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Foundation for Sport and the Arts
Mr. Pendry : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will list in full the organisations with which Ministers or officials in his Department plan to hold meetings with regard to establishing the proposed Foundation for Sport and the Arts ; and on what dates such meetings will take place.
Mr. Fallon : My right hon. and learned Friend and the Minister for Sport are due to meet the Financial Secretary to the Treasury on 24 April to discuss the establishment of a Foundation for Sport and the Arts. I envisage discussing the foundation with a variety of sports organisations over the coming months.
Mr. Pendry : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will list in full the organisations with which Ministers or officials in his Department have held meetings with regard to establishing the proposed Foundation for Sport and the Arts ; and on what dates such meetings took place.
Mr. Fallon : Officials from the Department of Education and Science met officials from Her Majesty's Treasury on 21 March to discuss the establishment of the Foundation for Sport and the Arts. Officials have also spoken, informally, to a number of sporting organisations.
Birmingham City Action Team
Mr. Terry Davis : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many meetings of the Birmingham city action team in 1990 and the first three months of 1991 were attended by the Parliamentary Under- Secretary of State for Education.
Mr. Alan Howarth : I attended the meetings on 12 March 1990 and 30 January 1991 to agree the annual action plan.
FE Lecturers
Mr. Anthony Coombs : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will update the information provided in his answer of 18 December 1989, Official Report, columns 35-36, to the hon. Member for Oxford, East (Mr. Smith) relating to the pay received by further education lecturers.
Mr. Eggar : I shall write to my hon. Friend as soon as possible.
ENERGY
Electricity Prices
Mr. Mans : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will make a statement on electricity prices.
Mr. Wakeham : Electricity prices are a matter for the regional electricity companies subject to their statutory and licence requirements.
Onshore Petroleum Licensing
Mr. Robert G. Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will make a statement on his future plans for onshore petroleum licensing ; and if he will make a statement.
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Mr. Wakeham : The Petroleum (Production) (Landward Areas) Regulations 1991 (SI 1991 No. 981) were laid before the House today. These regulations are in substantially the same form as the previous regulations which provide for separate licences to cover the conduct of each of the exploration, appraisal and development stages. Operations under the licences are subject to the normal planning process. The new regulations, which follow discussions with the industry, incorporate a number of small changes and are designed to facilitate the conduct of operations. They will come into force on 9 May and will govern the arrangements for the next onshore licensing round.
As soon as possible, I will publish in the London and Edinburgh Gazettes a formal announcement giving the detailed financial terms for new landward licences and the basis on which awards will be made. The notice will invite applications for a new round of landward exploration licensing.
In parallel with the new regulations, I will be making arrangements allowing holders of old-style production licences, which covered exploration, appraisal and development activities, to transfer the exploration acreage in these licences to the new style of exploration licences.
Combined Heat and Power
Mr. Barron : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will list the Government buildings currently using combined heat and power technology.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : The Office of Electricity Regulation--OFFER-- is in the process of compiling a database of CHP projects operating in Great Britain which will include the Government estate. The information requested by the hon. Member will start to become available when the OFFER database becomes operational this autumn.
NORTHERN IRELAND
Union Flag
Mr. John D. Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether he has supplied a union flag to the vehicle inspection and driving test centre, Hamiltonsbawn road, Armagh ; if the centre has been advised of the dates on which the union flag is to be flown ; why no union flag was flown at these premises on St. Patrick's day and on Easter day ; what steps are being taken to arrange for the union flag to be flown on 12 July ; and if he will make a statement about future arrangements to fly the union flag at these premises.
Dr. Mawhinney : A union flag has been supplied to the vehicle inspection and driving test centre, Hamiltonsbawn road, Armagh and the centre has been advised of the prescribed days on which the union flag is to be flown. The union flag was not flown on St. Patrick's day and Easter Sunday due to an oversight by the staff at the centre. This oversight has been drawn to the attention of the staff and they have been instructed to ensure that the union flag is flown on all appropriate dates.
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Firefighters
Mrs. Mahon : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many operational (a) men and (b) women firefighters are employed in each fire authority/FCDA in Northern Ireland.
Mr. Needham : The Fire Authority for Northern Ireland which serves the whole of the province employs 1,792 male and one female firefighters.
ATTORNEY-GENERAL
Mr. Colin Wallace
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Attorney-General what representations he has received from Mr. James Nichol, lawyer for Mr. Colin Wallace.
The Attorney-General : I have received no representations from Mr. Nichol, and have no reason to anticipate any.
Bowbelle
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Attorney-General if he will take steps to ensure that a decision is taken this week as to whether to proceed with the prosecution of the skipper of the dredger the Bowbelle.
The Attorney-General : The decision whether to seek a re-trial rests with the Director of Public Prosecutions ; he is reviewing the case. His decision will be taken with the maximum expedition consistent with thorough consideration. I have drawn the hon. Member's concern to his attention.
Rape
Mr. Cryer : To ask the Attorney-General if he will make a statement on the training provided to judges to enable them to deal adequately with rape cases.
The Attorney-General : The Judicial Studies Board is responsible for the provision of training and information for judges. The policy with regard to the proper conduct of trials and appropriate levels of sentence in the Crown Court are laid down in decisions of the Court of Appeal criminal division.
The board has produced guidance for trial judges in summing up to juries and a volume of sentencing guidelines, which includes sentences for rape. Copies have been distributed to each judge. At seminars run by the board judges are reminded that it is their duty to be sensitive to the difficulties of all those who come to court, including complainants in cases of alleged rape or other sexual assaults, who are often under considerable strain and may suffer distress whilst giving evidence.
Iraq
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Attorney-General whether he contemplates any action against British companies named by the US Government who have allegedly been trading in weapons with the Iraqi Government.
The Attorney-General : I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 15 April by the Secretary of State for
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Trade and Industry to the hon. Member for the Isle of Wight (Mr. Field), Official Report, columns 30-31. The list published by the United States Department of the Treasury concerned a number of companies and individuals whom the director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control had determined to be owned or controlled by or to be acting or purporting to act directly or indirectly on behalf of the Government of Iraq. I am informed that the US authorities have not alleged that those on the list have broken sanctions or controls on the export of arms. A very few cases concerning persons or companies in the United Kingdom where possible breaches of restrictions on exports to Iraq have come to light are being investigated by Her Majesty's Customs and Excise.Women Judges
Mr. Cryer : To ask the Attorney-General how many women judges are currently appointed ; and what was the percentage of women judges for each of the last 10 years appointed to the High Court and equivalent in criminal cases.
The Attorney-General : There are currently 22 women judges--4.3 per cent.--out of a total of 517 High Court and circuit judges. High Court and circuit judges are not generally assigned exclusively to criminal or civil work and most sit in the Crown Court at some time. Figures for appointments to the High Court and circuit bench over the last 10 years are as follows :
|Numbers |Women |Percentage
|appointed |appointed
-------------------------------------------------------
1981 |23 |1 |4.3
1982 |28 |- |-
1983 |31 |2 |6.5
1984 |35 |- |-
1985 |35 |2 |5.7
1986 |59 |3 |5.1
1987 |29 |- |-
1988 |44 |1 |2.3
1989 |39 |1 |2.6
1990 |41 |4 |9.8
<1>1991 |15 |2 |13.3
<1> To 17 April.
Judiciary
Mr. Cryer : To ask the Attorney-General what proposals the Lord Chancellor has to improve the qualifications and training of the judiciary.
The Attorney-General : The Courts and Legal Services Act was considered and approved by both Houses prior to receiving Royal Assent on 1 November 1990. Section 71 and schedule 10 of that Act revised the qualifications for appointment to all levels of the judiciary. The new arrangements, which have effect from 1 January 1991, mean that higher judicial appointments are now open to solicitors as well as barristers who obtain the required qualifications, and posts are open generally to those who obtain the required rights of audience before the courts whether they are solicitors, barristers or otherwise qualified. My noble and learned friend the Lord Chancellor has no plans to change the qualifications for judicial appointment again in the near future. In addition, to ensure a well-qualified judiciary, appointments to part-time posts are normally made from candidates with standing and experience in the relevant field of law. In
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making or recommending appointments to a full-time judicial post the Lord Chancellor normally requires the candidate to have served in a similar post in a part-time capacity. Both before and during this part-time service the Lord Chancellor assesses the candidate's work and abilities to establish his or her competence and suitability for judicial posts.The training of newly appointed judicial officers and the provisions of continued judicial studies for the experienced judiciary is the responsibility of the Judicial Studies Board. Originally the training provided by the board was confined to the criminal field but in recent years its role has been extended to cover judicial studies in the civil and family jurisdictions and also the stipendiary magistrates and certain legal chairmen and members of tribunals.
In addition to its regular programme of induction courses and refresher seminars the board organises training in respect of new legislation, such as the Children Act and on specialist subjects such as fraud.
Despite the fact that the volume and range of training provided by the board has already increased significantly improvements will continue to be made. The content and format of seminars will be reviewed regularly as will the range of topics covered. The publications produced by the board are also being revised and consideration is being given to issuing further volumes and other material such as video or audio tapes.
The board and the four committees have produced a strategy document to cover the next five years. It will be included in the Judicial Studies Board report which will be published during autumn 1991.
Conciliation Services
Mr. Sims : To ask the Attorney-General what financial support the Lord Chancellor's Department plans to give for the provision of conciliation services.
The Attorney-General : The Government have no immediate plans to provide financial support for conciliation services. The Government are presently reviewing all aspects of divorce reform and conciliation is under consideration as part of that review.
EMPLOYMENT
Gas Surge (Royston)
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will set up a public inquiry into the gas surge in Royston on 8 March ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Jackson : Inspectors from the Health and Safety Executive are currently investigating the gas incident on 8 March in Royston. I do not propose to set up a public inquiry since this would be unlikely to identify any causes or contributory factors which will not be identified by the HSE investigation. The results of HSE's investigation will be published.
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list the actions he has taken since the gas surge in Royston on 8 March in order to prevent a recurrence of this event.
Mr. Jackson : Inspectors from the Health and Safety Executive are carrying out a full investigation into the gas
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incident at Royston on 8 March. The HSE will decide what action, if any, is appropriate when the investigation is completed.I understand that British Gas has replaced approximately 4,000 m of pipeline as a result of the incident.
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will give the dates of the contacts he has had, whether by telephone, letter or meetings, on the lessons of the gas surge in Royston on 8 March with (a) Royston town council and (b) British Gas.
Mr. Jackson : The Health and Safety Executive has had contact on the following dates with Royston town council and British Gas about the gas incident in Royston on 8 March :
------------------------------------------
15 March |11 March
21 March |12 March
25 March |27 March
28 March |11 April
10 April 1991 |12 April
|16 April 1991
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will visit Royston as part of his assessment of the implications of the gas surge on 8 March.
Mr. Jackson : The Health and Safety Executive is keeping me informed of progress with its investigation into the gas incident in Royston on 8 March. I have no plans to visit Royston.
TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Auditors
Mr. Riddick : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he has received reports from the Director General of Fair Trading under part II of the Companies Act 1989 on the effect on competition of the rules and guidance of qualifying and supervisory bodies for auditors ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Redwood : Yes. The director general has submitted reports on the rules and guidance of all the applicants for recognition under part II of the Companies Act 1989, and I have placed copies of his reports in the Library. Further copies can be obtained from his office. Copies of the applications can be obtained from the applicants on request.
The director general discerns no significant anti-competitive effects in the rules and guidance of the qualifying bodies which have applied for recognition. He finds that a number of rules of some of the supervisory body applicants relating to the ownership and control of audit firms are likely to restrict or distort competition to a significant extent.
I would welcome comments on the director general's findings, and in particular on whether the rules he finds anticompetitive are nevertheless reasonably justifiable having regard to the purpose of part II of the 1989 Act. I should be grateful if any comments reached me by 15 May. Comments on any other aspects of the applications made under part II should also reach the Department by that date.
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Liverpool Polytechnic
Mr. Parry : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations he has received from Liverpool polytechnic about it wrongly being on the United States Treasury list of blacklisted organisations ; what action his Department has taken ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Sainsbury [holding answer 17 April 1991] : Liverpool polytechnic has made a number of approaches to my Department. As a result, the British embassy in Washington has raised the matter of the inclusion of the polytechnic's name in the United States Department of Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control list of "specially designated nationals".
WALES
Education (Laboratory Technicians)
Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many laboratory technicians are employed in each local education authority in Wales.
Sir Wyn Roberts : In September 1990 the number of laboratory technicians employed in secondary schools was as follows :
8
|Full-time|Part-time|Total
--------------------------------------------------------
Clwyd |61 |42 |103
Dyfed |61 |28 |89
Gwent |81 |22 |103
Gwynedd |30 |12 |42
Mid Glamorgan |116 |19 |135
Powys |25 |10 |35
South Glamorgan |69 |25 |94
West Glamorgan |93 |13 |106
Schools (Absenteeism)
Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement on absenteeism in (a) primary schools and (b) high schools in Wales.
Sir Wyn Roberts : It is important to tackle truancy more vigorously to ensure that the national curriculum and other education reforms benefit all pupils. My right hon. Friends, the Secretary of State for Education and Science and the Secretary of State of Wales have this week issued for consultation a draft circular on school attendance, together with draft regulations about pupil registration and the publication of information about rates of attendance. We expect schools to give the highest priority to maximising rates of attendance, and to work with parents, local education authorities and others to achieve that objective.
Rent Officers
Mr. Geraint Howells : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is the average cost of processing applications under section 121 of the Housing Act 1988 by the rent officer service.
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : I estimate that the average cost of each application is about £25.
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Mr. Geraint Howells : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many applications the rent officer service in Wales is handling under section 121 of the Housing Act 1988.
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : During the year ended February 1991 the rent officer service received an average of 2,670 cases per month under section 121 of the Housing Act 1988.
Single European Market
Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what initiative he has taken, for each local education authority in Wales, individually, to enable them to prepare their educational systems for the single European market in 1992.
Sir Wyn Roberts : It is for local education authorities to prepare programmes to meet changing needs and policies. I understand that the Welsh Joint Education Committee is offering active and specific assistance to LEAs in Wales and through them to all their education institutions to help them develop their responses to European Community initiatives. In addition, the Department is investigating the need for a unit to provide advice and guidance about European Community education programmes for further and higher education institutions in the Principality.
Teacher Recruitment
Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what initiatives he plans for each of the local education authorities in Wales individually, to enable them to obtain more (i) foreign language teachers and(ii) Welsh teachers.
Sir Wyn Roberts : We have introduced a series of measures designed to improve the supply of modern foreign language teachers and teachers of Welsh. These include :
i. adding modern foreign languages and Welsh to the shortage subject Trainee Teacher Bursary Scheme for students entering eligible courses in the autumn of 1990. At the same time the value of the bursary was increased to £1,500 ;
ii. making £134,000 available under the Grants for Education Support and Training programme (GEST) to support Articled Teacher schemes. Clwyd is the one Local Education Authority in Wales to apply for support and the school-based training scheme will aim to attract graduates in shortage areas identified by the authority which include modern foreign languages and Welsh ;
iii. approving, also under the GEST programme, local authority expenditure of some £228,000 in 1991-92 on recruitment measures which will seek to attract former teachers and mature entrants to teaching. Each scheme will seek to address local recruitment need including teachers of modern languages and Welsh where these are identified as shortage areas ;
iv. investing heavily in in-service training to increase the supply of Welsh language teachers. In 1990-91 we made available £1 million to help existing teachers of other subjects to gain the necessary expertise to teach Welsh as well. For 1991-92, £1.8 million is to be spent on such training. In addition students at initial teacher training institutions in Wales will have the opportunity to learn the language while they are training to become primary school teachers.
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Queensferry Bypass (Fencing)
Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what assessment he has made of the safety of the boundary fencing adjacent to the Brossley housing estate, Garden City and the A494 Queensferry bypass ; and if he will inspect the fencing.
Sir Wyn Roberts : There is no trunk road boundary fencing adjacent to the Brossley housing estate. It was a condition of the planning consent imposed on the developer of the Brossley housing estate that a solid barrier not less than 4ft 6in. high must be erected along the existing trunk road frontage of the site. This fence has nver been erected. Fences exist at the top of the embankments on each side of the A494 trunk road. These have been inspected and temporary repairs effected.
Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will repair deficient fencing on the A494 Queensferry bypass where it borders the Garden City Brossley estate.
Sir Wyn Roberts : The agent authority, Clwyd county council, has effected temporary repairs to the fencing which lies within the highway at this location.
Fell Running
Mr. John P. Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what steps he plans to take to ensure that safety is a first priority in all future organised fell-running events in Wales.
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : This is a matter for the organisers of future fell-running events.
ENVIRONMENT
Renewable Energy
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he hopes to issue his draft guidance to local authorities on renewable energy ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Yeo : I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Minister for Housing and Planning to my hon. Friend the Member for Norfolk, North-West (Mr. Bellingham) on 28 March, Official Report, columns 543-44.
The Gulf
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what action he is taking to avoid smoke hampering aerial surveys in Kuwait.
Mr. Baldry : I am not aware of any action that would be open to my right hon. Friend.
Oil Well Fires
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what assessment has been made of the extent to which sulphur dioxide from oil wells after they are lit is less toxic than the hydrogen sulphide produced from the same wells before ignition.
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Mr. Baldry : I refer the hon. Member to the answer that I gave him on 15 April 1991 at columns 65-66 and to the related documents which have been placed in the Library of the House.
Zoological Society of London
Mr. Harry Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he has launched an internal investigation into the leaking of correspondence between his Department and the Zoological Society of London ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Trippier : The correspondence was not leaked from my Department. We had never seen the zoo's internal memorandum quoted in the press.
Zoos
Mr. Harry Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what latest information he holds regarding figures for annual public subsidies to zoos by EC nations ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Trippier : Such information is not collected by the Department.
Work on Government Offices
Mr. Ken Hargreaves : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he has yet received the advice commissioned from Arup Associates on possible remedial work on Government offices at 2 Marsham street ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Yeo : Arup Associates has now provided its advice on possible remedial work on Government offices at 2 Marsham street. The report now needs to be studied in relation to the accommodation requirements of the two Departments which currently occupy the building and in the context of overall future demand for Government offices in central London. Until this further work hasbeen carried out, it would not be sensible to attempt to take investment decisions in respect of the building at2 Marsham street alone.
Ancient Monuments
Mr. Cormack : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he will issue the consultation paper, announced in the Environment White Paper "This Common Inheritance", Cm. 1200, on amendments to the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979.
Sir George Young : A consultation paper has been issued today, for circulation in England, Scotland and Wales. The document puts forward a number of suggested improvements, including clarifying the definition of damage to an ancient monument and making it an offence to remove objects from scheduled sites. Copies of the document have been deposited in the Libraries of both Houses--consultees have two months within which to respond. My right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Scotland and for Wales will be consulting similarly.
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