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Mr. Garel-Jones : Of the consultative parties to the Antarctic treaty, Australia, France, Belgium, Italy, New Zealand, Finland, Sweden and Peru supported the call for a total ban on mining ; the remaining 18 consultative parties (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Germany, India, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, China, Poland, South Korea, South Africa, Spain, USSR, USA, United Kingdom and Uruguay) did not.
Sir Richard Body : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he now supports a permanent ban on mineral mining in Antarctica.
Mr. Garel-Jones : Our primary objective is to achieve a return to consensus within the Antarctic treaty system. There remain differing views on how best to achieve this, and we remain prepared to discuss the options. We do not believe that a permanent ban on mineral activity will achieve a consensus which is rational and scientifically based.
Mr. Alois Brunner
Mr. Janner : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) whether, since the renewal of diplomatic relations between the United Kingdom and Syria, he has consulted his ministerial counterparts in France, Germany and Austria to ensure that Alois Brunner, who now lives in Syria, is tried for war crimes ;
(2) what representations he intends to make to the Syrian Government to ensure that Alois Brunner is tried for war crimes.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : The United Kingdom has no special responsibility in this matter. We have not been approached for assistance by the Governments mentioned by the hon. and learned Gentleman.
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Guatemala
Mrs. Fyfe : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made concerning killings and disappearances in Guatemala, in particular those listed by Amnesty International.
Mr. Garel-Jones : We and our EC partners have regularly made clear to the Guatemalan Government our serious concern about human rights abuses. In the past year, British Ministers have raised human rights three times with Guatemalan Ministers, and our ambassador has raised the plight of street children. He and his EC colleagues have also made representations about the shootings at Santiago de Atitlan on 2 December.
Overseas Electors
Mr. Nellist : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the ministerial and departmental visits made overseas in 1990 in connection with the promotion of the changes in the rights of overseas electors ; what, in each case, was the cost to public funds ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : No ministerial or departmental visits were made overseas in connection with the publicity arrangements for the rights of overseas electors under the Representation of the People Act 1989.
OVERSEAS DEVELOPMENT
Eastern Europe
Mr. David Shaw : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much in aid and assistance to eastern Europe has been spent and committed in 1990-91 ; and what is the nature of each programme on which money is being expended.
Mr. Alex Carlile : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will give details of how know-how funding to Poland has been applied hitherto ; and if he will make a statement.
Mrs. Chalker : A total of £5,020,848 has been spent under the know-how fund for eastern Europe since the beginning of the 1990-91 financial year. We expect to spend the full £15 million allocated for assistance to eastern Europe by the end of this financial year. As to the nature of the programmes on which money has been spent, I refer to the replies I gave to my hon. Friends the Members for Battersea (Mr. Bowis) on 14 March at column 236, for Ellesmere Port and Neston (Dr. Woodcock) on 13 June at column 213, for Daventry (Mr. Boswell) and for Hazel Grove (Sir T. Arnold) on 2 July at column 417, and to the hon. Member for Nottingham, North (Mr. Allen) on 17 October at column 813. The additional activities approved since then under the know-how fund are as follows :
Poland
Title : Seeds Sector Training.
Description : 4 week training course by the National Institute of Agricultural Botany.
Status : Completed November 1990.
Cost : £55,000.
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Title : Industrial Competitiveness.Description : 3 month study by the Centre for Economic and Policy Research.
Status : To be implemented.
Cost : £27,000.
Title : Assistance to Employment Sector.
Description : Provision of advice Health and Safety, Employment Services Training and Small Firms.
Status : Under way October 1990.
Cost : £125,000.
Title : Book Sector Study.
Description : Study to form the basis of a medium term book development policy in Poland.
Status : Due to start January 1991.
Cost : £41,000.
Hungary
Title : Development of Employment Services.
Description : A two stage programme of visits to and from Hungary arranged by the Department of Employment to provide advice on how to develop employment services in Hungary.
Status : Due to start January 1991.
Cost : £16,070.
Title : Banking assistance.
Description : Visit by librarian of chartered Institute of Bankers to advise on the establishment of a library and specialist information centre at the International training centre for bankers in Budapest.
Status : Under way.
Cost : £4,000.
Title : Assistance to International Management Centre (IMC). Description : To strengthen the IMC's training, research and consultancy programmes via a programme of visits over a three year period by leading British management specialists.
Status : To be implemented.
Cost : £60,000.
Title : Accountancy Crash Training.
Description : A six month programme of assistance to retrain all senior accountants in the principles and operation of the new Hungarian accountancy legislation.
Status : To be implemented.
Cost : £145,000.
Title : Assistance to Budapest Stock Exchange (BSE).
Description : Consultancy advice to help the BSE determine the most appropriate method of operation and regulatory arrangements for their new trading room and with this information to draw up the optimum physical specifications of the trading room.
Status : Will begin December 1990.
Cost : £60,000.
Czechoslovakia
Title : English Language Training for the State Bank.
Description : A three month intensive course in general and specialised English for senior staff of the Czechoslovakia State Bank.
Status : Under way.
Cost : £65,000.
Title : Economics for senior Officials.
Description : A programme of lectures and seminars to introduce senior Czechoslovak officials to market economics, and in particular the contemporary economic issues affecting government policy.
Status : Under way.
Cost : £9,500.
Title : Study of Environmental Problems of North Bohemia.
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Description : A programme of visits by environmental scientists aimed at producing a report for the Czechoslovak government to better to understand the environmental problems of North Bohemia and to develop a realistic programme for their solution, including sources of finance.Status : Under way.
Cost : £12,000.
Title : Establishment of an Industry and Conservation Association in Bratislava.
Description : A programme of visits and consultancy advice aimed at improving the handling of environmental problems in the local political economy by developing partnerships between industry, environmental NGO's and local government.
Status : To be implemented.
Cost : £28,000.
Title : Secondment to Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs. Description : An official from the Department of Employment will be seconded to the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs for a 9 month period to co- ordinate and develop the programme of assistance in the labour field currently underway under KHF auspices.
Status : Will begin in December 1990.
Cost : £20,000.
Title : Support for World Bank Structural Adjustment Mission. Description : Covering the costs of two United Kingdom experts taking part in a world bank mission looking at the social safety net in Czechoslovakia as a precursor to a major structural adjustment loan.
Status : Will begin December 1990.
Cost : £20,000.
Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Poland
Title : Assistance for Environmental NGO's.
Description : A programme of visits, exchanges and consultancy advice aimed at strengthening the network of environmental NGO's in all three countries.
Status : Under way.
Cost : £125,000 over two years.
Environment and Development Conference
Mr. Malcolm Bruce : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what part the Overseas Development Administration is playing in the preparatory process for the United Nations conference on environment and development to be held in Brazil in 1992.
Mrs. Chalker : We have contributed US$25,000 to the voluntary fund established to finance participation by developing countries in the preparations for the conference. We have offered to help finance the preparation of national reports from Indonesia, Pakistan and Zimbabwe for the conference. Together with the Department of Trade and Industry we will be financing a study on technology transfer to help developing countries address environmental problems, with a focus on global warming. ODA officials played a full part in the first meeting of the preparatory committee for the conference in Nairobi in August, and will continue to do so at future meetings.
Angola
Mr. Andrew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the action the Government plan to take in support of the United Nations special relief programme for Angola.
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Mrs. Chalker : I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Mid-Kent (Mr. Rowe) on 6 December at column 204.Malawi
Mr. Alex Carlile : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make representations to the Government of Malawi concerning adherence to the African charter on human and peoples' rights ; and if he will make a statement.
Mrs. Chalker : We welcome Malawi's ratification of the African charter on human and peoples' rights. But it is not for us to monitor any state's implementation of its provisions. It is for the commission provided by the charter to do this.
Mr. Alex Carlile : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make representations to the Government of Malawi concerning the continuing detention without trial of Jack Mapanje ; and if he will make a statement.
Mrs. Chalker : We are concerned about Jack Mapanje's continued detention in Malawi and make frequent inquiries of the Malawian authorities about his case. Senior Malawian officials have recently told us that all cases of detention without trial are currently undergoing review.
DUCHY OF LANCASTER
Official Visits
25. Mr. Winnick : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many visits he has made to the Duchy in the last fortnight.
Mr. Chris Patten : I visited the county palatine last month. I assure the hon. Member I shall be making plenty of further visits to it in the future.
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HEALTH
Kidney Transplants
Mr. Caborn : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will consider taking steps to institute a system of required requests for kidney donation in order to increase the number of kidneys available for transplant.
Mr. Dorrell : The Government have initiated an audit of all intensive care units in England to assess potential for organ procurement, including kidneys. The results so far do not suggest that failure to request is a serious problem in England. A much more significant reason for the loss of suitable organs was refusal by relatives. We are carrying out a programme of national publicity to address this problem.
Head Lice
Mr. Alton : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the incidence of head louse infection in British schools for each of the last five years.
Mr. Dorrell : I refer the hon. Member to the reply the then Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State gave my hon. Friend the Member for Rugby and Kenilworth (Mr. Pawsey) on 26 April at columns 293-94.
Waiting Lists
Mr. Battle : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what is the percentage of those waiting for non-urgent operations who wait longer than (a) one year, (b) six months and (c) two years in Leeds Eastern health authority and Leeds Western health authority ; (2) what has been the rise in the number of people waiting for non-urgent operations as a percentage and as a number in (a) Leeds Eastern health authority, (b) Leeds Western health authority and (c) the United Kingdom.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : The information is given in the table.
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In-patient waiting lists (surgical specialties)
Total numpercentagAt 31 March, percentage of
31 March change cases on list waiting:
|6-12 |12-23
|months |months |months
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Leeds Eastern
1989 |5,165 |+0.1 |18.2 |17.9 |8.0
1990 |5,169 |16.8 |17.6 |9.0
Leeds Western
1989 |4,596 |-8.0 |21.1 |17.1 |9.5
1990 |4,230 |23.5 |14.1 |9.0
England
1989 |595,033 |+1.3 |22.8 |17.1 |12.4
1990 |602,850 |23.3 |12.3 |10.5
Since 1979 the number of in-patients treated in all specialties has increased by 25 per cent. in Leeds Eastern, by 41 per cent. in Leeds Western and by nearly 25 per cent. in England as a whole. For information for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, I refer the hon. Member to my right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
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Romanian Children
Miss Lestor : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many Romanian children adopted or fostered by British people are currently in the care of local authorities ; and if he will make a statement.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : We know of no such children who are currently in the care of local authorities.
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