Trippier : The majority of our estuaries encompass areas that are important for nature conservation and which are protected as sites of special scientific interest. Those with the most important bird interest are either designated, or under consideration for designation, as special protection areas under the EEC birds directive. The Department's circular 27/87 advises local planning authorities to take full account of the nature conservation importance of all these areas when considering development proposals.
Drinking Water Inspectorate
Mrs. Ann Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the total cost of employing the two consulting firms, Watson Hawksley and Rofe, Kennard and Lapworth, to assist the drinking water inspectorate by carrying out inspections of 17 water supply companies.
Mr. Trippier : The drinking water inspectorate is currently negotiating consultancy commissions for inspections beyond those already announced. For commercial reasons, it would not be appropriate to reveal costs while negotiations are proceeding.
Water Companies, Southern England
Mr. Onslow : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment which water companies in southern England have not so far imposed a ban on the use of hosepipes during the current year.
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Mr. Trippier : The following water companies in southern England (Bristol to The Wash) have not so far this year imposed a ban on the use of hosepipes in any part of their supply areas :
The Bournemouth and District Water Company,
Cambridge Water Company,
Cholderton and District Water Company Limited,
East Anglian Water Company,
Portsmouth Water plc,
Tendring Hundred Waterworks Company,
Wessex Water Services Limited and
West Hampshire Water Company.
Mr. Onslow : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment which water companies in southern England draw all or most of their supplies from rivers rather than from reservoirs or other sources.
Mr. Trippier : The following water companies in southern England (Bristol to The Wash) draw most of their supplies direct from rivers rather than from reservoirs or other sources :
The Bournemouth and District Water Company,
East Anglian Water Company,
North Surrey Water Company and
West Hampshire Water Company.
Rivers do, of course, feed reservoirs to varying degrees.
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