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Expenditure on Food
Mr. Ralph Howell : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for Norfolk North dated 13 November 1990, Official Report, column 118, if he will now include with the information already given the expenditure on food at 1989 prices for 1960, 1970, 1980 and 1989.
Mr. Curry : The information requested is given in the table.
Consumers' expenditure on household food in the United Kingdom
|Household |Expenditure on |<1>Household
|expenditure on |food as a |expenditure on
|food at current |percentage of |food in real terms
|prices |total consumers
|expenditure
|£ million |per cent. |£ million
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1960 |4,228 |25.0 |38,789
1970 |6,369 |20.0 |39,559
1980 |23,655 |16.9 |40,785
1989 |39,181 |11.9 |39,181
<1> United Kingdom household expenditure on food at current prices deflated by the Retail
Price Index (all items) 1989=100.
Source: United Kingdom National Accounts, CSO.
Sheep and Cow Subsidies
Mr. Speller : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when the sheep subsidy and hill cow payments will be made ; what delays there have been in payment ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Curry : The Government are not yet in a position to announce the arrangements for payment of hill livestock compensatory allowances in 1991. This is because problems have arisen over the detailed implementation of a new EC ceiling on payments of 1.4 livestock units per hectare. Claim forms and explanatory leaflets will be issued to producers as quickly as possible, once these problems have been resolved. The Government are well aware of the importance of making the HLCA payments in the early part of the year and every effort will be made to ensure that payments commence quickly.
Fishing
Mr. Wallace : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what action he is taking to implement the EC Council of Fisheries Ministers decision to have an eight consecutive days tie-up period in each month.
Mr. Curry : I expect implementing regulation to be laid before Parliament before the end of this month and to come into force on 1 February.
TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Product Liability Directive
Mr. Nigel Griffiths : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what inquiries have been received from the European Commission concerning the implementation by the United Kingdom of the 1985 EC product liability directive ; what replies have been sent by his Department ; and whether he will make a statement.
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Mr. Leigh : I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to his earlier question on the same subject, Official Report, 19 December 1990, column 187. The position is unchanged.Exhibitions
Sir John Farr : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what information he has on the relative cost to British machinery manufacturers wishing to exhibit at international exhibitions abroad or arranging space bookings, stand building, etc. (a) directly with the exhibition and (b) through the governmental system.
Mr. Sainsbury : Under my Department's export initiative, companies participating as a British group at the overseas trade fair are provided with space, a shell stand and essential display aids at 50 per cent. of the estimated cost. Assistance towards the cost of travel is also available for group members exhibiting outside western Europe. This support is provided generally on three occasions in any one country.
No subsidy is available for independent exhibitors. Such companies negotiate the presentation standard they require with exhibition organisers and stand contractors.
Textile Industry
Sir John Farr : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what was the United Kingdom's relative position in world textile machinery exports in (a) 1970 and (b) 1990 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Sainsbury : Information is readily available only for the OECD countries and in a form which includes leather working machinery. On this basis the United Kingdom was the second-largest OECD exporter of textile machines to world markets in 1970 and the seventh largest in 1988, the latest year for which data are obtainable.
Sir John Farr : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what request his Department received to supply support to Camber International Ltd. of Leicester at the recent international textile manufacturing exhibition in China ; what response was made ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Sainsbury : On 23 February 1990 my Department formally offered to provide financial support to a group of British companies recruited by the British Textile Machinery Association to participate in this exhibition. An application from Camber International Ltd. to join the supported group was received early in May 1990. The association was informed on 10 May 1990 that the company was not eligible. This was because DTI trade fair assistance is restricted to three participations in any country, and Camber International had benefited from such support on three previous occasions in China. The company subsequently appealed against the decision on the grounds that it had been subject of successive takeovers and that in its new form the company had not previously exhibited in China. The appeal was rejected because it was considered that the reconstituted company was still producing broadly the same range of equipment as had benefited from the previous supported exhibition participations in China.
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United States Trade Act
Mr. Tom Clarke : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions he has had with his United States counterpart concerning the so-called Super 301 provision of the United States Trade Act 1988 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Sainsbury : We have taken frequent opportunities over the past two years to make clear to our United States counterparts our opposition to the provisions of the United States Trade Act which permit unilateral GATT- illegal action. Fortunately, the legislative authority permitting new actions under the "Super 301" provision has now time-expired.
Multi-fibre Arrangement
Mr. Tom Clarke : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent discussions he has had with EEC countries on review of the multi-fibre arrangement.
Mr. Sainsbury : My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, together with EC colleagues, attended the GATT ministerial meeting in Brussels last month which discussed, among other things, how best to phase out the multi-fibre arrangement as part of a general settlement of the Uruguay round, including the strengthening of GATT rules and disciplines. The Government hope that the talks, which were suspended over the question of agriculture, will soon reconvene.
Departmental Expenditure
Mr. Warren : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will give a detailed breakdown of the £50 million reduction in central Government expenditure by his Department for 1991-92 as announced in the autumn statement as against the plans announced in the January 1990 public expenditure White Paper.
Mr. Sainsbury : This information will be published next month in the new Trade and Industry departmental report.
TRANSPORT
Wheelchair Access
Mr. Kirkwood : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to make all forms of public transport more accessible to people in wheelchairs.
Mr. Freeman : We are working on the development and introduction of low-floor buses that can accommodate wheelchair users on regular services. We hope to start trials of such vehicles later this year. British Rail has already made considerable progress in making its rolling stock accessible. All new Intercity trains are accessible in both first and standard class carriages and are also fitted with accessible toilet facilities.
Access to public transport infrastructure is also being improved. Where new facilities are being provided, or when older ones are being refurbished, the public transport authorities are providing access wherever reasonably practicable.
Mr. Kirkwood : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to assist local authorities to
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lower pavement heights and kerbs to enable people in wheelchairs to move freely along main public thoroughfares and footpaths.Mr. Freeman : In 1986, the Department issued advice to local authorities on the provision of dropped kerbs to help wheelchair users in conjunction with tactile surfaces to guide blind and partially sighted people at uncontrolled crossings.
We hope to issue similar advice for uncontrolled crossings and side streets shortly.
In both cases local authorities can install these facilities as part of their planned maintenance programmes.
Police National Computer
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) whether he will list the items of personal and vehicle information that will be transferred to the new police national computer ; and whether he will make a statement ;
(2) whether he received advice from, or had meetings with, the Data Protection Registrar before deciding upon the nature of the closer links between the DVLA and the new police national computer ; (3) whether he intends to inform drivers of the items of personal information they provide that could be transferred to the new police national computer ; and whether he will make a statement.
Mr. Chope : DVLA has for many years passed to the police national computer organisation descriptive vehicle information and the names and addresses of vehicle keepers. No changes are planned to these arrangements. The information released at present from the driver record relates specifically to details about drivers who are disqualified. As a result of recommendations made by the road traffic law review committee, it is planned that details of all drivers on the DVLA record will be provided to the police national computer during 1992.
The DVLA registrations under the Data Protection Act 1984 indicate that details from both the vehicle and driver registers are given to the police. The planned changes in the arrangements for providing additional details from the driver record do not require consultation with the Data Protection Registrar. The information on the police national computer facilitates law enforcement.
Channel Tunnel
Mr. Simon Coombs : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how he proposes to ensure that the benefits of the channel tunnel are shared by people and industry in Swindon and the south-west.
Mr. Freeman : British Rail has the statutory responsibility for planning and running rail services in the United Kingdom, including those which will use the channel tunnel. Its initial response to the recent proposal from the Transport Users Consultative Committee for western England for a major upgrading of the Reading-Ashford route for channel tunnel services to and from the west indicated that it is confident that its current plans for such services for 1993 will meet the needs of the west country.
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Cycle Lanes
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list in descending order the London boroughs by proportion of cycle lanes to total highway in each borough.
Mr. Chope : This information is not available.
Speed Limits
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he has estimated the cost and if he has plans to provide additional finance to enable local authorities to introduce 20 mph speed limit zones in accordance with his Department's recent guidelines.
Mr. Chope : We estimate that a 20 mph speed limit zone can be introduced for as little as £50,000. Schemes are eligible for transport supplementary grant if they have a significant casualty reduction potential and can therefore be considered to be a local safety scheme. Over £31 million has been earmarked for local safety schemes within the minor works allocation of the 1991-92 TSG settlement.
A4/M4 Corridor Study
Sir Barney Hayhoe : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects to receive and publish the A4/M4 corridor study from his consultants.
Mr. Chope : I have not yet received the consultants' final report on this study. I intend to publish it as soon as possible after its receipt.
London Transport (Private Bills)
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will call for a report from the chairman of London Transport detailing the cost in each year of presenting Private Bills to Parliament since the inception of London Regional Transport, listing the Bills, the costs associated with them and the outcome.
Mr. Freeman : This is a matter for London Transport. I am asking the chairman to let the hon. Member have whatever information is readily available.
EMPLOYMENT
Economic Statistics
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will publish a table showing for the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Germany for the years 1979 to 1989 and 1985 to 1989 the change in the numbers for (i) unemployed, (ii) GDP, (iii) manufacturing output and (iv) employment.
Mr. Jackson : The information on unemployment and employment is contained in the following table. No figures are available for the unified Germany.
Annual average
|United |France |Italy
|Kingdom
|(thousand)|(thousand)|(thousand)
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Unemployment
Change 1979 to 1989 |710 |920 |1,181
Change 1985 to 1989 |-1,244 |-161 |485
Civilian employment
Change 1979 to 1989 |1,374 |179 |776
Change 1985 to 1989 |2,243 |569 |325
Source: OECD "Labour Force Statistics 1968-1988" and "Quarterly
Labour Force Statistics Number 4 1990" (except United Kingdom,
Employment Department).
Data for manufacturing output for the United Kingdom are published by the Central Statistical Office in Economic Trends and for other EC countries by the OECD in its monthly publication "Main Economic Indicators". Levels of gross domestic product for OECD countries can be obtained in the OECD publications "National Accounts--Main Aggregates--Volumes 1 1960-1988", part 6, table 7 for 1979 figures ; and from "Main Economic Indicators-- December 1990", part 3, for 1985 and 1989 figures. Copies of these publications are available in the Library.
Labour Statistics
Mr. Terry Fields : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what are the constituencies in Britain with more than 5,000 unemployed ; and how long each constituency has been in that position.
Mr. Jackson : The information requested is contained in the following table.
Constituency name |Number of |Number of
|unemployed |months
|in December |unemployment
|1990 (not |has been
|seasonally |above 5,000
|adjusted)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tottenham |7,599 |<1>
Manchester Central |7,505 |<1>
Liverpool Riverside |7,351 |<1>
Hackney South and Shoreditch |7,322 |<1>
Liverpool Walton |7,084 |<1>
Hackney North and Stoke
Newington |6,851 |<1>
Bootle |6,790 |<1>
Vauxhall |6,502 |<1>
Birkenhead |6,432 |<1>
Sunderland North |6,289 |<1>
Nottingham East |6,265 |<1>
Birmingham Small Heath |6,262 |<1>
Sheffield Central |6,168 |<1>
Tyne Bridge |6,161 |<1>
Middlesbrough |6,000 |<1>
Liverpool West Derby |5,972 |<1>
Islington North |5,930 |6
Knowsley North |5,910 |<1>
Birmingham Ladywood |5,778 |<1>
Knowsley South |5,698 |<1>
Liverpool Broadgreen |5,680 |<1>
Hornsey and Wood Green |5,594 |2
Stretford |5,518 |6
Bow and Poplar |5,429 |5
Glasgow Springburn |5,401 |<1>
Birmingham Sparkbrook |5,349 |6
Bradford West |5,345 |5
Lewisham Deptford |5,325 |4
Peckham |5,321 |2
Kingston-upon-Hull North |5,321 |2
Bethnal Green and Stepney |5,249 |1
Norwood |5,231 |1
Leeds Central |5,171 |1
Glasgow Maryhill |5,133 |<1>
Islington South and Finsbury |5,105 |1
Isle of Wight |5,097 |1
Glasgow Provan |5,056 |1
Kingston-upon-Hull West |5,023 |1
<1> Unemployment has been above 5,000 throughout the period since parliamentary
constituency data on unemployment first became available in June 1983.
Mr. Terry Fields : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment (1) what is the level of youth unemployment in Liverpool :
(2) what is the level of unemployment in Liverpool :
(3) what is the level of long-term unemployment in Liverpool :
Mr. Jackson : The latest available data are given in the table :
Unemployment (not seasonally adjusted) in Liverpool Travel-to-
Work-Area
|Date |Number
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total number of unemployed
claimants |December 1990|63,743
Number of unemployed claimants
who have been unemployed for
12 months or more |October 1990 |27,596
Number of unemployed claimants
aged 18 to 24 years |October 1990 |20,100
Computers (Security)
Mr. Colvin : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what measures he is taking to ensure the security of (a) his Department's computers in-house and (b) lap-top personal computers when used by civil servants outside his Department's offices.
Mr. Jackson : It is not Government policy to disclose details of the protective security measures for safeguarding computers used for official purposes. To do so would be of assistance to potential attackers and therefore reduce the effectiveness of the measures. These measures are kept under review.
Building Sites (Safety)
Mr. Wray : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what response he has given to the Transport and General Workers Union on the subject of health and safety on temporary and mobile building sites draft directive of the European Commission, Cm/90/275 SYN Z79.
Mr. Forth : I have referred the letter in question to the Health and Safety Executive since I believe that this is a matter best dealt with by it. I understand that it will reply direct to the Transport and General Workers Union shortly.
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Manufactured Mineral Fibres
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what assessment he has made of the dangers to workers of handling manufactured mineral fibres ; and if he proposes to take any steps to reduce these dangers.
Mr. Forth : The health effects of man-made mineral fibres (MMMF) were reviewed in 1989 by the Health and Safety Commission's Advisory Committee on Toxic Substances. As a consequence of this review a maximum exposure limit of two fibres per millilitre of air has been set for MMMF in schedule 1 of the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 1988 to supplement the already existing gravimetric MEL of 5 milligrammes per cubic metre. This additional MEL came into effect on1 January 1991.
The COSHH Regulations specify the precautions which employers should take to prevent or adequately control exposure to hazardous substances, including MMMF. In addition, the Health and Safety Executive has recently published two guidance documents which give details of the specific measures which should be taken to reduce exposure to MMMF.
Restart Courses
Mr. Terry Fields : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many organisations the Employment Service contracts to run Restart courses ; how many Restart courses were organised within the last year by the Employment Service and how many by other organisations ; what is the average cost of a Restart course run by the Employment Service and what is the average fee paid to other organisations that run Restart courses ; what is the average length of a Restart course and what is the maximum length of such a course ; how many participants on Restart courses fail to complete the course ; what was the total amount paid to other organisations for running Restart courses within the last year ; what is the average number of participants on Restart courses ; how many people have participated on Restart courses within the last year ; what are the basic aims and objectives of Restart courses ; and how many unemployed claimants have been unemployed for more than two years.
Mr. Jackson : Questions on operational matters in the Employment Service executive agency are the responsibi-lity of Mike Fogden, the agency's chief executive. I have therefore referred the hon. Gentleman's questions about Restart courses to him to reply. The lastest available figures published in October 1990 show that, in the United Kingdom, 305,110 unemployed claimants have been unemployed for two years or more.
Oral Questions
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the average length of time taken and the average cost involved of officials' time in his Department preparing ministerial briefs for oral parliamentary questions.
Mr. Jackson : The time taken in preparing briefs for oral parliamentary questions is not routinely recorded in the Employment Department. Estimates are, however, made where there is a likelihood of exceeding the disproportionate cost threshold, currently £250. However,
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following an interdepartmental exercise in 1972, in which the Employment Department participated, an assessment was made of the average cost throughout all Departments of answering an oral question. This assessment was based on staff time, using average rates of pay and associated costs for the grades concerned, together with a share of the cost of parliamentary sections and any substantial non-staff costs such as computer usage. This assessed figure is regularly updated and currently stands at £99.Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what savings his Department would make were no notice given of oral questions to Ministers and they were answered without civil service time being used on briefings.
Mr. Jackson : No savings would be made and costs would almost certainly increase significantly. If the oral question is known in advance briefing can be tightly focused, thus avoiding the cost of producing a detailed brief, covering all subjects that could possibly arise.
Health Personnel Pay Review Bodies
Mr. Robin Cook : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the total number of staff involved in servicing the review body on doctors' and dentists' remuneration and on nursing staff, midwives, health visitors and professions allied to medicine ; and what is the annual cost of running these bodies.
Mr. Forth [holding answer 14 January 1991] : A total of nine staff is involved in servicing the review body on doctors' and dentists' remuneration and the review body for nurses, midwives, health visitors and professions allied to medicine. The total annual cost of running these bodies in 1989-90, the latest figures available, was £472,623.
ENVIRONMENT
Underground Structures
Ms. Gordon : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if his Department has maps of London and other major cities which reveal both the geology and the man-made services below the surface.
Mr. Yeo : My Department holds sets of published geological maps which cover all major cities including London. Sets of maps of man-made services below the ground are not held.
Opencast Coal Mining
Mr. Lewis : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the current guidance given by him to local planning authorities in respect of opencast coal applications.
Mr. Yeo : Current guidance on the matters to be taken into account by mineral planning authorities when considering planning applications for opencast coal mining is contained in minerals planning guidance note 3 "Opencast Coal Mining", published by HMSO in May 1988. Copies are available in the House Library.
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Hazardous Waste
Mr. Gareth Wardell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish in the Official Report a list of all sites where a total quantity of 25 tonnes or more of dangerous substances are present, quoting the ordnance survey eight-figure grid reference number for each site.
Mr. Forth : I have been asked to reply.
This information is not available in the format requested. Each Health and Safety Executive area office keeps available for public inspection lists of premises in its area, by name and address, where dangerous substances are present and where notification required under certain legislation has been received by the Health and Safety Executive.
Minerals Act
Mrs. Ann Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when the group to review the operation of the Minerals Act 1981 will be set up ; and what the composition of the group will be.
Mr. Yeo : As announced in "This Common Inheritance", my officials are currently reviewing the operation of the provisions of the Minerals Act 1981. A small informal working group of planners and industry representatives is assisting in this.
Any proposals for change arising out of the work of the group will be subject to full consultation in the usual way.
Radioactive Discharges, Aldermaston
Mrs. Ann Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list all consents held by the Ministry of Defence establishment at Aldermaston to discharge radioactive substances to water or land.
Mr. Trippier : There is one approval issued to the Ministry of Defence establishment at Aldermaston under the Radioactive Substances Act 1960 to discharge radioactive substances to water and land. It covers the discharge of treated effluent to the River Thames at Pangbourne, discharge of trade waste into the sewers of Bradfield rural district council and disposal of solid radioactive waste by transfer to the Drigg disposal site in Cumbria operated by British Nuclear Fuels.
Haringey Council (Accounts)
Sir Hugh Rossi : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what discussions he will have with the Audit Commissioners to deal with the failure of the borough of Haringey for five successive years to produce its accounts ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Portillo [holding answer 17 January 1991] : I understand from the Audit Commission that the authority has held open its accounts for the years 1985-86 and 1986-87 pending the resolution of legal matters, including the question of interest rate swaps, which have a possible bearing on those accounts. The accounts for 1987-88 have just been produced. The accounts for the years 1988-89 and 1989-90 are expected next month. It appears, therefore, that Haringey is at last taking action to produce its accounts for the years concerned.
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HEALTH
Dialysis Sir Michael McNair-Wilson : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will give the latest figures for the cost of maintaining a person on haemodialysis for a year within a hospital renal unit and on home dialysis ; and what is the cost of providing CAPD over the same period.
Mr. Dorrell : No major study of costs has been made in recent years. The latest estimates, based on a study undertaken for the Department in 1983, are as follows :
|£
-------------------------------------
Hospital haemodialysis |21,000
Home haemodialysis |17,000
CAPD |18,000
The figures are in 1989-90 prices and do not take account of changes in clinical practice since the study.
Organ Transplants
Sir Michael McNair-Wilson : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will give the latest figure for the cost of a kidney transplant, heart lung transplant, lung transplant, liver transplant and transplants of other parts of the body ; and if he will separately give the cost of the drug regime required to sustain the transplant within the human body on an annual basis.
Mr. Dorrell : The cost of organ transplantation varies between units and according to the complexity of the case. The figures represent the latest estimate of the likely range of costs involved in 1989-90 prices ;
Hearts between £15,000 and £20,000
Livers between £20,000 and £30,000
Kidney around £10,000
No estimate is available of the cost of other organs.
Information is not collected centrally of the annual cost of the drug regime required to sustain organ transplants.
Hepatitis A
Mr. Bowis : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the number of hepatitis A cases confirmed in schools during the past year ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Dorrell : No information on the number of hepatitis A cases confirmed in schools is held separately. However, the total number of cases of hepatitis A in school-age children in England and Wales reported to the communicable disease surveillance centre (CDSC) of the public health laboratory service for the year 1990 was 2,518 (provisional figures).
All outbreaks are reported in the communicable disease report of the CDSC. Local consultants in communicable disease control are responsible for monitoring outbreaks and advising appropriate control measures.
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