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Assistance Unit
Mr. Tom Clarke : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many staff are currently working within the joint FCO/ODA assistance unit.
Know-how Funds
Mr. Tom Clarke : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the current advisory board members of each of the United Kingdom know-how funds.
Mrs. Chalker : The composition of the advisory board for central and eastern Europe is as follows :
Mr. George Robertson, MP
Sir Russell Johnston, MP
Mr. Nigel Forman, MP
Mr. Gavin Laird, CBE
Dr. Zbigniew Pelczynski
Dr. John Howell
Mr. Angus Cargill
Sir Frank Lampl
Dr. Dennis Deletant
Mr. Ralph Land
Dr. Edwina Moreton
Dr. N. S. Wooding, CBE
Ms. Hella Pick
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Professor CramptonMr. John Murphy
Eastern Europe
Mr. Tom Clarke : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether any of his officials are currently advising east European countries on privatisation policies.
Mrs. Chalker : Advice on privatisation in Poland, Hungary and Czechoslovakia is being given, not directly by officials but by British financial consultancies and individuals under contracts paid for by the know-how fund.
THE ARTS
Items in Lieu of Tax
Mr. Steen : To ask the Minister for the Arts if there have been any items accepted in lieu of tax or allocated since an announcement was last made on the subject to the House.
Mr. Renton : Since my announcement on 19 December 1990, at column 175 , I am pleased to announce that three further offers have been accepted. These consist of a collection of photographs by and of Cecil Beaton, a collection of private and Post Office telegraph stamps of Great Britain--1854 to 1881--and a collection of 38 paintings connected with East Anglia including a number of works by Pieter Tillemans together with a George III cabinet. These offers will satisfy £125,331, £113,000 and £211,552.80 respectively. No decision has yet been taken on the allocation of the Beaton photographs or the stamp collection, but the paintings and cabinet will be allocated to the Norwich Castle museum in accordance with the condition on which the offer was made. As with previous "hybrid" offers, the Norwich Castle museum agreed to pay the offerer an element of the difference between the tax liability and the special price.
NORTHERN IRELAND
Electricity Privatisation
Mr. Clifford Forsythe : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland by what method he intends to legislate for the proposed privatisation of Northern Ireland Electricity.
Mr. Needham : Since the matter is in the "transferred" field, it is proposed to legislate for the privatisation of NIE by an Order in Council under the Northern Ireland Act 1974. A small number of consequential amendments to certain United Kingdom enactments may need to be effected by a separate order under the Northern Ireland Constitution Act 1973. Any necessary taxation provisions, as "excepted" matters, would be contained in a Finance Bill.
Energy Efficiency
Mr. Pendry : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what specific measures his Department has taken to promote energy efficiency ; what further measures his Department intends to take to promote energy efficiency ;
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and by what amount and what percentage of its total energy bill his Department's energy bill has been reduced over the past year.Mr. Needham : On 6 December 1990 the Department of Economic Development issued a consultative paper on energy efficiency in Northern Ireland. It set out the extensive initiatives already under way to promote energy efficiency in the Province ; by all other interested parties through a "Partnership in Action" programme. Specific recommendations for further action were made and comments on the consultative paper have been requested by 1 March 1991. A copy of the consultative paper has been placed in the Library.
Since 1984 Northern Ireland has had its own interdepartmental committee on energy efficiency. It monitors annual energy use by Government and submits reports to the Secretary of State. In addition, Northern Ireland participates in the United Kingdom-wide ministerial group on energy efficiency. Moreover, schemes of assistance for low-income households and the best practice programme are operative in Northern Ireland.
In the calendar year 1990 expenditure on energy in the Northern Ireland Government office estate was £2.1 million which represents a 5 per cent. reduction compared with the previous calendar year in 1990 price terms.
Constituencies
Mr. John D. Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what is the size of the electorate in each Northern Ireland constituency ; and what they were immediately following the last revision of parliamentary boundaries in Northern Ireland.
Dr. Mawhinney : The number of electors in each parliamentary constituency in Northern Ireland on the electoral register in 1990 and in 1983--the first register with details of the revised parliamentary constituencies was :
Constituency |1990 |1983
|Register |Register
------------------------------------------------------------------
Belfast East |53,933 |56,065
Belfast North |56,991 |61,703
Belfast South |53,516 |54,115
Belfast West |57,456 |60,404
East Antrim |63,025 |59,372
East Londonderry |75,407 |68,215
Fermanagh and South Tyrone |70,535 |68,913
Foyle |74,558 |67,918
Lagan Valley |71,904 |60,685
Mid Ulster |69,415 |64,840
Newry and Armagh |68,154 |62,896
North Antrim |69,562 |63,951
North Down |68,496 |62,194
Strangford |68,242 |60,813
South Antrim |66,763 |59,931
South Down |75,364 |67,723
Upper Bann |67,281 |61,447
|------- |-------
Totals |1,130,602 |1,061,185
Cold Weather Payments
Mr. Mallon : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will take steps to give discretion to social fund officers, during spells of severe cold weather, to make cold weather payments in cases of need.
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Mr. Hanley : This is not in accordance with the regulation of the scheme.Mr. Mallon : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what was the last occasion on which cold weather payments were made by the Department of Health and Social Services ; how many recipients received payments ; and what was the total cost to the Department of Health and Social Services.
Mr. Hanley : Cold weather payments totalling £233,194 were made to 46,646 people in respect of the winter of 1986-87.
Mr. Mallon : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans he has to grant cold weather payments to (i) pensioners, (ii) those in receipt of income support and (iii) those in receipt of other benefits.
Mr. Hanley : There are no plans to alter the present scheme which provides for a payment of £5 for any period of seven consecutive days during which the average temperature is 0 deg. Celsius or below. Those eligible are people getting income support which includes one of the pensioner or disability premiums or who have a child under five living with them. People aged 60 or over can have savings of up to £1,000 without the payment being affected. For other claimants the corresponding limit is £500.
Domestic Heating Fuel
Mr. Mallon : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what was the average increase in the price of home heating fuel since 2 August 1990.
Mr. Needham : The increase in prices of home heating oils peaked at the end of October 1990 at between 70 and 90 per cent. above those at 2 August 1990. Current prices are 33 to 38 per cent. above those on 2 August 1990. Some smokeless coal prices have risen by 14 to 17 per cent. in the same period, which included the removal of summer discounts on 8 September 1990.
Government Appointees
Rev. Ian Paisley : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list the names of all Government-appointed nominees to each education and library board since its formation, giving the year of appointment and the length of service in each case.
Dr. Mawhinney [holding answer 16 January 1991] : The education and library boards were established in 1973 and are now in their fifth term of office having been reconstituted every four years. The information requested about the membership of the boards during their first four terms could be compiled only at disproportionate cost. All board members are appointed by the head of the department, regardless of the source of their nomination. The current membership of the boards, excluding district council members who are selected for appointment by their councils, is as follows :
Western Board
1. Members appointed July 1989
Mr. S. J. Burnside
Mr. T. B. Campbell
Rev. R. W. W. Clarke
Rev. C. Clerkin
Rev. O. Crilly
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Rev. P. CrillyRev. K. J. Devlin ( resigned 12 December 1990)
Mr. M. J. Fegan
Mrs. M. T. Grant
Rt. Rev. B. D. A. Hannon
Mrs. S. C. Hogg
Mrs. T. Kelly
Mr. P. Little
Mr. J. S. R. Maxwell
Mr. J. C. A. McGinnis ( resigned 23 May 1990)
Mrs. B. B. McIvor
Mrs. S. M. O'Kane
Mr. P. I. O'Neill
Mr. R. E. Wright
2. Replacements appointed since July 1989
Mrs. M. T. Breslin ( appointed 6 November 1990)
One vacancy to be filled
Southern Board
1. Members appointed July 1989
Rev. J. M. Barton
Mr. F. H. Bell
Very Rev. J. Bradley
Mr. M. P. Campbell
Rev. D. Chillingworth
Mrs. M. P. Faulkner
Mrs. W. J. Gaffney
Mr. W. F. Gillespie
Rev. Bro. L. S. Kelly
Mr. A. J. Lavery
Mr. W. K. Lowry
Rev. S. A. Matthews
Mrs. R. Moore ( resigned 19 May 1990)
Mr. T. O. Mulligan
Mr. F. G. K. McCann
Sr. O. McConville
Mrs. J. McCool
Very Rev. Canon C. McEntegart
Mr. E. W. Napier
Mrs. M. O'Hagan
Mrs. S. E. Walker
2. Replacements appointed since July 1989
Mr. J. H. McParland ( appointed 14 January 1991)
South-eastern board
1. Members appointed July 1989
Mr. R. A. Adams ( resigned 31 December 1989)
Mr. S. A. Costello
Rev. T. V. Craig
Mr. S. I. Davidson
Rev. S. M. J. Dickson
Mrs. L. P. Douglas
Rev. W. H. Gray
Miss R. B. Lavery
Mr. W. D. Linton
Rev. G. W. Loane ( resigned 28 November 1990)
Mr. S. Mackell ( resigned 30 November 1989)
Mr. W. J. Masterson
Mr. P. McAleenan
Mr. W. G. McCourt
Mr. D. W. G. Nesbitt
Mr. P. O'Donoghue ( deceased 30 July 1989)
Rev. Prof. T. S. Reid
Mr. J. A. Savage ( deceased 28 December 1989)
Mr. H. R. Small
Rev. K. J. Smyth
Rev. D. Whyte
2. Replacements appointed since July 1989
Mrs. M. B. Donnelly ( appointed 12 February 1990)
Mrs. M. Doris ( appointed 1 February 1990)
Mr. K. Kilpatrick ( appointed 5 September 1990)
Mrs. D. Tennis ( appointed 25 April 1990)
One vacancy to be filled
North-Eastern Board
1. Members Appointed July 1989
Rev. D. Clarke
Rev. R. Devine
Mr. J. Donaghy
Rev. Chancellor J. A. Fair
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