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Sri Lankans (Training)
Mr. Nellist : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Sri Lankan personnel have been on military training courses in the United Kingdom in each of the last four years ; what advisory visits have been made in the last four years under the auspices of the directorate of military assistance overseas : and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : Specific details on foreign students attending military training courses in the United Kingdom are normally confidential between the Governments concerned. I can, however, confirm that members of the Sri Lankan armed forces have attended a number of courses in the United Kingdom given by the three services. No advisory visits under the auspices of the directorate of military assistance overseas have been made to Sri Lanka in the past four years.
HOUSE OF COMMONS
Late Sittings
35. Mr. Kirkwood : To ask the Lord President of the Council whether he has any plans to reduce the amount of business taken by the House after midnight ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. MacGregor : In an ideal world the House would not often need to meet after midnight and I will consider any ideas as to how we might achieve this. However, any move towards this ideal while still securing the passage of business will require the co-operation and self-discipline of all hon. Members.
Shopping Facilities
36. Mr. Wareing : To ask the Lord President of the Council what consideration is being given to the provision of shopping facilities for essential goods for the benefit of hon. Members and staff within the Palace of Westminster.
Mr. MacGregor : A small general shop run by the Refreshment Department and open to all Members and staff of the House is to be established in phase 1 of the new parliamentary buildings.
POLIS
37. Mr. Trimble : To ask the Lord President of the Council whether he will ensure that all Members' offices have direct access to POLIS.
Mr. MacGregor : All right hon. and hon. Members are able to access POLIS through the Library's terminals. The Library will also arrange for any Member to have direct access to the POLIS service in his own office, so long as his computer equipment is compatible. I am now studying the fourth report of the Services Committee of last Session, on computer services for members, which recommended the installation of a new cable to facilitate Members' access to POLIS and other data services.
Procedural Changes
38. Mr. Butler : To ask the Lord President of the Council whether he intends any review of the way in which Parliament manages its own affairs.
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Mr. MacGregor : Significant changes in the management and decision-making structures of the House have been proposed in the report on "House of Commons Services", which was prepared for the House of Commons Commission by a team led by Sir Robin Ibbs, and was published on 28 November as House of Commons paper 38 of this Session. My immediate concern, after consulting the House, will be to ensure the implementation of the main proposals in that report.Parliamentary Questions
Mr. Roger King : To ask the Lord President of the Council whether he will consider taking steps to include a note of the total number of oral questions submitted to any one Department at the foot of the questions listed on the Order Paper.
Mr. MacGregor : I have no plans to do so. But if my hon. Friend wishes to pursue the matter he might care to raise it with the Procedure Committee which may shortly begin an inquiry into all aspects of parliamentary questions.
Mr. John D. Taylor : To ask the Lord President of the Council how many oral questions were tabled for answer by the (a) Secretary of State for Scotland on 21 November, (b) Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on 22 November and (c) Secretary of State for Wales on 3 December.
Mr. MacGregor : The number is as follows :
\~Oral questions tabled
|Number
----------------------------------------------------------
The Secretary of State for Scotland |51
The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland |31
The Secretary of State for Wales |28
ENERGY
Electricity Industry (Coal Supply)
3. Mr. Cummings : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy when he next expects to meet the chairman of British Coal to discuss future contracts with the electricity industry.
Mr. Wakeham : I meet the chairman of British Coal regularly to discuss all aspects of the coal industry.
Disconnections
5. Mr. Cox : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what discussion he has had with the new power companies as to the policy they will follow before any cut-offs of power will take place for the non- payment of electricity bills.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : In recognition that some consumers may experience genuine difficulties paying their bills, the licences issued to the public electricity suppliers have strengthened the protections against disconnection offered to such consumers. The Director General of Electricity Supply is responsible for overseeing the implementation of these safeguards.
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Aberthaw Power Station
7. Mr. John P. Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy when he next expects to meet the chairman of British Coal to discuss the future of Aberthaw power station.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : My right hon. Friend meets the chairman of British Coal regularly to discuss all aspects of the coal industry. However, the future of Aberthaw power station is a matter for National Power.
Renewable Energy
10. Mr. Roger King : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what plans he has for the encouragement of wind energy sources.
Mr. Moynihan : I intend to make provision reserved for wind energy projects in an order under the non-fossil fuel obligation next year. My Department is pursuing an expanding programme of research, development and demonstration on wind energy in collaboration with industry.
Energy Efficiency
14. Mr. Knapman : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what progress is being made by the new ministerial group on energy efficiency in devising public sector energy-saving initiatives.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : The ministerial group on energy efficiency is working to spread energy efficiency practices throughout the public sector by providing encouragement, advice and technical guidance and by good example.
Electricity Prices
15. Mr. Hardy : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy by how much domestic electricity prices have increased since April 1987 ; and if he will consider improvement to the arrangements for the protection of electricity consumers to enable effective monitoring of price changes.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : Domestic electricity prices have risen in real terms by less than 1 per cent. a year since April 1987. The Director General of Electricity Supply has statutory responsibility for protecting the interests of electricity consumers on a range of issues including prices.
Dounreay
16. Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will make a statement on the future of Dounreay.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : I refer the hon. Member to the statement made by the former Secretary of State for Energy, my right hon. Friend the Member for Hertsmere (Mr. Parkinson), on 21 July 1988.
Unleaded Petrol
17. Mr. David Martin : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what is the percentage of petrol retailing outlets in the United Kingdom selling unleaded petrol ; and what are the comparable figures in other members of the European Community.
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Mr. Moynihan : The United Kingdom Petroleum Industry Association estimates that at the end of September 1990, 98 per cent. of the filling stations in the United Kingdom sold premium unleaded petrol. Comparable figures in the European Community were West Germany, Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg 100 per cent., Denmark 85 per cent., Italy 64 per cent., Ireland 50 per cent., France 40 per cent., Spain 19 per cent., Greece 11 per cent. and Portugal 4 per cent.23. Mr. Jacques Arnold : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what market share was taken by unleaded petrol in 1989 in (a) the United Kingdom and (b) other European Community countries.
Mr. Moynihan : The market share of unleaded petrol increased rapidly in the United Kingdom during 1989--from 4 per cent. in January to 28 per cent. by December, an average of 19 per cent. for that year. The United Kingdom share has subsequently increased to 38 per cent. in October this year.
The United Kingdom Petroleum Industry Association estimates that in 1989 the market share of unleaded petrol in other European Community countries was as follows : West Germany 59 per cent., Denmark 57 per cent., Netherlands 37 per cent., Luxembourg 21 per cent., Belgium 19 per cent. Eire 7 per cent., France and Italy 2 per cent. and Spain and Portugal 0.5 per cent. Sales of unleaded petrol in Greece were negligible.
Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing
18. Mr. Wallace : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what discussions he has had with the chairman of Nuclear Electric regarding the company's policy on reprocessing spent nuclear fuel.
Mr. Wakeham : I meet the chairman regularly to discuss a variety of issues.
United Kingdom Continental Shelf
19. Mr. Burns : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy how many exploration and appraisal wells had been drilled on the United Kingdom continental shelf by the end of November.
Mr. Moynihan : The figure to the end of November is not yet available. Up to 25 November, 195 new exploration and appraisal wells had been started in the United Kingdom continental shelf since the beginning of this year, already the highest annual figure since United Kingdom continental shelf activity began in 1964.
Uranium
20. Mr. Colvin : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what is his estimate of the world's resources of uranium.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : My Department does not make an independent assessment of the world's resources of uranium. Regular estimates are, however, published by a number of bodies and I refer my hon. Friend to the 1990 edition of the OECD/IAEA publication "Uranium Resources, Production and Demand". This indicates that known and estimated reserves are expected to be sufficient for about 75 to 175 years.
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Public Buildings (Energy Conservation)
21. Mr. Holt : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what percentage of schools, clinics and other public buildings is commissioned, designed, built and put into use without an energy use and conservation evaluation being made.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : This information is not held centrally.
Energy Technology Support Unit
11. Mr. Maclennan : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will increase the funding of the energy technology support unit.
Mr. Moynihan : The energy technology support unit provides programme management for my Department's renewable energy R and D programme and part of its energy efficiency programme. Provision for both these programmes next year has been increased with a consequent increase in funding for the energy technology support unit.
Electricity Privatisation
22. Mr. Twinn : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what was the level of pre-registration for the sale of the 12 regional electricity companies.
Mr. Wakeham : By midnight on 14 November 1990 approximately 7.3 million applications to register had been received by the electricity share information office.
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy (1) what is his estimate of the percentage of shares in each of the 12 regional electricity companies held by residents of the home region of each company ;
(2) what is his most up-to-date estimate of the numbers of applicants to be shareholders in the 12 regional electricity companies resident in the franchise area served by each company.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : The information is not available in the form requested.
Offshore Installations (Safety)
Mr. Mullin : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what exemptions he plans to propose to European law on offshore safety in respect of British installations after 1992.
Occupational Health Services
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what arrangements exist for the provision of an occupational health service for employees within his Department, stating (a) how many staff are employed to provide occupational health services, (b) how many of those staff are qualified nurses and (c) how many employees work in his Department in total.
Mr. Wakeham : My Department does not itself provide an occupational health service for its employees. Along with all other civil service departments and agencies, my Department has access to the services of the civil service occupational health service which employs some 100 fully
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qualified occupational health professionals, including doctors, nurses and hygiene and safety advisers. It operates via a network of regional offices throughout the United Kingdom.The total number of employees in my Department was 1,067 at 1 December 1990.
Offshore Oil Industry
Mr. Barry Field : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what progress he made in helping to promote the United Kingdom offshore oil industry during his recent visit to south America.
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Mr. Moynihan : During my visit to south America in October to promote the export interests of the United Kingdom offshore supplies industry I met Government Ministers and senior oil company personnel in both Mexico and Brazil, where I also attended the Rio oil and gas show to lend my support to the British companies exhibiting there and to deliver a paper on offshore safety. I hope that my visit will lead to greater opportunities for British industry to win export orders in these markets.
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EMPLOYMENT
Pentobarbitone
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment whether the Health and Safety Executive has examined working practices involving the use of pentobarbitone ; and if he will issue guidelines concerning its safe use.
Mr. Forth : No studies of working practices specifically involving the use of pentobarbitone have been undertaken by the Health and Safety Executive. Existing statutory provisions, and guidance under those provisions, are comprehensive and there are no plans to issue specific guidelines for this substance.
Occupational Health Services
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what arrangements exist for the provision of an occupational health service for employees within his Department, stating (a) how many staff are employed to provide occupational health services, (b) how many of those staff are qualified nurses and (c) how many employees work in his Department in total.
Mr. Jackson : The Department of Employment is served by the civil service occupational health service which employs some 100 fully qualified occupational health professionals including doctors, nurses and hygiene and safety advisers. It operates via a network of regional offices throughout the United Kingdom.
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Working Hours
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what restrictions on working hours (a) during the day and (b) during the night are contained in the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.
Mr. Forth : The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 places a number of general duties on employers, including
"the provision and maintenance of plant and safe systems of work that are, so far as is reasonably practicable, safe and without risk to health".
Working time arrangements in so far as they affect health and safety adversely are subject to this general duty.
Residential Homes
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list the provisions of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 which apply to workers in residential and nursing homes.
Mr. Forth : The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 does not distinguish between workers in one type of premise or another. Therefore, all the provisions of the Act which apply to workers generally apply equally to workers in residential and nursing homes.
New Businesses
Mr. Oppenheim : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many new businesses have been set up since 1981 in (a) Amber Valley and (b) the east midlands.
Mr. Forth : The information requested, based on VAT registration data, is given in the table. Early indications for 1990 from data collected by Her Majesty's Customs and Excise are that in the United Kingdom as a whole there continues to be a substantial net increase.
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VAT registrations, deregistrations and net change: end-1981 to end-1989
|Registrations |Deregistrations|Net change
|(percentage)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Amber Valley (local authority district) |2,900 |2,400 |19.3
East Midlands |104,900 |83,100 |23.8
SOCIAL SECURITY
Disability Working Allowance
Mr. Hannam : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will estimate how many recipients of the disability working allowance will be working for (a) between 16 and 24 hours and (b) 24 hours or more a week.
Mr. Scott : We estimate that once the benefit is established about 50,000 people will receive disability working allowance at any given point. We expect that about a quarter of these will be working fewer than 24 hours a week.
Mr. Hannam : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many people would gain if the disability living allowance were to include (a) a diet component and (b) a heating component for those disabled people who incur extra costs.
Mr. Scott : The numbers who might gain from changes to the proposed disability living allowance would depend on the conditions of entitlement. Very substantial numbers of those people who have extra costs associated with either
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diet or heating are already receiving help through the existing disability costs benefits and more will do so with the introduction of the new lower rates of the disability living allowance. The proposed mobility and care components will deliver extra resources to people with a wide range of needs in addition to care and mobility.Mr. Hannam : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will estimate how many (a) single people living with their parents, (b) single people living in their own home, (c) married people without children and (d) married people with children will receive disability working allowance ; and if he will estimate the average weekly payment for each group (a) to (d) .
Mr. Scott : Estimates of the likely case load of disability working allowance can be only tentative. On this basis, we estimate that about half the people who get DWA will be single and half will have a partner. Around half the single claimants will be living in the household of their parents or in the household of another person. About a third of recipients will have children and most of these will have partners. We estimate that the average payment will be a
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little under £35 a week, but it is not possible to estimate average payments for different catetories of recipients with confidence.Mr. Hannam : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what would be the increase in expenditure in gross and net terms if the capital limit for the disability working allowance of £8,000 was (a) removed altogether, (b) raised to £24,000 and (c) raised to £16, 000 ; and how many people would become entitled to disability working allowance as a result.
Mr. Scott : Given the small numbers involved and the uncertainty about the characteristics of this group, it is not possible to estimate with confidence either the gross or net cost of raising or removing the upper limit.
Purchasing
Mr. Devlin : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what were his Department's (a) best and (b) worst purchases made in the current month as measured against the Government's supply index.
Mr. Jack : I regret that this information is not available. The Department is a subscriber to the Government supply index (GSI), and we are considering how we might develop our use of this system to give us improved information. The GSI has proved useful in promoting value-for-money awareness in the Department, but to date, limited directly attributable savings have been achieved.
Pensions
Mr. Harry Greenway : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what would be the cost of uprating the basic state pension by £13 for a single person and £20 for a couple.
Miss Widdecombe : The cost of uprating the retirement pension in this way would be approximately £6 billion. There would also be an additional loss to the national insurance fund of £1 billion as a result of the consequential rise in contribution thresholds and limits. Such an increase implies a rise in the national insurance contributions paid by an employee on average earnings of approximately £2.78 per week and £5.34 for his employer.
Sir Ian Gilmour : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, further to his reply to the right hon. Member for Chesham and Amersham, Official Report, 21 November, column 131, if he will now tabulate figures for basic retirement pension applications and awards in 1989 and in 1979, showing how many applications were received in each year ; and how many were (a) turned down and (b) awarded at less than the full rate of basic retirement pension, due to (i) insufficient contributions, (ii) receipt of another benefit, (iii) deferral and (iv) other reasons.
Miss Widdecombe : The information requested is in the table. Figures are not available on the number of instances where there was no entitlement to retirement pension, where the claimant chose to defer his award or where the award was later reduced because of an overlapping benefit.
A |B |C |D
Date |Total claims |Total awards |Number at
(6 months to) |less than
|full rate
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
November 1979 |371,938 |347,000 |39,520
March 1989 |317,011 |244,940 |50,340
Note: Instances where the payment of retirement pension was reduced because of
an overlapping benefit are included as full awards in column C.
Industrial Disablement Benefit
Mr. Bill Michie : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security on what date hard metal disease was prescribed for industrial disablement benefit purposes ; if he will list the medical conditions which are treated as pneumoconiosis for industrial disablement benefit purposes, and in relation to each disease when it was first so treated ; and in relation to the lung conditions which are treated as pneumoconiosis for industrial disablement benefit purposes, what publicity has been issued by the Department of Social Security to inform potential claimants about their potential eligibility.
Mr. Scott : Fibrosis of the lung caused by dust from hard metal is covered by the definition of pneumoconiosis which, for the purposes of industrial injuries disablement benefit, includes fibrosis of the lungs due to silica dust, asbestos dust or other dust. This definition was first included in the coal mining industry (pneumoconiosis) compensation scheme under the Workmen's Compensation Act 1943. Information is available in a number of departmental leaflets ; leaflet N13 in particular refers to lung diseases caused by some dusts and fibres.
Disability
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security whether his Department has any plans to embark on on-going research work to determine the actual and potential costs of disability.
Mr. Scott : The OPCS surveys, and the family expenditure survey (FES) follow-up survey published earlier this year, have provided us with an unprecedented amount of information about both the actual and the potential costs of disability. We have no intention of commissioning further research at this stage, although we will keep the position under review.
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many children would receive each of the two mobility components of the disability living allowance if the lower age limit of five years was (a) removed altogether or (b) reduced to two years ; and what the total expenditure would be in each case.
Mr. Scott : The number of potential beneficiaries from a reduction in the lower age limit for the mobility component cannot be predicted with any degree of certainty. Our estimates, based on analyses of the OPCS disability surveys, are that the abolition of the age limit would bring perhaps an additional 15,000 children on to the higher level of the mobility component and an additional 10,000 on to the lower level. The total cost would be about £35 million a year. A reduction in the age limit to two years would be likely to bring on slightly lower numbers of children, with a cost of about £30 million a year.
Medical Reports (Benefits)
Mr. Sillars : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security under what statutory authority people can be refused sight of medical reports on their person when such reports are obtained by his Department in respect of applications for discretionary benefits.
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Miss Widdecombe : There is no statutory authority. Medical reports are given in confidence and whether they can be released or not is governed by principles of common law.Coal Workers
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many (a) shotsmen and (b) shotfirers who formerly worked in the coal industry have been tested for the effects of nitrogen oxide ; of those tested, how many have received compensation ; and if he will supply figures for each coalfield area in the United Kingdom.
Mr. Scott : The information requested is not available, but on 1 April 1989, some 20 people were estimated to be receiving industrial injuries disablement benefit because of poisoning by oxides of nitrogen.
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