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South Africa
15. Mr. John Carlisle : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he intends to meet the new South African ambassador.
16. Mr. Colvin : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he has any plans to visit South Africa to discuss recent political developments ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Hurd : I met Mr. Kent Durr, the new South African ambassador, on 18 April. I hope to visit South Africa in the summer.
21. Mr. Tom Clarke : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking to ensure the implementation of the United Nations declaration on South Africa, adopted in December 1989.
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32. Mr. Robert Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking to ensure implementation of the United Nations declaration on South Africa, adopted by the 16th special session of the general assembly in December 1989.
34. Mr. Hoyle : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking to ensure implementation of the United Nations declaration on South Africa adopted in December 1989.
Mr. Garel-Jones : We continue to encourage all sides in South Africa to maintain progress towards the aims set out in the United Nations declaration--the end of apartheid and the adoption of a non-racial democratic constitution arrived at by peaceful means through negotiation.
Ms. Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking to ensure the implementation of the United Nations declaration on South Africa adopted at the 14th special session in December 1989.
Mrs. Chalker : We continue to encourage all sides in South Africa to maintain progress towards the aims set out in the United Nations declaration--the end of apartheid and the adoption of a non-racial democratic constitution arrived at by peaceful means through negotiation.
Lithuania
22. Mr. Andrew Welsh : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on recent developments in connection with Lithuania.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : We were encouraged by the news that negotiations took place between Lithuanian and Soviet authorities on 4 April. We shall continue to urge both sides to negotiate constructively to reach a solution acceptable to both sides.
EC Legislative Competence
23. Mr. Teddy Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will ask the European Commission to make a declaration of the areas of legislative competence over which the EC will choose not to claim competence ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Garel-Jones : Areas of Community competence are defined by the Community treaties, as interpreted by the European Court of Justice. The extent of Community competence is one of the questions under discussion in the intergovernmental conference on political union. But my hon. Friend will not be surprised to hear that Her Majesty's Government are not convinced of the need for any significant extension of Community competence.
Poland
24. Mr. Harry Greenway : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he has any plans to send medical aid to Poland ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : We have already done so, together with European Community partners. The EC provided £2.8 million of medical aid in 1990. The United Kingdom
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share was about 18 per cent. The EC has received no further requests for medical aid from the Polish Government.Our bilateral health co-operation agreement with Poland promotes wide- ranging medical contacts. We have also supported several medical training projects under the know-how fund.
Vietnam and Cambodia
25. Mr. Mullin : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he last discussed Vietnam or Cambodia with the American Secretary of State.
Mr. Garel-Jones : My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary discussed Cambodia with Mr. Baker in New York in September 1990 and the Vietnamese boat people issue in Washington on 28 February. Indo-China issues are regularly discussed with the Americans at senior official level.
Syria
26. Mr. Madel : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he will make a statement on United Kingdom relations with Syria.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : Since resumption of relations, the Syrian Foreign Minister visited London in February and last month I met President Assad in Damascus. Syria has an important role to play in regional security and the peace process.
The Gulf
27. Mr. Bellingham : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a further statement on how many countries have made contributions in cash or in kind to the United Kingdom's military and logistical effort in the Gulf.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : Cash contributions promised so far include about £660 million from Kuwait, £565 million from Saudi Arabia, £275 million from Germany, £250 million from UAE, £183 million from Japan, £15 million from Belgium, £15 million from Hong Kong and £8 million from Denmark. We have also received assistance in kind worth about £250 million from some 16 countries.
Yugoslavia
28. Mr. Roger King : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he last visited Yugoslavia.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs has not yet visited Yugoslavia. I visited Belgrade and Zaghreb on 25 to 28 February.
Human Rights
30. Mr. Maclennan : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reaction was given by the United Nations committee on human rights to the presentation of the United Kingdom's third periodic report on 1 and 2 April ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Garel-Jones : The human rights committee considered the United Kingdom's report at six public
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meetings on 1 to 3 April. There was a detailed and constructive dialogue. While individual members of the committee expressed a number of specific concerns, there was general satisfaction with the report and the manner in which the dialogue took place.Political Union
33. Mr. Gill : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the United Kingdom's proposed definition of subsidiarity in the context of the intergovernmental conference on political union.
Mr. Garel-Jones : We should like to see a clear definition of subsidiarity in the treaty, as a general provision covering all areas of Community activity. The definition would clarify the division of responsibilities between member states and the Community. It should make clear that action should be taken at the Community level only when the objective in question cannot be satisfactorily achieved at member state level.
Nicaragua
35. Mr. Cash : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he last visited Nicaragua.
Mr. Garel-Jones : I visited Nicaragua from 18 to 20 March, mainly to attend the seventh annual "San Jose " meeting between Foreign Ministers of the Twelve, central America, Mexico, Colombia and Venezuela. This was a successful meeting, which discussed a wide range of political and economic issues. I also had a brief bilateral programme in Nicaragua, including a meeting with the Foreign Minister and the signing of an agreement allowing the Commonwealth Development Corporation to operate in Nicaragua.
Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty
36. Mr. Cartwright : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on progress in the implementation of the conventional forces in Europe treaty.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : We and our NATO partners are continuing to press the Soviet Union to ensure the full and early implementation of the conventional forces in Europe treaty.
United States of America
37. Mr. David Shaw : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he next expects to meet the President of the United States and Secretary Baker to discuss United Kingdom/USA relations.
Mr. Garel-Jones : My right hon. Friend is regularly in touch with Secretary Baker. He expects to meet him and President Bush again next month.
Sudan
Mr. Allen McKay : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps are being taken to persuade the Sudanese Government to allow human rights and freedom of worship to prevail in Sudan.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : We take every opportunity to impress on the present Government of Sudan the need for
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all the people of Sudan to enjoy a full range of human rights. My right hon. Friend the Minister for Overseas Development last did so on 18 April when she saw the country's Finance Minister. Regrettably, none of the representations made to the Sudanese authorities have so far borne fruit. Sudan's record on human rights remains deplorable.Iraq
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer of 17 April, why at the meeting between General Schwarzkopf and the Iraqi military authorities no consideration was given to placing of limitations on the use of helicopters.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : The Iraqi use of helicopters was considered at the meeting between General Schwarzkopf and the Iraqi military authorities on 3 March on the suspension of hostilities. No limitation was placed on their use.
Palestine Liberation Organisation
Mr. Latham : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he will make a statement on the meeting between Her Majesty's ambassador in Tunis and a representative of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, Mr. Hakam Balawi ; and
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whether the ambassador conveyed to Mr. Balawi Her Majesty's Government's expressed concern at the support given to Saddam Hussein throughout the Gulf war by the Palestine Liberation Organisation.Mr. Douglas Hogg : Her Majesty's ambassador in Tunis has frequent meetings with PLO officials, including Hakam Balawi, whom he last saw on 15 April. He has made quite clear to the PLO our strong disapproval of its equivocal policy on the Gulf crisis.
SCOTLAND
Homes for the Elderly
Mr. Galbraith : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list, for each local authority, the number of homes they run for the elderly which have (a) closed and (b) transferred out of the local authority sector, in each of the last 10 years.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : Information in precisely the form requested is not held centrally. However, I am aware of one home which has transferred from local authority ownership and information on the closure of homes derived from a comparison of local authority returns is set out in the table.
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Closures of local authority homes for the elderly
Authority |1980 |1981 |1982 |1983 |1984 |1985 |1986 |1987 |1988 |1989 |Total
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Borders |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |1 |0 |0 |0 |1 |2
Central |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0
Dumfries and Galloway |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0
Fife |1 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |1 |0 |1 |0 |3
Grampian |0 |0 |0 |0 |1 |0 |0 |0 |0 |1 |2
Highland |0 |0 |0 |1 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |1 |2
Lothian |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |2 |1 |0 |0 |3
Strathclyde |0 |0 |3 |2 |0 |0 |1 |0 |2 |4 |12
Tayside |0 |0 |1 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |1 |2
Orkney |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0
Shetland |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0
Western Isles |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0
|------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |-------
Scotland |1 |0 |4 |3 |1 |1 |4 |1 |3 |8 |26
In addition 56 new local authority homes were opened, giving a net increase of 30.
Underspends
Mr. Sillars : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland which Departments under his responsibility will have an underspend of over £500,000 in the past finacial year.
Mr. Lang : Wholly reliable estimates of outturn for 1990-91 are not yet available. The best estimates currently available are published in the "Summary and Guide to the 1991-92 Supply Estimates"--Cm. 1454--and the estimates themselves.
Provisional outturn for 1990-91 on cash-limited expenditure will be reported to Parliament through a White Paper as soon as possible. Details of outturn on non-cash limited voted expenditure will be available in the appropriation accounts in the normal way.
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Departmental Service
Mr. Home Robertson : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will commission a survey of customer satisfaction with the Scottish Office on the same basis as that recently conducted for East Lothian district council ; and if he will make a statement on public perceptions of the quality of service provided by his Department.
Nuclear Fuel
Mr. Home Robertson : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is his policy for the storage of used fuel from nuclear installations in Scotland after 1993.
Mr. Allan Stewart : Questions about operational aspects of nuclear installations in Scotland, such as spent fuel storage, are a matter for the operators concerned. Scottish Nuclear Ltd. has recently put forward proposals for the long-term storage of spent fuel at both Hunterston and Torness ; these proposals are currently being evaluated.
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Renewable Energy
Mr. Wallace : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will state the sources of separate expenditures on renewable energy programmes in or for Scotland in each year since 1979.
Mr. Allan Stewart : Government support for programmes of research and development into renewable energy sources is the responsibility of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Energy.
Mr. Wallace : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list his Department's current and planned renewable energy programmes in Scotland by type, cost, site location and capacity.
Mr. Allan Stewart : These programmes are the responsibility of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Energy.
Teachers
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what estimates or figures he has on the total cost of the insurance premiums paid and the claims made by education authorities in Scotland in relation to teacher absence through sickness in 1988, 1989 and 1990.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : I understand that no education authority in Scotland has taken out insurance for this purpose.
Schools
Mr. McMaster : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list for each year since 1980 the number of children in each local authority region in Scotland transferred from special schools to mainstream schools, expressing this (a) as a proportion of the special school population in each region and (b) as a proportion of children in each region.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : The information requested is not held centrally.
Mr. McMaster : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many primary school boards within the Paisley, South constituency have communicated with him directly on the subject of national testing ; how many indicated opposition to his proposals ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : Two school boards have written letters recounting parental concern expressed at public meetings.
Unemployed Young People, Renfrew
Mr. McMaster : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many young people under 18 years there are in Renfrew district who are not employed and have not had a youth training opportunity offered to them.
Community Care
Mr. Galbraith : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he has any plans to bring community care currently undertaken by social work departments within the scope of fund-holding general practitioner practices.
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Mr. Michael Forsyth : General practitioners already play a major part in supporting community care services. I shall be giving further consideration in due course to how fund-holding practices in Scotland might be further involved.
Trunk Roads
Sir Hector Monro : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement about progress on trunk road schemes during 1990-91 and those proposed to start in 1991-92.
Mr. Lang : Details of major scheme starts in 1990-91 and expected scheme starts in 1991-92 are as follows :
Schemes with an estimated cost of over £1 million started since 1 April 1990 A74 Upgrading Millbank--Nether Abington
A74 Upgrading Elvanfoot--Paddy's Rickle Bridge
A74 Upgrading Kirkpatrick Fleming--Gretna
M74 Maryville--West of Fullarton Road (Advance works)
A96 Nairn Railway Bridge Replacement
A75 Carrutherstown--Hetland
A77 Bennane Hill
A1 Tower--Dunglass
These schemes have a total value of £122 million.
Schemes with an estimated cost of over £1 million expected to start by 31 March 1992 A74 Upgrading Nether Abington--Elvanfoot M74 Maryville--West of Fullarton Road
M8 St. James Interchange
A96 Bucksburn Diversion
A9 Greenloaning--Blackford
A929 Tarbrax--Forfar
A94 Brechin Bypass (Dualling)
These schemes have a total value in excess of £130 million. I have made a further £4 million available in 1991-92 over the public expenditure provision I announced in November to accommodate the substantial programme.
In addition, I expect good progress to be made with the route action plans being developed on the A96 Aberdeen-Inverness ; the A85 Perth-Dundee ; the A7 south of Hawick ; and--jointly with the Department of Transport--on the A1 Newcastle-Edinburgh routes. I expect to be able to give a more detailed account of the full extent of our proposals for Scottish roads in a policy document to be issued later this year.
As to completions of major schemes, 10 were completed in 1990-91 and 11 are expected to be completed in 1991-92.
Haemolytic Anaemia (Kuwait)
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what representations he has had from WHO, UNICEF and the Red Cross about alleviating haemolytic anaemia in Kuwait.
Mr. Michael Forsyth [holding answer 15 April 1991] : There have been no representations from these organisations to my right hon. Friend about haemolytic anaemia in Kuwait. If the hon. Member has a particular concern about this matter, he may wish to write to me about it.
Local Government Finance
Mr. Dewar : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will publish in the Official Report an analysis for the years 1966-67 to 1990- 91, otherwise identical in format to table 2 of "Scottish Local Government Financial
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Statistics : Summary Volume 1975-76 to 1987- 88", of rate fund services revenue account but which distinguishes domestic rate revenue from non-domestic rate revenue.Mr. Lang [holding answer 15 April 1991] : Table 1 gives figures for 1966-67 to 1974-75. Due to differences in the form of the data collected prior to 1975-76 the format of this table differs slightly from that published in "Scottish
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Local Government Financial Statistics : Summary Volume 1975-76 to 1987-88". Table 2 gives an estimated breakdown of rate income into domestic and non-domestic income for the years 1975-76 to 1987-88, consistent with the figures published in the summary volume. Table 3 gives figures for 1988-89. Figures for 1989-90 and 1990-91 are not yet available.Column 461
Table 1
Summary analysis of rate fund revenue account 1966-67 to 1974-75<1>
|1966-67 |1967-68 |1968-69 |1969-70 |1970-71 |1971-72 |1972-73 |1973-74 |1974-75
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
General expenditure |274 |298 |321 |350 |411 |477 |567 |681 |930
Loans charges |96 |107 |125 |152 |168 |177 |199 |256 |325
Total expenditure |370 |495 |446 |502 |579 |653 |766 |938 |1,254
As a percentage of total expenditure (per cent.)
General expenditure |74 |74 |72 |70 |71 |73 |74 |73 |74
Loans charges |26 |26 |28 |30 |29 |27 |26 |27 |26
Total expenditure |100 |100 |100 |100 |100 |100 |100 |100 |100
Income (£ million)
Rates<2> |149 |151 |163 |177 |198 |227 |240 |267 |304
of which domestic rates<3> |72 |71 |75 |80 |87 |105 |110 |120 |131
non-domestic rates<3> |77 |80 |88 |98 |111 |122 |130 |147 |174
Government grant RSG (a) Needs element<4> 125 114 121 138 165 192 224 287 395
(b) Resources element - 38 40 46 55 64 75 96 132
(c) Domestic element - 3 6 9 13 15 17 22 26
(d) Specific grants and subsidies 49 40 41 48 58 65 86 116 160
Total aggregate government grants 174 196 209 242 291 336 403 520 713
(a)+(b)+(c)+(d)
Special domestic rate relief |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |2
Rate rebate grants<2> |- |- |1 |1 |2 |2 |2 |2 |10
Fees and charges |54 |59 |68 |81 |93 |104 |125 |160 |186
Total income |376 |406 |441 |501 |584 |669 |770 |950 |1,215
Income less expenditure (£ million) |6 |1 |-5 |-1 |5 |16 |4 |12 |-39
As a percentage of total income (per cent.)
Rates<2> |39 |37 |37 |35 |34 |34 |31 |28 |25
of which domestic rates<3> |19 |18 |17 |16 |15 |16 |14 |13 |11
non-domestic rates<3> |20 |20 |20 |19 |19 |18 |17 |15 |14
Government grant RSG (a) Needs element<4> 33 28 28 28 28 29 29 30 33
(b) Resources element - 9 9 9 9 10 10 10 11
(c) Domestic element - 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2
(d) Specific grants and subsidies 13 10 9 10 10 10 11 12 13
Total aggregate government grants 46 48 47 48 50 50 52 55 59
(a)+(b)+(c)+(d)
Special domestic rate relief - - - - - - - - 0
Rate rebate grants<2> |- |- |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |1
Fees and charges |14 |15 |15 |16 |16 |16 |16 |17 |15
Total income |100 |100 |100 |100 |100 |100 |100 |100 |100
<1>Totals may not be exactly equal to the sum of their constituent parts due to rounding.
<2>Rates figures for 1966-67 and 1967-68 include rate rebate grant.
<3>The breakdown of rate income into domestic and non-domestic rate income is estimated pro-rata to rateable values.
<4>The RSG figure for 1966-67 comprises general grant, echequer equalisation and transitional grants.
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