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Written Answers to Questions

Wednesday 5 June 1991

EMPLOYMENT

Redundancies

Mr. Loyden : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what plans he has to introduce further legislation to protect employees made redundant by closure of businesses.

Mr. Forth : Debts owing to employees whose employers have become insolvent may, within certain limits, be paid by my Department. In the case of statutory redundancy pay, the employee may be paid even where there is no formal insolvency. I have no plans at present for further measures.

New Businesses

Mr. Harry Greenway : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many new businesses have been created in the past five years as a proportion of the number lost ; what were the comparable figures for 1974 to 1979 ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Forth : Between the end of 1984 and the end of 1989, there were an estimated 1,082,000 new registrations for VAT, 29 per cent. greater than the number of deregistrations. Between the end of 1974 and the end of 1979, there were an estimated 809,000 new registrations for VAT, 12 per cent. greater than the number of deregistrations.

TRANSPORT

Articulated Lorries

Mrs. Dunwoody : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he will now bring in regulations which forbid the use of articulated lorries built before 1982 which do not have brake variable sensing units fitted on the trailers.

Mr. Chope : We are looking at the feasibility of requiring variable sensing units to be fitted to trailers built before 1982. This will involve balancing the technical and cost implications against the likely benefits.

ENVIRONMENT

Construction Industry

Mr. O'Brien : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the Government's plans to assist the construction and building industry.

Mr. Yeo : Government policy is to bring inflation under control, to reduce interest rates accordingly and thus to enable the construction industry to take full advantage of market opportunities.


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Dr. Kim Howells : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he next plans to meet representatives of the construction industry to discuss the recession.

Mr. Yeo : The Secretary of State and his Ministers are engaged in a continuing round of discussions with representatives of the construction industry.

Pollution Control

Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the outcome of the research conducted on behalf of his Department on the utility of tradeable permits in pollution control.

Mr. Baldry : This research, by the consultants London Economics Ltd., is still continuing.

Kuwait Oil Fires

Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what information he has from the World Meteorological Organisation's global atmosphere watch about (a) pollution in the global atmosphere as a result of Kuwait oil fires and (b) the effects of Kuwait oil fires in (1) western China, (2) the Himalayas and (3) the Indian sub-continent.

Mr. Trippier [holding answer 3 June 1991] : Only limited data are available at the World Meteorological Organisation in Geneva from this programme. Very small concentrations of soot particles have been detected in Mauna Loa, Hawaii, but there are no indications of significant atmospheric pollution on a global scale. Information on the specific regions mentioned is not available at present.

CIVIL SERVICE

Chief Executives

Mr. McAllion : To ask the Minister for the Civil Service (1) how many of the 50 executive agency chief executives are Oxbridge graduates ;

(2) if he will list each executive agency, the chief executive and the subject of first degree possessed by him or her.

Mr. Renton : This information is not held centrally.

NATIONAL FINANCE

Goodwin Sands

Mr. David Shaw : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much aggregate was dredged from the Goodwin sands last year ; and what were the comparable figures for each of the last 10 years.

Mr. Norman Lamont : In 1990 402,084 tonnes of aggregate was dredged from the Goodwin sands. Comparable information from 1980 is as follows :



Year      |Quantity           

          |dredged            

------------------------------

1980      |Nil                

1981      |Nil                

1982      |Nil                

1983      |Nil                

1984      |599,200            

1985      |887,856            

1986      |253,361            

1987      |Nil                

1988      |2,716,789          

1989      |2,432,732          

1990      |402,084            

Inland Revenue (Cash Limit)

Dr. Goodson-Wickes : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether any changes are proposed in the cash limit and running cost limit for 1991- 92 for the Inland Revenue.

Mr. Maude : Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary revised estimate, the cash limit for class XVIII, vote 6 will be reduced by £24,857,000 from £1,568,465,000 to £1,543,608,000. There is no change in the Department's running cost limit. The change in the cash limit arises from an increase in the charges paid by the Department of Social Security to the Inland Revenue in respect of the costs of collecting national insurance contributions.

Energy Efficiency

Mr. Dobson : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give for each available year from 1978 the amount invested in improving the energy efficiency of the Treasury in (a) cash terms and (b) 1990-91 money terms.

Mrs. Gillian Shephard [holding answer 3 June 1991] : Expenditure on measures to improve energy efficiency are aggregated with maintenance costs and could only be separately identified at disproportionate cost.

Mr. Dobson : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give the number of energy audits carried out in the Treasury in the past five years and for each audit a statement of its main conclusions.

Mrs. Gillian Shephard [holding answer 3 June 1991] : Two energy audits have been carried out in the Department in the last five years. The first, in 1987, concentrated on the lighting efficiency of Treasury buildings. Its main recommendations will be taken on board as part of a major rewiring exercise of the building starting in summer 1991. The second is currently being undertaken in the Great George street building, and its findings are not yet available.

DEFENCE

Fishery Protection Vessels

Dr. Godman : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he has any plans to order fishery protection vessels ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : Fishery protection is undertaken by a variety of ships including mine counter-measures vessels and offshore patrol vessels. We have no current plans to order new vessels specifically for this role, although we plan to place further orders for mine counter- measures vessels. The size and timing of orders has yet to be decided.


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Dr. Godman : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if public notice of a tender for a fishery protection vessel would need to be inserted in the European Community's Official Journal ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : There is no requirement to publish a public notice of a tender in the European Community's Official Journal for those Royal Navy vessels which perform fishery protection duties.

Royal Air Force

Mr. Gregory : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Clackmannan (Mr. O'Neill) of 17 May, Official Report, column 304, what further changes to the Royal Air Force are planned under "Options for Change".

Mr. Archie Hamilton : The Royal Air Force will shortly be implementing two further measures foreshadowed in the statement by my hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence on "Options for Change" on 25 July at columns 470-73. First, there will be a small reduction in the number of Nimrod aircraft in service at RAF Kinloss and RAF St. Mawgan, from 1 July 1991. One aircraft will be withdrawn from service at RAF ST. Mawgan, and two from RAF Kinloss. Secondly, the Buccaneer operational conversion unit at RAF Lossiemouth will start to disband from 1 October 1991, with residual training requirements met by the Buccaneer squadrons themselves. This is the first step in the programme to replace the Buccaneer force at RAF Lossiemouth with Tornado aircraft equipped with Sea Eagle missiles for the anti-surface warfare role. These changes are not expected to result in any redundancies at the three stations.

The Gulf (Women)

Mr. George : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many women were deployed to the Gulf ; and to which units they were attached.

Mr. Archie Hamilton [holding answer 23 May 1991] : At the beginning of March 1991, nearly 1,100 service women were deployed in the Gulf. The ships and units in which they served were : HMS Battleaxe

HMS Brilliant

HMS Hecla

HMS Herald

RFA Argus

HQ 1st Armoured Division and Signal Regiment

HQ British Forces Middle East

HQ 1st Armoured Brigade

2nd Field Regiment Royal Artillery

40th Field Regiment Royal Artillery

32nd Heavy Regiment Royal Artillery

39th Heavy Regiment Royal Artillery

29th Commando Regiment Royal Artillery

12th Air Defence Regiment Royal Artillery

23rd Engineer Regiment

54th Engineer Support and Ambulance Squadron

14th Topographical Squadron Royal Engineers

BFME Postal and Courier Service

1st Coldstream Guards

1st Royal Scots

3rd Royal Regiment of Fusiliers

1st Armoured Division Transport Regiment

4th Armoured Division Transport Regiment

27th Regiment Royal Corps of Transport

1st Armoured Field Ambulance


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5th Armoured Field Ambulance

24th Field Ambulance Unit

22nd Field Hospital

32nd Field Hospital

33rd Field Hospital

205th General Hospital

Medical Surgical Team "A"

Medical Surgical Team "B"

3rd Ordnance Battalion Group

6th Ordnance Battalion Group

174th Provost Company

203rd Provost Company

HQ Force Maintenance Area (Gulf)

Field Records

Air HQ Riyadh

RAF Detachment Al Jubayl

RAF Detachment Dhahran

RAF Detachment Khaledap

RAF Detachment Muharraq

RAF Detachment Quayssumah

RAF Detachment Seeb

Muharraq War Hospital

PRIME MINISTER

White Papers (Costs)

Mr. Straw To ask the Prime Minister what was the total cost of the design, preparation, printing and distribution of the White Papers "Education and Training", Cm. 1536, volumes I and II and "Higher Education", Cm. 1541.

The Prime Minister : The total cost of the design and preparation of the White Papers "Education and Training", Cm 1536, volumes I and II, and "Higher Education", Cm 1541, was £51,000. This does not include the costs of printing, publishing and distribution, which are borne by HMSO, and which aims to recover its costs from sales revenue.

Mr. Straw : To ask the Prime Minister what was the total cost of the launch at the Queen Elizabeth II conference centre of the White Papers, "Education and Training" and "Higher Education", on 20 May, including the cost of the hire of the centre and other charges.

The Prime Minister : The total estimated cost of the launch at the Queen Elizabeth II conference centre for the White Papers "Education and Training" and "Higher Education", including the hire of the venue, will not exceed £48,000.

HEALTH

Cardiac Resuscitation

Mrs. Dunwoody : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the general district hospitals and trusts that do not have a training officer for cardiac resuscitation employed to train both nurses and doctors on their staff.

Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : This information is not held centrally.

Consultancy Contracts

Mr. McAllion : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the total amount spent by his Department in the 1990-91 financial year on management and computer consultancy contracts, excluding hardware and software purchases ; and if he will list each management or


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computer consultancy contract awarded by his Department in 1990-91, giving in each case the name of the consultancy firm, the subject of the assignment and, if appropriate, the executive agency for whom the contract was carried out.

Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : The estimated expenditure in the financial year 1990-91 on management and computer consultancy projects is £13.8 million. A list of consultancy firms and the projects they carried out in 1990-91 has been placed in the Library. None of the projects was carried out for an executive agency.

Mental Health Hospitals

Mr. Atkinson : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list those mental health hospitals which closed in 1990.

Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : This information is not available centrally.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Dogs

Sir John Wheeler : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many cases have been brought in respect of powerful breeds of dog, including rottweilers, pit-bull terriers, the Tosa and dobermans, in respect of powers or offences under (a) section 20 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861, in respect of a dog owner's recklessness, (b) section 28 of the Town Police Clauses Act 1847, (c) section 2 of the Dogs Act 1871, (d) section 1 of the Dogs (Protection of Livestock) Act 1953, (e) the Animals Act 1971 and (f) the Dangerous Dogs Act 1989 since 1989.

Mr. Kenneth Baker : The following information relates to offences in 1989, the latest year for which statistics are available, and covers all types of dog.


                          |Prosecutions|Convictions |Cautions                 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Town Police Clauses                                                           

  Act 1847                |93          |60          |71                       

Dogs Act 1871 and                                                             

  Dangerous Dogs Act 1898 |967         |166         |1,112                    

Dogs (Protection of                                                           

  Livestock) Act 1953     |466         |395         |66                       

No statistics are available for civil cases concerning dogs brought under the Animals Act 1971, or for offences specifically relating to attacks involving dogs under the Offences Against the Person Act 1861.

Remand

32. Mr. Speller : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many convicted criminals are known to have committed additional crimes while on remand pending trial in the latest year for which figures are available ;

(2) how many people remanded on bail are known to have committed offences while so remanded, in the latest year for which figures are available.

Mr. John Patten : I regret that the information requested is not available. However, Home Office


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statistical bulletin 30/90, "Reasons for refusing unconditional bail, January to February 1989", estimates that 19 per cent. of those remanded in custody had previously reoffended on bail. A copy of this bulletin is in the Library.


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