| Previous Section | Home Page |
Mr. MacGregor : I have no proposals at present. The marked increase in the number of public petitions written by the public and presented by hon. Members since 1983 suggests that the language currently required does not present a significant obstacle to those wishing to petition the House and hon. Members may consult the Clerk of Public Petitions when necessary. Nevertheless, I would give any proposals made to me careful consideration.
Column 545
Mr. Allen : To ask the Lord President of the Council if he will establish a survey of Members in connection with possible improvements to the public petition procedure.Mr. MacGregor : I have no present plans to do so. If the Select Committee on Procedure were to examine amendments to the resolutions and practices of the House concerning public petitions, hon. Members could make their views known to the Committee and its recommendations would be given careful consideration.
Mr. Allen : To ask the Lord President of the Council how many public petitions have been submitted to the House in each year for which data are available.
Mr. MacGregor : The number of public petitions presented to the House in each Session since 1785 for which data are available is as follows :
Year |Number ------------------------ 1785 |298 1786 |156 1787 |98 1787-88 |201 1788-89 |127 1801 |192 1801-2 |158 1802-3 |367 1803-4 |168 1804-5 |141 1811 |132 1812 |340 1812-13 |1,699 1813-14 |1,479 1814-15 |848 1827 |3,635 1828 |4,074 1929 |4,041 1830 |2,522 1830-31 |8,961 1831 |1,259 1833 |10,394 1834 |9,407 1835 |4,061 1836 |5,835 1837 |9,822 1837-38 |9,516 1839 |13,737 1840 |18,646 1841 |18,648 1842 |9,525 1843 |33,898 1844 |12,462 1845 |16,453 1846 |8,645 1847 |10,527 1847-48 |18,504 1849 |9,947 1850 |16,137 1851 |12,021 1852 |5,639 1852-53 |11,164 1854 |10,387 1854-55 |10,036 1856 |13,867 1857 |6,306 1857-58 |7,073 1859 |6,101 1860 |24,279 1861 |15,352 1862 |10,198 1863 |12,583 1864 |10,222 1865 |8,076 1866 |9,691 1867 |12,733 1867-68 |17,802 1868-69 |18,138 1870 |19,891 1871 |17,500 1872 |28,242 1873 |21,426 1874 |19,107 1875 |20,610 1876 |18,898 1877 |11,805 1878 |16,994 1879 |12,383 1880 |10,022 1881 |14,051 1882 |19,400 1883 |23,304 1884 |21,294 1885 |10,654 1886 |8,173 1887 |10,390 1888 |12,713 1889 |8,317 1890 |10,337 1890-91 |12,537 1892 |6,219 1893-94 |33,742 1894 |2,245 1895 (I) |9,372 1895 (II) |60 1896 |8,412 1987 |3,079 1898 |5,198 1899 (I) |3,782 1899 (II) |25 1900 (I) |11,126 1900 (II) |28 1901 |9,850 1902 |5,637 1903 |3,170 1904 |12,558 1905 |1,098 1906 |8,893 1907 |2,134 1908 |10,600 1909 |1,811 1910 |1,545 1911 |236 1912-13 |10,221 1913 |600 1914 |384 1914-16 |57 1916 |35 1917-18 |256 1918 |15 1919 |121 1920 |32 1921 (I) |50 1921 (II) |0 1922 (I) |22 1922 (II) |5 1923 |177 1924 |19 1924-25 |448 1926 |344 1927 |43 1928 |10 1928-29 |12 1929-30 |23 1930-31 |99 1931-32 |13 1932-33 |695 1933-34 |60 1934-35 |103 1935-36 |6 1936-37 |14 1937-38 |9 1938-39 |16 1939-40 |1 1940-41 |2 1941-42 |6 1942-43 |4 1943-44 |5 1944-45 |2 1945-46 |27 1946-47 |61 1947-48 |9 1948 |- 1948-49 |5 1950 |5 1950-51 |18 1951-52 |11 1952-53 |18 1953-54 |24 1954-55 |2 1955-56 |16 1956-57 |58 1957-58 |12 1958-59 |36 1959-60 |8 1960-61 |33 1961-62 |16 1962-63 |19 1963-64 |12 1964-65 |10 1965-66 |6 1966-67 |17 1967-68 |27 1968-69 |16 1969-70 |4 1970-71 |8 1971-72 |21 1972-73 |25 1973-74 |6 1974 |12 1974-75 |27 1975-76 |58 1976-77 |61 1977-78 |24 1978-79 |10 1979-80 |7 1980-81 |29 1981-82 |27 1982-83 |29 1983-84 |732 1984-85 |1,059 1985-86 |516 1986-87 |108 1987-88 |356 1988-89 |227 1989-90 |960 1990-91 |<1>27 <1> As at 25 January 1991.
Orders in Council
Mr. Allen : To ask the Lord President of the Council if he will list the Orders in Council which have been approved in 1990.
Mr. MacGregor : Over 530 orders were approved in Council in 1990, including 133 statutory instruments, 187 orders approving schemes of the Church Commissioners, 86 approving reports of the judicial committee of the Privy Council, 47 approving Acts of the legislatures of the Channel Islands, 21 approving the grant or amendment of royal charters, 18 approving statutes of universities, colleges and schools, 19 making various appointments and 14 relating to the closure of burial grounds.
The orders could be individually listed only at disproportionate cost.
Column 548
LORD PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL
Privy Council
Mr. Allen : To ask the Lord President of the Council if he will list those who attended the Privy Council on 19 December 1990.
Mr. MacGregor : A list of those who attended the Privy Council meeting on 19 December 1990 was published in the court circular. In addition to Her Majesty the Queen, those present were myself as Lord President of the Council, Mr. David Hunt, Mr. Michael Heseltine, Mr. Peter Brooke, Mr. Malcolm Rifkind, Mrs. Lynda Chalker and Mr. Christopher Patten. Mr. Geoffrey de Deney also attended as Clerk of the Council.
Mr. Allen : To ask the Lord President of the Council when the Privy Council will hold its next scheduled meeting.
Mr. MacGregor : The Privy Council is next scheduled to meet in early February.
SOCIAL SECURITY
Poverty
Mr. Battle : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will give his Department's latest official figures for the numbers of people living in poverty in the United Kingdom.
Mr. Jack : The Department continues to follow the line of all post- war Administrations in not keeping statistics based on a single definition of poverty. Information on the income and characteristics of people in the lower half of the income distribution are provided in the publication "HBAI a Statistical Analysis 1981-87", produced on a bi-annual basis, a copy of which is available in the Library.
Camden Office (Dispute)
Mr. Soley : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make a statement on the effect of the current industrial dispute at his Department's office in Camden on homeless claimants ; and what steps he has been able to take to alleviate the situation.
Miss Widdecombe : Claims from homeless people are being handled and cleared in the normal way and the office is open to callers as usual.
Severe Disability Premium
Mr. Meacher : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he intends making any changes to severe disability premium entitlement for claimants who jointly occupy.
Miss Widdecombe : Subject to other conditions, the severe disability premium is available, in income support, housing benefit and community charge benefit, to claimants who jointly occupy the dwelling with another person where they are co-owners, or are jointly liable to make payments in respect of their occupation of that dwelling, for example, if they are joint tenants. There are no plans to change this policy at the present time.
Column 549
Local Offices (Staffing)
Mr. Bellotti : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) why he no longer takes into account the number of pensioners in an area when fixing the staffing of local Department of Social Security offices ;
(2) if he will make it his policy that there will be an immediate increase in staffing at the Department of Social Security local offices to process claims when unemployment rises.
Miss Widdecombe : The Department allocates staffing resources to its local offices according to workload. Local offices record workload, including claims from pensioners and unemployed people each month. Resource managers take account of revised workload forecasts based on those returns when reviewing local office complements.
Pensions
Mr. Meacher : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what information he has regarding the income levels of people who have opted out of the state earnings-related pension scheme into personal pensions.
Miss Widdecombe : An examination of a 1 per cent. sample of national insurance records shows that for the year ending 5 April 1989, the latest period for which information is available, the average earnings of those people who had taken out an appropriate personal pension was just under £8,000.
Invalidity Benefit
Sir Ian Gilmour : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, further to his reply to the hon. Member for Derbyshire, North-East (Mr. Barnes) of 13 December 1990, Official Report, columns 501-4, on the numbers of people receiving invalidity benefit, what factors are responsible for the assessment he has made of the increase in the number of claimants from 1980 to 1990.
Mr. Scott : Recent research has shown a number of reasons which may have influenced the increase in numbers receiving invalidity benefit, but none is conclusive. In the main, increases seem to be due to people staying on invalidity benefit longer. For some illnesses--for example, those of the circulatory system, including heart diseases--life expectancy has increased. In addition, more women have become entitled to receive invalidity benefit because most now pay full rate contributions rather than the married women's reduced rate. Unemployment may also be a factor ; when jobs are more scarce people with disabilities or poor general health may find it harder to obtain employment.
The Department is currently planning further research into this question.
Family Credit
Sir Ian Gilmour : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will publish figures showing the proposed family credit ceilings in 1991-92 for each of (a) a married couple with one child under five years, (b) a married couple with two children under 11 years, (c) a married couple with two children over 11 years, (d) a married couple with three children under 11 years, (e) a married couple with three children over 11 years and (f) a married couple with two children under 11 years and two children over 11 years.
Column 550
Mr. Jack : At the new benefit levels proposed for April 1991 the family credit ceiling represented by the highest amount of net earnings and other relevant income a family can have and still qualify for family credit at the minimum payment of 50p will be as follows :
F
|£
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Married couple with one child under 5 years |130.11
Marrried couple with two children under 11 |143.96
Married couple with two children over 11 (but under 16) |162.25
Married couple with three children under 11 |157.82
Married couple with three children over 11
(but under 16) |185.25
Married couple with two children under 11 and two
children over 11 (but under 16) |189.96
SCOTLAND
Local Authorities
Mr. McMaster : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he has any plans to review or amend the system of remuneration for elected members of Scottish local authorities.
Mr. Allan Stewart : Details of a revised scheme of councillors' allowances were announced in May 1990 and draft regulations were issued for consultation in June 1990. Consideration of a number of detailed points which arose has taken longer than expected, but we hope to issue revised draft regulations for final consultation shortly.
Mr. McMaster : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he last increased the rate of remuneration payable to elected members of Scottish local authorities in the form of attendance allowances and expenses ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Allan Stewart : Increased rates of attendance allowance, financial loss allowance and special responsi-bility allowance came into effect on 1 September 1990. Rates of travelling and day and night subsistence allowances were increased from 1 January 1991.
Labour Statistics
Mr. Dewar : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the figure for the total number of employees in employment, plus self-employed, in Scotland, for each year from 1979.
Mr. Lang : The information requested is shown in the table :
Number of employees in employment and self-employed in Scotland
in June of each year from 1979
|Employees in |Self- |Total
|employment<1>|employed<2> |employees in
|employment
|plus
|self-employed
Year |(thousands) |(thousands) |(thousands)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
1979 |2,102 |160 |2,262
1980 |2,082 |155 |2,237
1981 |2,002 |149 |2,151
1982 |1,950 |164 |2,114
1983 |1,899 |179 |2,078
1984 |1,901 |185 |2,086
1985 |1,900 |200 |2,100
1986 |1,879 |205 |2,084
1987 |1,879 |194 |2,073
1988 |1,916 |215 |2,131
1989 |1,959 |236 |2,195
1990 |2,001 |247 |2,248
Source: Department of Employment.
<1>Estimates of employees in employment for periods after September
1987 are subject to revision on publication of the results of
subsequent Censuses of Employment. The 1989 Census of Employment
results are expected to become available in Spring 1991.
<2>The estimate for June 1990 is provisional and subject to revision
when the results of the 1990 labour force survey become available.
Electronics Industry
Mr. Dewar : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many people were employed in the electronics industry in Scotland for each year from 1979.
Mr. Lang : The number of people employed in the electronics industry from 1979 is set out in the table. The latest available figures are for 1988.
Electronics employment 1979-88
Year |Employment
|(thousands)
------------------------------------
1979 |41.6
1980 |42.6
1981 |39.6
1982 |39.2
1983 |42.0
1984 |43.9
1985 |43.2
1986 |41.5
1987 |44.0
1988 |45.2
Source: Electronics Database
Regional Data System.
Women Employees
Mr. Dewar : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what proportion of employees in Scotland were women, for each year from 1979.
Mr. Lang : The information requested is shown in the table.
Number of women employees in employment and number as a
proportion of all employees in employment in Scotland
in June of
each year from 1979
Year |Women |Proportion of
|employees in |all employees
|employment |in
|employment
|(thousands) |(per cent.)
--------------------------------------------------------
1979 |897 |42.7
1980 |896 |43.0
1981 |874 |43.7
1982 |860 |44.1
1983 |839 |44.2
1984 |858 |45.1
1985 |851 |44.8
1986 |858 |45.7
1987 |870 |46.3
1988 |895 |46.7
1989 |941 |48.0
1990 |972 |48.6
Source: Department of Employment.
Estimates for periods after September 1987 are subject to revision on publication of the subsequent censuses of employment. The 1989 census of employment results are expected to become available in spring 1991.
Sandeels
Mr. Macdonald : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what were the numbers of O-group, 1-group and older fish in the sandeel catches in International Council for the Exploration of the Seas division VIa in each of the last five years.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : The estimated numbers are as follows :
Thousands
|O-group |1-group |2+
--------------------------------------------------
1986 |3,065,660|1,845,060|873,010
1987 |700,070 |1,196,780|518,460
1988 |967,187 |258,855 |2,352,518
1989 |444,595 |225,564 |1,284,771
1990 |411,994 |628,767 |761,519
Mr. Macdonald : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the size of the sandeel catches in ICES division VIa in 1990 ; and what was the amount of fishing effort directed towards sandeel fishing and the home ports of vessels concerned.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : I refer the hon. Member to my previous answer on 23 November 1990, Vol. 181, col. 243. The full year figures are now available and the information given on 23 November can be confirmed as reflecting the final position for 1990.
Exports
Mr. Dewar : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will publish a table showing the composition of Scottish-manufactured exports, by standard industrial classification, for each year from 1979.
Mr. Lang : The information is not available at the level of disaggregation requested.
The information is available at a more aggregated level of classification within the manufacturing industries from 1979 to 1989.
The figures are set out in the table.
Column 551
Scottish Manufactured Exports (£ million at current prices)
Class and Industry Group |1979 |1980 |1981 |1982 |1983 |1984 |1985 |1986 |1987 |1988 |1989
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
21-24 Metal Manufacture |365.8 |365.7 |300.3 |273.7 |270.1 |208.1 |201.3 |212.7 |182.0 |197.2 |164.6
25-26 Chemicals |362.6 |374.4 |343.6 |449.6 |579.2 |540.4 |565.6 |475.0 |700.5 |686.3 |722.9
31-32 Mechanical Engineering |747.2 |702.9 |828.7 |770.9 |772.2 |530.5 |574.3 |540.3 |501.0 |548.9 |589.3
33-34, 37 Instrument and Electrical Engineering |355.3 |443.4 |655.5 |733.8 |972.1 |1,759.9 |2,042.0 |1,952.4 |2,567.2 |3,008.3 |3,295.9
35-36 Shipbuilding and Vehicles |322.8 |397.5 |354.0 |273.4 |334.6 |247.2 |287.3 |231.5 |318.0 |289.0 |229.8
41-42 Food, Drink and Tobacco |770.4 |811.5 |960.3 |977.8 |989.9 |1,113.8 |1,197.2 |1,249.0 |1,377.7 |1,484.8 |1,694.2
43-45 Textiles, Leather, Clothing and Footwear |241.9 |273.4 |317.5 |322.0 |309.8 |281.7 |412.7 |356.5 |412.5 |461.4 |432.9
46-49 Other Manufacturing |243.5 |393.5 |265.0 |264.6 |304.7 |270.9 |242.0 |284.3 |334.6 |488.7 |534.3
|--- |--- |--- |--- |--- |--- |--- |--- |--- |--- |---
Total |3,409.5 |3,762.3 |4,024.9 |4,065.8 |4,532.6 |4,952.5 |5,522.4 |5,300.2 |6,393.7 |7,165.8 |7,663.9
Footnote: Totals may not sum due to rounding.
Source: Scottish Council Development and Industry Export Survey.
Prestwick Airport
Mr. McAvoy : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what plans he has to improve rail and road communications to Prestwick airport ; and if he will make a statement.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : The Government are committed to improving the A77 Ayr road route south of Glasgow in due course when Strathclyde regional council proceeds with improvements to that part of the route for which it is responsible.
Rail links are primarily a matter for British Rail and Strathclyde regional council, but the Government consider that investment in such a link would not be justified at the present time. The matter will, however, be kept under review in the light of trends in the level of passenger traffic using the airport.
Health Targets
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will publish his health targets for Scotland.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : The consultation document "Health Education in Scotland : A National Policy Statement", which I issued in October 1990, proposed the following targets for Scotland over the period 1986 to 2000 :
A reduction of 25 per cent. in mortality from heart disease in people under age 65 ;
a reduction of 15 per cent. in mortality from cancer in people under age 65 ;
a reduction of 30 per cent. in the number of smokers in the age range 12 to 24 ; and of 20 per cent. in the age range 25 to 65 ; a reduction of 20 per cent. in the proportion of the population exceeding the recommended sensible limits of alcohol consumption. I hope to publish the final version of the policy statement shortly in the light of comments on the consultation document.
Scottish Enterprise
Mr. Graham : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will publish total proposed budget figures for Scottish Enterprise for 1991-92.
Mr. Allan Stewart : The Scottish Enterprise budget for 1991-92 will be published in the supply estimates.
Cholesterol Tests
Mr. Gareth Wardell : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the number of tests for high cholesterol blood counts carried out, and the corresponding number of such tests requested, for each health board, for the latest available year.
Column 554
Mr. Michael Forsyth : The number of cholesterol tests carried out in each health board for the year ended 31 March 1990 is listed in the table. All such tests requested are carried out.
Cholesterol tests
--------------------------------------
Argyll and Clyde |13,301
Ayrshire and Arran |14,255
Borders |3,890
Dumfries and Galloway |4,741
Fife |7,042
Forth Valley |7,545
Grampian |15,087
Greater Glasgow |129,363
Highland |6,705
Lanarkshire |14,596
Lothian |27,234
Orkney |176
Shetland |190
Tayside |13,764
Western Isles |991
|-------
Scotland |258,880
Scotland Europa Ltd.
Mr. Kirkwood : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether his office has retained advisers to assist in the creation of Scotland Europa Ltd. ; and if he will make a statement on his current plans for the future of Scotland Europa Ltd.
Mr. Allan Stewart : The Scottish Office has retained no advisers in relation to Scotland Europa.
The initiative is under consideration by the Scottish Development Agency. I look forward to seeing its proposals.
Local Health Councils
Mr. Kennedy : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on the future of local health councils, following submissions received from Scottish health boards.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : Schemes for local health councils have been submitted by all 15 health boards. Those boards representing Ayrshire and Arran, Borders, Dumfries and Galloway, Fife, Forth Valley, Grampian, Greater Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Orkney and Shetland have concluded that the interests of the public in the health service in their areas would be best served by single councils. Argyll and Clyde, Highland, Lothian, Tayside and Western Isles health boards have all submitted proposals for multiple councils.
Following very careful consideration my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has decided to approve,
Column 555
under the provisions of section 7(3) of the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978, schemes, with modifications as required, to establish single councils for all boards with the exception of Highland, where three councils, based on parliamentary constituency boundaries, and Western Isles with two councils will be permitted. On account of the large population which Greater Glasgow and Lothian health boards served, the councils in these areas will comprise 20 members instead of 15 elsewhere. Letters to this effect are being issued today to all boards.Foresterhill Hospital
Mr. Robert Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will publish in the Official Report the cost to Grampian health board for services in connection with preparing business plans for Foresterhill hospital under direct management unit and NHS trust status by Price Waterhouse.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : The purpose of the exercise is twofold : to prepare business plans for Foresterhill, but also to serve as a model for business planning in the board and among its other units. The cost to Grampian health board will be of the order of £50,000.
DEFENCE
Medals and Awards
Mr. Ian Stewart : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many members of the armed forces have received the general service medal or other awards for service in the area of hostilities during the Iran-Iraq war.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : In recognition of service in the Gulf region, with special regard to the dangers and hardship accompanying that service, Her Majesty the Queen graciously approved the award of the general service medal (1962) with "Gulf' clasp for personnel who served in the Gulf region on board vessels of the Royal Navy and the Royal Fleet Auxiliary between 17 November 1986 and 31 October 1988, and during continuing mine countermeasures (MCM) operations between 1 November 1988 and 28 February 1989.
Qualified personnel who had previously been awarded the General Service Medal (1962) have received the clasp only.
So far 6,316 general service medals and 402 clasps have been awarded to members of the Royal Navy and Royal Marines. Seventeen medals have been awarded to Army personnel and two to members of the RAF.
In addition, one Queen's gallantry medal and two Queen's commendations for brave conduct have been awarded to naval personnel for explosive ordnance disposal operations following the collision between HMS Southampton and MV Tor Bay in 1988.
Atomic Weapons Establishments
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if there have been any visits to the atomic weapons establishments at (a) Aldermaston, (b) Burghfield and (c) Llanishen by scientific experts from Iraq during the last six years.
Column 556
Gulf War (Press Coverage)
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the instructions given to United Kingdom journalists covering the Gulf war, issued by the joint Saudi/United States/United Kingdom information bureau ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : All journalists registered with the joint information bureaux are required to sign up to ground rules designed to protect the security and safety of allied troops while allowing reasonable freedom to the press. Copies of the United Kingdom ground rules were placed in the Libraries of both Houses on 9 January.
Service Families (Counselling)
Mr. Graham : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make arrangements for families with relatives serving in the Gulf war to receive support via counselling agencies.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : Where the dependants of service men and women are living at overseas stations, we aim to replicate locally the current United Kingdom Department of Health and local authority provision. We therefore fund the Soldiers', Sailors' and Airmen's Families Association (SSAFA) to provide professional primary health care and social work service. Similarly, we fund Relate to provide a marriage guidance counselling service. These agencies will provide counselling to all service families overseas, including those with relatives deployed to the Gulf.
In the United Kingdom, families of our service men and women have access to the normal range of counselling agencies. In addition, SSAFA's voluntary representatives, who have wide experience of supporting the service community, offer advice and help to the wider families of service personnel. At service hospitals worldwide we fund the joint committee of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem and British Red Cross to provide low- level professional welfare support to patients and visiting relatives. In planning for the Gulf crisis this service has been expanded, from voluntary resources, to include representation at all hospitals which may expect to receive war casualties.
Prisoners of War, Iraq
Mr. Atkinson : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he proposes to request the International Committee of the Red Cross to visit British service men held prisoner of war in Iraq ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The International Committee of the Red Cross has reminded all combatants of their obligations under the Geneva convention 1949 relating to the treatment of prisoners of war. Representatives of the committee have made a preliminary visit to the United Kingdom and we will facilitate further visits in accordance with our obligations under the convention. We have made representations to the committee about British service men believed to be held in Iraq and, in particular, about our concern over reports which suggest that they are not being treated in accordance with the requirements of the convention. We understand that the committee's attempts to obtain access to British (and other allied) prisoners have so far been unsuccessful.
Column 557
Defence Establishments (Wales)
Mr. Geraint Howells : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many defence research establishments and bases there are in Wales ; and what is the purpose of each and the number of people employed in each establishment.
Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : There are 14 major defence research establishments and bases in Wales. As at 31 December 1990, the total number of service personnel and civilians employed in these establishments and at other locations in the Principality was 5,256 and 5,549 respectively. Of the former, 45 were Royal Navy, 40 Army and 4,805 Royal Air Force.
The Gulf (EC Personnel)
Mr. Speed : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list information available to him on the total number of active and support personnel each European Community country has committed to the Gulf conflict.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : In addition to the United Kingdom, which has made by far the greatest European contribution to coalition forces, France has deployed naval, ground and air forces ; Italy, naval and air forces ; and Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Greece and Spain have contributed naval forces ; detailed information relating to these deployments is a matter for the Governments concerned. European allies have also provided a wide range of support to the United Kingdom and other countries involved in the multinational force.
The Gulf (Air Sorties)
Mr. Strang : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what was the number of sorties made by each category of RAF aircraft in the first seven days of conflict in the Gulf.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : During the first seven days of conflict in the Gulf the RAF flew some 650 sorties, of which nearly 300 were offensive and over 180 were air defence. The remainder were carried out on various combat support tasks such as air-to-air refuelling.
Mr. Strang : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what was the number of sorties made by the allied forces in the first seven days of conflict in the Gulf.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : In the first seven days of conflict in the Gulf the allied forces carried out some 15,000 sorties, of which 8, 000 were combat sorties.
The Gulf (Combat Losses)
Mr. Strang : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what was the number of combat losses from (a) the allied forces and (b) the United Kingdom forces in the first seven days of conflict in the Gulf.
Column 558
Mr. Archie Hamilton : In the first seven days of conflict the allied forces lost a total of 16 aircraft in combat, four of which were RAF.
| Next Section
| Home Page |