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Written Answers to Questions
Tuesday 19 November 1991
ATTORNEY-GENERAL
Serious Fraud Office
Mr. Sheerman : To ask the Attorney-General how many staff, both police or civilian, are employed by the Serious Fraud Office ; and how many there have been in each year since its creation.
The Attorney-General : The Serious Fraud Office currently employs 116 permanent civil servants. The figures for previous years are as follows :
Sixty-two in 1988-89, 83 in 1989-90 and 101 in 1990-91. The permanent civil servants employed are supplemented by temporary staff whose number varies with operational requirements. The number of temporary staff so employed is currently 57. The Serious Fraud Office does not employ police officers. Police officers work in conjunction with the Serious Fraud Office and are attached to cases under the control of the Serious Fraud Office by agreement with the appropriate police force.
TRANSPORT
Locomotives
Ms. Walley : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) when he gave financial approval for expenditure on the electric locomotives used on the Stoke on Trent Euston service ; and how many (a) class 90 electrics and (b) class 86-2 electrics (i) were approved and (ii) are currently in use ;
(2) how many 1987-88 InterCity new 110 mph class 90 electric locomotives were (a) approved and (b) delivered to InterCity for use on the west coast main line out of Euston, and of those how many are used on (a) the InterCity sector (b) Railfreight and (c) parcels ;
(3) how many class 90 locomotives built between 1988 and 1990 were allocated from InterCity to Railfreight ; and what impact this reallocation has had on InterCity's capacity to meet its quality of service objectives.
Mr. Freeman : Approval for 50 class 90 locomotives was given in 1984. Fifteen were allocated by BR for use on InterCity services on the west coast main line, of which the Stoke-Euston route is a part. All are currently in use on that line.
The remaining 35 class 90 locomotives were allocated to what are now the freight and parcels sectors.
Approval for class 86/2 locomotives was given in the mid-1960s. Information on their original deployment is no longer available. Twenty-two class 86/2 locomotives remain in service on the west coast main line.
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Freight Operations
Mrs. Dunwoody : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) if he plans to commission a study on the implications of
continental-gauge freight operations into the United Kingdom and the effect upon existing freight operations to and from the existing regions ;
(2) when he last discussed with the chairman of British Rail the implications of building a continental-gauge freight route to London.
Mr. Freeman : BR is confident that it has sufficient capacity on its existing lines to cope with forecast increases in international freight and its limited programme of structure gauge enhancements on specific route sections will enable some 95 per cent. of swap bodies and containers used on the continent to travel to the BR network of regional channel tunnel freight terminals. Operating continental gauge freight wagons in the United Kingdom would require either the construction of new lines or very costly modifications to existing lines and rolling stock. It is envisaged that the new channel tunnel rail link to London would be built to continental gauge. My Department is considering with British Rail the revenue and cost implications of designing this link to accommodate freight as well as passenger trains, compared with alternative ways of providing additional capacity for freight movements.
King's Cross
Mr. Chris Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what provision is included in his Department's expenditure plans for 1991 to 1994 published in February 1991 and adjusted in the Chancellor of the Exchequer's autumn statement for the construction of the proposed new terminal at King's Cross.
Mr. Freeman : It is for British Rail to decide its investment programme and priorities within the resources available.
High-speed Rail Link
Mr. Chris Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what advice he has received from British Rail about the amounts of revenue income from high-speed rail link services along the Ove Arup route that will be attributable, respectively, to the financing of the proposed new terminal at King's Cross and that of the planned station at Stratford East.
Mr. Freeman : For each of the routes studied, the forecast revenues associated with proposed stations were treated as an integral part of the route and not individually identified.
Goods Vehicle Instructors
Mr. Battle : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he intends to introduce minimum standards for large goods vehicle instructors ; and how this will be implemented and monitored.
Mr. Chope : I have no plans at present to do so.
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Road Safety Schemes
Mr. David Marshall : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what is his estimate of the average typical first-year costs and rates of return for local road safety schemes.
Mr. Chope : A report published by the Transport and Road Research laboratory in 1989 showed that the average local safety scheme cost about £7,000 and saved just over one casualty accident per year, valued at £16,690, where both figures are in 1987 prices.
Splash and Spray Suppression
Mr. Enright : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects the British standard for splash and spray suppression to be upgraded to the higher European directive standard.
Mr. Chope : I hope that a revised standard will be available by the middle of next year.
Lorry Overloads
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what is the number of lorries stopped and checked for possible overloading expressed as a percentage of total lorry journeys.
Mr. Chope : It is estimated that in 1990 about 0.06 per cent. of all HGV journeys were checked for excessive weight.
This statistic relates to vehicles weighed by Department of Transport and local authority trading standards enforcement staff. The police also weigh vehicles, but no information on the numbers they weigh is available.
Highways (Damage)
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the damage and wear inflicted on highways by private cars.
Mr. Chope : The damage and wear inflicted on highways by private cars is very small in relation to that caused by lorries.
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what is his estimate of the annual cost over the past five years of the damage caused to (a) highways and (b) under-road services by lorries.
Mr. Chope : The road track costs of vehicles in the United Kingdom, and the amounts allocated to large goods vehicles are given in the Department's annual publication "The allocation of road track costs", copies of which are available from the House Library. Technical investigation has failed to establish any direct causal link between heavy lorry traffic and damage to underground services.
Speed Limits
Mr. Latham : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he will give details of any time limits which have been set within his Department within which statutory procedures for the introduction or alteration of speed limits on principal roads must be completed ; and whether he will make a statement.
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Mr. Chope : No statutory time limits are set for my Department to deal with speed limits on principal roads. They are dealt with as quickly as possible. I intend to set target times within which this work should be done in future.
Mr. Latham : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what is the current number of formal applications submitted by local highway authorities to his east midlands regional office seeking to introduce new or revised speed limits on principal roads ; how long ago the earliest submission which remains undetermined was made to his Department ; and how many full-time staff are deployed on this work.
Mr. Chope : There are currently seven applications still undetermined. The earliest was submitted on 8 February 1991. No staff work exclusively on speed limit orders. Resources are deployed as and when necessary and target times within which this work should be completed are to be set to avoid such long delays.
Mr. Latham : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he will make a statement, with specific dates, on the involvement of his Department in approving the 40 mph speed limit on the A6003 road through Preston, Rutland ; and what action he intends to take to prevent any repetition in Leicestershire or Rutland of the incident by which the signs were erected but remained covered and inoperative between January and October 1991.
Mr. Chope : The formal application from Leicestershire county council was received on 21 March 1991 and after due consideration consent was notified to the county council on 20 September 1991. The erection of the necessary signs is a matter entirely for Leicestershire county council as the local highway authority. I am unable to comment on why the council chose to erect the signs in advance of the order being sent to my Department. The signs were uncovered shortly after consent was granted.
Tube Trains (Capacity)
Mr. Fearn : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what consultations he has had with London Underground over the standing capacity limits in tube carriages ;
(2) what representations he has received over the capacity limits of London Underground trains.
Mr. McLoughlin : We have received only one representation in the last three years about the capacity limits of London underground trains, although I understand the Health and Safety Executive's railway inspectorate has received a few letters.
The inspectorate has discussed with London Underground on the Secretary of State's behalf plans for refurbishing existing trains and proposals for new stock. It has been an objective of these discussions to maximise passenger- carrying capacity while maintaining safety.
Filton Airfield
Mr. Fearn : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what consultations he has had with councillors from Avon county council over proposals to develop Filton airfield into a commercial airport.
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Mr. McLoughlin : Filton is one of the 10 locations being considered by a working group, chaired by my Department, in terms of their ability to help meet air traffic demand after the turn of the century. The local authority input to the group's work, including that from Avon county council in respect of Filton and Bristol Lulsgate, is being coordinated by Serplan.Yachts
Mr. Steen : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will set out the estimated cost to an average yacht owner of installing the necessary safety equipment and crew required by the proposed Merchant Shipping (Pleasure Yacht) Regulations ; and when he plans to bring these regulations into force.
Mr. McLoughlin : There will be no cost to the average yacht owner. The proposed regulations will apply only to commercially operated yachts. It is intended that the regulations come into force on 1 April 1992.
Mr. Steen : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport which yachts will be subject to the proposed Merchant Shipping (Pleasure Yacht) Regulations ; and how many such yachts he estimates there are in the United Kingdom.
Mr. McLoughlin : Only commercially operated yachts will be subject to the proposed regulations. Yachts used solely for the sport or pleasure of the owner are excluded from the regulations. Information on the numbers and use of yachts is not held by the Department.
Mr. Steen : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what information he has on similar regulations to the proposed Merchant Shipping (Pleasure Yacht) Regulations in force in each of the other EC countries ; and if he will report when such legislation was enacted.
Mr. McLoughlin : Scandinavian standards, which detail extensive requirements, for commercially operated pleasure craft are being implemented in 1992 by Denmark. The Netherlands are incorporating similar regulations next year and Belgium in 1993. No information on the requirements of other EC countries is available at present.
Mr. Steen : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many surveyors from his Department will be employed, and at what cost to the Exchequer, to enforce the proposed Merchant Shipping (Pleasure Yacht) Regulations ; and what he will charge yacht owners to have their vessels surveyed.
Mr. McLoughlin : Application of the regulations will require no additional surveyors or cost to the Exchequer. Any survey required on commercially operated yachts will be charged for surveys in accordance with the Merchant Shipping (Fees) Regulations 1991, SI 1991/784.
Mr. Steen : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many (a) angling boats, (b) charter yachts, (c) cruising yachts, (d) diving boats and (e) sailing schools, respectively, will be affected by the proposed Merchant Shipping (Pleasure Yacht) Regulations.
Mr. McLoughlin : Information on the various types of craft, used commercially, is not held by the Department. Sailing schools can operate under the terms of the code of practice for sail training ships. Compliance with the code,
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which was developed with the industry, gives exemption from the requirements of legislation. If agreement can be reached with those concerned it is proposed to introduce further codes of practice to cover other categories of pleasure craft used commercially.Train Accidents
Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what has been the total cost of the single track train accidents at Bellgrove, Hyde and Newton, including loss, damage, repair, replacement of rolling stock, other assets and equipment, related staff, resource and disruption costs, legal fees and all forms of compensatory payments made to passengers, British Rail's staff and relatives.
Mr. Freeman : Details of these costs are matters for British Rail.
Trains (Servicing)
Sir David Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on progress in securing the introduction and servicing of the class 159 DMU trains due to operate on the Waterloo- Andover-Exeter service from October 1992, to which he referred to his answer of 19 November 1990, Official Report, columns 35-6.
Mr. Freeman : I understand that BR expect the new class 159 DMU trains to be delivered during the summer of 1992 and to enter service from September 1992. I can confirm that British Rail are now able to go ahead with the construction of the new depot at Salisbury to service and maintain these trains, within the finance available to them within the autumn statement. The Government's decision to provide a substantial increase in funding for investment in the railways has enabled BR to allocate money to this project.
ENERGY
Wave Energy
Mr. Evennett : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy when the report of the wave energy review being carried out by his Department will be published.
Mr. Moynihan : The interim report on the wave energy review is published today and I have arranged for copies to be placed in the Libraries of the House. The report explains the methodology being used in the review. All interested parties are being consulted in this work as it progresses. The final report containing the results of the review will be published early next year.
Joint European Torus Laboratory.
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what was the amount of energy recently produced by the joint European torus laboratory at Culham.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : In the experiment on9 November, the JET device is reported to have produced an energy release equivalent to 1 MW for two seconds. Many times this amount of energy was required to operate the device.
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Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what has been the cost to date of the JET programme at Culham.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : The cost of the JET programme to the European Community and associated partners Sweden and Switzerland has been about £750 million to the end of 1990.
SOCIAL SECURITY
State Benefits
Mrs. Dunwoody : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many families were dependent on state benefits in 1961 ; and how many families are dependent on state benefits in the current year.
Miss Widdecombe : Provisional figures show that 353,000 families were receiving family credit in August 1991. In 1990, the latest yar for which figures are available, there were 1.15 million families receiving income support. Figures are not available for 1961. Sources : Family credit statistical sample and annual statistical inquiry 1990.
PRIME MINISTER
Executive Agencies (Disabled Workers)
Mr. Meacher : To ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to his answer of 11 November, Official Report, column 356, if he will list the six Departments and agencies which exceeded a 3 per cent. level of staff registered as disabled in 1990.
The Prime Minister : In 1990 more than 3 per cent. of employees were registered disabled in each of the following departments and agencies : Crown Estate Office ; Department of Employment Group ; Land Registry ; National Investment and Loans Office ; Paymaster General's Office ; Registers of Scotland.
Departmental Annual Report
Sir Gerard Vaughan : To ask the Prime Minister (1) if he will arrange for the common core memorandum on departmental annual reports issued by Her Majesty's Treasury in July to be further revised to include in section D research and development undertaken by or sponsored by the Department ;
(2) if he will make it the practice for all departmental annual reports to include as part of their common core information a statement of research and development activity sponsored by or undertaken by the Department.
The Prime Minister : All departments with significant levels of spending on research and development already include relevant material in their departmental annual reports. Past and planned spending by departments on research and development was set out in table 4.13 of the "Statistical Supplement to the 1990 Autumn Statement", Cm. 1520. Up-to-date information will be published early next year in the "Statistical Supplement to the 1991 Autumn Statement". Extensive additional information is published by the Cabinet Office in the annual review of Government-funded research and development. The
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requirements for the 1993 departmental reports will be reviewed in the light of comments on the 1992 reports from Select Committees and others.Health Promotion
Mr. David Porter : To ask the Prime Minister if he will make it his policy to co-ordinate the activities of the Departments of Health and of Education and Science on including health promotion and self health care into the national curriculum ; and if he will make a statement.
The Prime Minister : It is already the policy of both Departments to work together closely in order to secure that young people are equipped with the knowledge, skills and attitudes to promote their immediate and long-term good health. To that end, aspects of health education are already included, wherever relevant, in several national curriculum foundation subjects.
Engagements
Mr. Harry Greenway : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for 19 November.
The Prime Minister : This morning I had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others. In addition to my duties in the House, I shall be having further meetings later today.
ENVIRONMENT
Right-to-buy Legislation
Mr. Harry Greenway : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will introduce legislation to enable local authorities to introduce identical service charges for people's properties purchased under the right-to-buy legislation, where the properties are similar and receive the same services ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Yeo : There are no plans to amend the legislation, which provides that a tenant exercising the right to buy a flat may be required to bear a reasonable part of the costs of repair and other services provided by the landlord.
The protections of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 apply to purchases of local authority flats under right to buy as well as to purchases in the private sector. Leaseholders have the right to information on how their service charges have been made up and may challenge unreasonable demands in court.
UN Environment Conference
Dr. Thomas : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what matters were discussed and decisions taken at the third preparatory committee meeting for the United Nations conference on environment and development in August ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Baldry : The preparatory committee for the United Nations conference on environment and development--UNCED--held its third session at the United Nations Office in Geneva from 12 August to 4 September 1991.
The preparatory committee considered reports on the activities of the conference secretariat and of other intergovernmental bodies. In its plenary sessions, the preparatory committee considered the structure and
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organisation of the UNCED action programme and cross-sectoral issues such as finance and technology. The preparatory comittee also considered the arrangements for UNCED, which will take place in Rio de Janeiro from 1 to 12 June 1992.Working group I of the preparatory committee considered proposals relating to the atmosphere, land resources, biological diversity and biotechnology. It also began work on a statement of principles on the management, conservation and development of all types of forests. Working group II considered proposals relating to the oceans and seas, freshwater resources, wastes and chemicals, while Working group III discussed legal and institutional matters, including proposals for a declaration of principles on general rights and obligations in the field of environment and development.
Many of the decisions the preparatory committee adopted requested the UNCED secretariat to prepare revised proposals for the preparatory committee at its fourth session, which will take place in New York from 9 March to 3 April 1992.
The United Kingdom presented reports by consultants on the role of technology transfer in the conservation of biological diversity and in tackling global climate change, and a discussion paper on the linkage between population, environmental degradation and development. These documents will be laid before the House.
River Quality
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he expects to receive the National Rivers Authority report on river quality.
Mr. Baldry : I understand that the National Rivers Authority expects to publish its report of the 1990 river quality survey in December.
Local Government Finance Bill
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what account was taken of the ideas submitted to him by the Liberal Democrats in the preparation of the Local Government Finance Bill.
Mr. Key : We welcomed the Liberal Democrats' decision to take up our offer of discussions on the future of local government finance. We do not, however, believe that a local income tax is the way forward.
Local Government Finance
Mr. Battle : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will quantify the net value of transfers--gross transfers minus reverse transfers from housing revenue accounts to general funds--from local authority general funds to their housing revenue accounts for each calendar year between 1980 to 1990 both on an England and Great Britain basis.
Mr. Yeo : The information requested for English local housing authorities for the financial years 1980-81 to 1989-90 is shown in the table.
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Year |Net Value of
|Transfers to
|Housing Revenue
|Accounts £
------------------------------------------------
1980-81 |308,697,811
1981-82 |327,383,247
1982-83 |251,723,321
1983-84 |291,333,242
1984-85 |287,590,281
1985-86 |257,615,638
1986-87 |276,691,862
1987-88 |279,016,885
1988-89 |308,841,920
1989-90 | 82,580,313
The figures are taken from housing subsidy claim forms and are not audited.
Mr. Battle : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many local authorities in (a) Great Britain and (b) England made transfers from their housing revenue accounts to their general funds during 1990-91 and 1991-92 ; what is the estimated total value of such transfers ; and if he will provide similar information on a projected basis for 1992-93 and 1993-94.
Mr. Yeo : Schedule IV to the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 requires a local housing authority to make a transfer from its housing revenue account to some other revenue account if its housing revenue account subsidy calculation results in a negative amount. The transfer must be equal to that amount. An authority not entitled to housing revenue account subsidy may also transfer any end-of-year surplus on its housing revenue account to some other revenue account. In 1990-91, a total of 19 English authorities transferred an estimated total of £23,227,569 from their housing revenue accounts. In 1991-92, a total of 14 authorities are expected to transfer an estimated total of £21,741,658 from their housing revenue accounts. The level of transfers from housing revenue accounts in 1992-93 and 1993-94 will depend largely on annual decisions about rent guidelines and management and maintenance allowances for those years and the amount of rent rebate expenditure incurred.
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