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Baltic States
Dr. Thomas : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make it his policy to support the request by the three Baltic states to be given observer status at the forthcoming CSCE conference in Paris.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : We welcomed the decision of the French Government to invite representatives of the Baltic states to attend the CSCE summit as "distinguished guests". We look forward to a time when it will be possible for the Baltic states to participate in the CSCE process as full members. However, membership and observer status are open only to states internationally recognised as such. The Baltic states are not recognised as independent states.
Soviet Union
Ms. Quin : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if his Department intends to take steps to provide any urgent economic assistance for the Soviet Union to counteract shortages of food and consumer goods ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : We are already offering the Soviet Union assistance in introducing economic reform, in particular through our know- how fund. We have not yet received a specific request for humanitarian assistance from the Soviet Union. We shall continue to pay very close attention to the Soviet Union's economic difficulties, and are sure that the EC would consider any justified request for humanitarian aid urgently and sympathetically.
Romania
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Government of Romania concerning claims that political prisoners, confined to mental institutions by the late President Ceausescu, have not yet been released.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : We are aware of a recent television report to this effect, but the British embassy in Bucharest has not been able to provide further information. If the hon. Member will share with us any evidence he may have, we shall consider it with a view to taking up the matter with the Romanian authorities.
Iraq (Hostages)
Ms. Quin : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is his Department's policy towards the sending of gifts by friends and relatives to hostages in Iraq.
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Mr. Douglas Hogg : We are in touch with the British Red Cross Society, which hopes to arrange for Red Cross parcels to be sent by families in the United Kingdom to the detainees in Iraq. Our embassy in Baghdad has been sending local comfort parcels to detainees in Iraq and these are beginning to get through. The United Kingdom has suspended postal services to Iraq in order to implement sanctions imposed by UN Security Council resolution 661.SCOTLAND
Civil Defence
Mr. Bill Michie : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many civil servants are currently employed (a) full time and (b) part time by his Department on civil defence ; what the total costs of employing staff on civil defence duties were in 1989-90 ; what the total costs of employing staff on civil defence duties are expected to be in 1990-91 ; and whether he has any plans for these staff to be transferred to work on other duties.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : Information on manpower and employment costs is set out in the table :
|Numbers
|and costs
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Number of full-time staff employed on 16 November
1990 |15
Number of part-time staff employed on 16 November
1990 |16
Total cost 1989-90 |£316,974
Estimated total cost 1990-91 |£302,848
The staff shown as part time undertake civil defence duties as part of their wider emergency planning responsibilities. In addition some staff in the Scottish Office directorate of telecommunications are similarly involved in emergency planning work.
My right hon. and learned Friend together with the Home Secretary announced on 16 October a review of the options for the future of civil defence arrangements in the light of east-west relations. Future levels of expenditure on civil defence will depend on the outcome of that review.
Conservation
Mr. Macdonald : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether his proposal to create a Scottish Natural Heritage Agency includes a proposal to house the Scottish Nature Conservancy Council and Countryside Commission for Scotland in a single headquarters building.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : The Government stated that there should be one headquarters at section III, paragraph 23 of the consultation paper "Scotland's Natural Heritage : The Way Ahead".
Housing
Mr. Maxton : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many new dwellings were started by each district and islands council in each year since 1979 to the latest available date.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : The information is set out in the table :
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New dwellings started by local authority
1979 to June 1990
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Borders
Berwickshire |27 |2 |- |- |15 |26 |24 |15 |33 |- |- |-
Ettrick and Lauderdale |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
Roxburgh |16 |7 |52 |34 |42 |12 |- |8 |50 |- |<1> |<1>
Tweeddale |48 |8 |10 |- |- |- |- |12 |44 |4 |4 |8
Central
Clackmannan |64 |- |- |- |1 |23 |30 |- |18 |17 |- |-
Falkirk |51 |24 |68 |40 |39 |144 |40 |95 |17 |- |- |-
Stirling |126 |70 |14 |37 |2 |10 |6 |- |- |- |- |-
Dumfries and Galloway
Annandale and Eskdale |202 |118 |94 |173 |178 |4 |48 |46 |16 |51 |36 |24
Nithsdale |61 |63 |28 |28 |- |68 |74 |76 |58 |88 |20 |26
Stewartry |42 |7 |63 |65 |64 |- |62 |6 |16 |46 |34 |-
Wigtown |93 |22 |68 |64 |78 |28 |- |46 |14 |26 |- |5
Fife
Dunfermline |101 |18 |83 |101 |14 |24 |190 |56 |133 |36 |- |-
Kirkcaldy |56 |56 |61 |13 |121 |73 |85 |98 |221 |86 |34 |28
North East Fife |71 |142 |35 |118 |74 |43 |22 |67 |18 |19 |20 |<1>37
Grampian
Aberdeen |440 |243 |63 |121 |75 |103 |81 |91 |185 |35 |12 |97
Banff and Buchan |156 |300 |110 |155 |127 |129 |52 |45 |91 |65 |- |19
Gordon |- |22 |99 |146 |129 |72 |61 |171 |47 |145 |80 |72
Kincardine and Deeside |- |10 |70 |54 |56 |38 |153 |43 |140 |19 |42 |52
Moray |527 |211 |96 |211 |100 |47 |76 |71 |161 |78 |75 |12
Highland
Badenoch and Strathspey |28 |41 |54 |38 |16 |16 |- |13 |- |12 |11 |-
Caithness |74 |30 |- |14 |71 |- |17 |39 |24 |27 |10 |-
Inverness |113 |38 |68 |56 |80 |89 |129 |34 |65 |71 |75 |30
Lochaber |90 |- |18 |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
Nairn |- |- |- |- |- |23 |21 |6 |16 |28 |- |20
Ross and Cromarty |81 |79 |23 |35 |69 |25 |26 |43 |39 |28 |29 |<1>9
Skye and Lochalsh |25 |9 |13 |- |16 |8 |52 |12 |8 |61 |4 |14
Sutherland |26 |9 |12 |34 |11 |29 |8 |35 |34 |48 |28 |<1>
Lothian
East Lothian |31 |- |17 |137 |21 |95 |39 |40 |57 |68 |- |25
Edinburgh |35 |110 |- |- |- |- |- |115 |107 |154 |- |-
Midlothian |24 |- |- |- |- |7 |- |14 |- |12 |- |9
West Lothian |- |- |- |2 |- |- |- |- |91 |- |- |-
Strathclyde
Argyll and Bute |67 |47 |58 |- |94 |- |- |73 |41 |- |26 |10
Bearsden and Milngavie |76 |- |56 |12 |- |16 |- |35 |6 |- |6 |-
Clydebank |106 |23 |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
Clydesdale |22 |34 |33 |20 |14 |4 |29 |1 |24 |11 |38 |1
Cumbernauld and Kilsyth |32 |3 |- |16 |8 |- |- |6 |- |- |- |-
Cumnock and Doon Valley 77 4 8 - 12 2 - 6 4 - - -
Cunninghame |54 |60 |29 |74 |58 |47 |48 |22 |23 |31 |29 |<1>
Dumbarton |8 |- |- |- |- |- |6 |18 |8 |18 |- |-
East Kilbride |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
Eastwood |- |3 |14 |- |36 |40 |1 |14 |58 |- |35 |-
Glasgow |777 |227 |- |94 |118 |- |49 |- |- |- |- |-
Hamilton |131 |22 |100 |116 |52 |83 |- |- |43 |18 |- |-
Kilmarnock and Loudoun |40 |- |- |12 |21 |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
Kyle and Carrick |127 |17 |96 |20 |64 |34 |59 |11 |36 |13 |30 |-
Monklands |21 |32 |- |48 |30 |- |- |- |51 |5 |- |<1>
Motherwell |209 |26 |42 |8 |- |- |36 |- |- |- |- |-
Renfrew |89 |212 |71 |148 |- |22 |10 |64 |27 |- |- |-
Strathkelvin |- |40 |- |- |19 |- |24 |13 |- |- |- |-
Tayside
Angus |13 |- |6 |40 |46 |29 |83 |48 |65 |53 |50 |12
Dundee |83 |82 |84 |49 |8 |56 |3 |4 |1 |- |5 |<1>
Perth and Kinross |65 |114 |37 |118 |75 |174 |- |- |- |- |- |-
Islands Councils
Orkney Islands |17 |28 |- |43 |8 |14 |4 |11 |37 |14 |38 |15
Shetland Islands |136 |66 |30 |49 |23 |30 |4 |36 |4 |36 |<1>24 |<1>
Western Isles |88 |91 |28 |42 |56 |4 |41 |12 |14 |10 |2 |-
<1>Returns are incomplete.
Dyslexia
Mr. Robert Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if his Department accepts dyslexia as a condition requiring specialist education ; which regional education departments recognise dyslexia as a condition requiring specialist education ; which regional education departments provide in-house specialised education for dyslexic children ; which regional education departments send children to private schools specialising in education for dyslexic children ; and which specialist private schools are registered with his Department as establishments which provide specialist dyslexic education.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : The term dyslexia denotes specific learning difficulties which may cause a child to have special educational needs. It is the responsibility of education authorities to provide for such needs, which they may do in mainstream schools, special units or special schools, including independent special schools. The other information requested is not available.
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Property Law
Mr. Maclennan : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he anticipates receiving the report of the Scottish Law Commission following its review of property law in Scotland.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : The preparation of the Scottish Law Commission's report on land tenure reform will be preceded during the course of 1991 by a discussion paper and subsequent public consultation.
Student Unions
Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) on what grounds the press release on student unions issued by his Department on Friday 16 November was withdrawn ;
(2) who instructed the withdrawal of the press release on student unions issued by his Department on Friday 16 November ;
(3) what were the differences between the press releases on student unions issued on Friday 16 November and Sunday 18 November.
Mr. Rifkind : A news release about consultation on student unions, the text of which was still under
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consideration, was issued prematurely on Friday 16 November. It was withdrawn under established procedure as soon as the error became apparent, and the final version was issued on Sunday 18 November.Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he intends to introduce legislation following the consultation on student unions.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : My right hon. and learned Friend has no plans to do so.
Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he will make available the responses to his first series of consultations about student unions in Scotland.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : A copy of the publication "Student Union Survey : Analysis" was placed in the House Library last year.
Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether the consultation proposed on student unions includes discussion on freedom of speech.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : The scope of the proposed consultation has yet to be decided.
Public Sector Tenants (Property Purchases)
Mr. Canavan : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland which housing authorities and housing associations operate a
Government-assisted financial incentive scheme to encourage tenants to buy homes in the private sector in order to release rented accommodation for other people ; and if he will give details of any such schemes and the legislation under which they operate.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : Section 66 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 1988 makes provision for local authorities to draw up schemes, for the approval of my right hon. and learned Friend, to offer payments to assist tenants to obtain accommodation in the private sector. This releases council housing for letting to homeless or others in housing need. There is no requirement on local authorities to draw up such schemes.
Bearsden and Milngavie district council is the first local authority in Scotland to receive approval to operate a cash incentive scheme. The council has allocated £100,000 towards the scheme which commenced on 1 September 1990 and will offer qualifying tenants up to £10,000 towards the purchase of alternative property. A further three authorities have submitted proposals to operate such schemes and these are currently under consideration.
The tenants' incentive scheme available to housing associations is operated by Scottish Homes under section 2(2) of the Housing (Scotland) Act 1988. I have asked the chairman of Scottish Homes to write direct to the hon. Member giving details of the scheme.
DEFENCE
NATO
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the United Kingdom's involvement in NATO's guerrilla resistance organisation ; and whether he has any plans to launch an investigation into its operations along the lines of those set up by the Belgian and Italian Governments.
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Mr. Archie Hamilton : It is not the Government's practice to comment on such questions.
The Gulf
Mr. David Nicholson : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what representations he has had, from hon. Members and others, about delays in despatching mail to Her Majesty's forces in the Gulf ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : No formal representations have been received from hon. Members or others about delays in despatching mail to Her Majesty's forces in the Gulf. Under the forces postal concessionary scheme letters and packets are automatically sent by air, currently arriving within about five days. Under the same scheme, parcels are transported by air on a fill-up basis, currently arriving within about 10 days.
Mr. Winnick : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what facilities will be provided for allied troops in Saudi Arabia to celebrate Christmas ; and if he is satisfied that religious practices can be observed by the troops stationed in that country.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : Arrangements are being made to ensure that our forces will be able to celebrate Christmas and the new year properly, subject to the need to maintain military preparedness. Arrangements are always made for the pastoral and spiritual support of United Kingdom forces.
Mr. Amess : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the further deployment of British forces to the Gulf.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : I refer my hon. Friend to the statement made by my right hon. Friend today.
Tornado
Mr. Jack : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the present situation of and progress towards the weapons enhancement project for the Tornado F3.
Mr. Alan Clark : A feasibility study into a possible weapons system upgrade for the Tornado F3 has been undertaken. This study is now under consideration.
Ulster Defence Regiment
Mr. Maginnis : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proposals are in hand to close some Ulster Defence Regiment company bases ; and what consideration he has given to the social implications of such proposals.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The requirement for all military bases in Northern Ireland is kept under review to ensure that resources are used to the best effect in dealing with the terrorist threat. Before any decision is reached in respect of a particular base all relevant factors are taken into account.
Territorial Army
Mr. John Morris : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proposals have been made regarding the amalgamation of the Territorial Army district covering all
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Wales with the north-west of England, and who he will consult before further consideration is given to this proposal.Mr. Archie Hamilton : We have no plans to reorganise the Territorial Army regions. Regarding the review of the United Kingdom land forces district structure, I refer the right hon. and learned Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Brecon and Radnor (Mr. Livsey) on 20 November at column 80.
Aldershot Military Hospital
Dr. Thomas : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the total cost of relocating the staff and facilities from the Aldershot military hospital to the field hospital at Jubayl in Saudi Arabia ; and how many (a) surgeons and (b) anaesthetists have been relocated.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : Information on the costs of deploying staff and facilities from the Cambridge military hospital Aldershot to the field hospital at Jubayl in Saudi Arabia is not currently available. Five surgeons and five anaesthetists from the Cambridge military hospital Aldershot have been deployed to Jubayl.
Air-to-Surface Missile
Mr. Cartwright : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he expects to decide between the various options for the tactical air-to- surface missile.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : Our consideration of the various options is continuing. The House will be informed as soon as a decision is taken.
Service Discipline
Mr. O'Neill : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether he will place in the Library copies of the most recently published leaflets which each of the three services makes available to those charged under the Service Discipline Acts.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : Copies of the most recently published leaflets which each of the three services makes available to those charged under the Service Discipline Acts have been placed in the Library of the House.
Training
Mr. O'Neill : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what information is made available to service personnel who are due to leave the services regarding training opportunities available from non-Ministry of Defence organisations.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : Information about pre-release training in the form of external courses sponsored by the Ministry of Defence and attachments to outside organisations is available for resettlement officers ; the service resettlement bulletins published about six times a year ; a Defence Council instruction issued each year, giving details of the programme of briefings and courses for the following 12 months ; and other internal newsletters and publications. Additionally a range of post-release training options is available to former service personnel, including Government-sponsored courses. Information about these is included in the Training Agency booklet
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"Employment Training for Ex-Regulars", copies of which are held by resettlement officers, who are responsible for making personnel aware of its contents. Finally, all personnel attending their final resettlement interview receive copies of the booklet "Employment in Civilian Life" and officers also receive a booklet entitled "Leaving the Services". These booklets, which are both published by the Employment Service, include chapters on occupational training.Ethnic Minorities
Mr. O'Neill : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps have been taken in the last year to include a more positive image of ethnic minorities in recruitment advertising to the services.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : We have included more photographs of ethnic minority personnel in a wider diversity of circumstances in our recruitment advertising and given greater prominence to the fact that the armed forces are equal opportunity employers under the terms of the Race Relations Act.
Mr. O'Neill : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what additional training has been given in the last year to recruitment officers to increase the number of applicants from ethnic minorities into the services.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : As part of the wide range of measures now being taken to attract more recruits from the ethnic minorities, the Army and RAF have in the course of this year introduced race relations and cultural awareness into the training syllabus for their recruiting staff. The Navy will introduce similar training in the new year.
NORTHERN IRELAND
Single European Market
Mr. Jack : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what initiatives his Department is following to ensure that Northern Ireland industry is able to respond to the completion of the single European market in 1992.
Mr. Needham : The Department has a whole series of initiatives to assist Northern Ireland businesses compete in the single market.
Security
Mr. A. Cecil Walker : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what further steps he proposes to improve the security situation in north Belfast.
Mr. Cope : The Secretary of State and I have regular and frequent meetings with our security advisers to discuss security not only in north Belfast but in Northern Ireland as a whole. New security measures are constantly being explored and where they are considered practical they are implemented.
Flags
20. Mr. John D. Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many persons have received damages arising from the distress caused by (a) the flying
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of the Union flag at their place of work and (b) the flying of the Southern Irish tricolour at their place of work in each of the past three years.Mr. Cope : I am not aware of any individual having received damages or claiming damages from distress as a result of flag flying at his workplace.
Planning
21. Mr. Clifford Forsythe : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans he has to restore planning decisions to democratically elected representatives on district councils.
Dr. Mawhinney : The Government have no plans at present to restore responsibility for planning decisions to district councils. However, we remain ready to consider any proposals for transferring political power, authority and responsibility to locally elected
representatives in Northern Ireland on a basis which would be likely to prove widely acceptable.
Political Development
22. Mr. Maclennan : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the progress of his consultations on political development.
Mr. Brooke : I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave earlier today to my hon. Friend the Member for Beverley (Mr. Cran).
Colin Wallace
23. Mr. Campbell-Savours : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether he will make it his policy to provide all information required by the Select Committee on Defence in the carrying out of its inquiries into the affairs of Colin Wallace.
Mr. Cope : We would naturally give all appropriate assistance to the Committee in response to any inquiries which it may make in connection with Colin Wallace.
Students
24. Mr. Beggs : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many Northern Ireland students were successful in obtaining places in (a) Queen's university and (b) the university of Ulster for the academic courses commencing 1990 ; and how many unsuccessful applicants have been accepted into courses in universities, polytechnics and so on, in Great Britain commencing in the current year.
Dr. Mawhinney : Provisional figures for the 1990-91 academic year show that the number of Northern Ireland students who obtained places in Northern Ireland universities was as follows :
|number
-----------------------------------
Queen's University |3,600
University of Ulster |4,944
Information is not available on the destinations of applicants who were unsuccessful in gaining a place in Northern Ireland universities.
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Armagh UDR
25. Mr. Trimble : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether he has received any representations in respect of the four Armagh Ulster Defence Regiment men.
EMPLOYMENT
Youth Training Scheme
Mr. Tony Lloyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will provide details of the scheme-by-scheme ethnic monitoring statistics for the youth training scheme for each year since 1984 until the most recent date in the following areas : Manchester Central, Manchester East and Manchester North.
Mr. Jackson : The information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Offshore Oil Installations
Mr. Tony Lloyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what discussions he has had with the director-general of the Health and Safety Executive about organisational changes necessary to accommodate the transfer of responsibility for offshore oil installations ; what conclusions were reached ; and what extra financial resources will now be made available for each financial year for which plans have been made.
Mr. Forth : I refer the hon. Member to the statement my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Energy made to the House on 12 November, regarding the transfer of responsibilities for offshore oil installations to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). The commission has already confirmed its acceptance of the transfer, and preparatory work is now proceeding in my Department, the Departments of Energy and Transport and in the HSE to ensure that the transfer is completed as efficiently and speedily as possible. No detailed decisions have yet been made on the question of appropriate resources. But, as my right hon. Friend assured the House in his statement, offshore safety will not be sacrificed through lack of resources.
Foreign Domestic Servants
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what representations he has received about the treatment of foreign domestic servants employed in the United Kingdom ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Forth : Ministers in both this Department and the Home Office have received representations and recognise the concern that reports of abuse cause in this country. The Home Office carried out a review earlier this year of the exceptional arrangements outside the immigration rules and the work permit scheme under which a domestic servant who has worked abroad for an employer who comes to the United Kingdom can be admitted to work for him. The outcome of this review was announced in another place by my noble Friend Lord Ferrers in reply to a question from Lord Hylton on 24 July at columns 1449-50. It is hoped that the new arrangements can be implemented soon.
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Equal Opportunities
Ms. Richardson : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment (1) what steps he is taking to clarify employment rights and employment-related benefits to women who work between the ages of 60 and 65 years in view of the recent settlement by Barclays bank ; and if he will make a statement ;
(2) what assessment he has made of the implications for women in work between the ages of 60 and 65 years and their employers in view of the recent settlement by Barclays bank ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Jackson : The Barclays bank case related to dismissal. The Sex Discrimination Act 1975, as amended by the Sex Discrimination Act 1986, makes it unlawful for employers to set different compulsory retirement ages for men and women in comparable positions. It is for the courts to interpret the law as it applies to the facts of a particular case and we do not consider that any action is called for.
Subject to the law, terms and conditions of employment, including retirement age, are matters for agreement between employers and employees.
Disabled People
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what were the percentages of disabled staff employed in (a) his Department and (b) other Government Departments in each of the past 10 years.
Mr. Jackson : The percentages of registered disabled staff in the civil service are set out in the table for the years for which records are available. In 1990 the Department of Employment group employed 3.2 per cent. registered disabled. The Office of the Minister for the Civil Service publishes these figures annually in "Independent" magazine, which is in the Library. Registration is voluntary and Departments employ people with disabilities who are not registered.
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