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Mr. Freeman : British Rail's freight business has a commercial remit, and has received no Government grant aid or subsidy in these years apart from its share of level crossings grant under EC regulation 1192/69. Other bodies can receive grants towards the cost of rail freight facilities under section 8 of the Railways Act 1974 if a switch from road freight to rail produces worthwhile environmental benefits at a reasonable cost. Since 1979 the Government have awarded 136 section 8 grants totalling £53 million, removing over 25 million tonnes of freight a year from the roads.
Bypasses
Mrs. Ann Winterton : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what guidance is given by his Department to local authorities in assessing the need to construct bypasses ;
(2) what provision he has made in the estimate of spending need for the next financial year of the Cheshire county council for capital expenditure upon road construction ; what is the comparable figure in real and cash terms for the current financial year ; and what consideration he gave in setting these figures to the need to construct the Wheelock bypass.
Mr. Chope : Transport supplementary grant and credit approvals for capital expenditure on local roads are allocated in the light of information presented in the annual transport policies and programme submissions from the 108 local highway authorities in England. The allocations for 1991-92 will be announced shortly.
Cheshire county council's latest submission shows that the main works on the Wheelock bypass are not due to start until 1993-94 and that the authority plans to spend only £55,000 on its design and other preliminary expenses in 1991-92.
Motor Cars
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what action he is considering to penalise the promotion of motor car manufacture and sales based on power, speed and acceleration as against efficiency, safety and fuel economy ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Chope : I have discussed with repesentatives of the Advertising Standards Authority how to encourage car manufacturers to place less emphasis on speed in their advertising. The Advertising Standards Authority has recently required the withdrawal of several advertisements.
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Vehicle Emissions
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what reduction of carbon dioxide emissions is achieved by the use of lead-free petrol when measured against leaded petrol ; and if he will quantify this reduction per annum.
Mr. Chope : Using unleaded rather than leaded fuel results in a small reduction of fuel efficiency and therefore increased emissions of carbon dioxide. The use of unleaded fuel helps to reduce emissions of lead from vehicles into the air and is essential to the operation of catalytic converters which reduce emissions of other pollutants. The Government will continue to promote the widespread use of unleaded fuel which now accounts for almost 40 per cent. of petrol sales.
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what would be the resultant reduction in pollutants emitted by car exhausts if a zero growth in domestic vehicles was achieved against projections of growth in these vehicles over the next decade.
Mr. Chope : Total emissions depend on the amount of traffic and the rate of emissions per vehicle. Assuming that three-way catalysts are fitted to new cars from the end of 1992, and taking the mid-point between the Department's high and low traffic demand growth forecasts, emissions of carbon monoxide, oxides of nitrogen and hydrocarbons from cars are expected to decline by over half between 1991 and 2000.
If the average fuel efficiency of cars remains constant over the same period and the same mid-point traffic demand forecast is used, we would expect carbon dioxide emissions from cars to grow by about 30 per cent. However, there is considerable scope for fuel efficiency improvement in this sector and it is not possible at this stage to make any useful estimate of what the actual change in carbon dioxide emissions might be.
Speed Limits, Essex
Mr. Burns : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects a decision to be taken on Essex county council's highway committee's application of October 1988 to extend the 30 mph and 40 mph speed limit zones in Danbury ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Chope [holding answer 7 December 1990] : A decision in principle will be sent to Essex county council before the end of this month.
Subject to the completion of the necessary statutory procedures, the Secretary of State could confirm an order early in 1991.
WALES
Alcohol Misuse
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the projects and centres to which his Department has contributed financially in respect of research into alcohol misuse, with the figure for each such project or centre in the present financial year.
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply I gave him on Wednesday 5 December 1990, c. 150.
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Additionally some funding from the Department for generic activity has been applied to work related to alcohol misuse.Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will publish any circulars and draft guidance issued by his Department in pursuance of the announcement by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary at his Department on Drinkwise day of finance for projects to tackle alcohol abuse.
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : The relevant circulars, WHC(90)78 and WHC(90)79, were issued on 5 December 1990. Copies of these are in the Library of the House.
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what targets he expects to be met as a result of the provision for alcohol abuse, as announced by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary at his Department on Drinkwise day.
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : Short-term targets will be sent when allocations are made, taking into account what health and local authorities consider can be achieved by their proposed projects. These will contribute towards
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achieving the long-term aim set by the Health Promotion Authority for Wales in the health for all strategy. Examples of good practice will be circulated.Disabled People
Mr. Livsey : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is the number of disabled people employed in his Department ; and what is the target quota.
Mr. David Hunt : My Department employs 29 people who are registered disabled ; they represent 1.3 per cent. of all staff. The target quota is 3 per cent.
Student Courses
Mr. Murphy : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what numbers and what percentages of full-time students over the age of 16 years in each county in Wales are studying in (a) further education and tertiary colleges and (b) maintained 11 to 18 years schools.
Sir Wyn Roberts : The information for 1989-90 is as follows :
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The numbers and percentages of full-time students over 16 years of age
Further education and Maintained secondary schools<2>
tertiary colleges<1> 11-18 Other<3>
|Number |Per cent. |Number |Per cent. |Number |Per cent. |Total students
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Clwyd |1,632 |53 |1,040 |34 |420 |14 |3,092
Dyfed |1,215 |47 |1,388 |53 |- |- |2,603
Gwent |1,849 |61 |1,106 |37 |63 |2 |3,018
Gwynedd |837 |52 |773 |48 |- |- |1,610
Mid Glamorgan |1,549 |48 |1,651 |52 |- |- |3,200
Powys |354 |49 |374 |51 |- |- |728
South Glamorgan |1,156 |43 |1,278 |48 |233 |9 |2,667
West Glamorgan |2,210 |76 |682 |24 |- |- |2,892
|--- |- |--- |- |-- |- |---
Wales |10,802 |55 |8,292 |42 |716 |4 |19,810
<1>Full time and sandwich students on further education courses at higher and further education and tertiary colleges. Aged 17 and 18
at 31 August 1989.
<2>Aged 17, 18 and a small number of 19 year olds (that is, 60) as at 31 August 1989.
<3>6th form colleges in Clwyd and South Glamorgan and senior comprehensive school (14-18) in Gwent.
Hospital Treatment
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what discussions he has had with the chairmen of the health authorities on the computation of appropriate charges for cross-border flows of patients for hospital treatment (a) inside and outside Wales and (b) across health authority boundaries within Wales.
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : None. National health service service providers both inside and outside Wales will be expected to price their services on the basis of what it costs to provide them ; and charges will accordingly vary as between providers. Information systems are being improved to facilitate more accurate and detailed costing of services in the future.
Ewe Premium
Mr. Geraint Howells : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement on the reasons for the delay in paying the second instalment of the ewe premium scheme to Welsh sheep producers ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. David Hunt : The second advance payment has, in fact, been brought forward and has already been issued to
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95 per cent. of the 17,700 claimants. The first and second advances together will have benefited farmers' cash flow by around £25 million.National Library of Wales
Dr. Marek : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, pursuant to his oral answer of 3 December, Official Report, columns 4-5, if he will place a copy of the staff inspection report into the national library of Wales, Aberystwyth in the Library.
Sir Wyn Roberts : It is not the Department's practice to place copies of staff inspection reports in the Library of the House.
South Glamorgan Health Authority
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what discussions he has had with the chairman of the South Glamorgan health authority regarding the level of baseline budget for the next financial year.
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : My right hon. Friend has had no such discussions to date ; but he will be meeting the chairmen of all district health authorities in Wales early in the new year to discuss allocations for 1991-92.
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Land Use, Glamorgan
Dr. Kim Howells : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the areas of unused or underused land in Glamorgan ; and in respect of what proportion of that land there are no firm proposals for development.
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : This information is not available. However, land registers have been published, and are available for inspection at both the Department's Cardiff office and each district authority's main office, showing unused or underused land held by the public sector in the districts of Cardiff, Lliw Valley, Ogwr, Rhymney Valley, Swansea, Taff Ely, and the Vale of Glamorgan.
Programme for the Valleys
Mr. Gwilym Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales whether he has any plans for the future of the programme for the valleys ; and whether he will make a statement.
Mr. David Hunt : I have announced my intentions for the future of the programme for the valleys today. They are set out in the documents "The Valleys : Partnership with the People". I have sent a copy to each right hon. and hon. Member whose constituency falls within the valleys programme area and have also placed copies in the Library of the House.
Gipsy Sites
Mr. Gareth Wardell : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will publish in the Official Report a list of all authorised gipsy sites in Wales, indicating when they were established, together with the ordnance survey grid reference number for each site.
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : The information requested is given in the following table.
----------------------------------------------
Official local authority sites
Morfa, Llanelli
Kingsmoor Common, Kilgetty
Cwmcrachan, Nantyglo
Under the Hills,
Haverfordwest
Upper Race, Pontypool
Withybush, Haverfordwest
Catshole Quarry, Pembroke
Llandegai, Bangor
Withybeds, Welshpool
Glynmil, Merthyr Tydfil
Waterloo, Pembroke
Shirenewton, Cardiff
Rover Way, Cardiff
Ruthin Road, Wrexham
Pantyblawd Road, Morriston
Briton Ferry
Private sites
Clwyd
Milfords, Tyn Y Morfa
Dee Bank, Bagillt
Dyfed
Thorhill Road, Cwmgwili
Pontrhydybishwell, Lotwen
Road, Cwmgwili
Gwynedd
Bethesda
Mid Glamorgan
Pandy Road Caravan Park,
Bedwas
Note: This information is provided by the
local planning authorities in Wales.
CHURCH COMMISSIONERS
Sudanese Refugees
28. Mr. Cox : To ask the right hon. Member for Selby, representing the Church Commissioners, what discussions he has had with British representatives of organisations working with Sudanese Christian refugees as to possible financial assistance for their work ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Alison : None, because the Commissioners' funds are not by law available for such purposes. The primary duty of the Commissioners is the support of the full-time parochial ministry of the Church of England, in service and retirement, and the bulk of their income is used for that purpose.
NATIONAL FINANCE
Balance of Payments
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what increase in gross domestic product, real disposable incomes and consumer expenditure in each of the years 1985 to 1990 would have been compatible in terms of the Treasury economic model with a continuing balance of payments surplus on current account ; and if he will publish in the Official Report a table using the data in the Treasury model to compare the actual with the required outcome in terms of interest rates, employment, unemployment, manufacturing output and house prices.
Mr. Mellor : It has not, since 1978, been the practice to run particular simulations on the Treasury model to meet specific outside requests ; but the hon. Member will be aware that the current version of the model is available for Members' use through the Library.
Community Charge
Mr. Radice : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what information he has concerning the percentage of gross income accounted for by the community charge at different levels of gross income.
Mr. Mellor : Community charges vary widely according to the area in which households happen to live ; their entitlement to transitional relief ; and their entitlement to community charge benefit. Information on the relationship between these net payments and gross income will be available in due course from sample surveys such as the 1990 family expenditure survey.
The Gulf
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the economic consequences of a military option in the Gulf.
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Mr. Mellor [holding answer 29 November 1990] : The Government's firm objective is to resolve the Gulf crisis by peaceful means on the basis of full implementation of the resolutions adopted by the United Nations Security Council. To achieve this, it is essential to establish a credible military option, so that Saddam Hussein is left in no doubt that he is facing a military force which could compel him to leave Kuwait. My right hon. Friend the Member for Huntingdon (Mr. Major) drew attention in his autumn statement to uncertainties in the economic outlook generated by the Gulf crisis.Manufacturing Trade
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of the increase in imports of manufactures since 1973 originated in other EEC countries ; whether he expects the figure to increase or decrease as a result of (i) the Single European Act and (ii) full membership of the EMS ; and what is the latest figure for import penetration for the EEC.
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Mr. Mellor : A total of 57 per cent. of the increase in the value of imports of manufactures between 1973 and 1989 originated from the EC. The EC's share in the United Kingdom's total trade, both exports and imports, can be expected to rise as a result of the Single European Act and full membership of the EMS. Figures for import penetration in each of the EC countries can be obtained from the latest issue of "International Financial Statistics", published by the International Monetary Fund.
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will publish in the Official Report a table showing for each year since 1970 and for the latest quarter, in index form based on 1985, the volume of exports of manufactures from the United Kingdom, Germany, France, the United States of America and Japan.
Mr. Leigh : I have been asked to reply.
The information is in the table.
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Index of volume of exports of manufactured goods 1985=100 Seasonally adjusted -------------------------------- 1970 |62 |46 |45 |60 |27 1971 |67 |48 |49 |60 |33 1972 |67 |53 |55 |66 |35 1973 |76 |61 |61 |81 |37 1974 |80 |69 |70 |94 |43 1975 |78 |57 |68 |91 |44 1976 |85 |64 |74 |95 |55 1977 |91 |67 |80 |95 |60 1978 |90 |70 |83 |101|60 1979 |90 |74 |92 |109|59 1980 |91 |78 |92 |122|69 1981 |85 |81 |94 |116|77 1982 |87 |84 |92 |100|74 1983 |87 |83 |94 |94 |82 1984 |94 |95 |99 |100|95 1985 |100|100|100|100|100 1986 |104|102|106|99 |99 1987 |112|105|111|112|99 1988 |120|112|121|132|103 1989 |132|122|131|146|108 1990 Q1 |140|130|144|165|106 Q2 |145|n/a|n/a|n/a|111 Q3 |142|n/a|n/a|n/a|n/a Source: United Kingdom figures from the CSO Monthly Review of External Trade Statistics. All other countries from the United Nations Monthly Bulletin of Statistics.
THE ARTS
British Library
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Minister for the Arts what assessment he has made of the effect on scientific research in the United Kingdom of financial decisions imposed on the British library, including the cut in scientific journals.
Mr. Renton : It is for the British library board to decide on the allocation of its resources, taking into account the needs of its clients. The library is arranging alternative access where possible to the scientific journals and hopes to reinstate them in 1992. Most of them will continue to be taken by the library's document supply centre. The grant in aid for 1991-92 will be £63.79 million, an increase of 10 per cent. over the current year.
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Performing Arts (Deficits)
Mr. Fisher : To ask the Minister for the Arts what information he has on the level of deficits in performing arts companies.
Mr. Renton [holding answer 5 December 1990] : I am advised by the funding bodies that in total the accumulated forecast deficits at the end of this financial year for performing arts companies, including theatre companies, in Britain will be approximately £20.8 million. There are wide variations in the financial circumstances of the companies, both national and regional, within this total.
Mr. Fisher : To ask the Minister for the Arts what information he has on (a) national and (b) regional theatre companies in deficit.
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Mr. Renton [holding answer 5 December 1990] : I understand that in total the accumulated forecast deficits at the end of the current financial year for the two national theatre companies are just over £3 million. The figure for other Arts Council- funded theatre companies is approximately £3.5 million, and the figure for theatre companies funded by the Scottish and Welsh Arts Councils and the regional arts associations is approximately £2.5 million. There are wide variations in the financial circumstances of individual companies, both national and regional, within these estimates.PRIME MINISTER
Downing Street (Gates)
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Prime Minister if he has any plans to dismantle the gates at the end of Downing street.
The Prime Minister : I have nothing further to add to the reply that I gave to the hon. Member for Walsall, North (Mr. Winnick) on 6 December at column 166.
Fiscal and Environmental Policy
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Prime Minister if he will now take steps to achieve the integration of fiscal and environmental policy.
The Prime Minister : We already seek to ensure that all the environmental implications of policy decisions under discussion are considered before conclusions are reached. My right hon. Friend has nominated the Minister of State, Treasury the Minister responsible for considering the environmental implications of policies.
Ministerial Committee on the Environment
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Prime Minister how he intends to ensure parliamentary accountability of the new ministerial committee on the environment.
The Prime Minister : Cabinet Committees are internal mechanisms for co-ordinating policy within Government. They do not affect ministerial accountability to Parliament.
Parliamentary Sitting Times
Ms. Harman : To ask the Prime Minister if he will establish a review of the hours at which the House sits and the dates of the summer recess.
The Prime Minister : I have nothing to add to the reply I gave my hon. Friend the Member for Brentwood and Ongar (Sir R. McCrindle) on 6 December at column 452.
Nature Conservation
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Prime Minister which Minister is responsible for answering for the actions of the Joint Nature Conservation Committee ; and if he will publish a table showing the resource allocations to England, Scotland and Wales and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee for 1991-92 as compared with the recommendations in the Inbucon report.
The Prime Minister : The Joint Nature Conservation Committee is a committee of all three country councils
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each of which is answerable to its own territorial Secretary of State for all its functions, including those exercised through the JNCC. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment would normally expect to take the lead in answering any questions about the committee.The predecessor of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment announced on 9 November that the grant in aid to the Nature Conservancy Council for England (NCCE) in 1991-92 had been set provisionally at £32.411 million. Announcements about the grant in aid to be provided to the new agencies in Scotland and Wales will be made shortly by my right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Scotland and for Wales respectively.
The Inbucon report was commissioned by the Nature Conservancy Council to assist it in preparing its proposed forward plans. It was made available on request by the council in October. The figures contained in the report are therefore already available for examination.
Hospitals (Foreign Use)
Mr. Nellist : To ask the Prime Minister how many unused or disused civilian or military hospitals in the United Kingdom are owned or run by foreign Governments or armies ; and if he will make a statement.
The Prime Minister : Details of civilian hospitals owned or run by foreign Governments are not available.
United States forces have contingency hospitals at RAF Chessington, RAF Little Rissington, RAF Nocton Hall and RAF Bicester. These are laid out as hospitals, but supplies and staff have to be brought in to activate them at a time of crisis.
ENVIRONMENT
Village Green, Bromley Cross
Mr. Thurnham : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he plans to hold a public inquiry into the ownership of the common land known as the village green at Brick Back, Bromley Cross, Bolton ; what representations he has received about this land ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Baldry : The ownership of the land at Brick Back, which has been registered as village green, has been referred to a commons commissioner, in accordance with section 8 of the Commons Registration Act 1965. A commissioner will hear evidence on ownership at a hearing to be held on 12 February 1991 at Bolton town hall. To date a number of representations have been received from Bromley Cross residents, four of whom claim to have knowledge of the ownership of the land.
Local Government Finance
Mr. Gareth Wardell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the percentage of persons subject to the community charge who are exempted on the basis of category C9 : residential care workers who are employed at a very low salary for each local authority in England.
Mr. Key : From the returns received by the Department, the table gives the information requested for those authorities which reported 20 or more persons in the category of exemptions on 1 June 1990. The average proportion for England as a whole is .004 per cent.
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Number of residential care workers employed at a very low salary who were exempt from the personal community charge on 1 June \~1990, as a percentage of the number of persons subject to a personal \~community charge on 1 June 1990 Authority |Per cent. --------------------------------------- Camden |0.01 Cotswold |0.04 East Dorset |0.16 Forest of Dean |0.08 Hackney |0.07 Hillingdon |0.02 Leicester |0.01 Liverpool |0.01 Northavon |0.07 Plymouth |0.02 Richmond-on-Thames |0.04 Scarborough |0.12 Stockton-on-Tees |0.02 Wakefield |0.01 Wandsworth |0.02 Wealden |0.03
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what action he is taking to protect community charge payers from cuts in local authority services due to community charge limitations ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Key : The action we have taken, and shall not hesitate to take again, is to protect charge payers from authorities' excessive budgets.
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he will undertake a review of the level of aggregate external finance being made available to local authorities in 1991-92 ; (2) if he will undertake a review of the level of revenue support grant being made available to local authorities in 1991-92 ; (3) when he intends to bring before the House the final reports of the local authority finance settlement for 1991-92 ;
(4) if he will undertake a review of the phased withdrawal of the area protection grant from local authorities in 1991-92 and 1992-93 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Portillo : Formal consultation on our proposals for the local government finance settlement ended on 28 November. My right hon. Friend is now considering the representations made. He expects to lay the settlement reports before the House soon.
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what are his best estimates of the size of the average poll tax bill in 1991-92.
Mr. Portillo : My right hon. Friend has made no estimate of the average level of community charges in 1991-92, which depends upon the decisions of the local authorities. If authorities spent in line with their standard spending assessments, the average community charge should be close to £380.
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) when he expects to conclude his review of the poll tax ; (2) if he has any plans to undertake a fundamental review of the poll tax transitional relief scheme for its operation in 1991-92 ;
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(3) if he has any plans to undertake a fundamental review of the operation of the joint and several liability provisions of the poll tax for 1991-92 ;(4) if he will list all those bodies he intends to consult on the future of local government finance.
Mr. Portillo : My right hon. Friend announced on 5 December that we shall be conducting a fundamental review of local government finance and structure.
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he has any plans to undertake a review of the existing restrictions on the use of capital receipts by local authorities for 1991-92.
Mr. Portillo : We are already consulting on changes which we consider to be necessary for 1991-92. The local authority associations have recently submitted a paper setting out their proposals and this will be considered carefully.
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