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Mr. Skinner : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will meet representatives of farmers affected by dioxin levels in milk to discuss arrangements for payment to the farmers affected.
Mr. Maclean : On the question of compensation, I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave him on 2 July at column 133 .
Blue Ear Pig Disease
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether restrictions have now been imposed as a result of blue ear disease in each of the counties listed in his answer to the hon. Member for South Shields on 24 June, Official Report , column 383 .
Mr. Gummer : Restrictions as a result of suspected or confirmed disease have been imposed in, among the counties listed, County Durham, Lincolnshire, Norfolk, north Yorkshire, and west Yorkshire. Elsewhere, since 13 June restrictions have been imposed on premises which had received pigs from infected or suspect holdings in the previous 56 days.
Cetaceans
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what recent representations he has received from Greenpeace and the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society on the dangers to small cetaceans.
Mr. Curry : I met representatives of these organisations together with other members of Wildlife Link on 4 July and discussed our mutual concern about the dangers to small cetaceans from high seas drift nets.
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what investigations have been carried out in each of the past 10 years of the numbers of cetaceans that have been caught by drift nets in the waters of (a) Britain and (b) other EEC countries.
Mr. Curry : Reliable historical information on the number of incidental by-catches by EC vessels is not available. However, following a United Kingdom initiative the North sea states have agreed a co-operative framework for the conservation of small cetaceans, including a commitment to develop schemes to monitor incidental catches more closely. In addition, the United Kingdom is supporting an EC proposal to ban drift nets above 2.5 km in length, to guard against their possible indiscriminate operation.
Agricultural Development Advisory Service
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many visits have been made to farmers by ADAS staff to give free advice to farmers on pollution avoidance for each year since 1986 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Gummer : Statistics on the number of visits to farms to give free advice on farm-related pollution matters are being collected with effect from 1 April 1991. Information in this form is not available for previous years.
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Irradiated Food
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether food containing irradiated spices is required to be labelled as containing irradiated ingredients ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Gummer : Under The Food Labelling (Amendment) (Irradiated Food) Regulations 1990, which came into force on 1 January 1991, all irradiated prepacked foods and listed food ingredients, including herbs and spices, are required to carry an indication on the label that they have been irradiated, using the words "irradiated" or "treated with ionising radiation". Similar provisions apply to non-prepacked foods. In the case of foods sold in catering establishments, for practical reasons, a general statement is permitted for herbs and spices to the effect that food sold in the establishment contains, or may contain, irradiated seasonings.
Fisheries Council
Mr. Knapman : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the outcome of the Fisheries Council held in Brussels on 8 July.
Mr. Curry : I attended the Council of Fisheries Ministers in Brussels on 8 July 1991 together with my right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Scottish Office.
In the Council's key discussion on improved technical conservation measures I made clear the importance of urgent action ; particularly in the North sea and west of Scotland to safeguard cod and haddock stocks. I drew attention to the measures the United Kingdom introduced unilaterally on 1 July to require the use of 90 mm square mesh panels and the substantial benefit it will have particularly in reducing discards of young haddock. I am pleased that it is now wholly accepted that EC measures are needed. For the North sea and west of Scotland it is clear that the only possible basis for an agreement on mesh sizes is a minimum diamond mesh of 100 mm with a 90 mm square mesh panel option. In addition, there is widespread support for an increase to 80 mm in the Irish sea, a change which our industry has been seeking for some time, and for a number of other improvements mainly designed to reduce wasteful catches of fish not yet ready for the market plus some simplifications of existing EC rules.
I called for urgent agreement on measures to control the use of extensive drift nets and supported the length limit of 2.5 km proposed by the Commission. While recognising that EC fleets do not engage in the sort of large scale indiscriminate drift netting which prompted the 1989 United Nations resolution, I stressed the importance of the EC showing its support for the international effort to curb such fishing.
I am pleased that there was a clear commitment from the Council and the Commission to make every effort to enable final decisions on drift nets and technical conservation measures to be taken at a special Council which is to be held in late October or early November.
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DEFENCE
Army Recruits
Mr. Gwilym Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proportion of Army recruits comes from (a) Wales, (b) England, (c) Scotland, (d) Northern Ireland and (e) elsewhere.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : In 1990-91, the proportion of regular Army recruits from each country was :
(a) Wales 7.0 per cent. ;
(b) England 79.0 per cent. ;
(c) Scotland 11.0 per cent. ;
(d) Northern Ireland 2.0 per cent. ; and
(e) Elsewhere 1.0 per cent.
The Gulf
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is his latest assessment of the effects on British service men of chemical and biological reagents released in Iraq during the recent hostilities.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The tactics used in attacking Iraqi chemical and biological facilities during the Gulf conflict were designed to minimise the risk of contamination outside the sites. We are not aware of any releases of chemical or biological reagents in Iraq outside such facilities.
SCOTLAND
Mental Illness Grant
Mr. Tom Clarke : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) what is the level of mental illness specific grant taken up by each local authority in the current year ;
(2) what level of funding has been allocated to the mental illness specific grant in Scotland for the current year.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Orkney and Shetland (Mr. Wallace) on 5 July at columns 235-36.
Community Care
Mr. Tom Clarke : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how he plans to monitor the use local authorities make of funds allocated for community care to ensure that the money is not used to fund other local authority services.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : The Department will shortly be consulting local authorities and other interested parties, including health boards and relevant voluntary organisations, on a draft circular detailing the proposed arrangements for monitoring community care.
Bird Killing
Mr. Morley : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will state the number of licences issued under section 16 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 to permit the killing of (a) barnacle and (b) Greenland white-fronted geese on Islay in order to prevent serious agricultural damage for winter 1990-91 and the total number of geese of each species killed under licence on Islay.
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Mr. Michael Forsyth : The information is as follows :
|Barnacles |White-fronts
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Number of licences issued |24 |13
Number reported shot |1,365 |62
Land Register
Mr. Wilson : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will take steps to introduce a land register which reveals beneficial as well as nominal ownership of estates.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : Information on the ownership of land in Scotland is already available to the public by inspection of the General Register of Sasines or the Land Register of Scotland as appropriate, both of which are maintained by the Registers of Scotland Executive Agency. The Government have no plans to introduce a further register of land ownership in Scotland.
Careers Servics
Mr. McAllion : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the expenditure on the careers service by Scottish local authorities in each year since 1979, expressed both in actual sums spent and at 1990 prices.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : The information is the following :
Year |Actual |Expenditure
|Expenditure |at 1990 prices
|£'000
------------------------------------------------------------
1979-80 |3,827 |8,274
1980-81 |4,719 |8,622
1981-82 |5,315 |8,855
1982-83 |5,602 |8,717
1983-84 |6,377 |9,483
1984-85 |6,939 |9,819
1985-86 |7,420 |9,958
1986-87 |7,758 |10,062
1987-88 |8,945 |11,020
1988-89 |9,696 |11,112
1989-90 |10,878 |11,716
1990-91 |13,873 |13,873
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Scottish Natural Heritage
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether the Nature Conservancy Council or Scottish Natural Heritage has budgeted money to fund the new natural heritage body.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : Resources for Scottish Natural Heritage will be considered in this year's public expenditure round.
Caledon Forest
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) what impact he estimates his policy for the future of Scotland's native Caledon forest will have on forest cover in 50 years' time ; (2) whether he will identify those areas of the Caledon forest which he hopes (a) to survive and (b) to expand in the next 10 years.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : The Government's policy for native pinewoods is to prevent any reduction in their area and to encourage their sensitive management and expansion through the Forestry Commission's woodland grant scheme. In addition, particularly important areas for nature conservation are designated as sites of special scientific interest. As a result of these policies, the area of native pinewoods in Scotland is expected to increase significantly over the next 10 and 50 years, although it is not possible to predict the future of any individual area.
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what are the present levels of compensation to owners of the Caledon forest to ensure its survival, and its expansion.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : To encourage the maintenance, good management and expansion of native pinewoods the Forestry Commission offers the following establishment and management grants under its woodland grant scheme :
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Establishment Grants Management Grants (for planting, restocking Standard Special and natural regeneration) Area (hectares) |£ per hectare |Area (hectares) |£ per hectare |£ per hectare ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Less than 1 |1,575 |Less than 10 |35 |45 1-2.9 |1,375 3-9.9 |1,175 10 and over |975 |10 and over |25 |35
SSSIs
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what representations he received from voluntary conservation movements concerning the new clause to the Natural Heritage (Scotland) Bill relating to the advisory committee on sites of special scientific interest.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : The Scottish Office has received letters from the following voluntary conservation organisations on the subject of the advisory committee on SSSIs : The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, the Worldwide Fund for Nature, the Scottish Wildlife Trust, Friends of the Earth (Scotland), and the Ramblers' Association. In addition, I had a meeting at their request
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with representatives of the RSPB on 12 June. My officials also met representatives of all the organisations listed on 18 June to discuss the new provision.Regional Development Assistance
Mr. McLeish : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland to whom in Scotland, outside Government, details of companies in receipt of regional development assistance have been passed ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Allan Stewart : Details of all companies receiving regional development grant or regional selective assistance where the total grant offered exceeds certain amounts are published quarterly in The Department of Employment
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Gazette. Details of grants offered are subject to the normal constraints of commercial confidentiality and, apart from the published details, information on individual cases is not disclosed to third parties without companies' consent.Fife Scottish Bus Company
Mr. McLeish : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if any of the bidders for the Fife Scottish Bus company are in receipt of Government grants or investment.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : None of the bidders for Fife Scottish Omnibuses Limited has received any direct Government funding for which my right hon. Friend is responsible. In January 1989 the Scottish Development Agency however made an investment on commercial terms of £500,000 in preference shares in Stagecoach (Holdings) Limited, alongside a number of other investors. These shares are now held by Scottish Enterprise.
Mr. McLeish : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether any director of Scottish Enterpise has received remuneration from either of the current bidders for the Fife Scottish Bus company ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Allan Stewart : The managing director of Stagecoach (Holdings) Ltd. one of the bidders for Fife Scottish, was a board member of Scottish Enterprise from 5 March 1990 until her resignation through pressure of business on 29 October 1990. The affairs of Fife Scottish Bus company, or of the current bidders, have not been discussed by the Scottish Enterprise board. Consequently there has been no occasion for board members to declare any personal interest in the bidders, and the private financial affairs of board members are not a matter for my right hon. Friend. So far as I am aware, however, no other Scottish Enterprise board member nor any senior employee has, since appointment, received remuneration from any bidder.
Government Assistance to Companies
Mr. McLeish : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland to whom in Scotland, outside Government, any details of individuals, companies or providers in receipt of either employment training, youth training, business growth training or enterprise allowance scheme have been passed ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Allan Stewart : I am not in a position to say, for every case in Scotland, to whom outside Government details have been passed of individuals, companies or providers involved with employment training, youth training, business growth training or the enterprise allowance scheme.
In normal circumstances details relating to current trainees will be held by training managers and training agents and will be made available to local enterprise officials and officials of Scottish Enterprise or Highlands and Islands Enterprise as necessary for operational purposes. Details of individual trainees may also be given to placement providers and to the careers service where it is appropriate to do so for the purposes of securing suitable training. Details of companies and training providers will normally be held by local enterprise companies and in
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some cases their agents but Scottish Enterprise or Highlands and Islands Enterprise officials may have access to that information for operational purposes.Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Islands Enterprise and local enterprise companies will not normally divulge any information they hold to a third party unless they are satisfied that the trainee, company or provider has acquiesced to the provision of that information or where the person or body seeking the information has authority to demand it--for example, the police.
AIDS
Mr. Strang : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the expenditure on HIV/AIDS treatment care and prevention by each of the Scottish health boards in 1990-91 in (a) cash and (b) 1991-92 prices.
Mr. Michael Forsyth [holding answer 8 July 1991] : This information is not yet available centrally, but will be included in reports being prepared by health boards under the AIDS (Control) Act 1987.
Housing
Mr. Maclennan : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how the number of properties to be inspected in each local authority area for the national house condition survey is to be determined.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton [holding answer 8 July 1991] : The number of dwellings which will be surveyed in each local authority area will depend on the outcome of a random sample selection. At least 15,000 dwellings in Scotland will be surveyed, and to achieve this a large number will initially be selected.
Mr. Maclennan : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he will allocate resources to Sutherland district council and Caithness district council to enable those authorities to undertake a housing conditions survey which complies with the Scottish Office model.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton [holding answer 8 July 1991] : Sutherland and Caithness district councils should include any plans for carrying out local house condition surveys in their housing capital programmes which are due to be submitted to the Scottish Office environment department in November. Any such plans will be taken into account in determining the level of housing capital allocations for these authorities in 1992-93.
Mr. Maclennan : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland in what manner the findings of the Scottish Office building inspectorate study of weather conditions and their effect on houses are reflected in the capital allocations made to Sutherland district council.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton [holding answer 8 July 1991] : It is for local authorities to take account of all relevant factors when assessing their housing needs and reflecting these in the housing capital programmes which the Scottish Office environment department asks to be submitted in November each year. Housing capital programmes are taken into account when decisions are made on capital allocations.
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Careers Service
Mr. McAllion : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) how many responses were received to the recently published consultation document "The Future of the Careers Service" ; and if he will place copies of these responses in the Library ;
(2) how many responses which he received on the consultation paper "The Future of the Careers Service" favoured (a) local enterprise companies acquiring full responsibility for providing the service, (b) education/business partnerships becoming responsible, (c) the service being contracted out through competitive tender and (d) the service continuing to be run by the education authorities.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : Sixty-one responses were received up to 5 July. Of these seven supported the provision of the careers service through local enterprise companies ; 23 favoured some form of partnership ; two saw merit in contracting out and 29 suggested a continuation of the current arrangements. Some further responses are expected.
Copies of all responses received are being placed in the Library.
EMPLOYMENT
Environmental Training Initiatives
12. Mr. Bill Michie : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what steps he is taking to support future environmental training initiatives in the Sheffield area following the withdrawal of training and enterprise council funding of environmental training projects.
Mr. Jackson : My right hon. and learned Friend announced extra resources for training on 19 June. It is for Sheffield TEC to decide, within its contract with my Department, what training, including environmental training, to support in the Sheffield area.
Enterprise Allowance Scheme
13. Mr. David Porter : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many unemployed people have founded their own business since 1983 under the enterprise allowance scheme.
Mr. Forth : Between August 1983 and May 1991, the latest date for which figures are available, the enterprise allowance scheme has helped 571,953 people to start their own business.
National Vocational Qualifications
14. Mr. Tim Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what representations he has received about his proposals to extend national vocational qualifications ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Howard : The proposals relating to national vocational qualifications in the Government's White Paper "Education and Training for the 21st Century" have been widely welcomed. The National Council for Vocational Qualifications is on target to produce by the end of 1992 NVQs covering 80 per cent. of the work force up to level 4 of its framework. The council has also been asked to lead on developing more general national vocational
qualifications.
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Low Pay
15. Mrs Fyfe : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is his estimate of the number of employed persons paid less than £3.40 per hour.
Mr. Howard : We estimate that the number paid less than this is around 4 million, of whom 1 million are teenagers.
Unemployment
16. Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what has been the percentage change in the level of unemployment in the last 12 months in (i) Leyton and (ii) London.
Mr. Jackson : In the parliamentary constituency of Leyton and in the Greater London region, unemployment, not seasonally adjusted, increased by 60 per cent. in the 12 months to May 1991.
Small Firms Service
17. Mr. Robert G. Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the work of the small firms service.
Mr. Forth : The small firms service has an excellent reputation in providing high quality information, advice and business counselling to new and existing small businesses. It dealt with over 317,000 inquiries and gave more than 50,000 counselling sessions in its last full year of operation. The service is now being transferred to the emerging network of training and enterprise councils who have plans to make further significant improvements to make it even more effective in meeting local needs.
Nuclear Inspectors
18. Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he has any plans to increase the complement of qualified nuclear inspectors.
Mr. Forth : On 1 June 1991, there were 163 nuclear inspectors in post in the Health and Safety Executive. HSE plans to increase this to 176 by 1 April 1992.
Training, Stockport and Tameside
19. Mr. Andrew F. Bennett : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on training in Stockport and Tameside.
Mr. Jackson : A wide range of services and programmes are provided by the two local training and enterprise councils which benefit businesses and individuals in Stockport and Tameside.
European Social Charter
20. Mr. John Marshall : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment when he last met the EC Social Affairs Commissioner to discuss the social charter.
Mr. Howard : I met Mrs. Papandreou at the Social Affairs Council on 25 June.
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Minimum Wage
21. Mr. Michael Brown : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what representations he has received from Electrical, Electronic, Telecommunications and Plumbing Union regarding proposals for a national statutory minimum wage.
Mr. Howard : I have not received any representations from the EETPU, but the union's general secretary has made it clear that his members would strongly oppose any wage restraint for higher paid workers linked to Labour's proposals for the introduction of a national legal minimum wage. If differentials were fully restored up to 2 million jobs could be lost.
28. Mr. Sumberg : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what representations he has received seeking the introduction of a statutory minimum wage ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Howard : Most of the representations I receive are strongly opposed to any statutory wage fixing. The Labour party's proposal for a national legal minimum wage has been condemned by employers, academics and trades unions.
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