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underground nuclear tests from time to time to ensure the effectiveness and safety of the deterrent. A comprehensive test ban is therefore a long-term goal.Weapons of Mass Destruction
Mr. Winnick : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what weapons of mass destruction in Iraq have actually been destroyed under supervision internationally ; what is the timetable for the remaining weapons to be destroyed ; and if he will make a statement on this and related matters.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : We understand that inspectors of the United Nations Special Commission have supervised the destruction so far of 62 ballistic missiles, 18 fixed Scud missile launch pads, 10 launchers, 11 dummy missiles, 32 ballistic missile warheads, 127 missile storage supports, a number of missile related support vehicles, a substantial amount of rocket fuel, an assembled 350 mm supergun, components for 350 mm and 1000 mm superguns, 1 tonne of supergun propellant and 8,100 unfilled chemical munitions. Inspectors have also confirmed the destruction by coalition bombing of several missile repair and production facilities.
Security Council resolution 687 requires the destruction, removal or rendering harmless, under international supervision, of all Iraq's weapons of mass destruction and related items. Iraq's declarations of such weapons have been shown to be both misleading and incomplete. The timetable for the destruction of the remaining items covered by SCR 687 will therefore depend on what emerges from future inspections. The destruction of Iraq's chemical weapons stocks which have so far been found will be a major task and will probably continue into 1993. The International Atomic Energy Agency is planning to destroy, remove, or render harmless in the near future those items related to Iraq's nuclear weapons capability which it has discovered or have been declared.
Iraq (UN Inspection Team)
Mr. Cryer : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what criteria was adopted in choosing the personnel in the United Nations special inspection team sent to Iraq, pursuant to United Nations Security Council resolution 687 ; how many members of the team are from the United Kingdom ; and whether the United Kingdom has made any financial donation to support the work of the team.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : Personnel for the inspection work undertaken in Iraq by the United Nations special commission and the International Atomic Energy Agency--IAEA--are chosen by the executive chairman of the special commission and the director general of the IAEA respectively. We understand that a number of factors are taken into account, primarily the need for professional expertise but also the desirability of as broad a geographical representation as practicable.
To date there have been nineteen inspections in Iraq. The United Kingdom has provided personnel for sixteen of these, in varying numbers. We have made available £1million this financial year to pay for the provision of practical support.
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Hong Kong
Mr. Foulkes : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will give details of all his engagements and meetings during his most recent visit to Hong Kong.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs accompanied my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on his visit to Hong Kong on 4 and 5 September. With my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister, he met the Governor and members of the Executive Council ; attended a dinner hosted by the Governor for business and political leaders and a lunch hosted by the Chief Secretary for community leaders and representatives ; visited the mass transit railway and the city polytechnic and attended a private dinner.
He also visited the border to meet the Gurkhas and Royal Hong Kong police and visited a Royal Naval patrol craft ; had a meeting with British business men and attended a private reception.
South Africa
Mr. Pendry : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on Her Majesty's Government's policy towards sporting links with South Africa.
Mrs. Chalker : Our policy has not changed since the answer my hon. Friend the Minister for Sport gave to the hon. and learned Member for Fife, North-East (Mr. Campbell) on 23 July. We have continued to encourage all concerned to promote racially integrated sport in South Africa. We hope that contact with integrated sports will resume as soon as possible.
Nuclear Proliferation
Mr. Cryer : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the outcome of the meeting of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council on nuclear proliferation and control of sensitive technology sales, held in London on 26 September.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : The recent experts' meeting in London discussed arms transfers and non-proliferation, in particular the development of agreed guidelines governing conventional arms transfers and the development of modalities of a consultation and information exchange mechanism on arms transfers to, as a matter of priority, the middle east. Senior officials are meeting again in London on 17 and 18 October to continue this process.
Community Alone" Agreements
Mr. Knapman : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether Her Majesty's Government have reviewed the publication of the so-called "Community Alone" agreements as Command Papers ; and what proposals they have for future publication.
Mr. Garel-Jones : As "Community Alone" agreements are already published in the Official Journal of the European Community, their publication as Command
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Papers is an unnecessary waste of resources. Consequently we have consulted the Chairmen of the Select Committees concerned and have agreed that this practice should cease. In order that hon. Members are kept fully informed I will instruct officials responsible for drawing up the White Paper on developments in the Community to ensure that in addition to the current annex C on major treaties and agreements signed by the Community there is an additional annex on "Community Alone" agreements.WALES
Sports Facilities
Mr. Rowlands : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what estimate he has of the number of sports clubs and sports facilities incurring 100 per cent. costs and 50 per cent. of the business rate ; and how many receive 100 per cent. rate relief.
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : In 1990-91 Welsh local authorities received 756 applications for discretionary rate relief from non-profit making clubs used for recreational purposes including sporting organisations. Of the 673 --89 per cent.--organisations granted relief, 105 (16 per cent.) were granted relief of up to 20 per cent. of rates payable ; 297 (44 per cent.) were granted relief of 21-50 per cent. of rates payable ; 80 (12 per cent.) were granted relief of 51-80 per cent. of rates payable ; 191 (28 per cent.) were granted relief of over 80 per cent. of rates payable.
The number of non-profit-making recreational clubs paying 100 per cent. rates is not known.
Sports Expenditure
Mr. Rowlands : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what was the estimated local authority capital expenditure in recreation and sport in 1989-90 and 1990-91, respectively ; and what is the estimated expenditure in 1991-92.
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : Gross capital expenditure by local authorities in Wales on recreation, parks and baths was £39.6 million in 1989-90. Comparable information for 1990-91 and 1991-92 is not yet available.
Poll Tax
Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) how many people in Wales have not paid the poll tax for the year 1990-91 ;
(2) how many people have paid the poll tax for the year 1990-91.
Mr. David Hunt : The information requested is not available centrally.
Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) what is the percentage of arrears for the last financial year for the poll tax in Wales ;
(2) what is the amount of cash outstanding from non-payment of the poll tax in Wales in the last financial year.
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : At 31 March 1991, local authorities reported that arrears of community charges in Wales were £49 million ; around 12 per cent. of the full amount due--a collection rate of 88 per cent. Local authorities have continued to recover 1990-91 arrears, but
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precise figures are not available because of the difficulty of distinguishing between the payment of arrears and the payment of 1991-92 charges. Local authorities have estimated that they expect to collect some 94 per cent. of the full amount of the 1990-91 charges--100 per cent. of the amount they had budgeted to collect.School Nurses (Regrading)
Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many school nurse regrading claims are outstanding in each of the health authority areas of Wales.
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : Information on numbers of grading appeals outstanding from nurses employed in particular posts, such as school nurses, is not held centrally.
Health Authorities (Administration)
Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many administrative staff there were in each of the health authority areas of Wales (i) currently, (ii) in 1984 and (iii) in 1987.
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : The number of administrative staff in each of the health authority areas of Wales for the three periods concerned are shown in the table.
WTE of Staff in post at the relevant date
DHA |as at 30 |as at 30 |as at 30
|August 1991 |September |September
|1984 |1987
Clwyd |981 |704 |800
East Dyfed |693 |501 |518
Gwent |1,089 |936 |965
Gwynedd |597 |516 |541
Mid Glamorgan |1,285 |1,035 |1,097
Pembrokeshire |261 |156 |174
Powys |251 |172 |193
South Glamorgan |1,754 |1,443 |1,490
West Glamorgan |1,021 |710 |824
My officials are currently reviewing with district health authorities the effectiveness of the decentralised management systems for administrative and clerical staff in Wales. They will be looking in particular at whether action needs to be taken to ensure compliance with the principles underpinning the conclusions set out in the National Audit Office report "NHS Administrative and Clerical Manpower in England", March 1991.
NHS Trusts
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what pilot exercises or investigations were undertaken by or on behalf of his Department into the cost to a hospital or unit of preparing a bid for trust status ; and if he will give a breakdown of the major elements within the total.
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : This is for potential applicants to consider as part of their business planning and will vary according to local needs and circumstances.
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) what is the maximum sum available from his Department's finances to any single hospital or unit to assist in preparing a bid for trust status ;
(2) if he will list the criteria being used by his Department in order to decide whether to grant money to any hospital in Wales towards drawing up an application for trust status.
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Mr. Nicholas Bennett : If a hospital or health service unit is invited to prepare an application for NHS trust status, any subsequent bid for financial assistance to help with the process will be considered on its merits.
Mr. Michael: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the figure given or offered by his Department to each hospital in Wales towards the costs of drawing up an application for trust status.
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : A contribution of £50,000 was made available to Pembrokeshire health authority to help towards costs incurred in preparing the application, associated printing and during the consultation period.
Mr. Peter Williams
Dr. Marek : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what were the reasons for the dismissal of Mr. Peter Williams from the post of unit general manager of Bronglais hospital, Aberystwyth.
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : This is a matter for the East Dyfed health authority.
Hill Sheep Farmers
Mr. Alex Carlile : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement concerning the prospects of hill sheep farmers.
Mr. David Hunt : I am currently, in consultation with the Welsh farming unions, reviewing the economic conditions and prospects for our less-favoured area farmers as part of the annual hill livestock compensatory amounts autumn review. The conclusions of the review will be announced in due course.
NHS Managers
Dr. Marek : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) if he will give a list of community services managers, or their equivalents, within the health service in Wales, together with their grades and pay scales and any appropriate qualifications ;
(2) if he will give a list of unit general managers within the health service in Wales together with their grades and pay scales and any appropriate qualifications.
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : I will write to the hon. Gentleman and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.
Bronglais Hospital, Bangor
Dr. Marek : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when he expects an advertisement to be placed for the post of unit general manager at Bronglais hospital, Aberystwyth.
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : This is a matter for the East Dyfed health authority. I understand that it has filled the post with an acting general manager until 31 August 1992.
Opencast Coal Mining
Mr. Gareth Wardell : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when he intends to publish the Government's response to the Welsh Affairs Committee Report, HC Paper 28, Session 1990-91, on the future of opencast coal mining in Wales.
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Mr. David Hunt : I am pleased to announce that the response has been published today as Command Paper 1652.SCOTLAND
Higher Education
Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) what percentage of Scottish 18, 19 and 20-year-olds went into full-time higher education in each year since 1979 ;
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(2) what percentage of 18-year-olds entered higher education in each year since 1979.Mr. Michael Forsyth : The available information is given in the table. Information on the numbers of young people entering higher education before 1984-85 could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
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Percentage of Scottish domiciled young people entering full-time higher education in the United Kingdom
Academic session
Age at December |1984-85 |1985-86 |1986-87 |1987-88 |1988-89 |1989-90
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
17 years and under |4.01 |3.99 |4.19 |4.24 |4.39 |4.60
18 years |11.28 |11.21 |11.40 |12.40 |12.63 |14.67
19 years |2.84 |2.83 |2.89 |2.93 |3.03 |3.73
20 years |1.32 |1.31 |1.36 |1.40 |1.42 |1.75
Storm Damage
Sir Hector Monro : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland which local authorities will benefit from the Bellwin scheme invoked after the severe storms in January of the current year ; and by how much.
Mr. Lang : Claims for special financial assistance under the Bellwin scheme have now been assessed and I can announce that £85,000 in grant will be made available to three authorities which suffered an undue financial burden in responding to the storms and floods of January under the terms of the scheme which I announced on 8 January.
The details of grant are :
|£
--------------------------------------------------
Cunninghame district council |72,100
Kyle and Carrick district council |8,932
Dumbarton district council |4,109
|-------
|85,141
Payments will be issued to these authorities as soon as possible.
OVERSEAS DEVELOPMENT
Sport and Recreation
Mr. Pendry : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, further to the reply of 16 May, Official Report, column 233, to the hon. Member for Stalybridge and Hyde, if he will list for each of the past 10 years, and as a total over the same period, the total amount included in the bilateral aid programme for sports and recreation projects expressed as (a) a total amount and (b) a percentage of the total bilateral aid programme.
Mrs. Chalker : Bilateral aid for sports and recreation purposes has been very limited and the amounts involved very small ; the help has mostly taken the form of small grants made on an ad hoc basis to governments and non-government groups. It would require considerable time and disproportionate cost to assemble the information required.
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NATIONAL FINANCE
Economic and Monetary Union
12. Mr. O'Hara : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he next expects to meet Mr. Delors to discuss economic and monetary union.
Mr. Maude : My right hon. Friend met Mr. Delors at the last meeting of European Community Finance Ministers on 7 October. The next such meeting will be on 11 November.
Corporation Tax
13. Mr. Andy Stewart : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the current rate of corporation tax ; and what are the levels of company taxation in other European Community member states.
Mr. Maude : The main rate of corporation tax for the financial year 1991 is 33 per cent. The main rates, including local taxes, for other EC member states vary between 35 and 49 per cent., with an average of about 41 per cent.
Manufactured Goods
14. Mr. Trimble : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will give the current balance of payments in respect of manufactured goods ; and if he will make a statement.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : In the three months to August there was a trade surplus in manufactured goods of £128 million--the first such surplus since 1982.
22. Mr. Conway : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the proportion of manufactured goods compared to total exports for the latest year for which figures are available and for 1979.
Mr. Mellor : In 1990, a total of 62 per cent. of United Kingdom exports of goods and services were manufactures, compared to 56 per cent. in 1979.
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Investment Intentions
16. Mr. Harry Barnes : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the forecast of investment intentions for 1991 from the Central Statistical Office's latest investment intentions survey.
Mr. Mellor : The spring 1991 survey of manufacturers' investment intentions suggested a 14 per cent. fall in investment in 1991 from historically high levels in 1989 and 1990, followed by a flattening out in 1992.
Mortgage Arrears
17. Mr. O'Brien : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the number of people more than six months in arrears on their mortgage payments.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : Figures published by the Council of Mortgage Lenders show that at the end of June 1991, out of 9.6 million mortgage loans outstanding, 221,900 were six or more months in arrears.
Unemployment
18. Mr. Ted Garrett : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assumptions on unemployment in 1991-92 and 1992-93 were used in the construction of the expenditure plans announced in the autumn statement.
Mr. Mellor : The spending plans in the 1990 autumn statement were based on an assumed level of unemployment in Great Britain of 1.75 million in 1991-92 and 1992-93.
Pound Sterling (Value)
19. Mr. Ron Brown : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the current value of the 1979 pound in real terms ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Maples : The figure is £2.37.
Inflation
20. Mr. Cash : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he expects the forecasts for inflation made at the time of the Budget to be fulfilled.
Mr. Maples : Retail prices index inflation has fallen in line with expectations since the Budget forecast was made, from 8.9 per cent. in February to 4.1 per cent. in September. A new forecast will be published with the autumn statement.
24. Mr. Nigel Griffiths : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the ranking of the United Kingdom in the G7 countries in their rate of inflation.
Mr. Maples : In August the United Kingdom had the third highest inflation rate of the G7 countries.
23. Mr. Cran : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what are the latest estimates for the rate of inflation in the last quarter of 1991 and in the first quarter of 1992.
Mr. Maples : The Budget forecast was for RPI inflation to fall to 4 per cent. in the fourth quarter of 1991, and the September figure of 4.1 per cent. is in line with that. The forecast for the second quarter of 1992 was 3 per cent. No
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forecast was published for the first quarter of 1992. New forecasts will be published with the autumn statement as usual.Taxes and National Insurance
21. Mr. David Marshall : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his most recent forecast for the proportion of non-oil gross domestic product that taxes and national insurance contributions will represent in 1992-93, and what was the forecast in the 1990 Budget.
Mr. Maude : The projection given in the 1991 Financial Statement and Budget Report was 36 per cent. compared with 36 per cent. in the 1990 FSBR.
Corporate Sector Deficit
25. Mr. Loyden : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the total corporate sector deficit in 1980 ; and what it was in the first half of 1991.
Mr. Mellor : In 1980 industrial and commercial companies were more or less in financial balance. In the first half of 1991 their financial deficit was £7 billion, much lower than the deficit of £14 billion in the first half of 1990.
USSR
26. Mr. Colvin : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the balance of trade, visible and invisible, between the United Kingdom and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
Mr. Mellor : In the latest three months the United Kingdom's crude visible trade deficit with the USSR was £0.1 billion. Figures for the invisible balance are not available.
Manufacturing Investment
Mr. Corbett : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his latest estimate of the level of investment in the manufacturing sector.
Mr. Mellor : In the second quarter of 1991 manufacturing investment was £2.5 billion in constant 1985 prices.
Mr. Grocott : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the average quarterly figure for manufacturing investment, including leased assets, in 1979 and the level in the first quarter of 1991, in constant prices.
Mr. Mellor : Manufacturing investment averaged just over £2.7 billion per quarter in 1979. In the first quarter of 1991 it was just under £2.7 billion.
BCCI
Mr. Vaz : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many representations he has received from members of the public, depositors and staff over the Bank of Credit and Commerce International.
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