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Written Answers to Questions
Tuesday 4 December 1990
ENERGY
Mersey Oil Pipeline
Mr. Arbuthnot : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy when he expects to publish the report into the failure of the Mersey oil pipeline.
Mr. Wakeham : I have today published the report, and a copy has been placed in the Library of the House.
PRIME MINISTER
Ministerial Accountability
Mr. Allen : To ask the Prime Minister what proposals he has to improve ministerial accountability to Parliament.
The Prime Minister [holding answer 3 December 1990] : Ministers are already fully accountable to Parliament.
TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Regional Aid
Ms. Quin : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) if his Department plans to make any representations to the European Commission about allowing United Kingdom objective 2 regions to be eligible for assistance under the European Commission's Telematique programme ;
(2) if his Department plans to make any representations to the European Commission about allowing United Kingdom objective 2 regions to be eligible for assistance under the PRISMA initiative.
Mr. Leigh : The European Commission has decided that the proposed Telematique and PRISMA initiatives should be restricted to objective 1 regions, which include Northern Ireland. The Commission's decision took account of the requirement in article 12(5) of Council regulation (EEC) No. 2052/88 about devoting approximately 80 per cent. of the European regional development fund to objective 1. Other Community initiatives, notably RECHAR, apply in objective 2 regions. Commercial opportunities arising from expenditure in objective 1 regions under Telematique and PRISMA will of course be available to companies throughout the United Kingdom.
Ms. Quin : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement about the extent to which United Kingdom regions will benefit from the European Community's STRIDE programme.
Mr. Leigh : The European Commission's STRIDE initiative will provide support from the European Community structural funds for research and development projects and technology transfer in Northern Ireland
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and in objective 2 regions in Great Britain. The Commission has indicated a financial allocation to the United Kingdom of 28 mecu (about £20 million) until 1993.Drambuie Liqueur Company
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will prosecute the directors of the Drambuie Liqueur Company for failure to file up-to-date accounts under sections 242 and 244 of the Companies Act 1985.
Mr. Redwood : The accounts for Drambuie Liqueur Company were received at Companies house on 31 October 1990 ; therefore, section 244 does not apply.
Task Forces
Mr. George Howarth : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list the location and number of task forces which have been set up, together with a list of their functions and budgets.
Mr. Leigh : There are five business task forces located in DTI headquarters divisions. Their functions cover certain specific tasks on commodities and steel, aircraft and aero-engines, shipbuilding, vehicles and market opportunities. The main budgets for which they are responsible are as follows :
|1990-91 |Estimates/ |provision |£ million ----------------------------------------------------------------Development of the EH101 helicopter |12.5 Development of the A330/340 airliners |134.0 (Launch aid levy receipts |73.7) Home shipbuilding credit guarantee scheme |43.5 Shipbuilding intervention fund |25.0 Assistance to redundant steelworkers |16.3 Civil aircraft research and demonstration |25.4
Details of these budgets are set out in the Supply Estimates 1990-91 (class IV Trade and Industry) and in chapter 4 of the "The Government's Expenditure Plans 1990-91 to 1992-93" (Cm 1004). As my Department's contribution to the Government's action for cities programme, there are 16 inner-city task forces. Their function is to generate enterprise in defined areas of particular deprivation and to create training and employment opportunities for the residents of those areas. In aggregate their budget for expenditure on projects in 1990-91 is £20.4 million. Task forces are located in :
London (4)
West (North Kensington and Hammersmith)
Spitalfields
Deptford
North Peckham
Birmingham
Bradford
Bristol
Coventry
Derby
Hartlepool
Leeds
Manchester
Merseyside (2)
Toxteth (Liverpool)
Wirral (Birkenhead)
Middlesbrough
Nottingham
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Mortgages
Mr. Battle : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans he has to bring all mortgages under the Financial Services Act and to instruct tied agents and direct salesmen to display their status in advertisements, correspondence and premises.
Mr. Redwood : The investment element of mortgages is already subject to the requirements of the Financial Services Act. The display by tied agents and direct salesmen of their status is a matter for the regulatory body concerned.
Industry Council
Ms. Quin : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the outcome of the European Community Industry Council held on 26 November.
Mr. Leigh [holding answer 3 December 1990 : The Industry Council meeting on 26 November, which Lord Hesketh attended for the United Kingdom, adopted a directive on aid for the Community shipbuilding industry and considered a communication from the Commission on industrial policy. The Council also discussed a Commission proposal to extend the patent term for pharmaceuticals, the industrial implications of the Uruguay round, the future of the ECSC treaty and Community craft industries.
OVERSEAS DEVELOPMENT
UNRWA
Mr. Atkinson : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the increase of contributions to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency made by Council of Europe member states at the recent pledging conference.
Mrs. Chalker : At the November pledging conference at the United Nations General Assembly, donor countries announced contributions to UNRWA for 1991 totalling almost US$200 million. Of this Council of Europe member states have so far pledged some US$73 million.
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EDUCATION AND SCIENCE
School Governors
Sir Thomas Arnold : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what advice he gives to local education authorities about the extent of the counselling they should give to school governing bodies under the local management of schools.
Mr. Fallon : It is for local education authorities to determine the amount, nature and timetable of training and support for school governors, in the light of local needs. Plans for governor support and training must be included in Schemes for the local management of schools. Over the four years 1989-90 to 1992-93, the Government will be supporting expenditure of around £247 million on the implementation of LMS. Some £24 million will be spent directly on support and training for school governors ; other expenditure on equipping all schools with management information systems, and training school administrative staff to use them ; on helping LEAs to implement their LMS schemes ; on management training for heads and other senior teachers ; and, from 1991-92, on support for the administration costs of schools with delegated budgets, will also help governors exercise their new responsibilities.
Teachers
Mrs. Heal : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will change their conditions of service to allow teachers adequate time for planning, preparation and assessment resulting from the introduction of the national curriculum.
Mr. Eggar : The use of teachers' directed time, and in particular its division between teaching and non-teaching duties, is a matter for head teachers to decide.
Education Spending
Mr. Anthony Coombs : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what was spending per pupil in 1979 and in the latest available year for which figures are available in each of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries.
Mr. Alan Howarth : The readily available data are as follows :
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Public re-current expenditure per pupil<1> in calendar years at 1985 prices £ sterling 1st level 2nd level 1st and 2nd level |1983 |1986 |1983 |1986 |1983 |1986 ---------------------------------------------------------------------France<2> |920 |1,020|1,440|1,610|1,210|1,360 West Germany<3> |1,080|1,110|1,400|1,580|1,320|1,440 Japan |980 |1,030|1,220|1,210|1,080|1,110 United Kingdom<4> |980 |1,050|1,440|1,720|1,230|1,410 United States of America a |n/a |1,760|n/a |2,470|1,740|1,990 b<5> |n/a |1,760|n/a |2,130|n/a |1,904 n/a not available. <1> At purchasing power parity. <2> Public expenditure including subsidies to private education and pupils/students in public and private education. <3> Public sector education only. <4> Public expenditure only. First level includes primary education from 5 years of age. Second level includes secondary and further education. <5> Includes students and expenditure on courses some of which may be equated with second level education.
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Child Protection Teachers
Miss Lestor : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how much his Department is making available in the current financial year in support of the community education development centre's project to assist local education authorities in the training of teachers designated by schools as child protection teachers ; and how many teachers are currently covered by the scheme.
Mr. Fallon : Up to £35,000 is being made available for this purpose by the Department in the current financial year. The principal objective of the project is to train the trainers of designated teachers. Thus, for every local education authority that takes up the offer of the courses, the designated teacher in each of their schools will benefit ; and other teachers will also benefit from the knowledge and awareness spread through the schools by the designated teachers. About one sixth of local education authorities have so far participated in the scheme, and more courses are scheduled.
Miss Lestor : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the budget for grant
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support towards the cost incurred by local education authorities undertaking training of staff in child protection for the years from 1979-80 to 1990-91.Mr. Fallon : Sums have not been separately identified within grant programmes for this area of training. It is for each local education authority to determine what provision to make to meet local circumstances, taking account of the various sources of income available to it, including general revenue support grant and the LEA training grants scheme.
AFRC Staff
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will list the number of (a) scientific and (b) non-scientific staff that are employed at each of the Agricultural and Food Research Council institutes ; what are his estimates for 1991, 1992 and 1993 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Alan Howarth : The figures for scientific and non-scientific staff in post on 1 April 1990 and the estimated number of staff in post on 1 April 1991 for each Agricultural and Food Research Council (AFRC) institute are as follows :
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1990 <1>1991 |Scientific |Non-scientific|Scientific |Non-scientific ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------IACR |449 |251 |433 |246 IAH |292 |228 |283 |227 IAPGR |337 |222 |321 |208 IER |115 |194 |103 |163 IFR |381 |171 |245 |131 IGER |308 |224 |285 |209 IPSR |234 |92 |234 |92 | ------- | ------- | ------- | ------- Total |2,116 |1,382 |1,904 |1,276 <1>Estimate. Abbreviations: IACR -Institute of Arable Crops Research. IAH -Institute for Animal Health. IAPGR-Institute of Animal Physiology and Genetics. IER -Institute of Engineering Research. IFR -Institute of Food Research. IGER -Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research. IPSR -Institute of Plant Science Research.
In addition, 295 scientific and 269 non-scientific AFRC staff were seconded to the British Society of Horticultural Research (since renamed Horticulture Research International) on 1 April 1990. The estimated numbers of these staff for 1 April 1991 are 260 and 245 respectively.
The number of staff employed on 1 April 1992 and 1 April 1993 will depend on a number of factors, including the funding available to the AFRC through the science budget and the extent of commissions from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and externally funded research. The present estimate is that the number of scientific staff employed by the AFRC at its institutes and Horticulture Research International will be about 1,960 and the number of non-scientific staff will be about 1,400 on each date. No breakdown of anticipated staffing levels at each AFRC institute is available.
19-year-olds (Non-advanced Education)
Mr. Pendry : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is his best estimate of the numbers of 19-year-olds in full-time non- advanced education.
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Mr. Eggar : In 1989-90, there were 19,000 full-time students aged 19 in further education in England.
SERC Report
Mr. Hanley : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he has received the annual report of the Science and Engineering Research Council for 1989-90 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Alan Howarth : The annual report of the Science and Engineering Research Council for 1989-90 has been submitted to my right hon. and learned Friend under the requirements of the Science and Technology Act 1965, and a copy is being placed before the House today. My right hon. and learned Friend and I were pleased to note a number of significant achievements through council activity during the past year, including :
(a) the inauguration of, and initial results from, the large electron positron (LEP) collider at CERN, the laboratory for European particle physics research in Geneva ;
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(b) the successful completion of the Solar Maximum mission ; as part of which United Kingdom instruments on board this NASA satellite provided detailed data about the Sun ; and(c) a 10-year project at City university, resulting in a heightened ability to detect or correct faults in the electricity grid system ; and
(d) collaborative research at Oxford university, jointly funded by SERC and Rolls-Royce plc, to increase understanding of gas flows and heat transfer in turbine blades.
Following these achievements in the past year, we now look forward to learning SERC's new assessment of scientific priorities following the review of forward activities now under way.
EMPLOYMENT
Training Funds
Mr. Andrew F. Bennett : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list all organisations in Denton and Reddish constituency receiving training funds.
Mr. Jackson : There are five organisations in Denton and Reddish constituency receiving training funds through contracts with the Manchester TEC and the Stockport and High Peak TEC. The CCE business centre, Windmill lane, Denton is contracted to provide employment training. The other organisations receive funds under the business growth training programme. These contracts are
commercial-in-confidence and names cannot be given.
Training
Mr. Battle : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what commitment his Department offers to training schemes specifically aimed at encouraging women to return to work.
Mr. Jackson : My Department's work to promote women's participation in training has been based on the requirement that all training providers implement a positive commitment to equal opportunities. Action has therefore been directed at removing the barriers that women encounter in reconciling training with their domestic commitments and allowing them access to the full range of programmes. The training and enterprise councils and local enterprise companies are addressing the specific needs of women returners and providing training schemes that meet them.
FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS
Antarctica
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is his policy in respect of future mining options in Antarctica.
Mr. Garel-Jones : We have tabled, and are seeking support for, an environmental protocol to the Antarctic treaty, but we believe there can be no comprehensive system for the protection of the Antarctic environment that does not deal with the longer term issue of minerals. We therefore see the need to reach agreement on a legally binding instrument to address the question of minerals before the need for it arises.
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make it his
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policy to direct the British delegation to the meeting of the Antarctic treaty parties in Chile to make clear their support for the declaration of a world park in Antarctica.Mr. Garel-Jones : The British delegation to the XIth special consultative meeting of Antarctic treaty parties is prepared to discuss all proposals which could lead to a return to consensus within the Antarctic treaty.
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with Christian Salvesen in respect of plans to remove hazardous materials and waste from their abandoned whaling station on South Georgia.
Mr. Garel-Jones : Officials of this Department have held discussions over the past year with Christian Salvesen plc about pollutants at the four disused whaling stations on South Georgia of which the company are the leaseholders. An operation to clean up the stations, funded jointly by Christian Salvesen and the Administration of South Georgia, will start shortly.
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is his present policy in respect of the declaration of a world park in Antarctica.
Mr. Garel-Jones : We remain committed to achieving the best possible environmental protection for Antarctica, and to this end, regard the maintenance of the Antarctic treaty system and a return to consensus within it as essential. Whilst we do not see any merit in calling it a world park- -it is already a "Special Conservation Area" under the 1964 agreed measures for the conservation of Antarctic fauna and flora--we are prepared to discuss all proposals to protect the Antarctic environment.
Civil Nuclear Facilities, Iraq
Dr. Thomas : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information he has concerning the intentions of the safeguards authorities of the International Atomic Energy Agency to inspect civil nuclear facilities in Iraq.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : The IAEA announced on 27 November that their inspectors had carried out a safeguards inspection in Iraq and had concluded that all material under safeguards could be accounted for.
British Embassy, Washington
Mr. John D. Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs in connection with the recent visit by the First Secretary of the British embassy in Washington, Mr. Sherard Cowper-Coles, to the conference in Boston hosted by the Investor Responsor Research Centre, what costs were involved in (a) travelling, (b) accommodation, (c) entertainment and (d) other expenses.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : The costs were as follows :
|US$ -----------------------------------------(a) Travelling |371.00 (b) Accommodation |108.85 (c) Entertainment |None (d) Other expenses (meals) |69.15 |---- Total |549.00
Iran
Mrs. Mahon : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) what representations he has made with regard to the imprisonment of (a) Fatemeh Hosseinzadeh Tussi Moghadam, (b) Dr. Fatemeh Izadi and (c) Nahid Dorudiahi by the Islamic Republic of Iran ;
(2) what representations he has made with regard to the imprisonment of (a) Malekeh Mohammadi, (b) Zohach Ghaeni and (c) Mariam Firouz by the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : None. But we note that the persons in question are mentioned in the report of the UN special representative on human rights in Iran, Mr. Galindo Pohl, and that he has called on the Iranian Government to respond in detail to the allegations of abuses of human rights put to them.
Mrs. Mahon : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he is making representations to the Islamic Republic of Iran on their human rights record.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : Together with our partners in the European Community, we are seeking a resolution in the third committee of the United Nations which reflects the state of human rights in Iran. This is a matter we take very seriously.
Bulgaria
Mrs. Clwyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information he has concerning the need for humanitarian aid in Bulgaria ; how much humanitarian aid has been given by the United Kingdom to Bulgaria ; and what plans the Government has for future humanitarian aid to Bulgaria.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : We are contributing to humanitarian aid through the European Community's PHARE aid programme. The Community has recently approved a mother and child health support programme worth approximately £3.5 million. We have encouraged the Commission to consider urgently Bulgarian requests for humanitarian aid (including food and medical supplies). The question was last discussed during the meeting of the EC- Bulgaria Joint Commission on 30 November.
Syria
Mrs. Mahon : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he is making to the Syrian Government on their human rights record.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : Like any other Government, the Syrian Government are well aware of our position on human rights. Following the resumption of diplomatic relations with Syria, we shall be better placed to make representations when this is justified.
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Kurdistan
Mrs. Clwyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether Her Majesty's Government will put Kurdistan and the situation of Kurdish people on the agenda of any future peace conference on the middle east.
Mr. Garel-Jones : We cannot at this stage outline the agenda of any future middle east peace conference. We expect the rights of all peoples in the region, including the Kurds, to be respected by the Governments of the countries in which they live. We do not recognise an independent Kurdish state. The frontiers of states in the region are set by international treaty.
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