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ENERGY
Gas Escapes
Mr. McMaster : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy, further to his written answer of 28 January, Official Report, column 423, whether British Gas has any enforceable obligation to make safe any gas escape free of charge or to provide safety checks free of charge where the customer is not elderly or disabled and living alone.
Mr. Moynihan : The obligation to make gas escapes safe free of charge is enforceable as part of British Gas's authorisation. However, there is no obligation on British Gas to offer safety checks free of charge for customers who are neither elderly nor disabled.
Nuclear Plants
Mr. John D. Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy how many nuclear plants are located near the west coast of Great Britain.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : There are 12 operating civil nuclear plants located near the west coast of Great Britain. In addition, two Magnox stations, at Berkeley and Hunterston, are in the process of being decommissioned.
Electricity Privatisation
Mr. Adley : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will take steps to ensure that people who applied for shares in the electricity distribution companies are refunded immediately with the funds they submitted for shares with which they were not allocated ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : The receiving banks sent refunds before Christmas to the vast majority of the applicants to whom they were due. They deployed substantial resources throughout January to resolve the majority of the relatively small number of outstanding cases, and are dealing with the few that remain as a matter of priority.
Mr. Adley : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what was the sum of money submitted for shares in the electricity distribution companies ; who has had the use of the money submitted for shares which were not allocated ; and what arrangements are being made to pay interest to the owners of the money who have not yet had it returned.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : About £7 billion was submitted in respect of the public offer. Surplus application money was returned to applicants as rapidly as possible : the interest earned on this money in the interim will accrue to the taxpayer. The terms and conditions of the sale made it clear that no interest on such funds would be payable to applicants.
Electricity Supply
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what consultations he has had with the Director General of OFFER and the chairmen of the regional electricity companies regarding the security of supply of electricity for space-heating and cooking to the elderly, the infirm and the very young during the current cold snap.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : The code of practice operated by the regional electricity companies makes it clear that no
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consumer in genuine difficulty with their payments will be disconnected, provided that they contact their regional electricity company and agree and keep to a payment arrangement. In addition, the Prime Minister announced on 7 February that cold weather payments to vulnerable groups in receipt of income support had been increased to £6 from 1 February and that the whole of the United Kingdom would qualify for the period from 1 to 7 February.Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what consultations he has had with (a) the chairmen of the regional electricity companies and (b) the Director General of Electricity regulation regarding the level of cut-offs in domestic electricity supply during the present cold snap.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : I refer the hon. Member to the answer I have given him today. The latest available 12-monthly figures show disconnections for non-payment of bills standing at their lowest level since records began in 1976.
Energy Efficiency
Mr. Rost : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy, pursuant to his answer of 30 January, Official Report, column 507, for what reasons he decided not to maintain figures concerning the proportion of eligible homes in England and Wales with thermostats installed on 50 per cent. or more radiator valves.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : The energy efficiency industry provides the Energy Efficiency Office in my Department with information on the sales of various types of insulation and heating products, including thermostatic radiator valves, thus enabling the Energy Efficiency Office to monitor trends in the industry. However, the information provided does not enable the incidence of installation of thermostatic radiator valves in domestic premises to be monitored, and my Department does not require such information in the normal conduct of its business.
Mr. Rost : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy when he intends to publish forecasts as to when he anticipates different energy efficiency measures will achieve 50 per cent. of the eligible market.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : I have no plans to publish such forecasts. Although the Government will continue to promote and encourage greater energy efficiency in the home, the take-up of individual measures by householders will depend on numerous factors, which will vary from product to product. The Energy Efficiency Office in my Department seeks to assess the success of its programmes and activities by evaluations, market research surveys, examination of trade sales figures and so on, but does not attempt to forecast future levels of market penetration.
Mr. Rost : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what information he has on the proportion of lighting which has been converted to energy- efficient lighting at (a) the Palace of Westminster, (b) Government buildings, (c) establishments owned or occupied in each Government Department and (d) local authorities.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : As part of the Government's drive to improve energy efficiency in Government buildings, my Energy Efficiency Office gives advice, and
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encourages Departments to adopt cost- effective energy efficiency measures including lighting. However each Department has responsibility for the energy management of its own estate, and the information requested is not held centrally.Electricity Industry Conference
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he, or officials of his Department, have been invited to participate in the conference on the electricity industry post privatisation, to be held in London on 15 April.
FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS
Turkey
Mrs. Mahon : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will protest to the Turkish Government about the recent confiscation of the magazine Towards 2000 and the summonsing to military court of Mahmut Dikerdem.
Mr. Garel-Jones : We have no plans to raise these cases with the Turkish authorities. But we have repeatedly urged the Turkish authorities, at ministerial level, to respect their obligations under international human rights conventions.
Research and Development
Ms. Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many research and development agreements and contracts have been funded by departments in the Foreign Office, excluding ODA, at universities and polytechnics ; how many universities and polytechnics have received those research and development contracts and agreements ; what is their total value in each of the last five years ; and if he will list them.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : There have been only two research contracts or agreements funded by the FCO at universities or polytechnics in the last five years. They were :
(i) Study by London University (School of Slavonic and East European Studies) on "The Inter-War Party and Political System in the present non- Soviet Warsaw Pact countries and its relevance today" (1990).
(ii) Study by London University (School of Oriental and African Studies on "Muslim militancy in sub-Saharan Africa") (1990). The combined cost was £13,245.00.
Aramco Employees, Dhahran
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, further to his answer, Official Report, 4 February, column 1 , whether he will instruct the British ambassador to Saudi Arabia to seek an assurance from the president of Aramco that Aramco will not penalise those British nationals under contract to the company who do not attend work during air raid warning periods.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : Employees of Aramco are under a contractual agreement to the company. We understand that a few, employed on essential services, are required to work through air raid warning periods. Such persons may,
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in the circumstances, wish to terminate their contracts. As I informed the hon. Member on 4 February at column 1 , the British ambassador to Saudi Arabia has been assured by the president of Aramco that the company would not penalise those who sought to leave because of the war, and that accrued benefits would not be forfeited.Nuclear Non-proliferation
Dr. Thomas : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the United Kingdom delegation to the 1990 nuclear non-proliferation fourth review conference in Geneva supported paragraphs 1 to 8 of section VIII, concerning attacks on nuclear facilities contained in the addendum to document NPT/CONF.IV/MCIII/L.1/ADD.2.
Mr. Douglas Hogg: The United Kingdom did not take a position on the language to which the hon. Gentleman refers.
Iraq
Mr. Hardy : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many cases of breach or suspected breach of sanctions in regard to trade with Iraq have now ben received by the United Nations or brought to the knowledge of Her Majesty's Government.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : We follow up reported sanctions breaches both bilaterally and at the UN : these are treated confidentially and no figures on the numbers of suspected or actual cases of sanctions breaches are publicly available. Any cases of sanctions breaches by United Kingdom nationals and companies are a matter for the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry and the Commissioners of Her Majesty's Customs and Excise.
Lebanon
Mr. Marlow : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will take action through the United Nations to require Israel to allow Lebanese Government forces to take up their positions in south Lebanon.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : We joined in the unanimous vote of the Security Council on 30 January to review the UNIFIL mandate and to reiterate support for the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Lebanon within its internationally recognised boundaries.
East Timor
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is his estimate of the number of civilians in East Timor who have been killed or died from starvation since the invasion by Indonesia.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : Reliable statistics are unavailable. We believe that the figure may be in the region of 100,000 deaths.
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he or officials of his Department has had any contact with the Falantic Liberation Army in East Timor since the invasion by Indonesia.
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EC Food Aid
Mrs. Clwyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs from which EC budget the recently agreed 40 million ecu of EC food aid for Romania and Bulgaria is to be paid ; and from which Department's budget are Britain's contributions paid to that budget.
Mr. Garel-Jones : The European Council on 10 December 1990 agreed 100 mecu of emergency food aid for Romania and Bulgaria ; 30 mecu will come from savings in the 1990 agriculture budget. Following consideration by the 21 December Council, discussion continues on the source of the remaining 70 mecu. The United Kingdom share of this 100 mecu will form part of our contribution to Community own resources in line with all other EC budget expenditure.
The Gulf
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which member states of the allied military force in the Gulf war remain subject to special licensing procedures for military sensitive exports from the United Kingdom.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : All exports of military equipment are subject to stringent licensing control, whatever their destination.
Syria
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the occasions when he or his predecessors have met the Syrian Foreign Minister since 1979 ; and if he will make a statement on the most recent meeting.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : The right hon. Member for Plymouth, Devonport (Dr. Owen), the then Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, met the Syrian Foreign Minister in London in March 1979. As Minister of State, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs met the Syrian Foreign Minister in Damascus in October 1979 and in London in September 1981 and July 1982. My noble Friend the then Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Lord Pym, met the Syrian Foreign Minister in London in September 1982 and in Damascus in October 1982. My right hon. and learned Friend for Surrey, East (Sir G. Howe), the then Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, had meetings with the Syrian Foreign Minister in New York in September 1983, in Damascus in January 1984, again in New York in September 1984 and lastly in London in March 1986.
The meeting that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs had with Mr. Shara' on 6 February provided the first opportunity since the resumption of diplomatic relations with Syria to discuss regional and bilateral matters at ministerial level. It was timely and valuable.
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AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD
Alcoholic Beverages
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will conduct an investigation and review of the Food Labelling Regulations 1989 (S.I., 1989, No. 768) to ensure that they do not permit the adulteration of alcoholic beverages as indicated in a recent report from the trading standards department of Cleveland county council, a copy of which has been sent to him.
Mr. Maclean : I have not yet studied the report to which the hon. Gentleman refers. When I have done so, I will send him a detailed reply.
Consultative Paper
Mr. Bellingham : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether the consultative paper announced on 28 November, Official Report, column 437, is ready for issue ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Gummer : Copies of the consultative paper inviting comments on the proposals of myself and the Secretary of State for Wales for reform of the law on agricultural tenancies in England and Wales have been placed in the Library of the House today and made available to interested parties.
HOME DEPARTMENT
Police Officers
Mr. Janner : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will use his powers under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act to have complaints in respect of the use of racially discriminating language or behaviour by police officers referred automatically to the Police Complaints Authority.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : No. My right hon. Friend does not believe that it would be appropriate for him to do so.
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Police Complaints
Mr. Janner : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many complaints concerning the use of racially discriminating language or behaviour by police officers were made to the Police Complaints Authority in each of the last five years ; and how many were upheld.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to a question from the hon. Member for Hackney South and Shoreditch (Mr. Sedgemore) on 29 November 1990, at column 452, which gives the available information about such complaints. Figures for 1990 are not yet available.
Political Asylum
Mr. Tom Clarke : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were given political asylum in the United Kingdom in 1990 ; and what were the comparable figures for each European Community nation.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : Full information on grants of asylum in the United Kingdom in 1990 is not yet available. To date, about 1,600 such grants, including associated dependants, are recorded, but this understates because of delays in recording. Information on grants of asylum in other EC countries in 1990 is not yet available.
Ms. Linda Humphries
Mr. Hoyle : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for how much longer Linda Humphries is to be held at Risley prior to being sent to Ashworth hospital.
Mrs. Rumbold : I understand that Miss Humphries will be admitted to Ashworth hospital very shortly, as soon as a bed is available.
Remand Centres (Suicides)
Mr. Hoyle : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the number of suicides in remand centres, and the centres concerned, for each year since 1985.
Mrs. Rumbold : The numbers of self-inflicted deaths since 1988 by prisoners at establishments whose main role is that of a remand centre have been as follows :
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Establishment |1985 |1986 |1987 |1988 |1989 |1990 |Total ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ashford |- |1 |1 |- |- |- |2 Hindley<1> |- |- |- |- |1 |3 |4 Risley |1 |1 |3 |4 |2 |- |11 Total |1 |2 |4 |4 |3 |3 |17 <1> Became a remand centre in spring 1989. There have been no self-inflicted deaths since 1985 at the following remand centres: Brockhill, Feltham, Glen Parva, Latchmere House, Low Newton, Pucklechurch.
Remand Prisoners
Mr. Hoyle : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what training is given to prison officers and prison medical staff in dealing with remand prisoners who are (a) mentally disturbed, (b) drug addicts and (c) have AIDS.
Mrs. Rumbold : Responsibility for the health care of prisoners in any prison service establishment rests with the managing medical officer--MMO-- of the establishment. The MMO is also responsible for assessing the further
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training needs of his or her health care colleagues and ensuring that, to the extent that resources permit, they are met either by making local arrangements for training--for example, by links with local NHS hospitals and clinics--by taking advantage of the wide range of external courses that are available to members of the medical and nursing professions or by securing places on courses organised centrally by the directorate of prison medical services.Recent courses organised centrally have included 24-week induction courses for hospital officers of which about six weeks are devoted to psychiatric care, one day to
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AIDS and a half day to drug addiction and dependency ; a two-day course and a series of one-day seminars for medical officers on clinical aspects of AIDS ; a 10-day course for hospital officers with an emphasis on the nursing care of AIDS patients ; and a two- day seminar on drug misuse for medical officers and other staff from establishments for women.OVERSEAS DEVELOPMENT
Sudan
Mrs. Clwyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much of the £4 million of famine relief for Sudan, announced on 5 February, will be paid for from the 1991-92 budget.
Mrs. Chalker : The full cost--estimated at £4 million--of the additional 20,000 tonnes of food aid for famine relief in Sudan, which I announced on 5 February, will be met from the 1991-92 aid budget. My officials are already discussing the detailed uses for this pledge with a number of non-governmental organisations. I hope to agree allocations shortly.
TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Prudential Corporation plc
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he will take any action against Prudential Corporation plc for its failure to publish the salaries of directors in its latest accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Acts.
Mr. Redwood : The information to which the hon. Member refers is disclosed at page 41 of the company's report and accounts for the year ended 31 December 1989.
PRIME MINISTER
United Kingdom 2000
Mr. Beith : To ask the Prime Minister what has been the total funding to date of the United Kingdom 200 initiative set up by his predecessor under the chairmanship of Mr. Richard Branson ; which voluntary organisations have been involved ; what have been the achievements of the initiative ; whether he has any further proposals to develop this initiative ; and whether he will make a statement.
The Prime Minister : Total Government funding to March 1991 will be £9.434 million. The partner voluntary organisations in England are the British Trust for Conservation Volunteers, the Civic Trust, Community Service Volunteers, Groundwork, Friends of the Earth and the Royal Society for Nature Conservation. In Wales the organisations involved are the same apart from the Civic Trust, and in addition the Keep Wales Tidy Campaign. In Scotland, the organisations are the Scottish Wildlife Trust, Scottish Conservation Projects, Community Service Volunteers and Keep Scotland Beautiful.
The main achievements have been high-quality, practical environmental improvement projects, training and work experience together with the creation of new
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environmental enterprises. This work has been carried out in partnership with the public and private sectors. In 1989-90 there were 717 projects which generated 7,819 training places and 54,218 volunteers and which attracted £2.423 million support from the private sector.In England United Kingdom 2000 phase 2 began on 31 March 1991 and, subject to performance, the voluntary organisations will continue to receive grant until March 1993. United Kingdom 2000 (Scotland) will be launched as a company limited by guarantee in April 1991. The initiative in Wales has recently been fully reviewed ; the next steps are now under consideration.
United Nations
Mr. Wray : To ask the Prime Minister (1) if he will make it his policy to put forward proposals to amend the United Nations charter to provide for periodic elections of all members of the United Nations Security Council ;
(2) if he will make it his policy to put forward proposals to amend the United Nations charter to provide that United Nations Security Council members should have veto powers ;
(3) if he will make it his policy to put forward proposals to amend the United Nations charter to provide that in the event of war waged in the name of the United Nations basic decisions are taken by all member countries of the United Nations with an ad hoc executive committee to supervise the conduct of hostilities by the armed forces acting for the United Nations.
The Prime Minister : No. The Government do not believe that reform of the United Nations charter is either necessary or desirable.
Mr. Wray : To ask the Prime Minister when he expects the United Nations Security Council to meet to discuss the conduct of the war in the Persian Gulf.
The Prime Minister : The United Nations Security Council has met frequently since the outbreak of hostilities in the Gulf on 2 August, most recently in informal consultations on 8 February.
Lanarkshire
Mr. Tom Clarke : To ask the Prime Minister what specific plans he has to improve investment in Lanarkshire.
The Prime Minister : The Lanarkshire working group, which met last month, will identify the main constraints to revitalising the Lanarkshire economy and recommend measures to resolve those problems. Investment in Lanarkshire from the private and public sector, is among the working group's concerns. The working group expects to report to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland around the end of April.
Pensioners
Mr. Beggs : To ask the Prime Minister what is the estimated additional cost incurred weekly by pensioners in Northern Ireland for heating, lighting and travel when expenditure is compared with that of pensioners in a comparable region in Great Britain.
The Prime Minister : Information on the expenditure of pensioner households on heating, lighting and travel is
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available at household level from the family expenditure survey. Northern Ireland compares with Wales in terms of average normal weekly disposable income for all households, including pensioner households. The table providese information from the amalgamated results of the 1988-89 family expenditure survey for pensioner households.
Average Weekly Household Expenditure on Selected Items:
|Northern |Wales |Additional
|Ireland |expenditure in
|Northern
|Ireland
|£ |£ |£
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total motoring
and fares |5.20 |4.29 |0.91
Fuel, light and
power |13.11 |8.55 |4.56
<1>A pensioner household is defined as one in which at least three quarters
of the total income of the household is derived from national insurance
retirement and similar pensions.
1851 Exhibition
Mr. Barry Field : To ask the Prime Minister when the holder of his office last attended a meeting of the royal commissioners for the exhibition of 1851.
The Prime Minister : I am not aware of such a meeting.
Probation Officers, Liverpool
Mr. Parry : To ask the Prime Minister what representations he has received from the probation officer based at Liverpool about salaries ; and what reply he has sent.
The Prime Minister : My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has received representations from seven probation officers from Merseyside about probation officers' salaries. They either have received or will receive official replies.
Correspondence
Mr. Terry Davis : To ask the Prime Minister whether the policy of the Government with regard to correspondence between hon. Members and officials remains as set out in the letter from the hon. Member for Mid- Worcestershire (Mr. Forth) to the hon. Member for Birmingham, Hodge Hill, of 18 May 1989.
The Prime Minister : It is for Ministers in each Department to decide how correspondence will be handled. Following the recent scrutiny of ministerial correspondence, Departments are considering how to assist Members of Parliament to direct their inquiries to the point which is best able to give them a fast, informed and helpful reply.
The Government reply to the eighth report from the Treasury and Civil Service Committee--Cmnd 1263--states that Ministers will normally ask the chief executive of an agency to reply to letters that concern day-to-day operational matters delegated to the agency.
East Timor
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Prime Minister what is Her Majesty's Government's policy towards the Timor Gap agreement between Indonesia and Australia ; and whether
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