| Previous Section | Home Page |
Column 90
Woking Symphony OrchestraNorth West Arts
Bath Symphony Orchestra
Bristol Opera Company
Cheltenham Philharmonic Orchestra
Cornwall Youth Percussion Ensemble
Devon Opera
Dorset Philharmonic Society
Duchy Opera
East Cornwall Bach Festival
Exeter Musical Society
Exmouth Choral and Orchestral Society
Glastonbury Music Co-operative
Gloucester Opera
Gloucestershire Symphony Orchestra
Keynsham Orchestra
New Stroud Orchestra
Plymouth Symphony Orchestra
Somerset County Orchestra
Somerset Opera Group
Wedmore Opera
West Midlands Arts
Birmingham Philharmonic Orchestra
Leamington Chamber Orchestra
Sutton Coldfield Chamber Orchestra
Warwickshire Symphony Orchestra
Yorkshire Arts
Airedale Symphony Orchestra, Shipley
Guildhall Orchestra, York
Halifax Orchestral Society
Harrogate Chamber Orchestra
Huddersfield Philharmonic Society
Settle Orchestra
Sheffield Philharmonic Orchestra
Sinfonia of Leeds
Slaithwaite Philharmonic Orchestra
Todmorden Orchestra
York Symphony Orchestra
British Library
Mr. Stevens : To ask the Minister for the Arts if he will make a statement on the progress of the new British Library building at St. Pancras.
Mr. Renton : I am happy to announce the timely completion of the first of a number of major handover targets which will be taking place over the next 18 months at St. Pancras. Basement 4, the deepest of the book storage basements, is essentially ready for occupation by the British Library. This achievement reflects great credit on PSA services and its design and construction teams as well as on all those who are associated with the construction of this magnificent building. The project is thus on schedule and the present prediction is that it will be completed within budget.
ENVIRONMENT
Contaminated Land
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what steps he is taking to ensure that local authorities have adequate resources to compile registers on contaminated land sites.
Mr. Baldry : The estimated costs of compiling registers of land which may be contaminated will be taken into consideration in the local authority finance settlement for 1992-93.
Column 91
Integrated Pollution Control
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what estimate he has made of the effect on pollution of the decision to delay the implementation of the new system of integrated pollution control under the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
Mr. Baldry : Integrated pollution control was introduced by part I of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, for which Royal Assent had originally been expected by July 1990. In the event, there was some slippage in the legislative process, mainly as a result of extended consideration at Committee stage in this House, and Royal Assent was not obtained until November.
When it became apparent that Royal Assent would be later than had been anticipated, we announced that implementation of the IPC system, originally planned for 2 January 1991, would be delayed to allow an adequate period for consultation with interested parties and the public on guidance notes and regulations to be issued.
My right hon. Friend has made no estimate of the effect that this slight delay in implementation has had on pollution ; IPC came into operation on 1 April 1991, and all the prescribed processes will be phased into the system over the next five years.
Catalytic Reductions
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he has any plans to establish a selective catalytic reduction system in the United Kingdom.
Mr. Baldry : Selective catalytic reduction is one of a number of techniques for reducing emissions of nitrogen oxide from combustion plant, and guidance to inspectors from the chief inspector, Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution suggests that it is one of the abatement options which operators of large combustion plant should consider.
Column 92
Toxic Waste
Mr. William Ross : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what amount of hazardous and toxic waste is (a) produced and (b) processed by each member country of the EC.
Mr. Baldry : There are at present no reliable figures on the production and processing of hazardous and toxic waste in member states of the EC. However, authoritative figures should be available in the future. EC directive 91/156 requires the competent authority or authorities of member states to draw up waste management plans indicating, among other things, the type, quantity and origin of waste to be recovered or disposed of ; any special arrangements for particular wastes ; and suitable disposal sites or installations. The directive will come into force on 1 April 1993. In addition, the statistical office of the European Communities (EUROSTAT) is undertaking a study on waste statistics as part of its current four-year work programme. It is estimated that in 1989-90 the United Kingdom generated between 2 and 2.5 million tonnes of special waste--the United Kingdom definition of hazardous and toxic waste--which were disposed of outside the premises of production.
Housing, Tower Hamlets
Ms. Gordon : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many housing units were built in Tower Hamlets each year from 1961 to 1990 by (a) boroughs, (b) London-wide authorities, (c) housing associations, (d) other public sector and (e) the private sector.
Mr. Yeo : The London borough of Tower Hamlets has not sent the Department any statistical returns about housebuilding in its area since 1984. The available information is shown in the table.
Column 91
Permanent dwellings completed: London Borough of Tower Hamlets<1>
(number of dwellings)
Private sector Local authority Housing All
|Tower Hamlets<2>|Greater London |associations and|dwellings
|Council <3><4> |other public
|sector<5>
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1961 |19 |251 |.. |0 |..
1962 |13 |278 |.. |0 |..
1963 |3 |446 |.. |0 |..
1964 |14 |469 |.. |0 |..
1965 |26 |271 |.. |0 |..
1966 |12 |355 |489 |0 |856
1967 |12 |359 |767 |48 |1,186
1968 |20 |911 |1,209 |5 |2,145
1969 |14 |905 |1,024 |8 |1,951
1970 |23 |869 |811 |11 |1,714
1971 |43 |361 |708 |15 |1,127
1972 |113 |708 |610 |4 |1,435
1973 |56 |249 |425 |52 |782
1974 |111 |575 |704 |1 |1,391
1975 |6 |225 |787 |0 |1,018
1976 |16 |286 |682 |0 |984
1977 |3 |1,267 |598 |2 |1,870
1978 |0 |203 |726 |0 |929
1979 |0 |280 |424 |0 |704
1980 |0 |405 |509 |0 |914
1981 |0 |376 |504 |0 |880
1982 |43 |35 |239 |0 |317
1983 |0 |31 |402 |0 |433
1984<6> |146 |0 |69 |0 |..
1985 |.. |.. |85 |.. |..
1986 |.. |.. |0 |.. |..
1987 |.. |.. |.. |.. |..
1988 |.. |.. |.. |.. |..
1989 |.. |.. |.. |.. |..
1990 |.. |.. |.. |.. |..
<1> The London borough of Tower Hamlets was established in 1965. It comprised the metropolitan boroughs of Bethnal
Green, Poplar and Stepney. Figures for total housing completions in these three boroughs are shown for the period 1961
to 1965.
<2> Figures show number of dwellings completed by the authority and some of these may have been outside the borough.
<3> Completions by London county council (ie prior to 1966) are not available by area of building.
<4> The Greater London council was established in 1965 and abolished in 1986.
<5> Prior to 1980 housing association and other public sector completions in the borough are not available separately.
The figures have not been shown separately after that date as the local authority has reported nil activity under both
headings.
<6> Private sector, borough and other public sector information covers ten months of the year only.
Sheltered Housing
Mr. Andrew Bowden : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what recent representations he has received on the management of sheltered leasehold housing.
Mr. Yeo : Since 1 January we have received 15 letters from hon. Members and five from leaseholders themselves. These have dealt with various matters relating to the management of sheltered housing ; the most common issue has been the freeholder's selection of managing agents.
Retirement Leaseholders
Mr. Andrew Bowden : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he last met representatives of the National Alliance of Retirement Leaseholders ; and what points were discussed.
Mr. Yeo : I with my hon. Friend the Member for Southend, East (Sir. T. Taylor) met representatives of the National Alliance of Private Retirement Leaseholders on 15 May. We discussed the management of sheltered accommodation, and, in particular, problems arising from the appointment of managing agents by the landlord and the feasibility of giving leaseholders a right to appoint managers themselves.
Column 94
Politically Restricted Posts
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many people currently hold politically restricted posts as defined by the Local Government and Housing Act 1989.
Mr. Portillo : My Department does not collect this information. I understand, however, that there are in the region of 35,000 politically restricted posts in the local government service in England.
South Park School, Lincoln
Mr. Fatchett : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on his decision to call in the planning application submitted on behalf of Lincolnshire county council for the erection of dwellings at South Park school, Lincoln, application No. LHO4/0219/91 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Yeo : The Secretary of State has not called in this application. On 20 June the Department's east midlands regional office issued an article 14 direction preventing the county council from granting itself deemed consent for this proposal without special authorisation. This was done to enable the Secretary of State to examine the proposal in detail before deciding whether or not to call it in for his own determination.
Column 95
Local Government Finance
Mr. David Porter : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make it his policy that mentally handicapped adults and children moving into a local authority area shall carry with them a sum of money for local authority grant purposes taken from the area they have left and transferred to their new local authority in the year after they have moved ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Key [holding answer 1 July 1991] : In cases where a local authority has responsibility for such persons, financial arrangements resulting from moves to another area are a matter for the authorities concerned. A local authority's standard assessment will reflect, in due course, changes which influence the cost of providing a standard level of social services, including those for people with learning disabilities.
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will show for each local authority (a) the budgeted increase or reduction in financial reserves for 1990-91 and 1991-92, expressed both in million pounds and pounds per adult, using the appropriate figure for relevant population and (b) political control in each of the above financial years.
Mr. Portillo [holding answer 1 July 1991] : I have today arranged for the available information to be placed in the Library of the House.
Bathing Water
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many inland waterways have been designated as safe for swimming by Her Majesty's Government under the European Commission bathing water directive.
Mr. Baldry [holding answer 1 July 1991] : The criteria set for the identification of bathing waters in the EC directive are the number of bathers using the waters, and the provision of facilities such as car parks, toilets and changing facilities. No inland waters meet the definition of bathing water in the directive or the criteria for identification developed since the adoption of the directive.
Local Authority Usable Receipts
Mr. Beith : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is his estimate for local authority usable receipts in 1991-92 and 1992-93.
Mr. Key [holding answer 1 July 1991] : I have made no estimate of local authority usable capital receipts for 1992-93. Local authorities have been asked to provide forecasts for 1991-92 and an estimate based on the available returns will be made shortly. I will provide this information as soon as it is available.
Household Waste
Mr. Day : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what steps he is taking to promote the recycling of household waste.
Mr. Baldry : My right hon. Friend is bringing into force the duty on waste collection authorities to produce
Column 96
recycling plans on 1 August 1991. Authorities are being asked to submit their plans to him in draft by 1 August 1992.We will be sending a copy of waste management paper No. 28 on recycling to all local authorities next week. The paper provides guidance on preparing recycling strategies and drawing up recycling plans. It will be available through HMSO.
We will also start consultation on our proposals for recycling credits next week. Copies of the consultation paper and the waste management paper will be placed in the Library.
TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Portugal and Luxembourg
Ms. Quin : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, further to his answer of 24 June, Official Report, columns 390-91 , if he will make a statement on the available data on volumes of exports for (a) Portugal and (b) Luxembourg.
Mr. Sainsbury : My Department is not aware of any publication which provides export volume figures for Portugal or Luxembourg on an internationally comparable basis.
Eurostats calculates the volume series for member countries for internal Commission use, but they do not show Luxembourg separately because its trade figures are combined with Belgium.
European Community
Ms. Quin : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what sources of statistical data on trade figures of other EC member countries are available to his Department.
Mr. Sainsbury : The following sources of trade statistics for EC member countries are available to the Department : the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the statistical office of the European Communities, the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund and the national statistics of each member country.
Link Initiative
Sir Gerard Vaughan : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much public funding was originally earmarked for the Link initiative when it was launched in 1986 ; how much was provided in the estimates for that and for each succeeding financial year ; on which votes these estimates have been carried ; how much has been disbursed on each such vote in each such financial year ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Leigh : I have been asked to reply to this question on Link funding and expenditure, although the question as put cannot be answered without disproportionate cost. When the Link initiative was announced on 10 December 1986 by the then Prime Minister, the Government contribution was to be £210 million spread over five years. This assumed a roughly linear build-up to a steady-state Government funding target of £85 million per annum ; the agreed planning figures for Departments are shown in table A. The first five programmes were announced in
Column 97
February 1988, and currently there are 28 programmes in existence ; the Government commitment to them is £175 million, and table B shows the funding commitment of individual Departments to programmes. Table C shows expenditure to date, which significantly lags work under way because participants are very slow in submitting claims for reimbursement. The total spent will be approximately double the Government expenditure by virtue of industry's own expenditure. There are now over 150 projects under way and nearly 100 more approved, at a total value of around £150 million. After a slow start, Link is now making good progress.
Table A
Link
Department targets |1992-93 |1988-89 to
|1992-93
|£ million |£ million
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DTI |25 |62.5
DES (Research Councils) |25 |62.5
MoD |15 |36.0
DEn |5 |12.0
MAFF |4 |9.5
DoE |2 |5.0
DTp |1 |2.5
DH |1 |2.5
SO, WO, NIO |7 |17.0
|------- |-------
Total |85 |<1>210
<1> Rounded.
Table B
Link
Department commitment |£ million
(June '91)
---------------------------------------------------------------------
DTI |92.2
DES (Research Councils)+ |59.9+
MoD |3.7
DEn |3.0
MAFF |9.4
DoE |0.8
DTp |4.1
DH |1.8
SO, WO, NIO |0.4
|-------
Total |<1>175.0
<1> Rounded.
+ SERC £51.8 million, AFRC £3.6 million, MRC £1.5 million, NERC £3.0
million.
Column 97
Table C
Link £000
Departmental spend |1988-89 |1989-90 |1990-91 |Total
(FY)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DTI |50.6 |1,767.1 |3,543.5 |5,361.2
DES (research councils) |117.8 |783.5 |3,186.9 |4,088.2
MoD |- |- |- |18.1
DEn |- |- |- |-
MAFF |- |10.0 |166.6 |176.6
DoE |30.0 |43.8 |6.5 |80.3
DTp |- |- |24.1 |24.1
DH |- |- |- |-
SO, WO, NIO |- |- |0.2 |0.2
|(SOAFD)
|------- |------- |------- |-------
Total |198.4 |2,604.4 |6,927.8 |9,748.7
Industrial Design
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on his plans for new legislation on industrial design.
Mr. Leigh : New legislation on the protection of industrial design came into force on 1 August 1989 as part of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, when the Government introduced a wholly new kind of protection in the form of an unregistered design right. Some changes were also made to the existing registered design system. The European Commission is currently examining the question of design protection with a view to issuing a consultative document.
Trade Marks
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what plans he has for action in relation to trade marks infringements ;
(2) what plans he has to update the Trade Marks Act 1938.
Mr. Leigh : The Government's proposals for updating the law on trade marks, including the provisions concerning infringement of trade marks, were set out in
Column 98
the White Paper, "Reform of Trade Marks Law" (Cm. 1203), which was published last September. As stated in the White Paper, legislation to implement these proposals will be introduced as soon as the parliamentary timetable permits.Pharmaceutical Patents
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what is his most recent response to representations from the pharmaceutical industry for extension of its patent rights in the bracket of 10 to 20 years.
Mr. Leigh : On 12 June I confirmed to European Standing Committee B that the Government support the EC Commission's proposal to give supplementary protection certificates to patented medicinal products but with a maximum extension of five years and a limit of 13 years on the resulting effective protection.
Dangerous Animals
Mr. Marlow : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many children aged under 16 years were (a) injured and (b) killed by (i) dogs and (ii) other animals in 1990.
Column 99
Mr. Leigh : National estimates for numbers of injured children under 16 for 1988, the last year for which figures are available, are as follows :
|Number
-----------------------------------------------
Injuries from dog bites |56,000
Injuries involving other animals |34,000
Egypt
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assistance has been given by Her Majesty's Government to British companies since 1987 seeking contracts in Egypt.
Mr. Sainsbury : The full range of DTI export services is available to British companies wishing to do business in Egypt. ECGD cover for short- term business (up to 180 days) is available subject to payments being secured by an irrevocable letter of credit.
Units of Measurement
Mr. Carrington : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will introduce legislation on phasing out the use of imperial units following the adoption of the 1989 amendment to the units of measurement directive ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Lilley : Having considered the replies to my Department's consultation paper, I intend to amend the legislation on the units of measurement authorised for use in the United Kingdom, generally taking maximum advantage of the transitional arrangements in the directive, and accordingly to :
(i) cease to authorise after 31 December 1994, imperial units used for economic, public health, public safety and administrative purposes except for the units used for the purposes set out in (ii) and (iii) ;
(ii) cease to authorise after 31 December 1999 :
(a) the pound and ounce for goods sold loose from bulk ; (b) the pint and fluid ounce for beer, cider, waters, lemonades and fruit juices in returnable containers ;
(c) the fathom for marine navigation ; and
(d) the therm for gas supply ;
(iii) authorise the continued use, without time limit, of : (a) the mile, yard, foot and inch for road traffic signs and related distances and speed measurement ;
(b) the pint for dispensing draught beer and cider and for milk in returnable containers ;
(c) the troy ounce for transactions in precious metals ; and (d) the acre for land registration purposes.
Metric units will continue to be authorised for use in the United Kingdom for economic, public health, public safety and administrative purposes.
Changes to other legislation which refers to imperial units of measurement will be a matter for the Government Departments and other bodies responsible for that legislation.
| Next Section
| Home Page |