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NORTHERN IRELAND
Offshore Islands
Mr. Peter Bottomley : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many offshore islands are inhabited and what their population is.
Mr. Hanley : The latest available information is from the 1991 census of population taken on 21 April. The results are being collated for inclusion in a preliminary report to be published around the end of July. I shall write to my hon. Friend and place a copy of my letter in the Library when the information is available.
Public Order Offences
Mr. Trimble : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list the prosecutions under the Public Order (Northern Ireland) Order 1987 for incitement to (a) religious and (b) racial hatred, indicating the outcome in each case.
Dr. Mawhinney [holding answer 26 June 1991] : I understand that no persons have been prosecuted under part III of the Public Order (Northern Ireland) Order 1987.
Retirement Pensions
Mr. Battle : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what would be the cost in 1991-92 of increasing the basic retirement pension by £5 per week for a single pensioner and £8 a week for a married couple, assuming similar increases in linked benefits and in income-related benefits for pensioners, giving figures (a) gross and (b) net of tax revenues and savings in other benefits.
Mr. Hanley [holding answer 27 June 1991] : The gross cost in Northern Ireland of increasing the weekly basic retirement pension by £5 a week for a single pensioner and £8 a week for a married couple, assuming similar increases in linked benefits and in income-related benefits for all those receiving these increases, is £69.3 million. Net of income tax, the figure would be £64.8 million. A reliable estimate is not available of the cost, if those in receipt of a linked benefit but not the pensioner premium, did not receive a similar increase in their income-related benefit.
EDUCATION AND SCIENCE
Assisted Places Scheme
Mr. Latham : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he will make a statement on the clearing house arrangements under the assisted places scheme.
Mr. Fallon : As part of a package of measures to contain the costs of the assisted places scheme within the resources available, my right hon. and learned Friend has reluctantly decided that the proposed scheme for the redistribution of vacant places under clearing house arrangements, notified to schools earlier, cannot go ahead this year. The Government remain committed to the assisted places scheme and some 27,000 children are expected to have places under the scheme in the coming year.
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Braille Exam Papers
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what funds he makes available to examining boards to produce examination papers in Braille.
Mr. Eggar : None. The examining bodies cover the cost of producing papers in Braille by making a small addition to the examination entry fees of all candidates--whose fees are met, in the case of candidates from maintained schools, by the local education authorities.
South Park School, Lincoln
Mr. Fatchett : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what are the procedures by which he will decide whether to approve an application by Lincolnshire county council to reopen for educational purposes the former South Park school in Lincoln.
Mr. Fallon : If Lincolnshire county council wishes to establish a new school in the premises of the former South Park school, it will have to publish proposals under section 12 of the Education Act 1980. In considering whether to approve such proposals, my right hon. and learned Friend would take account of all relevant factors, including any objections to the proposals.
Mr. Fatchett : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will set out his reasons for turning down the proposal to establish a voluntary-aided city technology college on the site of the former South Park school, Lincoln.
Mr. Eggar : My right hon. and learned Friend has never been asked formally to consider a proposal to establish a voluntary aided school with city technology college characteristics in Lincoln.
Mr. Fatchett : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will seek a report from Lincolnshire county council on the possible future use of the school playing fields adjacent to the site of the former South Park school, Lincoln ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Fallon : The disposal of surplus local authority land is a matter for the local authority concerned and the Secretary of State for the Environment. A planning policy guidance note on sport and recreation already issued in draft for consultation asks local authorities to review longer-term educational and community need before deciding on disposal of school playing fields.
Student Costs
Mr. Robert Hicks : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how much was spent per pupil at primary and secondary schools in Cornwall and per student in further education colleges in the most recent year for which figures are available ; and what were the comparable figures in 1978-79 at constant prices.
Mr. Fallon : In 1988-89, the latest year for which information on actual spending is available, net institutional expenditure per pupil in Cornwall was £1,010 in nursery and primary schools, £1,525 in secondary schools and £3,615 per student in further education. In
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1978-79 net institutional expenditure per pupil in Cornwall was £325 in nursery and primary schools and £490 in secondary schools. At 1988-89 prices this represents some £710 and £1,085 respectively. Figures for net institutional expenditure per further education student in 1978-79 are not available.SCOTLAND
Ministerial Responsibilities
Mr. McMaster : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement about the allocation of ministerial responsibilities within his Department ; if he has any plans to review these ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Lang : I have no plans to review the allocation of ministerial responsibilities in my Department. The present allocation works well.
Local Authority Members
Mr. McMaster : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what evidence he has relating to the average number of hours per week devoted to public duties by members of Scottish local authorities ; what plans he has to seek evidence of this ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Allan Stewart : Research commissioned by the Widdicombe committee of inquiry into the conduct of local authority business was based on average hours per month rather than per week. This indicated that in 1976 and in 1985 regional and islands councillors spent on average 129 hours per month on council duties. The equivalent figures for district councillors were 92 hours per month in 1976 and 93 hours per month in 1985.
My right hon. Friend has no immediate plans to update that research.
Mr. McMaster : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he has plans to review the allowances or expenses paid to local authority councillors in Scotland for (a) remuneration, (b) recompense for lost salaries or wages, (c) subsistence allowance and (d) travelling expenses ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Allan Stewart : A new system of remuneration for councillors came into effect on 1 April 1991. Under the new arrangements, financial loss allowance is no longer available for councillors. The system will be reviewed after it has been in operation for about a year. In the interim my right hon. Friend intends to make regulations for Scotland which will counter abuse of the special responsibility allowance element of the new scheme which has been drawn to his attention.
The arrangements for travel and subsistence allowances are unchanged. Rates of all allowances will continue to be reviewed on a regular basis.
Local Government Services
Mr. McMaster To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he has any plans to subject any further local government services to compulsory competitive tendering ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Allan Stewart : The Government are looking at ways of extending the range of local authority services
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subject to compulsory competitive tendering. Consultants have been appointed to examine and report on the technical feasibility of extending the legislative requirements for competitive tendering to the provision of professional services. Local government will be consulted about any proposals which emerge.Johnstone Health Clinic
Mr. McMaster To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on the development of the Johnstone health clinic.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : I have nothing to add at this time to the answer that I gave the hon. Member on 13 February at column 454-55.
Political Advisers
Mr. McMaster To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the names of each political adviser working in the Scottish Office ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Lang : One special adviser is employed in the Scottish Office, Mr. Alan Young.
Royal Alexandra Hospital, Paisley
Mr. McMaster : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what measures have been taken to enhance security at the Royal Alexandra hospital in Paisley in the last six months ; what further proposals will be implemented ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : The measures taken recently have been -- Security sub-committee established in January
-- Report produced in February on improvements to be
carried out
-- Access to service corridors restricted from February
-- All Staff sent a memorandum in February
-- Meetings with Strathclyde police on crime prevention in
May
-- Each induction programme for new staff includes security session with local police
-- Discussions with firm of security consultants during May -- Extra digital locks fitted to a number of internal and
external doors
-- Video cameras recording 24-hour period in respect of car park
-- Full-time car park attendant appointed
-- An extra portering round during evenings
Further measures in the process of being implemented are -- Staff identification system to be introduced in July -- Alarms for all doors leading to fire escapes to be fitted -- Locks for additional external doors
-- Formal instruction to staff that misuse of fire doors is a disciplinary offence
-- Further exhortation to staff to be vigilant at all times These measures build on a range of security improvements which the local management has initiated over the past two years. The position is being kept under constant review and further steps will be taken if appropriate. The health board has assured me that all practical measures are being taken to ensure the security of patients, visitors and staff without being excessively restrictive.
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Local Government Finance
Mr. McMaster : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he has any plans to review the annuality principle applied to local government finance ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Beith : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much was raised by local authorities in Scotland in 1990-91 using their discretionary powers to raise £5 per head of adult population, in areas where there is a single tier of principal local authority, and £2.50 per head of adult population, in areas where there are two administrative tiers ; and if he has made any assumptions for the likely yield under this power for 1991-92.
Mr. Allan Stewart [holding answer 1 July 1991] : In terms of section 83 of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, as amended by schedule 1 to the Abolition of Domestic Rates, Etc. (Scotland) Act 1987, Scottish local authorities have a discretionary power to incur expenditure not exceeding the product of a 2p rate based on 1988-89 rate poundage.
Information about the extent of such expenditure is not held centrally.
Elderslie Hospital
Mr. McMaster : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what discussions he has held with Argyll and Clyde health board concerning the development of Elderslie hospital ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : Argyll and Clyde health board has submitted to my Department proposals which will enable the young handicapped patients residing in Elderslie hospital to live as normal a life as possible in a community environment. On 12 June I announced that the sum of £12.4 million is to be made available to Scotland's health boards in bridging finance to develop and expand care in the community in conjunction with local authorities. Argyll and Clyde health board have been allocated £764,000 over a three-year period to enable them to implement immediately their plans for fully supported community units for the young residents of Elderslie.
Labour Statistics
Dr. Godman : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what changes in the incidence of unemployment have taken place in (a) Scotland, (b) Strathclyde and (c) the Greenock travel-to-work area in each of the past 30 months for which figures are available.
Mr. Allan Stewart : The information is available on the NOMIS database in the House of Commons Library. Library staff are ready to assist in accessing the information if necessary.
HIV Tests
Mr. Strang : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) what was the cost to the Scottish Office of financing the HIV ante-natal named testing study in Edinburgh and Dundee from 31 August 1990 to 31 March 1991 ; and what efforts were made to secure alternative funding for the study from 31 March 1991 ;
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(2) if he will set out the reasons for ceasing to fund the HIV ante-natal named screening study in Edinburgh and Dundee on 31 March ;(3) if he will set out the Government's policy towards HIV named testing studies of the sort carried out in Edinburgh and Dundee ante-natal units.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : This study began in December 1988 and received financial support from the Medical Research Council up to 31 August 1990. The Scottish Office provided £55,000 to support the study for a further seven months up to the end of March 1991 in order to maximise the benefits of the information which had been collected and to enable a reliable assessment to be made of HIV prevalence among pregnant women in Edinburgh and Dundee. The information collected in the study is now being analysed and a report is expected to be published in the autumn.
There are no plans for further named surveys of this kind to be conducted in Scotland, but I understand that the Medical Research Council has agreed to fund a further study in Edinburgh and Dundee, involving anonymised testing both of women attending ante-natal clinics and of women having termination of pregnancy. This study is expected to begin in September.
Agency Status
Mr. Cash : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list those bodies currently with agency status within his Department under the "next steps" initiative ; and whether he has identified any further candidates for agency status under the initiative within his Department.
Mr. Lang [holding answer 3 June 1991] : Three executive agencies have so far been established under the next steps initiative from within my responsibilities : the Registers of Scotland, Historic Scotland and the Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency. I announced the candidature of the agricultural scientific services of the Scottish Office Agriculture and Fisheries Department for agency status on Tuesday 16 April 1991 and further candidates will be brought forward in due course.
Abortions
Mrs. Ann Winterton : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many abortions were performed in Scotland in the first 12 months of operation of the Abortion Act 1967 and in the latest year for which figures are available ; and under what statutory grounds these abortions were performed.
Mr. Michael Forsyth [holding answer 28 June 1991] : The information requested on terminations under the Abortion Act 1967 is as follows :
|1 April 1968
|to 31 March |(calendar
|1969 |year)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Risk to life of woman |110 |36
Risk of injury to health of woman |1,892 |9,962
Risk to health of existing children |126 |95
Risk of abnormality of foetus |110 |99
Emergency to save lif e of woman |3 |-
Emergency to prevent injury to
health of woman |3 |-
|--- |---
Total |2,244 |10,192
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Advertising Campaigns
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the topics of each television advertising campaign to be carried out by his Department and any other publicity campaign costing more than £100,000.
Mr. Lang [holding answer 1 July 1991] : My Department has proposals to mount television information campaigns in 1991-92 on road safety and crime prevention. Planned campaigns costing £100,000 or more are proposed on fire prevention, children's hearings and right to buy. Detailed campaign planning, including media to be used, has yet to be decided on these topics.
AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD
Knacker Industry
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he has any plans to draw up a code of practice to ensure the continuity of derogations from EEC regulations in respect of the knacker industry.
Mr. Maclean : A derogation in the directive on the disposal of animal waste (90/667 EEC), which we fought hard to achieve, permits the knacker industry to continue to sell petfood, at least until the end of 1995. In the meantime, proposals will be considered by the European Community by the end of 1992 in relation to the controls which might secure the longer-term future of this trade. Our officials are, therefore, currently reviewing with the knacker trade existing control measures.
EC Grants
Mr. Alex Carlile : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make representations in the EC Council of Ministers to remove the bar on payment of EC grants to farmers following late claims, and to replace the present rule with a discretion exercisable by himself ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Gummer : I have every sympathy with the efforts of the hon. Member on behalf of his constituents. He will be aware that we make every effort to ensure that our administration of EC schemes is sensitive to farmers' practical concerns, consistent with effectively addressing the risk of fraud. It is, however, important that there is comparability of treatment between producers in different member states and strictly applied Community-wide rules regarding claims received after the closing dates for the suckler cow premium scheme and the sheep annual premium scheme are necessary to ensure this. Giving a general discretion to the various national authorities responsible for administering these schemes to accept or reject late claims would undermine this important principle.
Dioxins
Mr. Skinner : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will revert to the previously established lower safety level for dioxin.
Mr. Maclean : No safety limit was set prior to the work recently carried out for the World Health Organisation which established a provisional tolerable daily intake of dioxins.
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Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will give the number of municipal and private incinerators where he has conducted tests for dioxins in England on (a) agricultural land or (b) products ; what proportions these are of the total number of incinerators in England ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Gummer : Dioxin levels have been measured in milk collected from farms in the vicinity of two of the four high-temperature chemical waste incinerators situated in England and Wales. The preliminary results fall within the range of background levels found in other industrial areas.
Mr. Skinner : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will set up a public inquiry into the dioxin levels in milk in the Bolsover area.
Mr. Maclean : I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for South Shields (Dr. Clark) on 1 July 1991.
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will give the maximum tolerable concentration of dioxins in nanogrammes per kilogramme of milk prior to its level being set at 0.7 nanogrammes.
Mr. Gummer : No prior figure was set.
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, further to his answer to the hon. Member for Lancashire, West (Mr. Hind) of 26 June, if he will list the names and positions of the scientific and medical experts which calculated the maximum tolerable concentration of dioxins in milk ; whether they were members of any Government advisory committees ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Gummer : The chairman of the Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment (COT) was consulted about the calculation of the maximum tolerable concentration of dioxins in milk and agreed the tolerance level set. The full set of results from the dioxins survey will be considered by the COT before publication later this year. In order to deal quickly with the enhanced levels of dioxins found in the milk from two farms in Derbyshire an expert scientific and medical team from my Department and the Department of Health was assembled to make the detailed calculations which were based on recommendations made in December 1990 by a WHO expert group.
Mr. Skinner : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will pay compensation to those who have had their livelihood adversely affected as a result of the dioxin levels in the milk supply in the Bolsover area.
Mr. Maclean : I have every sympathy with the two farmers whose milk can no longer go for human consumption and my staff are giving all the help they can. As for compensation, the established principle which applies in such circumstances is that it is the polluter who should pay.
DEFENCE
Racial Harassment
11. Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many complaints in respect of racial abuse or harassment have been made against military personnel in each of the past three years.
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Mr. Archie Hamilton : We do not maintain central records of all complaints of racial abuse or harassment. The MOD is aware, however, of four complaints in both 1988 and 1989, three in 1990 and one in 1991, so far.Low Flying
12. Mr. Wallace : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether he intends to appoint a liaison officer to deal with concerns and complaints from communities in the highlands and islands on the subject of low-flying military aircraft.
Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : My Department plans to establish three RAF regional community relations officers in southern Scotland and the Borders, the Lake District and in Wales on a trial basis. If the scheme is successful, we will consider whether to extend it to other areas.
Territorial Army
13. Mr. Ted Garrett : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if advertising for volunteers to join the Territorial Army has been discontinued.
Scottish Units
14. Mr. Home Robertson : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the record of recruitment and retention of service personnel in units based in Scotland.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : Recruitment in Scotland to all the services in 1989-90, the last full year for which data are available, was 11.6 per cent. of the United Kingdom total. The only relevant data on retention relate to the Scottish division, where the rate is marginally below that for the Army as a whole.
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