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Mr. Kenneth Baker : The allegations on which the questions appear to be based fall to be considered by Mr. Colin Bailey, whose appointment was announced by the chief constable of Staffordshire on 20 November.
Poll Tax (Non-payment)
Mr. Nellist : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many persons have now been taken to court and convicted for non-payment of the poll tax in England and Wales ; how many have received prison sentences ; how many have turned up on court to argue their cases ; how many hours of court time have been involved and, based on the average cost per hour of a magistrates court, at what cost to public funds.
Mr. John Patten : During the period 1 April 1990 to30 September 1991 magistrates courts in England and Wales made 5.7 million community charge liability orders and issued 2,788 warrants committing non-payers to prison ; 23,456 court sitting hours were devoted to community charge enforcement at an estimated cost of about £5 million.
Prison Security
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will publish the Lakes and Hadfield review of prison security.
Mrs. Rumbold : As I indicated yesterday, my right hon. Friend has recently received from Chief Constable Hadfield and Mr. Lakes the report of their audit of
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custody arrangements for category A prisoners and of their inquiry into DOC1 division in prison service headquarters, and is considering it. He hopes to publish a summary in due course.Wandsworth Prison
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will call for a report from the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis on the number of police officers deployed in the vicinity of Wandsworth gaol on 7 July.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : I understand from the commissioner that two inspectors, two sergeants and 20 police constables were deployed in the vicinity of Wandsworth prison on 7 July 1991.
Crime Statistics
Mr. Hardy : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is his estimate of the number of crimes which have occurred but which have not been reported to the police during the last 12 months.
Mr. John Patten [holding answer 21 November 1991] : The fourth British crime survey, fieldwork for which will be in early 1992, will provide an estimate for 1991. Some types of crime are not covered by the survey, such as those where the victim is an organisation or institution, rather than an individual.
Satellite Broadcasting (Pornographic Material)
Mr. Hind : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he has any plans to make representations to his opposite numbers in the EC to prevent pornographic material being transmitted from foreign-owned satellites and broadcast by cable into United Kingdom households ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Peter Lloyd [holding answer 21 November 1991] : I have no such plans. The EC Directive on Transfrontier Broadcasting includes standards of taste and decency.
NATIONAL FINANCE
British Telecom
Ms. Mowlam : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list for each of the eight retail institutions undertaking the sale of BT shares the body which regulates their share-selling capacity.
Mr. Maude : The regulatory bodies that regulate the conduct of the selected retailers investment business are listed on page 47 of the prospectus for the British Telecommunications plc offer for sale which was published on 21 November. A copy has been placed in the Library.
Hospital Car Service
Mr. Steen : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what discussions have taken place with volunteer drivers of the hospital car service in Devon regarding taxation of the hospital car service mileage allowance.
Mr. Maude : The position is that motor mileage allowances paid to volunteer drivers who use a car on
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health service business are liable to tax to the extent that the allowances exceed the costs of running and maintaining the car for the miles travelled for the health service and so result in a profit. Letters have been sent to individual drivers explaining the position and setting out arrangements which will enable drivers, if they wish, to read off the approximate profit figure, if any, from tables calculated by the Inland Revenue. Alternatively, drivers can calculate their taxable profits themselves by reference to the actual mileage payments they receive and their actual expenses.I understand that the Inland Revenue has not held any formal discussions with volunteer drivers in Devon on this matter, but the letters to which I have referred suggested that drivers should contact their tax offices if they were unclear about their tax position, and I am told that the Inland Revenue has responded to a number of such inquiries.
Mr. Steen : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will consider building an exceptional depreciation allowance into the mileage rates applied to the voluntary drivers of the hospital car service.
Mr. Maude : The Inland Revenue's "tax-free" mileage rates already include an allowance for depreciation. These rates are used in a voluntary, administrative arrangement designed by the Inland Revenue to reduce record keeping for health authorities and volunteer drivers, but it is open to drivers to choose to have any profit element in their mileage allowances taxed on the strict statutory basis if they believe the Revenue's "tax- free" rates do not cover their expenses. However, in that case, drivers must keep records of all their motoring costs and miles driven, both privately and for the hospital car service, to enable the actual profit to be calculated and charged to tax in the normal way.
Privatised Industries
Mr. Page : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the net average annual financial contribution to the Exchequer, for the 10- year period before their privatisation, of each nationalised industry privatised over the last 10 years.
Mr. Maude : This information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. The information that is readily available, including information on the major nationalised industries' external financial requirements since 1978-79, is published in chapter 6 of the "Statistical Supplement to the 1990 Autumn Statement"--Cm. 1520.
VAT
Mr. Quentin Davies : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what progress has been made since his announcement of the introduction of monthly VAT returns for the largest VAT payers.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : In his announcement on 21 October, at columns 317-18 , my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer advised that business representatives would be consulted on the details of this change.
Customs and Excise has now produced a consultation paper, which has been issued initially to some 57 trade associations, representatives bodies and individual
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businesses, including the 17 members of the joint VAT consultation committee. A copy of the paper has been placed in the Library of the House.Citizens Charter
Mr. Corbett : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what methods are being used to distribute a copy of the citizens charter to every home ; what is the estimated cost of (a) preparing, (b) printing and (c) distributing it ; how many copies have been printed ; which commercial firms are being used for its distribution ; by what process they were selected ; which companies were appointed ; and at what cost to public funds.
Mr. Maude [holding answer 21 November 1991] : Neither the White Paper on the "Citizen's Charter" --Cm.1599--nor the accompanying short guide is being distributed to every home. Cm. 1599 is available, priced £8.50, from HMSO. The short guide is available free of charge. Details of preparation, printing and distribution costs were given in the Prime Minister's replies to the hon. Members for Blackburn (Mr. Straw) and for the Wrekin (Mr. Grocott) on 25 July 1991, Official Report, columns 781- 82.
Mr. Corbett : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many additional staff have been employed on the preparation of the text of the citizens charter ; at what cost ; and from which budget these costs have been met.
Mr. Maude [holding answer 21 November 1991] : No additional staff were employed on the preparation of the text of the citizens charter. The work was done by civil servants from the central Departments as part of their normal duties.
Competing for Quality"
Ms. Mowlam: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the cost of producing the White Paper, "Competing for Quality" ; and how much the Government expect to raise through sales of the White Paper.
Mr. Maples [holding answer on 21 November 1991] : The cost of printing, publishing and distribution were borne by HMSO which aims to recover these costs from the anticipated sales revenue of around £30,000. In addition, design costs of £10,700 were borne by HM Treasury.
HEALTH
HIV (Health Workers)
Mr. Chris Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what studies his Department is carrying out on the occurrence of stress and burnout, or related psychosocial morbidity, amongst health workers involved in the management of people with HIV infection and disease ; what information he has as to levels of staff turnover, absenteeism and illness amongst such workers ; and if he will make a statement.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : None. However, a research proposal dealing with this question is currently being considered by the Department. No information on the levels of staff turnover, absenteeism and illness specifically among such workers is held centrally.
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Asthma
Mr. Butler : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information he has on the role of oilseed rape in the causation of asthma.
Mr. Dorrell : Some individuals may be allergic to the pollen and other products of oilseed rape, as they may be to other crops and plants. However, there is no conclusive evidence of a link between oilseed rape and increased incidence of asthma. The Government have given financial support to a project based at Aberdeen university which is looking at possible effects on public health caused by oilseed rape. It will be some time before the results of the study are known.
Dental Service
Mr. Robin Cook : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will make a statement after the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Baroness Hooper's meeting with dentists from Dorset, about the suspension of the national health service dental service for children ;
(2) what steps he intends to take to ensure the continuation of national health service dental services for children in Dorset.
Mr. Waldegrave : There is no question of national health service dental services for children being suspended in Dorset or anywhere else. Dorset has the second highest level of children registered with a dentist in England.
Pensions
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will take steps to amend the health service superannuation scheme to enable part -time staff to receive on retirement a pension entitlement equivalent to that paid to someone with the same total number of years service who has achieved that service in full-time employment.
Mr. Dorrell : We have no plans to change the present arrangements. Pension benefits for full-time and part-time staff are calculated according to a common principle, which is standard pensions practice. Both are related to length of service and the amount of pay received at retirement. In practice, any part-time service is reduced to its equivalent full-time length and the pension calculated by reference to a notional whole-time rate of pay. To treat part-time officers as though they had worked full- time would be to credit them with service which had not been earned and for which no financial contribution had been made.
Scandinavian Airline
Mr. Kilfoyle : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the role of the Scandinavian airline SAS or its subsidiary SSP in the planning, finance and operating of the proposed obstetric and gynaecology unit in Liverpool.
Mr. Dorrell : Employees of SAS assisted clinical staff to formulate ideas about the model of care they wish to adopt in the proposed new unit. Following this, they provided design advice. There are no further financial links nor any operational agreements between SAS and the district health authority.
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Childbirth
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if his Department has issued any guidance superseding the "Maternity Care in Action" document's advice that every mother should be encouraged to have her baby in a maternity unit.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : No. The Department's policy remains that, as unforeseen complications can occur in any birth, every mother should be encouraged to have her baby in a maternity unit where emergency facilities are readily available. However, women should be able to make an informed choice about where to have their baby and discuss the options available with their general practitioner, midwife and obstetrician. Advice is also contained in the pregnancy book.
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is his policy on home confinements.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : Our policy on home confinements is set out in section 2 of the memorandum on "Delivery" submitted by the Department in evidence to the Select Committee on Health--inquiry into maternity and neonatal services. The memorandum is contained in the minutes of evidence given to the Select Committee on 3 July 1991, a copy of which has been placed in the Library, reference HC 430-V. Paragraph 2.6 of the memorandum says
"Although the demand for home births is not great, health authorities should ensure that there are policies agreed between the professionals to provide mothers who do decide to have their babies at home with adequate antenatal, intrapartum and postnatal care and that these arrangements are well known locally."
Redundancy
Mr. Robin Cook : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what data are collected about the numbers of stasff made redundant each year in the national health service ; if the figures are broken down by grade ; and if he will make it his policy to publish them.
Mr. Dorrell : Data on redundancies in the national health service are not collected centrally, other than in respect of staff who are both over 50 years of age and have at least five years reckonable service for superannuation purposes. These data are not broken down by grade. The data are distributed within the national health service for internal management purposes. There are no plans for any wider publication.
Abortion
Mr. Alton : To ask the Secretary of Health, pursuant to his answer, of 14 November, Official Report, column 656, to the hon. Member for Liverpool, Mossley Hill what action he intends to take against the British Pregnancy Advisory Service over its advertisements appearing in Cosmopolitan magazine, which circulates outside the United Kingdom.
Mr. Virginia Bottomley : I understand that the magazine in question is printed and published in the United Kingdom. As with other magazines in the United Kingdom base, a very small proportion of copies, in this case well under 10 per cent., are sent overseas. We are satisfied that the form of the advertisement in question is
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not directed at persons overseas. There has been a recent European court decision about the advertisement of abortion services and we shall be examining it to see if it has any implication for our condition of approval.Deaths
Mr. Nellist : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many men over 65 years and women aged over 60 years died in each month from July 1989 to the latest convenient date.
Mr. Dorrell : The information requested is given in the table.
Number of deaths for males aged 65 and over,
and females aged 60
and over, by month of occurrence in England
and Wales, July 1989
to December 1990
|Males 65 |Females 60
|and over |and over
--------------------------------------------
1989
July |15,795 |20,030
August |15,294 |19,134
September |15,486 |19,032
October |17,030 |21,366
November |18,087 |22,539
December |27,909 |37,589
1990<1>
January |21,021 |27,281
February |17,186 |21,292
March |18,044 |21,967
April |17,162 |21,544
May |17,000 |20,788
June |16,149 |19,937
July |16,123 |20,068
August |15,447 |19,545
September |15,671 |19,058
October |16,935 |20,755
November |17,165 |21,117
December |20,517 |25,432
<1> 1990 figures are provisional.
Medical Defence Insurance
Sir Michael McNair-Wilson : To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether general practitioners are required to provide their own medical defence insurance ; and what allowance for the cost of their premiums is made in (i) the remuneration received by doctors and (ii) the way they are taxed.
Mr. Dorrell [holding answer 15 November 1991] : General medical and general dental practitioners are not required by the Department to take out their own medical defence insurance, but would be expected to do so in their own interests. Subscriptions to medical defence organisations are taken into account along with other practice expenses when determining the provision to be made for expenses within the GP remuneration system, and are an allowable expense for taxation purposes.
Terrapins
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what advice the public health laboratory service has given on terrapin importation on health grounds ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Dorrell [holding answer 15 November 1991] : The public health laboratory service (PHLS) has advised that
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on the available evidence imported terrapins kept as pets do not pose a significant public health problem in England and Wales.Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Health on how many occasions the occurrence of salmonellosis from pet terrapins in the United Kingdom has been identified by the public health laboratory service.
Mr. Dorrell [holding answer 15 November 1991] : The public health laboratory service (PHLS) division ofenteric pathogens, which receives laboratory isolates of salmonella from human and non-human sources for detailed identification, has in the past recorded family outbreaks of salmonellosis in households where the same serotype of salmonella has been identified from terrapin tank water. The most recent occasion on which this occurred was in 1979. Since 1979 to date, there have been three occasions (two in 1981 and one in 1982) where the same serotype has been identified in a sporadic case and in water taken from a terrapin tank.
The PHLS communicable disease surveillance centre, which receives laboratory-confirmed reports of human infections, recorded in the period 1986-90 a total of 3,512 outbreaks of salmonellosis. Two of these outbreaks affected people in households where terrapins were kept as pets. However, as no microbiological evidence was reported, the presence of the terrapins could have been coincidental. Notes :
1. An outbreak represents two or more related laboratory confirmed salmonella infections in humans of whom at least one was ill. 2. A sporadic case is a single case apparently unrelated to other cases.
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information he has received from the public health laboratory service concerning the implications for the United Kingdom of United States data for salmonellosis contamination from imported terrapins.
Mr. Dorrell [holding answer 15 November 1991] : The following table shows the total number of laboratory confirmed infections of salmonella reported to the public health laboratory service (PHLS) communicable disease surveillance centre in 1989 and 1990, together with the number of reports received for those salmonella serotypes cited in the past in the United States as being associated with terrapins. The public health laboratory service advises that these serotypes are rare in the United Kingdom and, as can be seen from the table, their numbers declined between 1989 and 1990. Therefore given the available evidence it is difficult to conclude that United States data can be applied to the United Kingdom.
Laboratory reports to the public health laboratory services
communicable disease surveillance centre of all and selected
salmonellas in faeces (cases and excreters)
England and Wales
1989 and 1990
Salmonella serotype Laboratory reports of
|faecal isolates to
|communicable disease
|surveillance centre
|1989 |1990
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
All Salmonella |24,649 |25,351
S.java |29 |29
S.arizonae |8 |5
S.poona |8 |5
S.litchfield |6 |3
S.cubana |5 |9
S.bispebjerg |1 |0
Notes:
1. None of the above reports stated an association with terrapins.
2. One other report of a salmonella (S.typhimurium in 1989) stated an association
with terrapins. Further investigation revealed the tank water to be negative, so
the finding may have been a chance one.
EMPLOYMENT
Labour Statistics
Mr. Steinberg : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what was the number of people employed in bus manufacture for each year since 1980.
Mr. Jackson : There are no separate estimates available for the bus manufacturing industry. The following tables give estimates of employees in employment for each year from 1980, for motor vehicles and their engines, motor vehicle bodies, trailers and caravans, in which bus manufacturing is included.
SIC groups 351-352
|Great Britain
|unadjusted for
|seasonal variations
June |Thousands
------------------------------------------------------------
1980 |230.3
1981 |191.8
1982 |166.3
1983 |165.4
1984 |157.3
1985 |156.8
1986 |155.5
1987 |154.6
1988 |162.9
1989 |160.9
1990 |153.7
1991 |139.1
Earnings
Mr. Martyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many workers in the United Kingdom are paid below 68 per cent. of all full- timers' mean earnings ; and how many of them are (a) women and (b) part- time workers.
Mr. Forth : From the 1991 new earnings survey (NES), it is estimated that 68 per cent. of average (mean) gross hourly earnings of all full-time employees in April 1991 was £4.76. It is further estimated, using the NES and estimates of the number of employees in employment, that a little over 9 million employees in Great Britain earned below this amount. A little under 6 million of these employees were women, and just over 4 million were part-time workers.
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OVERSEAS DEVELOPMENT
Overseas Aid
Mr. Campbell-Savours : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the estimated percentage of gross national product that will be spent on overseas aid for the planning years 1990-91, 1991-92, 1992-93 and 1993-94, respectively.
Mrs. Chalker : The figure in the autumn statement for the aid budget in the current financial year is 0.30 per cent. of the estimate of GDP. Estimates for future years are not available.
AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD
School Meals
Mr. Simon Coombs : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on his plans to set up a committee to create nutritional guidelines for school meals ; what its term of reference and membership will be ; and when it will be expected to report.
Mr. Maclean : I have no plans to set up another committee. The matter is being considered already by the catering working group set up jointly by my Department, the Department of Health and the Health Education Authority. I am also expecting to meet representatives of the school meals campaign in the near future.
SCOTLAND
Crofting
Mr. Kennedy : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the value in real terms of current crofting grant and loan support when set against a base line of 1979 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : Grant and loan support for crofters is available through the crofters building grants and loans scheme (CBGLS). In real terms since 1979, the maximum grant and loan available to eligible applicants has increased by 31 per cent. in the case of assistance for new housing and 13 per cent. for assistance towards improvement works.
Social Work Department, Fife
Mr. Douglas : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on the most recent approaches made by his Department to Sheriff Kearney in relation to the anticipated receipt and publication by his Department of the report into the operations of the social work department of Fife region, indicating the response and the number of days which the sheriff has taken to prepare and finish his report together with the costs of his Department and others involved.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : Since May 1990 we have corresponded on a number of occasions with Sheriff Kearney about progress on his report and a likely completion date. In his most recent response last month he indicated that he was unable to give a firm date.
The costs of the inquiry directly borne by the Scottish Office to date amount to some £600,000. I have no information on the costs incurred by others involved.
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Rural Enterprise Programme
Mr. Kennedy : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the current percentage level of take-up under the rural enterprise programme ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : Current estimates of expenditure in 1991-92 are still subject to uncertainty, but it seems likely that expenditure on the rural enterprise programme will be about £1.8 million, as against the Vote provision of £3 million. This is partly attributable to a delay in the EC Commission's approval of the programme and to the submission of more modest projects than expected. The extension of the REP's business development scheme to new areas, announced on 11 November, should ensure that available resources in future are fully utilised.
Foresterhill Hospital
Mr. Robert Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the total cost of preparing business plans for directly managed unit and national health service trust status for Foresterhill hospital in Aberdeen ; how much was met directly by Grampian health board ; how much was met by the Scottish Home and Health Department ; and how much was met by the university of Aberdeen.
Mr. Michael Forsyth [holding answer 18 November 1991] : As I made clear to the hon. Member on 8 February 1991 at column 288, the cost of preparing the business plan, from which experience other boards and units will benefit, was £156,000 of which £100,000 was met from additional funds held by my Department for this purpose, £41,000 by Grampian health board from resources provided to institute NHS reform and £15,000 from the university of Aberdeen.
Mr. Robert Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the total cost of the consultation exercise for the Foresterhill hospital national health service trust application ; what cost fell directly to Grampian health board from its ordinary budget ; how much additional funding was provided by the Scottish Home and Health Department ; and if he will publish a detailed account of the expenditure, including printing and other expenses.
Mr. Michael Forsyth [holding answer 18 November 1991] : The total cost was £60,102.39. This covered the preparation, printing and distribution of the application documents as well as the leaflets prepared following a suggestion made to the trust sponsors at a meeting with Aberdeen district council. The costs were met from a specific allocation of £10,000 from my Department with the remainder funded from resources made available to the board to implement NHS reforms.
National Curriculum
Mr. McAllion : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he will announce his decision on the final location of the Scottish Consultative Council on the Curriculum ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Michael Forsyth [holding answer 19 November 1991] : The Scottish Consultative Council on the
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Curriculum is currently preparing an assessment of its accommodation needs, in accordance with arrangements agreed in March 1988. Meanwhile the Government's position remains as described in my letter of 17 March 1988 to the chairman of the governors of Northern college which stated that the location of the council's offices would be reviewed after three years and which expressed the expectation that the business of the council would then become centralised on the Dundee premises of the college. My right hon. Friend expects to receive the council's views shortly, and to make a decision on the matter at an early date thereafter.ENVIRONMENT
North Sea Conference
Sir Russell Johnston : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what progress there has been in implementing the recommendations of the 1990 North sea conference.
Mr. Trippier : In July last year we published a guidance note on how we intended to implement the measures agreed at the Third North Sea Conference which was held in the Hague in March 1990. We were the first North sea state to do so and I am pleased to be able to report good progress in taking forward these matters.
Contaminants entering the North sea through rivers are the most significant pollutant. We are making good progress towards meeting agreed reductions of inputs of substances that are toxic, persistent and liable to bioaccumulate. We have completed this year our part of a comparative international data collection exercise on river inputs organised by the Paris Commission. This shows reductions between 1985 and 1990 in inputs to the North sea, through United Kingdom rivers, for example of 51 per cent. and 61 per cent. for mercury and cadmium and of 30 per cent for Lindane.
The Hague declaration also seeks tighter controls on pesticides. The Government have substantially increased scientific resources available for evaluation of existing and new pesticides. Of the 18 pesticides listed in the declaration whose use must be strictly limited or banned, recent decisions on chlordane, mercury compounds and fluoroactive acid mean that 14 are no longer in use or are being phased out. Of the remaining four : atrazine is currently under review by the independent Advisory Committee on Pesticides ; a European Community directive agreed last year bans the use of pentachlorophenol except by special authorisation for treatment of dry rot in timber, and in limited industrial applications where emissions are controlled ; Quintozene and Chloropicrin are used in very small quantities but will be reviewed as part of the pesticide evaluation programme.
Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) have been a particular concern in the marine environment especially in relation to marine mammals. The conference agreed to phase out remaining uses and carry out their destruction in an environmentally acceptable form by 1999. The Department of the Environment has been working with industry to assess totals of PCB waste arisings in different industrial sectors and to develop new guidance on their safe disposal. This should be issued for consultation as a draft waste management paper next year.
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On sewage discharges, the water industry has expanded and accelerated its ten year investment programme to improve bathing waters. Some 40 schemes will now include additional treatment at an estimated cost of £600 million. We also welcome the adoption by the European Community of the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive which encompasses our announcement at the time of the North Sea Conference that we aim to treat all significant discharges of sewage before discharge to coastal waters.We have said that the disposal of sewage sludge at sea will end by 1998 at the latest. All bodies currently licensed to undertake this activity have now reported their plans to introduce alternative methods. The first disposal licences will be terminated by the end of 1993, five years ahead of the target. In the main these early terminations will result in the beneficial re-use of sludge either as a fertiliser or composting agent.
In line with North Sea Conference decisions, we have also been looking carefully at licences to dispose of liquid industrial waste at sea. We have sought to phase out this activity as soon as satisfactory land based alternatives become available. The number of licences granted for this disposal route has been cut from 24 in 1987 to just two today. We do not intend to renew these after 1992. This has required substantial investment on the part of industry. In particular, Sterling Organics and ICI have invested £5 million and £25 million respectively in innovative technology to treat and recycle wastes currently disposed of at sea. In addition National Power, who currently have a licence to dispose of flyash at sea, have also invested in new plant to produce concrete blocks. This will be coming on stream next year. We do not expect to extend their disposal licence beyond the end of 1992.
With regard to operational discharges from ships, the International Maritime Organisation agreed in September this year, subject to adoption by signatory states, to accept a proposal by North Sea states for lower limits for oil discharges to apply to all ships on a global basis. Similar action on chemical discharges is being considered. In addition, the Department of Transport is consulting the United Kingdom shipping and ports industries and related interests on the introduction of annex IV of the MARPOL Convention on sewage discharges from ships.
In the offshore oil and gas industry the disposal of discarded oil-based drilling cuttings was identified as the main source of pollution from exploration and appraisal wells. Our action plan to minimise this pollution by prohibiting the discharge of oil based mud cuttings by 1994 was this year submitted to, and accepted by, the Paris Commission group on oil pollution. Research and field testing on new mud systems and cleaning techniques have continued and early indications are that these should attract practical application by the industry.
We have also continued to give a high priority to support for the work of the North sea task force through the research programmes of a number of Departments. The results of this work, which includes studies on seals, dolphins and seabirds and better understanding of the links between inputs of contaminants, their distribution and effects, will be reflected in the 1993 quality status report on the North sea. Recently completed projects have included an atlas of North sea rainfall, by remote sensing, which will enable a more accurate assessment to be made of atmospheric pollutant inputs.
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