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Written Answers to Questions

Friday 8 February 1991

ENERGY

Coal Industry (Competition)

Mr. Malcolm Bruce : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy whether he is considering measures to introduce further competition in the coal industry.

Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : In the Coal Industry Act 1990 the first steps were taken to liberalise the coal industry, through the raising of limits on the number of men who could be employed to work underground in licensed mines, and by increasing the tonnage limits on the size of licensed opencast sites. Further competition will be introduced when the Government privatise the coal industry after the next general election.

Coal Mining Subsidence

Mr. Barron : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if the coal mining subsidence damage arbitration scheme that is administered by the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators has been approved by his Department.

Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : The new arbitration scheme for resolving disputes arising from coal mining subsidence damage has been voluntarily put in place by the British Coal Corporation and the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators with the encouragement of my Department. The Department was consulted on the draft rules of the scheme.

OVERSEAS DEVELOPMENT

Relief Agencies

Mr. Spearing : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what additional funds have been allocated to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency consequent on recent hostilities in the middle east ; and what additional sums have been sent by Her Majesty's Government to this and similar relief agencies.

Mrs. Chalker : I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the right hon. Member for Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale (Sir D. Steel) on 4 February at column 14. I also refer the hon. Member to the reply given today by my hon. and learned Friend the Member for Grantham (Mr. Hogg) to the hon. Member for Cynon Valley (Mrs. Clwyd) about assistance for the International Committee of the Red Cross and the United Nations relief agencies.

Overseas Aid

Mrs. Mahon : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what consideration has been given to the effects of oil price increases on the budget allocated to alleviate third-world poverty.


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Mrs. Chalker : The cost of imported oil is an important factor in the economies of many developing countries. We supported plans by the International Monetary Fund and the World bank, to which we contribute from our aid programme, to provide help to countries adjusting to the oil price increases in the second half of 1990. These plans will be kept under review in the light of changes in the oil price.

Botswana

Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether any United Kingdom or EC funding has been made available towards the cost of the construction of a steel fence in the Okavango delta in Botswana.

Mrs. Chalker : No British or European Community aid funds have been made available for this purpose.

Somalia

Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Somalian authorities concerning (a) the detention of political prisoners and (b) alleged abuses of political detainees.

Mrs. Chalker : We have repeatedly raised these issues with the Somali authorities including at ministerial level over a long period. Following the fall of the Siad Barre regime there is at present no established authority in Somalia and information about conditions inside the country is hard to come by.

Tobacco

Mr. Gerald Bowden : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the Government's policy on aid to the tobacco sector.

Mrs. Chalker : Tobacco remains an important crop and a source of export earnings and budgetary revenue in some developing countries. There is, however, increasing evidence that the health risks associated with tobacco consumption will affect developing countries most severely and place increasing burdens on their health budgets which in most cases are already inadequate.

In these circumstances, the Government have decided that in future the aid programme should not be used for any purpose which identifiably supports the tobacco sector. With immediate effect, no new bilateral commitments will be undertaken. We shall also advocate that multilateral aid agencies to which we contribute should pursue a similar policy. In addition we shall continue to help developing countries reduce their tobacco consumption, and maintain our assistance to farmers dependent on tobacco crops to diversify into alternative activities.

The same policy will apply to our assistance to eastern Europe.


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TRANSPORT

London Regional Transport

Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) if he will make additional resources available to London Underground to prevent staff redundancies and cuts from being made in peak hour services ; and if he will make a statement ;

(2) if he will consider lifting current financial restraints imposed upon London Regional Transport.

Mr. Freeman : London Transport has requested additional funding this year and we are discussing its request with it. A statement will be made as soon as possible.

Semtex

Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make it his policy to require the mandatory installation of security systems capable of detecting Semtex explosives for all airports in the United Kingdom handling international air traffic.

Mr. McLoughlin [holding answer Thursday 7 February] : The security arrangements already in place at our airports are capable of detecting explosive devices, including those containing Semtex. Our policy is to take all appropriate steps to improve those arrangements further and we will not hesitate to require the provision of any new equipment which would make a significant contribution whether developed under the Department's own aviation security research and development programme, or independently. It would, however, be a mistake to assume that any particular piece of equipment will guarantee 100 per cent. security.

Cliffe Marshes, Kent

Ms. Walley : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what advice his Department has given to the Port of London Authority with regard to the disposal of dredgings on land at Cliffe marshes, Kent ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. McLoughlin [holding answer Thursday 7 February] : None. It is the responsibility of the PLA to investigate ways of disposing of silt dredged from the Thames and to seek any necessary statutory permissions.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Student Placements

Mr. William Ross : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what is his estimate of the number of students from institutions of higher education in Northern Ireland who were not offered a placement on their year out of university or other institution by the start of the academic year in the current year and the last two years ; and how many in each case never got a placement.

Dr. Mawhinney [holding answer 6 February 1991] : Placements are essentially a matter for the institutions, which have advised me that they do not hold information in the form requested. In the current academic year there are in Northern Ireland some 1,010 students on 50


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separate courses involving year-long placements (compared with 980 in 1989-90 and 830 in 1988-89) and I have been assured that, through the combined efforts of the institutions and employers, the vast majority of this rapidly increasing group of students have always been placed for the full year.

EDUCATION AND SCIENCE

Research Council

Mr. Cousins : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will give the financial allocations to the research councils for 1991-92, identifying programmes and capital programmes earmarked in advance by Government ; and what were the comparable allocations in the three previous years in real terms.

Mr. Alan Howarth : The allocations to the five research councils for 1991-92 announced on 24 January are as follows :


------------------

AFRC  |93.4       

ESRC  |35.5       

MRC   |200.4      

NERC  |122.6      

SERC  |451.3      

None of the additional amounts announced this year was allocated to particular programmes in advance. The sums so allocated to particular programmes for 1991-92 in earlier settlements were as follows ; redundancy costs as a result of reductions in MAFF research commissions £6.0 million (AFRC), AIDS £8.5 million (MRC), British Antarctic Survey (BAS) £6.2 million (NERC), British Geological Survey (BGS) £7.0 million (NERC), CERN £7.3 million (SERC), ERS2 instruments £2.0 million (SERC).

For the three preceding years the total grant to each council and the sums specifically allocated in earlier settlements (at 1991-92 prices) were as follows :


Council              |Grant in Aid        |Specific allocations                     

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1990-91                                                                             

AFRC                 |91.8                |MAFF 4.0                                 

ESRC                 |38.4                |-                                        

MRC                  |196.8               |AIDS 8.5                                 

NERC                 |114.2               |BAS 25.7, BGS 5.3                        

SERC                 |463.3               |CERN 7.7, ERS2 2.1                       

                                                                                    

1989-90                                                                             

AFRC                 |87.4                |MAFF 3.0                                 

ESRC                 |36.6                |-                                        

MRC                  |201.9               |AIDS 9.2                                 

NERC                 |131.6               |BAS 10.5, BGS 3.4                        

SERC                 |460.5               |CERN 10.6                                

                                                                                    

1988-89                                                                             

AFRC                 |71.1                |-                                        

ESRC                 |33.7                |-                                        

MRC                  |178.7               |AIDS 7.3                                 

NERC                 |110.7               |BAS 10.5                                 

SERC                 |446.2               |-                                        



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Nuclear Physics

Mr. Alton : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make a statement on the future funding of nuclear physics by the Science and Engineering Research Council.

Mr. Butler : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many representations he has received about the future funding of the nuclear structure facility at Daresbury ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Alan Howarth : My right hon. and learned Friend and I have received 120 representations about the nuclear structure facility at the Daresbury laboratory of the Science and Engineering Research Council.

As part of a review of all its future activities, the council decided on 6 February to make plans for the possible closure of the nuclear structure facility. To assist its further consideration of this issue, the council is establishing a study to assess the importance of the nuclear structure science in the context of the council's work as a whole.

Stratford School

Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what advice he received from Her Majesty's inspectors of schools on Stratford school, Stratford.

Mr. Eggar : Advice submitted to the Secretary of State on the application by Stratford school for grant-maintained status and on Newham local education authority's proposal under section 12 of the 1980 Education Act to cease to maintain the school took account of HMI advice derived from inspection visits to the school.

Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will give the dates and purpose of all visits made to Stratford school, Stratford by Her Majesty's inspectors of schools, since 1 January 1990.

Mr. Eggar : The following visits have been made by HMI to Stratford school since 1 January 1990.

13 February 1990 : one day general visit.

15 January 1991 : one day general visit.


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In addition, HMI has made a small number of very short visits to talk to the acting head.

Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will place in the Library a copy of any reports on Stratford school prepared by Her Majesty's inspectors of schools.

Mr. Eggar : No inspection report on Stratford school has been produced by HMI and published by the Secretary of State since 1983 when such reports were made public.

First Aid

Mr. Fatchett : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he has any plans to introduce the teaching of first aid as part of the national curriculum ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Atkins : First aid training is a matter for determination by individual schools. This will continue to be the case under the national curriculum. Some core and foundation subjects will however provide specific opportunities for such training. In addition, the National Curriculum Council's non-statutory guidance on health education, "Curriculum Guidance 5 : Health Education", recommends that safety education, including a knowledge of basic first aid, should be a key component in schools' health education programmes.

Local Education Authorities

Mr. Anthony Coombs : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will list all local education authorities in England in rank order of expenditure per secondary pupil per year, starting with the higher spending authority, together with their position in the table of examination results for school leavers achieving gradesA to C at GCSE in 1989 and 1990.

Mr. Fallon : The table gives the net institutional expenditure per secondary school pupil in the financial year 1988-89, and averaged examination results for three years 1986-87 to 1988-89. The purpose of averaging is to reduce sampling error within the derived percentages. Comparable information is not yet available for 1989-90.


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                        |<1><2>Net Institutional                                                                        

                         Expenditure  per        Proportion  of leavers with 5 or  more  re-                            

sults                                                                                                                   

                         pupil 1988-89           at Grades A to C<3>                                                    

                                                |as percentage of all                                                   

LEA                     |(£)                  |school leavers         |rank                                           

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ILEA                    |2,505                  |15.9                   |91                                             

Waltham Forest          |2,435                  |12.7                   |94                                             

Brent                   |2,305                  |20.6                   |78                                             

Ealing                  |2,145                  |22.5                   |67                                             

Newham                  |2,140                  |14.9                   |93                                             

Croydon                 |2,040                  |22.1                   |70                                             

Knowsley                |1,990                  |8.5                    |96                                             

Barking                 |1,970                  |11.3                   |95                                             

Coventry                |1,940                  |21.2                   |76                                             

Liverpool               |1,905                  |19.4                   |84                                             

Kingston-upon-Thames    |1,900                  |32.2                   |10                                             

Hounslow                |1,895                  |25.2                   |49                                             

Sandwell                |1,885                  |15.5                   |92                                             

Walsall                 |1,885                  |23.4                   |59                                             

Hillingdon              |1,870                  |22.7                   |65                                             

Newcastle-upon-Tyne     |1,870                  |21.6                   |74                                             

Havering                |1,860                  |24.4                   |57                                             

Salford                 |1,860                  |23.2                   |62                                             

Wigan                   |1,845                  |30.2                   |18                                             

Dudley                  |1,840                  |25.5                   |47                                             

South Tyneside          |1,825                  |22.2                   |68                                             

Barnet                  |1,820                  |38.9                   |2                                              

Sheffield               |1,810                  |22.2                   |68                                             

North Tyneside          |1,780                  |27.5                   |36                                             

Bromley                 |1,770                  |29.9                   |19                                             

Gateshead               |1,770                  |20.4                   |80                                             

Cleveland               |1,770                  |26.5                   |43                                             

Leicestershire          |1,770                  |25.1                   |51                                             

Wirral                  |1,755                  |27.8                   |31                                             

Derbyshire              |1,755                  |24.6                   |54                                             

Wolverhampton           |1,745                  |19.9                   |81                                             

Hertfordshire           |1,745                  |31.9                   |11                                             

Nottinghamshire         |1,745                  |23.4                   |59                                             

Harrow                  |1,740                  |38.6                   |3                                              

Redbridge               |1,735                  |25.5                   |47                                             

Bury                    |1,730                  |27.7                   |33                                             

Stockport               |1,730                  |28.6                   |25                                             

Enfield                 |1,715                  |26.9                   |41                                             

Buckinghamshire         |1,715                  |36.0                   |5                                              

St. Helens              |1,710                  |20.5                   |79                                             

Trafford                |1,710                  |30.7                   |15                                             

Rochdale                |1,700                  |20.9                   |77                                             

Shropshire              |1,695                  |30.3                   |17                                             

Humberside              |1,690                  |22.6                   |66                                             

Bexley                  |1,685                  |28.5                   |26                                             

Cumbria                 |1,685                  |28.0                   |29                                             

Calderdale              |1,665                  |21.5                   |75                                             

Sunderland              |1,665                  |21.8                   |72                                             

Oxfordshire             |1,665                  |27.7                   |33                                             

Merton                  |1,660                  |24.6                   |54                                             

Tameside                |1,660                  |27.1                   |39                                             

Doncaster               |1,655                  |21.7                   |73                                             

Solihull                |1,650                  |31.7                   |12                                             

Barnsley                |1,645                  |19.7                   |82                                             

Richmond-upon-Thames    |1,640                  |32.4                   |8                                              

Birmingham              |1,640                  |19.1                   |85                                             

Bolton                  |1,635                  |28.7                   |24                                             

Rotherham               |1,635                  |23.0                   |63                                             

Bedfordshire            |1,635                  |24.9                   |52                                             

Essex                   |1,635                  |27.4                   |37                                             

Surrey                  |1,635                  |38.0                   |4                                              

Warwickshire            |1,635                  |28.5                   |26                                             

Sutton                  |1,630                  |39.1                   |1                                              

Avon                    |1,630                  |27.8                   |31                                             

Northumberland          |1,630                  |30.7                   |15                                             

Kirklees                |1,620                  |25.6                   |46                                             

Lancashire              |1,620                  |26.8                   |42                                             

Staffordshire           |1,610                  |24.9                   |52                                             

Bradford                |1,605                  |16.9                   |88                                             

Sefton                  |1,600                  |28.5                   |26                                             

North Yorkshire         |1,595                  |34.5                   |7                                              

Oldham                  |1,590                  |18.1                   |86                                             

Norfolk                 |1,585                  |24.5                   |56                                             

Hampshire               |1,580                  |29.6                   |21                                             

Durham                  |1,575                  |23.4                   |59                                             

Berkshire               |1,570                  |32.3                   |9                                              

Somerset                |1,570                  |27.1                   |39                                             

East Sussex             |1,565                  |31.4                   |13                                             

Wiltshire               |1,555                  |25.9                   |45                                             

Leeds                   |1,545                  |22.0                   |71                                             

Cheshire                |1,545                  |29.1                   |23                                             

Gloucestershire         |1,545                  |31.2                   |14                                             

Northamptonshire        |1,545                  |22.8                   |64                                             

Devon                   |1,535                  |26.3                   |44                                             

West Sussex             |1,530                  |35.5                   |6                                              

Cornwall                |1,525                  |29.9                   |19                                             

Isle of Wight           |1,495                  |19.5                   |83                                             

Dorset                  |1,485                  |27.6                   |35                                             

Suffolk                 |1,485                  |24.2                   |58                                             

Cambridgeshire          |1,480                  |28.0                   |29                                             

Kent                    |1,475                  |27.3                   |38                                             

Lincolnshire            |1,475                  |25.2                   |49                                             

Hereford and Worcester  |1,440                  |29.2                   |22                                             

Haringey                |n/a                    |16.6                   |89                                             

Manchester              |n/a                    |16.4                   |90                                             

Wakefield               |n/a                    |17.5                   |87                                             

Notes to Table                                                                                                          

1. Net institutional expenditure includes the cost of salaries and wages, premises, and certain supplies and services.  

It does not include the cost of school meals, central administration, debt charges or revenue contributions to capital  

outlay.                                                                                                                 

2. The expenditure figures are based on LEA expenditure returns to DOE and pupil number returns to DES. N/A denotes     

that an expenditure return has not been received from an LEA.                                                           

3. The examination data are aggregated from the results of a sample survey for the academic years 1986-87, 1987-88 and 1988-89. The survey is based on a 10 per cent. sample of pupils in maintained and independent schools (excluding special schools) who have reached the minimum school leaving age. The percentages quoted do not reflect the achievements of pupils at O- level, CSE or GCSE after leaving school ; nor their attainments in examinations leading to vocational or other qualifications at school or elsewhere. The data includes grades A-C at O-level and CSE grade 1.

Primary Schools (Open Enrolment)

Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) what are his reasons for setting the date of September 1992 for implementation of the open enrolment scheme for primary schools ; and if he will make a statement ;

(2) what was the reason for giving local education authorities seven weeks to respond to the circular on open enrolment in primary schools ; on what date the circular was received by local education authorities ; and if he will make a statement ;

(3) what representations he has received from local authorities on the amount of time allowed for response to his circular on open enrolment in primary schools.

Mr. Fallon : More open enrolment is one of the key provisions of the Education Reform Act 1988, designed to remove artificial limits to parental choice of school. In announcing its implementation in secondary schools from September 1990, the then Secretary of State expressed the hope that all primary schools would also forthwith admit pupils on demand up to the limit of their physical capacity, and many already do so.

September 1992 is the earliest practical date to bring these provisions into formal effect for all primary schools ; the necessary procedures have been simplified and the consultation process carried out so as to meet that target. The draft circular and statutory order were dispatched to LEAs on 11 December.

Some 65 responses have now been received ; the majority of respondents have taken the opportunity to comment on the length of the consultation period. The final versions of both documents will be in schools and LEAs later this term so that any necessary adjustments can be made before admission limits for 1991-92 are published this autumn.

Animals (Scientific Procedures)

Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) what will be the capital cost to British universities of implementing the Home Office's code of practice for the housing and care of animals used in scientific procedures ;

(2) what financial provision has been earmarked for implementing the Home Office's code of practice for the housing and care of animals used in scientific procedures


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in each of the next three financial years ; and whether this provision is contained within block grant or capital provision.

Mr. Alan Howarth : I refer the hon. Member to the reply that I gave to him on 5 February 1991, Official Report, column 131.

Student Loans Company

Mr. Pawsey : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science, pursuant to his answer of 23 November 1990, Official Report, column 221, whether he has appointed any further non-executive directors to the board of the Student Loans Company.

Mr. Kenneth Clarke : My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland and I have today appointed Mr. Gavin Burnett as a second non- executive director of the board of Student Loans Company Ltd. This appointment will bring substantial experience of accountancy to the company's board.

ENVIRONMENT

Housing Repair Agencies

Mr. David Porter : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the support for 1990-91 and 1991-92 from his Department to all the housing repair agencies (a) nationally, (b) in Suffolk and (c) in Norfolk.

Mr. Yeo : The current estimated outturn for support by my Department to home improvement agencies in 1990-91 is £2,078,500. However, this sum is not paid directly to individual agencies. It is paid to Care and Repair Ltd., and the National Home Improvement Council, which are then responsible for allocating it to individual schemes. My Department does not therefore have any record of the amounts paid currently to schemes in individual counties, although this information will be available after the end of the financial year.

The total amount which we have allocated in support of individual agencies in 1991-92 is £2,724,751 ; and I am pleased to be able to inform my hon. Friend that letters are being sent to local authorities informing them of the allocations to individual schemes. Of these, £19,483 has been offered in support of an agency in Suffolk and £22,032 in support of an agency in Norfolk.


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Local Government Finance

Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is his estimate of the cost of providing exemption from the poll tax for all Gulf personnel for the financial year 1991-92.

Mr. Portillo : The revenue forgone from such exemptions would depend on how long British forces are stationed in the Gulf.

Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what consideration he has given to the provision of reimbursement of income forgone to those local authorities which are providing exemption from the poll tax for Gulf personnel.

Mr. Portillo : We are giving careful consideration to a number of representations on this point.

Local Government

Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list all those local authorities that have been issued, since 30 October 1990, with (a) section 13 notices, (b) section 14 notices, both under the Local Government Act 1988, (c) section 19a and (d) section 19b notices, both under the Local Government, Planning and Land Act 1980, giving dates of issue in each case.

Mr. Portillo : The information requested is as follows : (a) notices under section 13 of the Local Government Act 1988 : --London Borough of Haringey--12 December 1990

--Eastleigh Borough Council--18 December 1990

--Redditch Borough Council--18 January 1991.

(b) directions under section 14 of the Local Government Act 1988 :

--London Borough of Camden--31 October 1990

--Woodspring District Council--8 November 1990

--Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council--11 December 1990 --Thurrock Borough Council--19 December 1990

--Liverpool City Council--4 January 1991 (revised direction, replacing direction of 6 August 1990)

--Leicester City Council--29 January 1991 (revised direction, replacing direction of 19 December 1990).

(c) notices under section 19a of the Local Government, Planning and Land Act 1980 :

--Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council--10 October 1990 --Wycombe District Council--12 December 1990

--Eastleigh Borough Council--18 December 1990

--Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council--7 February 1991. (d) no directions have been made under section 19b of the Local Government, Planning and Land Act 1980 since 30 October 1990.

Hazardous Waste (Transport)

Mr. Wray : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what support Her Majesty's Government are giving to proposals for an international code for transport of hazardous waste.

Mr. Baldry : The Government played an active part in the negotiations which led to the drafting of the global convention on the control of transboundary movements of hazardous wastes which was adopted at a conference in Basel, Switzerland in March 1989 convened by the United Nations Environment Programme. The Commission of the European Community has prepared a draft regulation


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on shipments of waste within, into and out of the Community which will inter alia allow EC member states to ratify the convention. Negotiations on the regulation have begun in the Environment Council and the Government have asked that they are completed as soon as possible.

Cleaning Agents (Pollutants)

Mr. Onslow : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he expects to receive the results of his study of the problems caused by pollutants in cleaning and conditioning agents ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Trippier : A draft report has been received from CES (Consultants in Environmental Sciences Ltd.) and is currently being discussed with officials. We expect to receive a final report by the end of February. I will arrange for copies of the document to be placed in the Library of the House.

Business Rates

Mr. Gould : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list for each local authority in England (a) the change in business rate poundage between the last year of the old system and the first year of the national non-domestic rate and (b) the percentage change in the average business rate bill over the same period.

Mr. Heseltine : In the old system each authority set its own rate poundage. Under the new system there is one poundage set nationally. However, poundages must be considered in conjunction with the relevant rateable values of properties before any inferences can be drawn of the effect of the new system. The highest poundage under the old system was 400.2p in Sheffield ; the lowest was 122.2p in Kensington and Chelsea ; and the average for England was 258.3p. The national poundage for England under the new system for 1990-91 was 34.8p. This was set so as to produce a yield equal in real terms to that from business in 1989-90.

I am arranging for copies of a table showing the percentage change in average non-domestic rate bills in each local authority area between 1989- 90 and 1990-91 to be placed in the Library of the House.

Gulf Oil Slick

Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will give further details of the resources being made available by Her Majesty's Government to deal with the oil slick released from the Mina al-Ahmadi terminal in the Gulf.

Mr. Heseltine : Details of the action being taken by Her Majesty's Government to assist Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states to cope with the oil spills caused by Iraqi action are set out in my letter of 6 February which has been sent to all hon. Members, additional copies of which are being placed in the Library today.

The Gulf

Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what study he is making of the importance of coral islands in the replenishment of fish, and the role of fish larvae in coral atolls in the Gulf.


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Mr. Heseltine [holding answer 7 February 1991] : At the Government's request, an urgent study has been prepared by the Natural Environment Research Council on the biological effects of the Gulf oil spills. This and other assessments available to me confirm that coral reefs have a significant role in supporting fish larvae for certain species. Of even greater importance to fish stocks in the Gulf as a whole are likely to be the seagrass beds and mangroves which are major nursery grounds both for shrimps and fin fish. The Government unreservedly condemn the action of Iraq in deliberately placing these habitats at serious risk.

Hazardous Waste (Africa)

Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is his policy towards the decision taken by Environment Ministers of member states of the Organisation of African Unity, in Mali, on 29 January, to ban the import of hazardous and nuclear wastes into Africa ; and if he has discussed the implications of the OAU decision with his counterparts in the European Environment Council.

Mr. Baldry [holding answer 7 February 1991] : The Government respect the decision of any country to ban the import of hazardous and nuclear waste and oppose in the strongest terms the export of such wastes to African and other developing countries. EC directive 84/631, as amended, prohibits the export of hazardous wastes from the European Community unless the country of destination gives its consent and the recipient disposal facility operates without risk to human health and the environment. The directive has been implemented in Great Britain by the Transfrontier Shipment of Hazardous Waste Regulations 1988. Nuclear wastes are not exported from the United Kingdom to Africa or to any other destination, except that in respect of post-1976 reprocessing contracts it is intended to return to the country of origin the waste component which may result from reprocessing spent nuclear fuel. The OAU decision has not been discussed in the EC Environment Council.


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