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Right to Buy
Mr. Hayward : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many dwellings each local authority has sold under the right-to-buy legislation or voluntarily since April 1979 ; and what percentage of the total local authority stock they represent.
Mr. Yeo : I have placed in the Library a table giving available information on local authority sales up to December 1990. It shows year by year information for each authority since 1985-86 together with cumulative figures since April 1979 and the proportion of their stock sold since April 1979.
Drought Orders
Mr. Hayward : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he intends to modify his direction to water companies specifying the uses of water which may be restricted by means of drought orders made under section 131 of the Water Act 1989.
Mr. Trippier : My right hon. Friend and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales, have today given a fresh direction, the Drought Direction 1991, to water companies under section 131(4)(b) of the 1989 Act. The direction prescribes the uses of water which a company may be authorised to prohibit or limit under Drought Orders made by the Secretary of State.
The 1991 direction replaces the Drought Direction 1989, with the following modifications :
(a) the watering of all gardens (other than market gardens), together with landscaped areas such as road verges, may now be restricted (previously, only the watering of ornamental gardens or lawns was specified) ;
(b) the watering of all surfaces used for sport or recreation, including artificial surfaces, may now be restricted ;
(c) the filling of privately owned pools designed for use in a medical treatment programme, or requiring to be filled during construction as a necessary part of the construction process, is now exempt from restrictions ;
(d) the manual cleaning of windows is now exempt from restrictions.
Once a Drought Order has been made, its implementation and enforcement are the responsibility of the relevant water company. I am placing a copy of the Drought Direction 1991 in the Library.
Local Government Finance
Mr. Lawson : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will provide a table showing, for each financial year from 1978-79 to 1990- 91 inclusive, in constant price terms (a) total grants from central Government to local government, (b) total housing benefit, or its predecessors, rent and rate rebates, (c) other social security benefits paid in respect of rates or the community charge and (d) the total of the above support.
Mr. Heseltine [holding answer 16 April 1991] : The available information is as follows :
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|Government |Rent |Rent |Rate/
|grants at |rebates at |allowances |community
|1989-90 |1989-90 |at 1989-90 |charge
|prices<1> |prices |prices |rebates at
|1989-90 prices
|£ million |£ million |£ million |£ million
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1984-85 |20,409 |2,208 |755 |1,545
1985-86 |19,480 |2,260 |868 |1,621
1986-87 |20,315 |2,289 |1,006 |1,725
1987-88 |20,730 |2,250 |1,003 |1,754
1988-89 |19,189 |2,150 |949 |1,368
1989-90 |18,719 |2,147 |1,023 |1,299
1990-91 |19,603 |2,178 |1,262 |1,785
<1> Government grants consisting of rate/revenue support grant,
specific grants and capital grants. These include rent rebates, rent
allowances and rate/community charge rebates.
Sources: The Government's Expenditure Plans 1990-91 to 1992-93
(Cm. 1021).
Public Expenditure Analyses to 1993-94 (Cm. 1520).
OVERSEAS DEVELOPMENT
Food Production
Mr. Wray : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list all the third world countries receiving funding and technical co-operation from the United Kingdom in order to improve technologies in the production of safe and good quality food.
Mrs. Chalker : Third world countries currently receiving United Kingdom funding and technical co-operation for improving the safety and quality of the food they produce are listed below. The Natural Resources Institute at Chatham, through its ODA-funded food sciences and crop utilisation programmes, plays a leading role in this field of assistance. Many of the other research and development programmes on renewable natural resources funded by ODA, including its suppport for the international agricultural research centres of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, also contribute to the quality of food products.
UN Conference on Environment and Development
Mr. Harry Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what contribution his Department is making to the preparations to the United Nations conference on the environment and development which is due to be held in Brazil in 1992.
Mrs. Chalker : We continue to work to make the conference a success. ODA and diplomatic wing officials
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played a full part in the second meeting of the preparatory committee for the conference in Geneva in March and will continue to do so at future meetings. We have offered £32,000 to the voluntary fund established to finance participation by developing countries in the preparations for the conference. We are helping finance the preparation of national reports from Indonesia, Pakistan and Zimbabwe for the conference. Together with the Department of Trade and Industry we have financed a study on technology transfer to help developing countries address environmental problems, with a focus on global warming.Development Aid
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much United Kingdom development aid was distributed to (a) the Ethiopian Relief and Rehabilitation Commission, (b) Ethiopian church organisations and (c) the Ethiopian Red Cross (i) last year and (ii) in the current year ; what proportion of total aid that represents for each ; amd what are the reasons for the extent of the distribution to each.
Mrs. Chalker : Since the beginning of 1990 we have committed more than £30 million in humanitarian assistance to Ethiopia. Our assistance is channelled through international and British relief agencies, who work closely with Ethiopian non-governmental organisations, including churches and other bodies. Our bilateral Government-to-Government technical co-operation programme is worth about £3 million a year and is concentrated on education and training, agriculture, and disaster prevention and preparedness.
FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS
Cyprus
Mr. John D. Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he has had any communication with the Turkish Cypriots about the Cypriot Government's application for Cyprus to join the European Community ; if he supports the application ; and what progress has been made by this application.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : Cyprus applied to join the EC in July 1990. The Commission is producing an opinion on the application, which will be submitted to the member states for their consideration.
Mr. John D. Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the Cypriot Government have accepted United Nations resolution 649 calling for a bizonal federal Cyprus ; when the United Nations approved resolution 649 ; and if he will make a statement on political progress within the island of Cyprus.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : The UN Secretary-General's efforts to promote a comprehensive, just and lasting settlement of the intercommunal dispute in Cyprus continue with our full support. The way forward is mapped out in UN Security Council resolution 649 of 12 March 1990, which both communities have accepted.
Mr. John D. Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations
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the United Kingdom Government have received as a guarantor power concerning the purchase of arms by the Government of Cyprus.Mr. Lennox-Boyd : We are aware of Turkish and Turkish Cypriot concern at the purchase of arms by the Government of Cyprus. It is our long -standing policy to sell weapons neither to the Greek Cypriot National Guard nor to the Turkish Cypriot armed forces.
The Gulf
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the Saudi Government about the volume of paperwork involved before equipment can be sent to fight fires in Kuwait.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : We have had no discussions with the Saudi Government on this subject.
Antarctica
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what consultations he has had with the Government of Argentina on the recent review of Her Majesty's Government's policy towards Antarctica.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : We have put proposals arising from our review of United Kingdom policy to all Antarctic treaty consultative parties, including Argentina, for their consideration in advance of the special consultative meeting in Madrid, starting on 22 April.
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what consultations he has had with Norway on the recent review of Government policy towards Antarctica.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : We have put proposals arising from our review of policy to all Antarctic treaty consultative parties, including Norway, for their consideration in advance of the special consultative meeting in Madrid starting on 22 April.
United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what resources will be required to finance the measures necessary to enable Britain to conform to the UN convention on the rights of the child.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : We do not anticipate that any extra resources will be required to meet the United Kingdom obligations under the convention.
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what changes in legislation he proposes to enable Britain to conform to the UN convention on the rights of the child.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : None. With the reservations envisaged in my reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Chislehurst (Mr. Sims) on 21 March at column 192-3 we are satisfied that the United Kingdom mainland will be able to meet its obligations under the convention.
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether his
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Department has yet held consultations on the manner in which it will monitor the requirements of the UN convention on the rights of the child.Mr. Lennox-Boyd : No. After ratification the Department of Health will co-ordinate the United Kingdom's initial report with other home Departments.
European Political Union
Sir Peter Blaker : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will publish in the Official Report a statement on the outcome of the ministerial meeting of the intergovernmental conference on political union on 15 April.
Mr. Hurd : The ministerial meeting of the intergovernmental conference on political union on 15 April, attended by my hon. Friend the Minister of State, discussed Presidency proposals on a common foreign and security policy and the powers of the European Parliament.
In discussion of a common foreign and security policy my hon. Friend the Minister of State re-stated our arguments, as set out in my answer to the House on 6 March 1991 at column 203, for strengthening co-operation among the Twelve on foreign and security policy issues and for strengthening the Western European Union (WEU) as a bridge between NATO and the Twelve. There continues to be a range of views among other member states on this and related issues. A range of views was expressed too on the Presidency proposals for strengthening the European Parliament's role in the legislative procedure through the introduction of "co-decision" procedures. Several members states, like the United Kingdom, were unable to accept the proposals.
Ministers will continue discussion of both these subjects at future meetings of special representatives and of Ministers. These meetings will also consider the composite text of all proposed Treaty amendments now circulated by the Presidency.
Foreign Affairs Council
Sir Peter Blaker : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will publish in the Official Report a statement on the outcome of the Foreign Affairs Council on 15 April.
Mr. Hurd : A meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council took place in Luxembourg on 15 April. My hon. Friend, the Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs represented the United Kingdom. The Council reviewed the progress of the EC/EFTA negotiations on a European economic area, which will extend the internal market to the EFTA countries. The Council instructed the Committee of Permanent Representatives to continue work on the detailed issues and agreed to propose to EFTA a joint EC/EFTA ministerial meeting on 13 May. The Commission briefed the Council about the negotiations for association agreements between the European Community and Hungary, Poland and Czechoslovakia. The Council declared its readiness to adopt a flexible approach in the negotiations, particularly on trade access, with a view to concluding them as soon as possible. The Council discussed a draft EC/Japan declaration and agreed that further work was necessary before the
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draft could be passed to the Japanese. It also considered which countries should participate in the European energy charter and agreed to re-examine the issue on 15 May.At the request of the United Kingdom, Ministers discussed a package of aid from the Community and member states to help those suffering famine in Africa. They agreed on the need for emergency aid and asked the Commission to make proposals urgently.
Ministers also discussed disbursement of the 150 mecu humanitarian assistance for Iraqi refugees agreed at the Special European Council of 8 April. They invited the President of the Council to discuss with the United Nations Secretary-General how Saddam Hussein could be held to account for his actions.
Hong Kong
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will give details of all exports of ivory from Hong Kong to Argentina in the last two years.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd [holding answer 25 March 1991] : According to the Hong Kong authorities export licensing records, no commercial exports of ivory to Argentina have been authorised in the last two years.
THE ARTS
Library Books
Mr. Cummings : To ask the Minister for the Arts what average amount per head of population has been spent on library books in the county of Durham each year since 1987.
Mr. Renton : Expenditure in the county of Durham per head of population has risen over the past four years as follows :
|£
------------------
1986-87 |0.69
1987-88 |0.85
1988-89 |0.90
1989-90 |1.04
Foundation for Sport and the Arts
Mr. Pendry : To ask the Minister for the Arts (1) 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 the dates on which such meetings took place ;
(2) 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 the dates on which such meetings will take place.
Mr. Renton : I have been in touch with ministerial colleagues and others with an interest in the proposed foundation. My Department will continue to be closely involved in taking this forward.
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HEALTH
Adoption
Mr. Burt : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on his officials' recent visit to Romania concerning inter- country adoption.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : I refer my hon. Friend to the reply my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister gave my hon. Friend the Member for Bolton, North-East (Mr. Thurnham) on 26 March at columns 763-64. A team of Home Office and Department of Health officials visited Bucharest in November 1990 to discuss further how to co-ordinate help and facilitate procedures for British couples who wish to adopt Romanian children. We continue to be in regular contact with the Romanian authorities.
Sickle Cell Disorders
Mr. Fraser : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will take steps to introduce universal screening of new-born babies for sickle cell disorders and to develop national policies on pain control hospital care and the prevention of crises in people having sickle cell disorders.
Mr. Dorrell : It is important that infants affected by sickle cell disease are identified at an early stage so that they can receive appropriate treatment. Screening services are generally offered to those members of the population most likely to be affected--those orginating from Africa, the Mediterranean or middle east. This disease is rare in the indigenous population. It would therefore be unreasonable to screen all new -born babies for the disorder. In 1988 the Department introduced haemoglobinopathy cards which are given to patients with sickle cell disease or thalassaemia with the aim of ensuring that, in an emergency, their condition is identified and that they receive appropriate treatment. The decision on what measures are necessary to control pain and prevent crises is for the individual doctor to make, taking into account his knowledge of the patient and the particular circumstances of the episode. This is a matter of clinical judgment.
Prestwich Hospital, Salford
Mr. Robin Cook : To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the patients of Pinfold, Troy and Tottington wards at Prestwich hospital, Salford, will be evacuated, as advised by the health advisory service/social services inspectorate in its report dated October 1990, No. (90) MI/E.12.
Mr. Dorrell : I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave the hon. Member for Eccles (Miss Lestor) on 15 April at column 80.
Pharmacists (Advice)
Mr. Gareth Wardell : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will publish in the Official Report the written advice of his Department to retail pharmacists regarding the methods of disposal for unwanted medicines and poisons returned to them by their customers.
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Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : Advice is given by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society to community pharmacists on the disposal of returned medicines. The Department has not issued any written advice.
Medical Students
Mr. Thurnham : To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he has any plans to change the arrangements under which medical students have access to national health service patients ; and if he will make a statement.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : Medical students have always undertaken clinical work in hospitals, and this forms an essential part of their training. There are also long-standing arrangements under which final year students may assist in hospitals when a house officer is on leave. Following consultation with health authorities, the General Medical Council, the medical profession and the universities, revised guidance has been issued clarifying the circumstances in which students may have access, under close supervision, to hospital patients. A copy of the guidance has been placed in the Library.
Tobacco Advertising
Mr. Amos : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the progress of his Department's negotiations to date with the tobacco industry on the control of tobacco advertising.
Mr. Waldegrave [pursuant to the reply 11 March 1991] : I am pleased to announce that the Health Departments and the industry have reached agreement in principle on a revised voluntary agreement for the next three years on the advertising and promotion of tobacco products. The new agreement will be published and come into force in the next few weeks when final drafting has been completed and the agreement has been approved under the Restrictive Trade Practices Act 1976.
In a major addition to the voluntary agreement, the industry has agreed to remove 50 per cent. of shopfront advertising over five years. The change will start once the agreement has been concluded and will apply to all external permanent advertising material on shops. In making this reduction, the industry will act in consultation with the retail trade ; it will seek to apply the reduction evenly over time by type of sign and by geographic location ; priority will be given to reducing the number of those permanent advertising signs on shops clearly visible from schools ; the reductions will be validated annually by independent audit ; the results of the audit will be submitted to the monitoring committee and will appear in the committee's annual report.
A major change in the agreement is that from 1 July all external signs on shops will carry a health warning ; under the existing agreement signs erected before 1983 have not been required to carry a health warning and this has caused confusion to the public and has been commented on in reports of the monitoring committee. The new agreement will also extend the present ban on poster advertising which is visible from schools to children's playgrounds. Other parts of the existing voluntary agreement will also be updated and anomalies, which have come to notice through the reports of the monitoring committee, will be removed.
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I am also pleased to announce that, following the resignation of Sir Peter Lazarus as chairman of the monitoring committee, the Government with the agreement of the industry, have appointed Sir John Blelloch, formerly permanent secretary at the Northern Ireland Office, to be the new chairman of the committee.The Government welcome these steps to maintain and develop the system of voluntary agreements, to which they remain committed.
SOCIAL SECURITY
Social Security Benefits
Mr. Galbraith : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will give details of the social security benefits available to carers, and what steps his Department is taking to publicise these benefits.
Mr. Scott : I refer the hon. Member to my reply to my the hon. Member for Ynys Mo n (Mr. Jones) on 27 March 1991 at column 448.
Mr. Nellist : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the number and proportion of people claiming unemployment benefit who were disqualified or disallowed for availability or voluntary unemployment reaons and, because they were not eligible for income support, received no benefit, for May 1989 and the latest available date.
Mr. Jack : Information on the numbers of unemployed claimants and the decisions of adjudication officers where the question of availability or voluntary unemployment arises, is in "Unemployment Benefit Statistics-- Quarterly Analysis of Unemployed Claimants" and "Unemployment Benefit Statistics--Quarterly Analysis of Decisions of Adjudication Officers", copies of which are in the Library. Figures as to the number and proportion of people disqualified or disallowed for receiving unemployment benefit who were not entitled to income support are not available.
Claimants
Mr. Nellist : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many people made claims for (a) income support only, (b) unemployment benefit only and (c) income support and unemployment benefit for each quarter since the beginning of 1987 ; and what were the proportions and numbers in each quarter whose claims were disallowed, disqualified or suspended for(i) non-availability, (ii) refusal of employment and neglect to avail, (iii) restricted availability, (iv) not actively seeking work and (v) other reasons.
Mr. Jack : Information on the numbers of unemployed people claiming benefit and the decisions of adjudication officers where those claims were disallowed, is in "Unemployment Benefit Statistics--Quarterly Analysis of Unemployed Claimants" and "Unemployment Benefit Statistics--Quarterly Analysis of Decisions of Adjudication Officers", copies of which are in the Library. No information is available on the total number of claims suspended or the proportion of income support claims which resulted in a disallowance.
Mr. Nellist : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many claims for (a) unemployment benefit
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only ; ( (b) income support only and (c) both income support and unemployment benefit were made by unemployed people for each quarter from the beginning of 1987 to date.Mr. Jack : The information is in "Unemployment Benefit Statistics-- Quarterly Analysis of Unemployed Claimants", copies of which are in the Library.
Mr. Nellist : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what proportion and what number of claimants on the unemployment register are claiming income support as (a) incapable of work, (b) lone parents, (c) retired, (d) aged 60 years and over and (e) studying.
Mr. Jack : Claimants who are incapable of work or retired are not on the unemployed register. Information on those aged 60 and over who choose to register is in "Unemployment Benefit Statistics--Half-yearly Analysis of Unemployed Claimants", a copy of which is in the Library. Information is not available as to the number of lone parents or those who are studying.
Attendance Allowance
Mr. Cryer : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security whether the incorporation of attendance allowance into disability living allowance will result in any reduction of the number of people currently qualifying for attendance allowance ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Scott : There will be no reduction in the number of people receiving the existing rates of benefit. Recipients of attendance allowance who are over the age of 65 will continue to receive that benefit after April 1992, and those who are under 65 will be transferred automatically to the corresponding rate of the care component of the new disability living allowance.
Income Support
Mr. Cryer : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security whether loans can be paid from the discretionary social fund to applicants claiming income support while they are waiting for seven days to receive payment of income support paid in arrears ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Scott : Yes. Crisis loans may be paid from the social fund to people who are awaiting their first payment of income support, and who are facing a serious risk to their health or safety. In 1989-90, a total of 191,000 such awards were made, at a total cost of £6.2 million. Over 90 per cent. of crisis loan applications are successful.
Source : Secretary of State's Annual Report on the Social Fund, 1989-90.
AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD
River Severn
Mr. Win Griffiths : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what action he proposes to take following the
representations he has received on the problems of pollution and flooding along the River Severn.
Mr. Curry : Flood and tidal defences along the River Severn are kept under constant review by the National
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Rivers Authority and the Department. As a result of flooding from the River Severn, the Severn Trent region of the NRA which is responsible for the promotion of flood defence work along the river, has instigated investigations in the form of mathematical and physical modelling, and have included defence works in their forward programme of work to be submitted to the Department for grant aid. The Ministry is grant-aiding a comprehensive scheme to raise flood walls and embankments on the River Severn, below Gloucester. Following the tidal flooding in February 1990, and additional section of works is being added.Matters relating to the problems of pollution along the River Severn are the responsibility of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment.
Fishing Vessels
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will give the number of fishing vessels held in port by the eight consecutive day rule in February and March in South Shields, Seahouses, Bridlington, Scarborough, Grimsby and Fleetwood.
Mr. Curry : The information requested by the hon. Member is as follows :
|February|March
|1991 |1991
-----------------------------------------
South Shields |0 |0
Seahouses |0 |0
Bridlington |9 |5
Scarborough |5 |1
Grimsby |24 |4
Fleetwood |1 |1
The reduction in March reflects the Government's success in securing a gear option for restricted vessels.
Whale Conservation
Mr. Cryer : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps the Government are taking to ensure that a policy of whale conservation is retained for the United Kingdom, other EC countries and other international bodies ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Curry : The Government have long been in the lead in pressing for the conservation of whales. The moratorium achieved under the International Whaling Commission is still in place after its review last year and the number of whales taken for scientific whaling purposes during the moratorium has been greatly reduced by the pressures of the IWC. Further, the European Community has prohibited trade in whale products. The Government will continue to work for the conservation of whales through all possible means.
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