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Govan Initiative
Mr. Sillars : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the current year's budget for Govan Initiative ; and what proportion of its funding comes from central and local government.
Mr. Allan Stewart : The total urban programme budget for Govan Initiative in the current year amounts to £795,254. Central Government grant meets 75 per cent. of the cost, with the balance being provided by local government.
Mr. Sillars : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if in the nursery schools to be provided by Govan Initiative the system for entry will be similar to the priority system operated by Strathclyde regional council.
Mr. Allan Stewart : There will be some similarity with the system operated by Strathclyde regional council. However, to meet the objectives set in the application for funding under the urban programme, first priority will be given to the provision of child care resources to parents undertaking full-time training or education whose objective is to gain or return to employment.
Mr. Sillars : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he has received a request for additional funding from Govan Initiative.
Mr. Allan Stewart : In response to an approach for additional funding, approval under the urban programme was given on 2 May 1991 to additional expenditure of £18,184 to meet increased capital costs relating to the provision of child care units in the area of the Govan Initiative.
Locate in Scotland
Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the budget for Locate in Scotland's activities in each year since 1986- 87, at 1991-92 prices.
Mr. Allan Stewart : The cost of running Locate in Scotland from 1986 -87 to 1991-92, taking account of salaries, administration expenses, travel, marketing and advertising is shown in cash terms and at constant 1991-92 prices in the table. The 1991-92 figures are provisional at this stage.
0
Year |Cash |1991-92
|price base
|£ million|£ million
------------------------------------------------
1986-87 |3.8 |5.2
1987-88 |3.9 |5.0
1988-89 |4.0 |4.9
1989-90 |4.3 |4.9
1990-91 |4.6 |4.9
1991-92 |5.1 |5.1
Forth Valley Health Board
Mr. Canavan : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) what assistance will be given to Forth Valley health board by way of additional investment and so on, to develop laboratory services, including virology within the board's area ;
(2) what consideration is being given to the rationalisation of laboratories at Falkirk royal infirmary and Stirling royal infirmary on one site ; and if he will make a statement ;
(3) whether Forth Valley health board will be free to contract out laboratory work currently carried out at Falkirk royal infirmary to other health boards ; and if he will make a statement ;
(4) what discussions have taken place with privately owned hospitals regarding the future placement of laboratory work currently carried out at Falkirk royal infirmary ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : Capital investment in laboratory services is a matter for the health board to consider in the context of its capital plan. Some £200,000 has been spent recently on improvements at Falkirk and district, and Stirling royal infirmaries. No proposals are being considered at present by the health board for rationalisation of the facilities on one site or to contract out laboratory work to other health boards. The improvements in the respective laboratories will enable the board to carry out a wider range of tests in the existing premises.
There have been no discussions with privately owned hospitals about the future placement of laboratory work currently being carried out at the Falkirk and district royal infirmary.
Audubon Bird Manuscripts
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will purchase Edinburgh university's Audubon bird manuscripts and first editions and return them to the university on permanent loan.
Assisted Places
Mr. Bill Walker : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will announce the income scale which will apply to the assisted places scheme in Scotland in school session 1991-92.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : For school session 1991-92, I propose to lay regulations before the House in due course providing for progressive parental contributions for one assisted pupil in relation to family income as follows :
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Part of relevant income to which the specified |Parental
percentage applies |contribution
|(percentage)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
That part (if any) which exceeds £ 8,821 but does
not exceed £ 9,591 |9.0
That part (if any) which exceeds £ 9,591 but does
not exceed £ 10,375 |12.0
That part (if any) which exceeds £ 10,375 but does
not exceed £ 11,930 |15.0
That part (if any) which exceeds £ 11,930 but does
not exceed £ 14,321 |21.0
That part (if any) which exceeds £ 14,321 but does
not exceed £ 17,442 |24.0
That part (if any) which exceeds £ 17,442 |33.0
The relevant income scale is open-ended, but the remission can of course be given only where the parental contribution is less than the school tuition fee.
Postgraduate Grants
Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many grants have been given for postgraduate qualifications in Scotland in each year since 1979, and for what qualifications in each year.
Mr. Michael Forsyth [holding answer 22 April 1991] : The information is not available in the form requested.
Overall figures for the number of awards offered to Scottish domiciled students in respect of vocational postgraduate and certain other second courses during each academic year from 1978-79 to 1987-88 are set out in table 1.
Information on the breakdown of vocational postgraduate awards by broad subject area for each year since 1988-89, which has been compiled from a different source, is set out in table 2. Similar information for earlier years is not available.
Table 1
|Number
-----------------------
1978-79 |3,085
1979-80 |3,521
1980-81 |3,211
1981-82 |2,943
1982-83 |2,853
1983-84 |2,785
1984-85 |2,627
1985-86 |2,739
1986-87 |2,892
1987-88 |2,787
Table 2
|1988-89 |1989-90 |<1>1990-91
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Legal qualifications |380 |390 |431
Secretarial studies |90 |87 |21
Art and design |92 |107 |114
Business studies |248 |286 |288
Accountancy |109 |101 |90
Information technology |334 |353 |501
Social work |141 |159 |<1>
Ministry |25 |28 |27
Librarianship |54 |76 |66
Engineering and technology |91 |88 |85
Teacher training |858 |876 |1,391
Others |281 |288 |253
|--- |--- |---
|2,703 |2,839 |3,267
<1> Responsibility transferred to the Central Council for Education
and Training in Social Work.
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Aberdeen Royal Infirmary
Mr. Doran : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) what amount of grant for capital expenditure has been paid to the Grampian health board in respect of Aberdeen royal infirmary in each year since 1979 ;
(2) what applications he has received from Grampian health board for grants in respect of capital expenditure at Aberdeen royal infirmary for each year from 1987 to 1994.
Mr. Michael Forsyth [holding answer 20 May 1991] : Each year, health boards submit capital expenditure plans detailing their known proposals for the next 10 years. Funding for capital projects is provided by means of an annual capital allocation to each board related to these plans. Boards have considerable freedom to deploy the sums allocated in accordance with their own priorities. Only in certain circumstances are sums earmarked for specific projects (at present mainly for projects costing more than £5 million in total and prior to 1987 for projects included in boards' major building programmes). From 1979-80 to 1990-91 no sums were earmarked within Grampian health board's capital allocations for expenditure on Aberdeen royal infirmary. Expenditure on minor projects was drawn from the main block allocated to the board.
On 10 May I announced that I had given approval for the first phase of a major development at the infirmary. This phase of the development will cost £7.3 million and will provide 30 additional general surgery day patient beds, 30 additional in-patient surgical and gynaecology beds and 41 in-patient ophthalmology beds. In 1991-92, £1.676 million has been specifically earmarked in Grampian health board's capital allocation to fund the start of the development and further provision will be included in the allocations for later years to facilitate its completion. Sums included in the board's capital plans for expenditure on the infirmary during the period 1987 to 1994 were :
|£ million
------------------------------------
1987-88 |0.669
1988-89 |0.585
1989-90 |0.623
1990-91 |0.829
1991-92 |1.676
1992-93 |4.357
1993-94 |2.303
Audiology
Mrs. Ray Michie : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) if he will list the number of full and part-time physical measurement technicians in audiology employed by each health board currently and for each year since 1979 ; and if he will make a statement ; (2) if he will list the number of qualified physical measurement technicians in audiology in Scotland ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Michael Forsyth [holding answer 21 May 1991] : The available information regarding the number of qualified physiological measurement technicians working in audiology in Scotland is shown in the following table.
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Audiological technicians by health board and
whole-time/part-time at
30 September 1990
|Whole-time|Part-time
--------------------------------------------------
Argyll and Clyde |6 |2
Ayrshire |0 |1
Borders |3 |0
Dumfries |3 |0
Fife |0 |0
Forth Valley |4 |3
Grampian |9 |1
Greater Glasgow |18 |8
Highland |0 |0
Lanarkshire |0 |0
Lothian |7 |1
Orkney |0 |0
Shetland |0 |0
Tayside |10 |1
Western Isles |0 |0
Scotland |60 |17
The breakdown of physiological measurement technicians into specialties was not available before 1990. It is for individual health boards to determine, after taking account of the needs of the population in their areas, the number of physiological measurement technicians in audiology they employ.
ENERGY
Electricity Generation
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what discussions he has held with generators seeking to contract within the non- fossil fuel obligation regarding contract length ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : My Department has frequent and regular contact with generators about non-fossil fuel generation, including contract length. I am confident that the regional electricity companies have the flexibilities they need to be able to offer acceptable contracts to generators wishing to contract within the proposed 1991 NFFO Renewables Order.
Hinkley Point C
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will obtain for his Department's library a copy of the study on the Hinkley Point C public inquiry, by Crispin Aubrey.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : The Department's library has on order a book entitled, "Meltdown : the collapse of the nuclear dream", by Crispin Aubrey, which includes a chapter on the Hinkley Point C public inquiry. If the author has produced a further study on the inquiry, a copy will be considered for purchase when details about publication are known.
Electricity Privatisation
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy how many times he has had to adjudicate on the propriety of real estate transactions involving estate agents who advised on electricity privatisation.
Mr. Wakeham : None. The privatised companies are responsible for commercial transactions pertaining to their property.
Column 624
Euratom Treaty (Safeguards)
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy whether an application has ever been made to the president of the European Court of Justice under article 81 of chapter VII of the Euratom treaty to ensure safeguards inspections are conducted.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : No such application has been made in respect of an installation in the United Kingdom.
Plutonium
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy, pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Newport West of 12 March, Official Report, column 435, what forms of assurance were given by the United Kingdom to the countries of origin of the plutonium reprocessed prior to 1973 that their plutonium was kept separate and segregated from United Kingdom origin plutonium and military plutonium.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : No such assurances for the reprocessing of civil spent fuel have either been requested or given. It has been the Government's policy since 1986 that civil and non-civil spent fuel should be reprocessed in separate campaigns.
Photovoltaics
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy whether any Ministers or officials from his Department, or from the energy technology support unit, will be present at the special workshop on photovoltaics and their physics, technology and applications, to be held in Tripoli in Libya on 15 to 20 June.
Mr. Moynihan : No one from my Department or the energy technology support unit will be attending the workshop in Tripoli.
Oil and Gas Exploration (Wales)
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will make a statement on the latest developments relating to the exploration for oil and gas off the Welsh coast, and any guidance given by the Welsh Office to those involved in such work.
Mr. Moynihan : Exploration for oil and gas takes place under licences awarded by my Department. Approvals, consents and guidance associated with these licences are issued by my Department. Licensees also consult the Ministries of Defence and Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, and the Department of Transport for guidance on defence, fishing and navigational matters in the licensed areas, the Nature Conservancy Council for guidance on environmental matters, and, in the case of blocks close to shore, local planning authorities. The Health and Safety Executive is now responsible for monitoring and providing advice on offshore safety.
Evidence of oil and gas has been found in only one block to date. The block concerned, 110/13, lies in the Irish sea and was licensed in 1989. The oil and gas discovered in this block has yet to be appraised.
Column 625
Offshore Licensing
Mr. David Shaw : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy whether he is able to announce the results of the 12th and frontier offshore licensing rounds.
Mr. Wakeham : I am now able to inform the House about the offshore oil and gas licences that I propose to award in these two separate rounds.
In the 12th round I received 115 applications for 81 of the 120 blocks on offer ; 80 companies were involved. Following careful examination of these applications by my Department, I am now prepared to offer licences for 74 blocks.
The number of applications received was satisfying in itself. In addition, the proportion of blocks applied for was the highest for 10 years and showed that the oil and gas industry maintains its very strong interest in obtaining licences on the United Kingdom continental shelf. The success of the round was confirmed by the quality of the proposals put to us by the successful applicant companies and the exploration which will flow from these awards. This will help ensure that the UKCS remains a major international oil and gas province well into the next century.
The response to the first separate round of licensing for frontier areas was also very encouraging. I received 13 applications from groups involving 37 companies for six of the 11 tranches of blocks on offer. I am pleased to be able to offer licences for all these tranches. This will give a fresh impetus to exploration in these areas.
The success of these two rounds demonstrates that the present form of licensing continues to offer the most effective means of releasing offshore acreage to the industry for exploration. The frontier round result especially also highlights the responsiveness of the licensing system to the particular circumstances of different areas. Both rounds demonstrate the importance my Department attaches to listening to the views of the oil and gas industry.
For licences awarded in both rounds, special conditions will apply wherever appropriate to ensure that operations are carried out with due regard to the environment and to fishing, navigation, defence and other interests. These conditions are tailored specifically to the particular circumstances of individual blocks and were agreed with the organisations consulted during preparations for the licensing rounds.
A copy of the list of awards has been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Financial Services
Mr. French : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) if he will make a statement on Government policy on multi-tied agencies, as outlined by the Securities and Investments Board ; (2) if he will bring forward proposals to modify the rules of best advice, as embodied in the Financial Services Act.
Mr. Redwood : The Securities and Investments Board's current retail regulation review includes the present best advice and polarisation regime. The SIB review is at an early stage, but I understand the possibility of multi-tied agencies is one of the issues to be considered.
Column 626
I look forward to there being a lively public debate on retail regulation. I hope that my hon. Friend and others will send their views to the SIB and let me know of their concerns.Clothing Industry
Mr. Ronnie Campbell : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what measures he proposes to take to assist the clothing manufacturing industry in the Blyth Valley constituency.
Mr. Lilley : Companies in Blyth Valley can take advantage of a range of existing schemes including regional selective assistance--a negotiable incentive to investment which can contribute to the capital costs of a project--and subsidised consultancy under the enterprise initiative.
BAT Industries plc
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) when the original BAT accounts for 1990 were lodged at Companies house ; and if any queries were raised with the company about those accounts ;
(2) whether he will investigate BAT's revision of its 1990 accounts and ask the Institute of Chartered Accountants to investigate the effectiveness of the initial audit.
Mr. Redwood : I am pleased to note the prompt action taken by BAT Industries plc in voluntarily issuing a supplementary note under new section 245(1) of the Companies Act 1985, to correct an error in a note to the 1990 accounts which I understand are due to be laid before its shareholders in general meeting on 29 May. The accounts in question have not yet been delivered to the Registrar of Companies.
Disciplinary Cases
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will publish an up-to-date list of the disciplinary cases which, following the publication of inspectors' reports, he has asked the Institute of Chartered Accountants to investigate.
Mr. Redwood : The following seven inspectors' reports have been passed to the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. Of these reports, five were disclosed to the institute under the provisions of section 449(1) (1) of the Companies Act 1985 prior to their publication. I understand that the first three reports have been passed to the joint disciplinary scheme. The remaining four are under consideration by the institute itself.
Milbury plc
Westminster Property Group Limited
Minet Holdings plc
WMD Underwriting Agencies Limited
Alexander Howden Holdings plc
The Greenbank Trust plc
Aldermanbury Trust plc
Sound Diffusion plc
The Animal Defence Society Limited
Column 627
Accountancy Bodies
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether the president of any of the accountancy bodies applying for the recognised supervisory body status is directly elected by its membership.
Mr. Redwood : I understand that the presidents of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland are directly elected by the membership.
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) whether, as a condition of recognition as a recognised supervisory body, he will make it his policy to require the applicants annually to state the number of their council members who are not directly elected by the membership ;
(2) whether he will make it his policy as a condition of recognition to require the accountancy bodies seeking the status of a qualifying body to ensure that its students will be required to learn at least one other European language ;
(3) whether he will make it his policy as a condition of recognition as a recognised supervisory body to require the applicants to annually publish the number of complaints which they receive against their members.
Mr. Redwood : Under the Companies Act 1989, the Secretary of State has no power to refuse recognition on these grounds.
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he will place in the Library a copy of the investigative and disciplinary arrangements offered by the applicants for the recognised supervisory body status.
Mr. Redwood : A copy of each application, which includes details of the applicant's arrangements for the investigation and disciplining of its members, has already been placed in the Library (Official Report, 19 December 1990, col. 187 ).
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he has any plans to propose legislation under which the standards of accountancy firms criticised in the inspectors' reports would be independently investigated.
Mr. Redwood : Part II of the Companies Act 1989 will introduce an effective system for monitoring and investigating professional standards.
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether the council of any of the applicants for the proposed recognised supervisory bodies is not entirely elected by its membership.
Mr. Redwood : I understand that the councils of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland and the Association of Authorised Public Accountants may have co-opted members, although the power to appoint them has not been exercised in every case. Most of their councils are elected. The council of the Chartered Association of Certified Accountants is wholly elected by the membership.
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether any of the accountancy
Column 628
bodies applying for the recognised supervisory body status encourage their members to give proxy votes for council elections to its president.Mr. Redwood : So far as I am aware, none.
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what is the deadline by which any member of the public may object to the granting of recognised supervisory body status to any of the applicants.
Mr. Redwood : The Department will consider representations made at any time. However, I asked that comments on the applications reach the Department by 15 May ( Official Report, 18 April, column 222 ).
Auditors (Disqualification)
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether at any time since 1979 his Department has asked the Institute of Chartered Accountants to disqualify any individual from acting as an auditor.
Mr. Redwood : It is for the professional bodies to determine, in accordance with their disciplinary procedures, whether a member who is the subject of a complaint referred by my Department should lose his authorisation to audit company accounts. I would of course take appropriate action if there were reason to question the way the bodies exercised their responsibilities.
Audit Qualifications
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will investigate the trend in going concern audit qualifications. Mr. Redwood : The auditor's considerations in respect of whether a company is a going concern may be an issue which the auditing practices board will wish to address.
Auditors (Disclaimers)
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he has any plans to investigate the disclaimers of opinion issued by auditors.
Mr. Redwood : My Department and the financial reporting review panel as appropriate are always willing to consider instances where it is alleged that a company's accounts do not comply with the statutory requirements.
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