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Column 423
Written Answers to Questions
Tuesday 26 November 1991
TRANSPORT
Kent Link
Mr. Gregory : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much money has been approved for re-equipment of the Kent link services ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Freeman : Approval has been given to the following investment in Kent link :
Project |Cost
|£ million
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Initial build of 400 Class 465 Networker vehicles (to
make 4-car trains) |297
86 Class 466 Networker vehicles (2-car version of Class
465) |67
A further 188 Class 465 vehicles |127
Infrastructure (including platform lengthening) |120
|-------
Total |611
The Government have just increased British Rail's external finance limit for next year by nearly £1 billion to a total of over £2 billion. It is for BR to allocate resources to specific schemes within its external finance limit : that limit is not hypothecated to particular projects.
Channel Tunnel
Mr. Steinberg : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what safety precautions will be installed on channel tunnel trains to deal with vehicle fires.
Mr. Freeman : The safety precautions required for Eurotunnel's shuttle trains are set out in the report on non-segregation of drivers and passengers from their vehicles, published by the Channel Tunnel Safety Authority in March 1990. The report is available in the Library of the House.
Mr. Speed : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he intends to make a further statement on the channel tunnel or its associated transport infrastructure before the next meeting of the joint consultative committee in Kent.
Mr. Freeman : If any statement is made on matters of concern to my hon. Friend, I shall write to him.
Rail Line, Cowlairs
Mr. Wilson : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will place in the Library a copy of the railway inspectorate's provisional approval of the single line chord at Cowlairs, to which he referred in his answer of 7 November, Official Report , column 189 .
Mr. Freeman : I have made arrangements for a copy of Her Majesty's railway inspectorate's provisional approval to the single line chord at Cowlairs to be deposited in the Library.
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Trains (Ages)
Mr. Wilson : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the average age of (a) engines and (b) passenger train units currently in service, excluding InterCity, by British Rail region.
Mr. Freeman : This information is not available by British Rail region. The average ages by sector are as follows :
|Multiple |Locomotives
units |and
|loco-hauled
|stock
------------------------------------------------------
Regional railways |16 |25
Netword SouthEast |19 |27
EC Meetings
Mr. Sillars : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the EC Ministerial Council meetings at which his Department has, or will be, represented during November and December.
Mr. Rifkind : Neither I nor my ministerial colleagues have attended any meetings during November. I expect to attend the meeting of the Transport Council to be held in Brussels on 16-17 December.
Mr. Forman : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) if he will list for himself, and for each of the Ministers at his Department, details of (i) the number of visits made during the past month to destinations outside the United Kingdom but within the European Community on official business related to the European Community, (ii) the number of visits made to Brussels within the past month on official business related to the European Community and (iii) the number of nights spent over the past month away from the United Kingdom on official European Community business ;
(2) if he will list (i) the number of visits made by officials in his Department during the past month to destinations outside the United Kingdom but within the European Community on official business related to the European Community, (ii) the number of visits made by officials in his Department to Brussels within the past month on official business related to the European Community and (iii) the number of nights spent by officials in his Department over the past month away from the United Kingdom on official European Community business.
Mr. McLoughlin : No. Many of my officials attend EC-related meetings outside the United Kingdom. These are very numerous and the information requested could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Road Haulage
Mr. Hind : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he proposes any changes to the fees charged to United Kingdom hauliers for international road haulage permits in 1992.
Mr. Chope : I am glad to announce some further fee reductions following the successful negotiation of significant increases in the United Kingdom's bilateral and multilateral quota. This has resulted in greater income from permits without significant increases in costs.
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Our success benefits British hauliers twice- -first, from the more plentiful supply of permits and, secondly, from the reduction in fees.
The fees will be as follows, with the 1991 charges in
brackets:
|£ |£
-------------------------------------------------------------
Single journey permit |£2 |(£2)
Multi journey permit for two or more |£1 per
journeys |journey|(£1)
Annual period permit |£20 |(£40)
Three month period permit |£5 |(£10)
Multilateral EC/ECMT 3 annual permit |£40 |(£80)
Multilateral EC/ECMT 3 month permit |£10 |(£20)
Community Removals (annual) |£5 |(£25)
Multilateral EC 1 month permit |£5 |(£7)
EC 1 month cabotage permit |£5 |(£5)
Mr. Hind : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will announce the outcome of his Department's recent bilateral negotiations on road transport with the Soviet Union and its republics.
Mr. Chope : These negotiations resulted in agreement that road hauliers travelling between the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union and its republics will no longer need to carry permits as from 1 April 1992. We have also reached agreement with Portugal that road hauliers travelling between the United Kingdom and Portugal will no longer need to carry permits from 1 January 1992.
These follow my Department's success in February-March this year in negotiating the ending of permits between the United Kingdom and Hungary and the United Kingdom and Czechoslovakia from 1 January 1992.
Departmental Telephone Calls
Mr. Nigel Griffiths : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what information is available on the number of calls made to directory inquiries from his Department since 1 April 1991.
Mr. McLoughlin : Latest estimates are that about 24,000 calls to directory inquiries are made each year, representing approximately 1.5 calls for each member of staff annually.
Air Pollution
Ms. Hoey : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what measures he intends to take to combat air pollution caused by road transport.
Mr. Chope [pursuant to the answer, 22 November, Vol. 199, c. 236] : On 1 October the EC Council of Ministers adopted an amending directive 91/542/EEC prescribing stricter limits on the same gaseous emissions from new diesel-engined trucks and buses over 3.5 tonnes. Limits on emissions of particulates are also set for the first time. There will be two stages, the first to take effect in 1992-93 and the second in 1995-96, with the potential for a third, starting in 1999. The 1992-93 stage substantially reduces the limit for emissions of NOx and establishes limits for particulate emissions. The 1995-96 stage goes further with NOx reduction, so that the limit will be less than half its present value, and reduces the particulate limit to a level of stringency similar to that to be applied in the United States from 1994.
Both directives set ambitious targets with a challenging but industrially realistic timetable, putting the United
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Kingdom and its EC partners on a course for substantial longer-term progress in improving the quality of air in our towns and cities. Regulations will shortly be laid before Parliament introducing the directives into United Kingdom law.The Government are also pressing the EC Commission to propose a directive to control CO emissions from motor vehicles using a system of tradeable credits to ensure effective control of this important greenhouse gas.
On 1 November a new MOT emissions check came into effect. If motorists keep their engines in tune, less fuel is burnt and therefore fewer pollutants are emitted. It is expected that the check should improve fuel consumption and hence reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about 4 per cent. averaged over the 16.5 million cars and light vans in the MOT scheme, with substantially larger benefits to carbon monoxide and hydrocarbon emissions.
During 1992 the Government also plan to introduce an instrumented smoke check into the annual test procedure for large goods vehicles and buses.
SOCIAL SECURITY
Pensions
Mr. Meacher : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what was the cost of (a) the basic state retirement pension, (b) state earnings- related pension scheme, (c) occupational pensions and (d) personal pensions as a percentage of gross domestic product each year since 1979 ; and what estimates he makes, stating his assumptions, for 1995, 2005, 2015, 2025 and 2035.
Miss Widdecombe : The cost of basic state retirement pension and the state earnings-related pension scheme as a percentage of gross domestic product from 1978-79 to 1990-91 is given in the table. Estimates of the cost of basic state retirement pension and SERPS are not available for the future years quoted in the question, but estimates for certain years up to 2050-51 are published in the report by the Government Actuary on the second quinquennial review under section 137 of the Social Security Act 1975, a copy of which is available in the Library.
The Government do not publish assumptions for money GDP for the future years quoted.
Comparable information on the cost to pension providers of occupational and personal pensions is not available.
|Basic RP |Percentage |SERPS |Percentage
|Expenditure|of GDP |Expenditure|of GDP
|£ million |£ million
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1978-79 |7,552 |4.43 |- |-
1979-80 |8,815 |4.30 |1 |0.0005
1980-81 |10,518 |4.50 |8 |0.003
1981-82 |12,107 |4.72 |19 |0.01
1982-83 |13,509 |4.82 |40 |0.01
1983-84 |14,553 |4.78 |60 |0.02
1984-85 |15,181 |4.66 |87 |0.03
1985-86 |16,443 |4.61 |141 |0.04
1986-87 |17,560 |4.58 |219 |0.06
1987-88 |18,356 |4.33 |292 |0.07
1988-89 |18,857 |4.00 |380 |0.08
1989-90 |20,171 |3.96 |526 |0.10
1990-91<1> |21,990 |4.02 |725 |0.13
<1> Estimated expenditure.
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Carers Charter
Mr. McMaster : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he has any plans to introduce a carers charter to ensure the mutual financial independence of carers and disabled people ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Scott : We have no such plans. However, by the end of the year the Benefits Agency plans to publish its own customer charter which will take account of the needs of all its customers. An independent income for carers is provided in the form of invalid care allowance--ICA. More carers are now able to benefit following recent extensions in the provision of attendance allowance, the introduction of a carer premium into the income- related benefits and increases in the ICA earnings limit, from £12 per week prior to April 1990, to £40 from April 1992.
Housing and Mortgage Statistics
Mr. Squire : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will detail the annual figures for (a) mortgage interest tax relief and (b) housing benefit for the years 1989-90, 1990-91 and the projected figures for 1991-92, respectively.
Miss Widdecombe : The amounts of housing benefit paid to beneficiaries and the tax relief given on mortgage interest in the United Kingdom for the relevant years are shown in the table.
|Housing
|benefit <1>
------------------------------------------------
1989-90 |4.3
1990-91 |<2>4.9
1991-92 |<4>5.4
Notes:
<1> Excludes Rate Rebates and Community Charge
Benefit. Includes Rent Rebates and Rent
Allowances.
<2> Estimated outturn.
<3> Provisional figure.
<4> Planned expenditure.
<5> Estimated figure based on the assumption
that current interest rates are unchanged for
the rest of the year.
Housing Benefit
Mr. Moate : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what representations he has received about the working of the housing benefit direct payment procedure, particularly with regard to delays in payment and failure by recipients of benefit always to make rental payments ; what changes are being considered to the guidance notes to local authorities ; and what other measures are being considered.
Miss Widdecombe : Full statutory responsibility for the administration of the housing benefit scheme rests with local authorities, which are required to ensure that the system is working effectively and in accordance with the rules of the scheme. Regulations prescribe that claims should be processed within 14 days of receipt of all the necessary information, or as soon as possible thereafter. Where, through no fault of the applicant, a claim cannot be settled within 14 days, interim payments should be made. An important principle underlying the social security reforms is that individuals should be encouraged to take
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responsibility for managing their own affairs. Housing benefit is, therefore, normally paid direct to private tenants in the form of a cash rent allowance to enable them to discharge their liability to their landlord. Nevertheless, regulations do give local authorities wide-ranging powers to pay benefit direct to a tenant's landlord, for example where rent arrears have accrued or where social or medical problems clearly indicate that help with budgeting is needed. A number of representations have been received about local authorities' use of those powers, and the Department therefore intends to issue further guidance on the relevant legislation to authorities in due course.Disabled People and Carers
Mr. Moate : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what, in real terms, is the increase on expenditure on benefits for disabled people and carers since 1979.
Mr. Scott : Total planned expenditure on benefits for disabled people and carers for 1991-92 is £11,950 million--an increase of 152 per cent. in real terms over spending in 1978-79.
Departmental Contracts
Mr. Thornton : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many computer management and consultancy contracts were awarded by his Department in 1991, excluding hardware and software purchases ; if he will give the total value of these contracts ; how many contracts were subject to competitive tender ; and if he will give the value of these contracts.
Miss Widdecombe : Since January 1991 we have awarded 19 such contracts, excluding hardware and software purchases. The total value of the contracts is about £20 million. Eleven were let by competitive tender ; the total value of these is about £13.5 million.
Mr. Thornton : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list the names of the companies shortlisted for each computer management and computer consultancy contract awarded by his Department in 1991, excluding hardware and software purchases.
Miss Widdecombe : Details of companies shortlisted for computer management and consultancy contracts represents
commercial-in-confidence information.
Care Homes
Mr. Moate : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will specify the measures being taken to help those in residential care and nursing homes.
Miss Widdecombe : Special higher levels of income support are available to people in residential care and nursing homes towards the cost of their fees. On 21 October, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced proposals for substantial increases, from April 1992, to the limits which apply to people in such homes, including increases of £20 a week for two groups of people--the mentally handicapped and the very dependent elderly--and £15 to almost all the other limits.
From April 1993, new arrangements will be implemented as part of the Government's community care policy for the assessment and provision of care for such people. This will improve the effectiveness and targeting of the resources.
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Contributions Agency
Mr. Cryer : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list the powers available to inspectors at the Contributions Agency relating to entry of premises, seizure and inspection of documents ; and if he will make a statement.
Miss Widdecombe : The agency's inspectors have powers relating to entry of premises and inspection of documents to ensure that the Acts and regulations are complied with. The relevant legislation is contained in section 58 of the Social Security Act, 1986, and regulation 32 of the Social Security (Contributions) Regulations 1979 which is summarised as follows :--
Certified inspectors are empowered to :
(1) enter at all reasonable times any premises where persons are employed or from where any agency or business is being conducted. (
(2) require information to be provided by individuals and inspect any records to ensure that the provisions of the Social Security and related Acts are being complied with.
The regulations require employers to produce wages sheets and other records relating to the calculation of payment of emoluments, and that such documents should be kept by employers for not less than three years after the end of the year to which they relate. The vast majority of inquiries carried out by the agency are completed in an effective and businesslike manner, without recourse to these powers which are normally used as a last resort.
NORTHERN IRELAND
Fire Stations
Mr. Mallon : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what proposals there are to (a) refurbish existing fire stations and (b) to build purpose-built fire stations in Northern Ireland ; and what is the proposed start date for each project.
Mr. Needham : The Fire Authority for Northern Ireland's current works programme does not include any projects for refurbishing existing fire stations. It does, however, make provision for the following purpose- built fire stations :
Location |Proposed start date 1992 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Glengormley |January Crossmaglen |February Carryduff |November
In addition the authority will be providing prefabricated buildings for new retained fire stations at Dromore, Co. Tyrone and Ballywalter, Co. Down. The proposed start dates for these are February 1992 and June 1992 respectively.
Departmental Telephone Calls
Mr. Nigel Griffiths : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what information is available on the number of calls made to directory inquiries from his Department since 1 April 1991.
Dr. Mawhinney : The information requested is not available.
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Belfast Prison
Mr. Fishburn : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when he expects to identify the senior figure who will carry out an inquiry into prisoner management at Her Majesty's prison Belfast.
Mr. Brooke : I am glad to say that Viscount Colville of Culross, QC has agreed to undertake this important task, with the following terms of reference :
To review the operational policy in Belfast Prison for the management of paramilitary prisoners from opposing factions ; and to make recommendations.
Lord Colville will begin work immediately and I expect to receive his report early in the new year.
AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD
Common Agricultural Policy
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if it remains his policy that the agreed budgetary guidelines for the common agricultural policy must be observed ; and if he will make it his policy to veto any proposals at the Council of Ministers which would lead to those guidelines being breached.
Mr. Curry : The Commission is legally bound to keep agricultural support expenditure within the guideline, the base level of which can be changed only by unanimity. The Government remain committed to ensuring that the cost of agricultural support is contained within the existing budgetary guidelines.
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the amount in pounds spent on each agricultural product under the CAP in 1990.
Mr. Gummer : Expenditure on agricultural commodities under the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund guarantee section in 1990, is given in the table.
|£ million
------------------------------------------
Cereals |2,697
Rice |60
Sugar |986
Olive Oil |829
Oilseeds |2,468
Proteins |93
Textiles |412
Fruit and vegetables |890
Wine |529
Tobacco |875
Other arable products |60
Milk |3,518
Beef |2,011
Sheepmeat |1,031
Pigmeat |175
Eggs and poultry |127
Source: EAGGF Guarantee Report 1990
Departmental Telephone Calls
Mr. Nigel Griffiths : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what information is available on the number of calls made to directory inquiries from his Department since 1 April 1991.
Mr. Curry : This information is not held centrally, and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
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Agricultural Support
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the amounts in ecu spent on non-CAP agricultural support for each EC country for 1989, 1990 and 1991.
Mr. Gummer : The Government monitor, through their embassies in member states, the introduction of new state aids and modifications to existing aids, and draw any that seem to be of doubtful legality to the attention of the Commission. The Government do not keep comprehensive details of the non-CAP agricultural expenditure in other member states, since to do so would not be a cost-effective use of resources. Milk Quotas
Mr. Robert Hicks : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many disputed milk quota exceptional hardship claims were taken to judicial review following consideration by the diary produce tribunal for England and Wales ; in how many of those claims the courts referred the cases back to the tribunal for
reconsideration ; what was the total litreage of quota at issue in these cases ; and what was the actual additional litreage allocated to the producers concerned.
Mr. Curry : There have been eight judicial reviews of decisions of the dairy produce quotas tribunal relating to quota claims on the grounds of exceptional hardship, as defined in paragraph 17 of part II to schedule 2 of the Dairy Produce Quotas Regulations 1984 and 1986. Of these, four claims were referred back to the tribunal for re-hearing. These re-hearings resulted in tribunal awards of quota totalling just over 1 million litres. Claimants were not required, under the provisions of the regulations, to state the litreage of quota which they considered to be at issue in that case. It is my understanding that none of the four had been awarded exceptional hardship quota in their original tribunal hearing, although two had been given primary quota awards which together totalled over 3 million litres.
Fisheries Council
Mr. David Porter : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the outcome of the EC Council of Fisheries Ministers meeting on 28 October 1991.
Mr. Gummer [pursuant to the reply, 6 November 1991, c. 163-64.] : I very much welcome the decision by the Japanese Government to ban large-scale high seas drift netting by the end of December 1992, with an interim step halving the use of such nets by the end of June 1992. This is a major step forward in protecting dolphins and other small cetaceans. It is particularly significant as it comes shortly after the European Community's own decision, for which we pressed hard, to stop the development of large-scale indiscriminate drift netting. These decisions give clear notice to the world that the major fishing nations are not going to allow the development or expansion of such fisheries.
I am delighted at the news that the UN resolution calling for a moratorium on large-scale drift netting is having a clear effect. Britain continues to be determined to protect small cetaceans.
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ENERGY
Departmental Telephone Calls
Mr. Nigel Griffiths : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what information is available on the number of calls made to directory inquiries from his Department since 1 April 1991.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : My Department does not hold this information.
HOME DEPARTMENT
Asylum Bill
Mr. Martyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received regarding the Asylum Bill.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : Since July we have received approximately 200 letters from hon. Members forwarding correspondence from their constituents and about 820 letters from members of the public. A large proportion of these have been pro forma letters from members of organisations such as Amnesty International, Charter '87, A Charter for Refugees, and the Asylum Rights Campaign. The majority of correspondents have expressed opposition to one or more aspects of the Government's proposals.
Metropolitan Police (Compensation Awards)
Mr. Bernie Grant : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many members of the public have received awards from the Metropolitan police following civil actions brought by them for assault, wrongful arrest, false imprisonment or malicious prosecution in each year since 1985, inclusive ; and what has been the total amount of such awards in each of those years.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : The information is not held in the form requested. However, I understand from the commissioner that the amounts paid by the Metropolitan police under awards made by the courts and out-of-court settlements arising from allegations of wrongful acts, including assault, wrongful arrest, false imprisonment and malicious prosecution by Metropolitan police officers, and the number of plaintiffs who have received awards and settlements are as follows :
Year |Awards |Number of |Out of |Number of
|made by |plaintiffs in|court |plaintiffs in
|the court |receipt of |settlements |receipt of
|£ |awards |£ |settlements
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1985 |13,949 |8 |193,588 |58
1986 |46,836 |11 |330,332 |63
1987 |11,233 |6 |82,486 |48
1988 |107,035 |22 |250,557 |59
1989 |252,904 |30 |266,850 |51
1990 |188,110 |8 |557,214 |88
<1>1991 |18,627 |11 |299,691 |74
<1> (to 22 November).
Tamils
Mr. Cox : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what has been the number in each of the last five years of Sri Lankan Tamils deported from the United Kingdom.
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Mr. Peter Lloyd : The information available relates to all Sri Lankan citizens deported and is given in the table. No distinction is made in statistical records between Tamils and other Sri Lankans.Sri Lankan citizens removed from the United Kingdom under the deportation process. Year |Number ---------------------- 1986 |3 1987 |6 1988 |8 1989 |12 1990 |4 <1>1991 |3 <1> January to June.
Mr. Cox : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what has been the number of Sri Lankan Tamils seeking political asylum in the United Kingdom in each of the last five years ; what number has been granted ; and what number has been rejected.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : The information available relates to all Sri Lankan citizens and is given in the table. No distinction is made in statistical records between Tamils and other Sri Lankans.
Applications<1> received for asylum in the United Kingdom by citizens
of Sri Lanka, and decisions<1>.
Applica- Decisions<2>
|tions<2>
|Granted |Granted |Refused
|asylum |exceptional|asylum or
|leave |exceptional
|leave
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1986 |1,274 |5 |1,489 |5
1987 |994 |7 |733 |64
1988 |402 |6 |226 |52
<3>1989 |1,785 |10 |840 |30
<3>1990 |3,325 |10 |455 |10
<3><4>1991 |2,410 |10 |630 |15
<1>Excluding dependants.
<2>Decisions in a particular year do not necessarily relate to
applications in that year.
<3>Provisional figures, rounded to the nearest 5. Decisions figures for
1990 and January-June 1991 may understate because of delays in
recording.
<4>January to June.
Terrorists
Mr. Cox : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Irish (a) men and (b) women serving prison sentences in the United Kingdom for terrorist activities have been transferred to prisons in Northern Ireland or Eire in each of the last five years.
Mrs. Rumbold : It is not possible to transfer prisoners from the United Kingdom to the Republic of Ireland because the latter has not ratified the Council of Europe convention on the transfer of sentenced persons.
Information on the number of prisoners transferred from England and Wales to Northern Ireland is given in the table. Statistics are not collated on the basis of the prisoner's nationality, sex or offence. The transfer of prisoners from Scotland to Northern Ireland is a matter for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland.
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