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Written Answers to Questions
Friday 19 April 1991
EDUCATION AND SCIENCE
Research Bodies
Mr. Wray : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many publicly funded research centres or institutes are planned to (a) close, (b) merge and (c) open in the next five years.
Mr. Alan Howarth : This information is not available. Publicly funded research establishments vary from small units in higher education institutions to large institutes on a number of sites, and are run by a range of bodies including the research councils and universities.
Nuclear Structure Facility
Sir Thomas Arnold : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what representations he has received since 8 February about the decision of the SERC to close the nuclear structure facility, Daresbury ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Alan Howarth : Since 8 February, my right hon. and learned Friend and I have received 350 representations about the nuclear structure facility at the SERC's Daresbury laboratory.
Teacher Grading
Mrs. Mahon : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many (a) men and (b) women teachers are on grades A, B, C, D and E allowances for each local education authority in England currently and for the last five years that figures are available for (i) primary and (ii) secondary schools.
Mr. Fallon [holding answer 18 April 1991] : I am arranging to place in the Library a copy of the relevant tables for March 1988, the first year following the introduction of incentive allowances in October 1987. Corresponding information for later years is not yet available.
Head Teachers
Mrs. Mahon : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many (a) men and (b) women head teachers and deputy head teachers are in place for each local education authority in England now and for the last five years that figures are available for (i) primary and (ii) secondary schools.
Mr. Fallon [holding answer 18 April 1991] : I am arranging to place in the Library a copy of the relevant tables for the years 1986 to 1988. Comparable figures for other years are not readily available.
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Student Awards
Mr. Anthony Coombs : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what parental contributions will be payable towards mandatory student awards in the academic year 1991-92.
Mr. Alan Howarth [pursuant to his reply, 28 February 1991, col. 554] : I regret that the illustrative parental contribution scales which accompanied my previous reply contained some minor arithmetical errors. These errors would not have affected the assessments to be made in the summer by local education authorities, which will be based on the formulae quoted at the end of my previous reply. The formulae remain correct and will generally still keep the assessed contribution for 1991-92 at the same cash level as in 1990-91, as intended for a parent whose residual income has risen in line with average earnings.
For the avoidance of doubt, the corrected illustrative scales are shown below.
Illustrative parental contribution scales for
1991-92
Residual |Scale 1 |Scale 2
income |contribution|contribution
£ |£ |£
----------------------------------------------------
12,650 |60 |45
13,000 |105 |79
14,000 |235 |176
15,000 |365 |274
16,000 |495 |371
16,170 |517 |388
17,000 |667 |501
18,000 |849 |638
19,000 |1,031 |775
20,000 |1,213 |912
21,000 |1,395 |1,049
22,000 |1,577 |1,186
23,000 |1,758 |1,323
23,760 |1,897 |1,427
24,000 |1,951 |1,468
25,000 |2,178 |1,638
26,000 |2,406 |1,809
27,000 |2,633 |1,980
28,000 |2,860 |2,151
29,000 |3,087 |2,322
30,000 |3,315 |2,493
31,000 |3,542 |2,664
32,000 |3,769 |2,835
33,000 |3,997 |3,006
34,000 |4,224 |3,177
35,000 |4,451 |3,348
36,000 |4,678 |3,519
37,000 |4,906 |3,690
38,000 |5,133 |3,861
39,000 |5,360 |4,032
40,000 |5,587 |4,203
40,934 |5,800 |-
41,000 |- |4,374
42,000 |- |4,544
43,000 |- |4,715
44,000 |- |4,886
45,000 |- |5,057
46,000 |- |5,228
47,000 |- |5,399
48,000 |- |5,570
49,000 |- |5,741
49,343 |- |5,800
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ENVIRONMENT
New Palace Yard (Lamps)
Mr. Harris : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment why the gas lamps in New Palace Yard have been converted to electricity.
Mr. Yeo : The gas lamps in New Palace Yard have been temporarily replaced by electric lamps following the discovery of damage to the mains supply. As substantial excavation work will be required to lay a new main, the work has been deferred to the summer recess to minimise disruption. It is expected that the gas lamps will be back in use in September.
Community Charge (Lambeth)
Mr. Fraser : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how much community charge has now been paid for the financial year ended 31 March in Lambeth.
Mr. Key : Local authorities are currently sending returns to my Department giving their community charge receipts up to 31 March 1991 ; no return has yet been received from Lambeth. To 31 December 1990 Lambeth had collected £24.3 million.
Rhododendrons
Mr. Fraser : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what progress has been made in his Department in limiting the spread of rhododendrons as a threat to woodlands and wild landscapes.
Mr. Baldry : The Department has not carried out specific work on this subject, but the Forestry Commission is continuing research into methods of controlling rhododendron, and results are promising. Bulletin 73, Field Book 8 and Research Information Note 186, issued by the Commission, provide more detailed information about control on forest sites. I am arranging for a copy of each document to be placed in the Library of the House.
Advice Services
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment to what extent local authorities are making use of section 38 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Portillo : The Department has no information on the extent to which local authorities are using this new power to help advice and assistance agencies.
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he has issued any advice to local authorities on section 38 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989.
Mr. Portillo : A joint circular (Department of the Environment 23/90 ; Welsh Office 62/90) explained the impact of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 on parish, community and town councils. This drew attention to the new power for these authorities under section 38 to help advice and assistance agencies. Similar action seemed unnecessary for principal councils.
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Housing Corporation Expenditure
Mr. Devlin : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how much money has been spent by the Housing Corporation in (a) Stockton, (b) Middlesbrough and (c) Hartlepool ; and how many dwellings have been improved or created in each of the last four years.
Mr. Yeo : This is a matter for the Housing Corporation. I have therefore asked the corporation to respond to my hon. Friend direct. The subsequent reply will be placed in the Libraries of the House.
Opencast Mining
Mr. Canavan : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will list all those areas in England and Wales for which planning permission has been granted for opencast mining.
Mr. Yeo : Information on the areas in England and Wales where planning permission has been granted for opencast mining is not held centrally. According to statistics published by the County Planning Officers Society 41 sites in England and Wales received approval in 1989-90 (including on appeal) as follows :
|Number
------------------------------
Durham |10
Northumberland |1
Tyne and Wear |1
Cumbria |1
Leicestershire |2
Staffordshire |1
Shropshire |4
West Midlands |2
Derbyshire |6
South Yorkshire |3
West Yorkshire |3
Merseyside |3
Mid Glamorgan |2
West Glamorgan |1
Gwent |1
Rose Theatre Trust
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if his Department has considered an application for an exhibition relating to the Rose Theatre Trust to be displayed in the Upper Waiting Hall.
Sir George Young : I understand that, under procedures agreed by the Services Committee, arrangements have been made with the authorities of the House for the exhibition to be held in the Upper Waiting Hall from 3 June to 7 June.
TRANSPORT
Railway Property (Child Trespassers)
Mr. Churchill : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many children have been (a) killed and (b) seriously injured in each of the past 10 years for which figures are available in consequence of electrocution or being struck by a train while trespassing on railway property.
Mr. Freeman : Figures for the period 1980-89 are given in the table ; 1989 is the latest year for which figures are available.
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Electrocution Struck by trains
Year |Fatal |Seriously|Fatal |Seriously
|injured |injured
------------------------------------------------------------
1980 |7 |9 |6 |1
1981 |10 |10 |8 |2
1982 |3 |13 |4 |2
1983 |5 |18 |9 |3
1984 |10 |17 |6 |4
1985 |3 |14 |9 |3
1986 |6 |12 |4 |5
1987 |6 |6 |9 |5
1988 |4 |6 |12 |7
1989 |3 |8 |5 |2
SCOTLAND
Local Authority Spending
Mr. Galbraith : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much is spent by each local authority per person on (a) the mentally ill and (b) the elderly.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : Information for the elderly derived from the local authority financial returns is set out in the table. It is not possible to provide meaningful information for the mentally ill since the expenditure is not always separately identified.
Local authority expenditure per head on the elderly: 1988-89 -------------------------------- Borders |37.0 Central |33.5 Dumfries and Galloway |28.1 Fife |41.7 Grampian |32.2 Highland |31.1 Lothian |34.6 Strathclyde |37.1 Tayside |40.7 Orkney |68.2 Shetland |78.0 Western Isles |94.1 Note: This expenditure information relates to services paid for by social work authorities and used in the main by the elderly. It does not include administration and casework expenditure by these authorities in relation to the elderly since that is difficult to identify. Expenditure by housing authorities on services of benefit to the elderly is not included.
Cancer
Mr. Canavan : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he will list for each year from 1986 onwards the number of cancer-related deaths in (a) Scotland, (b) Forth Valley health board area, (c) Falkirk district, (d) the postal district FK4, (e) the postal district FK5 and (f) the postal district FK6.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : The number of deaths attributed to cancer (ICD* numbers 140-208) as the underlying cause of death is shown in the table.
Deaths from malignant neoplasms, 1986-89 Area |1986 |1987 |1988 |1989 ------------------------------------------------------------- Scotland |14,534|14,650|14,720|14,917 Forth Valley health board |784 |765 |803 |721 Falkirk local government district |412 |407 |420 |397 Postal district: FK4 |32 |42 |24 |27 FK5 |50 |44 |43 |41 FK6 |33 |23 |32 |31 * International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision.
Place of Safety Orders (Orkney)
Mr. Wallace : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he will hold an inquiry into the events surrounding the place of stafety orders recently taken in respect of nine children in Orkney.
Mr. Lang : Once the legal proceedings in relation to this case are completed, it is my intention to hold a full judicial inquiry. At that stage I will make an announcement about the terms of reference and who will lead it.
OVERSEAS DEVELOPMENT
Kurdish Refugees
Mrs. Clwyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list all United Kingdom emergency relief for refugees from Iraq ; from which ODA budget the aid is paid ; and whether the ODA's budget for 1991-92 has been increased to cover the cost of emergency aid for Iraqi refugees.
Mrs. Chalker : Total commitments for relief operations for refugees from Iraq in 1990-91 are estimated at £18.37 million. £3.25 million has been paid from the ODA's humanitarian aid subhead A3(9), and £2.5 million for ICRC from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office vote, clases II, vote 5. The remainder is our estimated share of EC budgetary expenditure and will be attributed to the aid programme in the usual way. The £18.37 million was allocated as follows : August 1990 : --£2 million to the International Organisation for Migration.
August 1990 : --£0.5 million to the International Committee of the Red Cross and Jordanian Red Crescent.
August 1990 : --£0.25 million relief supplies from the United Kingdom.
August 1990 : --£8.25 million through the European Community January 1991 : --US$1 million to United Nations Disaster Relief Organisation.
February 1991 : --£2.5 million to International Committee of the Red Cross Gulf Appeal
January-March 1991 : --£4.37 million through the European Community.
Commitments so far in this financial year total £21.65 million, excluding the cost of RAF airdrops and airlift operations. Specific allocations are :
April 1991 --£0.5 million to the International Committee of the Red Cross.
April 1991 --£336,000 for relief supply flights to Turkey on 5 April.
April 1991 --£350,000 for relief supply flights to Iran on 9 April and 10 April.
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April 1991 --£30,000 grants each to Save the Children Fund and CARE (UK) for food purchases via the Turkish Red Crescent Society. April 1991 --£50,000 grant to OXFAM for relief supply flights. April 1991 --£650,000 through the European Community.Our initial assistance of over £1 million in April 1991 is being met from funds earmarked for disaster relief in the ODA's contingency reserve, provision for which is in subhead A3(7). Of the £20 million announced by the Prime Minister on 5 April, £8 million is being drawn from the aid programme contingency reserve. The balance of £12 million is our estimated share of EC budgetary expenditure and will be attributed to the aid programme.
The United Kingdom is also providing daily relief supply flights to Turkey. Supplies are being distributed by Hercules aircraft and Chinook helicopters based at Dyarbakir. The costs of these airlift and helicopter operations are estimated at £1.5 million per week. Two further relief supply flights will leave for Iran on 18 April and 19 April. More will follow. The costs of these operations are also being met from the aid programme contingency reserve.
ODA's budget for 1991-92 has not been increased further to meet the costs of these relief operations. But, as I made clear to the Foreign Affairs Committee on 17 April, the Government will look sympathetically at the case for extra money.
SOCIAL SECURITY
Children
Mr. Wray : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what provision is made for the welfare and care of children in (a) the United Kingdom, (b) Belgium, (c) Denmark, (d) Luxembourg, (e) the Netherlands, (f) Germany and (g) France.
Mr. Jack : This Department makes provision for the welfare and care of children to the extent that it provides cash benefits to families with children, principally through the child benefit, family credit and income support schemes.
Tables giving details of child benefit and equivalent schemes in the countries listed by the hon. Member, as at 1 July 1990, are set out in "Social Protection in the Member States of the Community", published by the Commission for the European Communities, a copy of which is in the Library. The current publication does not cover income-related benefits such as family credit (a benefit which has no direct equivalent in the other countries) but the United Kingdom has proposed to the Commission that next year and in following years the tables should be extended to cover these benefits. Until this can be done a systematic comparison of this type of benefit is not possible.
Disability Benefit
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will conduct a comprehensive review of disability benefits arising from the OPCS surveys on disabilities ; and if he will make a statement.
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Mr. Scott : The reports produced by the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys provided us with an unprecedented volume of information about the financial circumstances of people with disabilities. We invited and received comments on these reports from large numbers of organisations and took their views into account before publishing our proposals in "The Way Ahead" (Cm. 917). We have since invited further comments on the documents we published last year outlining our more detailed proposals for both the new benefits. We received more than 70 replies.
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list those organisations which have made representations to him requesting that the disability living allowance be available to those who become disabled after the age of 85 years ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Scott : No such representations have been received.
Social Fund
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the amount spent on the social fund relative to the amount paid in single payments for the last year in which the single payment scheme operated, expressed in comparable prices and as a percentage reduction.
Mr. Scott : Direct comparisons between single payments expenditure in 1987-88 and social fund expenditure in 1990-91 are misleading because of the differing scope of the two schemes. Funeral and maternity payments were not part of the single payments scheme in 1987-88 but have been included in the table in order to make the comparison with social fund expenditure in 1990-91 more meaningful.
|Cash |At 1990-91
|prices
|£ million |£ million
-------------------------------------------------------
Single payments
1987-88 |<1>243 |<2>299
Social fund
1990-91<3> |- |282
|5" per cent.
|reduction
<1> Includes £ 29 million spent on maternity and
funeral payments.
<2> Calculated using the estimated gross domestic
product deflator.
<3> Provisional.
PRIME MINISTER
Computers
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Prime Minister what steps are being taken to ensure that no Government Department makes use of any pirated copies of Inslaw case-tracking Promis software.
The Prime Minister : All Government Departments operate their information technology systems within the law. To reinforce this, Departments have issued internal notices warning of the consequences of using unlicensed software.
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Iraq
Mr. Winnick : To ask the Prime Minister what is the policy of Her Majesty's Government towards ensuring that the leaders of the regime in Iraq are tried for crimes against humanity ; and if he will make a statement.
The Prime Minister : Saddam Hussein bears personal responsibility under international law for his crimes and is responsible for those of his subordinates acting under his orders. In the case of both war crimes and genocide Saddam Hussein can, in law, be brought to trial before a national court or international tribunal. We and our EC partners have asked the United Nations Secretary-General to investigate how this might be achieved.
Interception Commissioner
Sir John Wheeler : To ask the Prime Minister when the Commissioner appointed under the Interception of Communications Act 1985 will present his annual report ; and if he will make a statement.
The Prime Minister : A copy of Lord Justice Lloyd's fifth annual report for 1990 has been laid before the House today in accordance with section 8(7) of the Interception of Communications Act 1985. The confidential appendix to the report has been excluded from that copy in accordance with section 8(8) of the 1985 Act. I am grateful to the Commissioner for his work in reviewing the issue of warrants and note that he remains satisfied that the Secretaries of State continue to exercise scrupulous care in the issue of warrants. Careful consideration is being given to both parts of the Commissioner's report.
AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD
Alphachloralose
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food under what circumstances Alpha-chloralose can be used as a rodenticide.
Mr. Maclean : As from 1 March, Alphachloralose may be used as a rodenticide only when contained in a product approved under the Control of Pesticide Regulations for that purpose, of which there are currently seven. Use of these is governed by specified conditions which must be listed on labels, and which include the restriction that they are for use only as rodenticides.
TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Single Market
Mr. William Powell : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list in the Official Report the short title of each of the European Community directives to implement the single market which should be on the statute book of each of the European Community member states ; and what progress each such state had made by 31 December 1990 to enact into their domestic law such legislation.
Mr. Sainsbury : The latest information giving a detailed breakdown of the situation on implementation of the individual measures in the Commission White Paper
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programme which were due to enter into force by the end of 1990 are given in annex 1 to document 9258/90 dated 5 October 1990, a copy of which is deposited in the Library. This confirms the United Kingdom's good record with only 18 out of 107 measures not implemented. A comparative table for all member states, together with more recent figures provided by the Commission are given in the table.------------------------ Denmark |15|20 United Kingdom |18|28 Germany (F.R.) |20|32 Portugal |20|31 Spain |27|38 France |28|38 Ireland |31|43 Belgium |32|37 Netherlands |33|35 Luxembourg |35|46 Greece |44|44 Italy |62|73 <1> Figures for unimplemented measures in the 5 zoctober 1990 report; out of 107 provisions required to have been transposed by 31 December 1990. <2> Latest commission unofficial assessment ( dated 9 March) of measures not implemented: out of 120 individual provisions required to have been transposed by that date.
Somalia (Tobacco Imports)
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much of the £3,436,000 beverages and tobacco exports to Somalia in 1990 was tobacco.
Mr. Sainsbury : The information requested is published in Business Monitor MM20 Overseas Trade Statistics of the United Kingdom for December 1990, table v, page 17, a copy of which is in the Library.
Sheffield Forgemaster
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what information he has on the chemical specification of the steel ordered for the manufacture by Sheffield Forgemaster of the so-called super gun.
Mr. Sainsbury [holding answer 18 April 1991] : I have nothing to add to the reply given by my right hon. Friend on 12 December 1990 at cols. 412-13.
NATIONAL FINANCE
Petroleum Duty
Mr. Butler : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what information he has on European Commission proposals for minimum rates and target rates of petrol duty.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : The European Commission proposed minimum rates for mineral oils, including leaded and unleaded petrol, in December 1989. An explanatory memorandum on this proposal was submitted on 19 February 1990 (document 9777/89 COM (89) 526 final). On 19 February 1991 the Commission issued a further duty rates proposal (document 4822/91 COM (91) 43 final) which, for leaded and unleaded petrol, complemented the
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1989 proposals by setting target rates. An explanatory memorandum on the proposal was submitted on 17 April 1991.Copies of the explanatory memoranda are in the Library.
Value Added Tax
Mr. Bellott : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make it his policy to ensure that second-hand goods retain zero rate of value added tax ; and if he will make a statement.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : The only zero rate of value added tax on goods solely because they are second-hand applies to donated goods sold by charity shops. There are, however, special schemes for accounting for tax on some second-hand goods. I have no plans to change either system.
Mr. David Nicholson : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what rate of value added tax is payable on work done or services provided in the period up to 31 March 1991.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : Traders are entitled to charge the old rate (15 per cent.) on goods or services supplied up to 31 March. This applies even where a tax invoice is issued after that date in respect of such goods and services. Normally, this would create a tax point at the new rate, but the law includes a concession which allows traders to apply the old rate.
Baby Yarns
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will zero-rate baby yarns for the purpose of VAT.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : No. Although under the EC VAT sixth directive member states are able to retain zero rates which were in force on 31 December 1975, subject to their being for clearly defined social reasons and for the benefit of the final consumer, they may neither widen the scope of existing zero rates nor introduce new ones.
HOME DEPARTMENT
Cats and Dogs (Experimentation)
Mr. Meale : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what action is taken to ensure that the cats and dogs supplied by suppliers given temporary licences under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 to supply non purpose-bred cats and dogs to designated establishments are not strays or were not originally stolen ;
(2) on what grounds temporary suppliers' licences are granted under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 to suppliers of non purpose-bred dogs, including ex-racing greyhounds.
Mrs. Rumbold : Certificates of designation issued under secton 7 of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 to breeding and supplying establishments are not granted on a temporary basis. Exemptions may be granted to the standard condition applying to such certificates, which requires that animals must be obtained from designated breeding and supplying establishments. Breeding estab-lishments have been granted exemptions to obtain dogs from non-designated sources only for use as breeding stock.
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Exemptions may also be granted to the requirement in section 10(3) of the Act applying to project licences that only those cats and dogs specially bred at and obtained from designated sources may be used in scientific procedures. No exemptions have been granted to allow the use of cats obtained from non-designated sources at designated user establishments.Where there is a shortage of certain types of purpose-bred dogs for use in research, it is necessary to grant some exemptions. Care is taken to ensure that greyhounds obtained from non-designated sources are neither pets nor ex-racing greyhounds which have been supplied to charitable bodies as pets.
The conditions applied to licences and certificates ensure that stray or stolen cats or dogs cannot be legitimately supplied for use in regulated procedures.
Mr. Meale : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will identify the National Greyhound Racing Club licensed trainer who has been licensed to supply ex-racing greyhounds to the Royal Postgraduate Medical School for use in animal procedures : (2) if he will identify all sources of greyhounds and other dogs supplied to the Royal Postgraduate Medical School for use in animal procedures.
Mrs. Rumbold : No certificate of designation has been granted under section 7 of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 for the supply of ex-racing greyhounds to the Royal Postgraduate Medical School for use in scientific procedures. Exemptions have been granted at the Royal Postgraduate Medical School to obtain a limited number of greyhounds from non-designated sources for a limited period. It is not our practice to give details of the sources of animals supplied for use in scientific procedures. The RPMS intends to use specially bred greyhounds which are expected to become available during the summer. In the meantime, we understand that the RPMS has agreed with the NGRC not to use greyhounds which have raced on licensed tracks.
Mr. Meale : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many suppliers to establishments licensed to carry out procedures under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 are licensed to supply non purpose-bred cats and dogs ; what numbers of such animals were supplied to British laboratories last year ; and if he will publish details in the annual statistics of scientific procedures on living animals.
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