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Set-aside
Mr. Hunter : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a further statement on the workings of set-aside and the level of payments to farmers for land which is set aside.
Mr. Gummer : I have nothing to add to my recent statements on this subject on 12 December 1991, columns 547-50.
Beam Trawlers
Mr. Morley : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many beam trawlers have been inspected at sea within the 12-mile limit to ensure they are complying with a 9m beam length restriction.
Mr. Curry : Every beam trawler inspected at sea has its gear, including beam length, checked and recorded. It is not possible to provide a breakdown of the number of such inspections inside and outside 12 miles, but in 1991, 112 British registered and 139 foreign registered vessels fishing with beam trawls were checked at sea by the Royal Navy on behalf of the Ministry, some on more than one occasion.
Fishing Gear
Mr. Morley : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps he is taking to resolve complaints relating to gear conflict within the 12-mile zone off the Sussex coast.
Mr. Curry : My officials had three meetings with the industry, in London and Hastings, on 13 January. There is to be a further meeting with representatives of the netsmen and the trawlermen on 25 January. It will be chaired by the Ministry's district inspector of fisheries and will aim to reach an agreement between the industry parties to reduce the risk of gear conflicts in the area.
Shellfish
Mr. Wallace : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the locations in England where shellfish samples were taken for testing for paralytic shellfish poisoning ; and what was the frequency of such sampling at these locations in 1991.
Mr. Curry : Following is the reply :
Mussels
From April to August 1991, samples of mussels were taken from sites along the North east coast of England at Berwick, Holy Island, Budle Bay, Craster, Croquet, Cresswell, Blyth, Trow Rocks, Sunderland, Hartlepool, Redcar, Saltburn, Staithe Wyke, Whitby, Scalby Mills, Cornellian Bay, Filey, Flamborough and Bridlington.
Sites were sampled once a week. Frequency of testing was increased to twice weekly samples if certain levels of the PSP toxin were reached.
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Samples of mussels were also taken, approximately monthly, at the Wash, Kings Lynn, Norfolk ; Brancaster, Norfolk ; Pandora Sands, Norfolk ; Poole, Dorset ; River Exe, South Devon ; River Teign, South Devon ; River Avon, South Devon and Heysham, Morecambe Bay. ScallopsA small programme of scallop sampling on a research basis is carried out throughout the year. Also, from April to August, samples of scallops identified as those coming from the North east scallop fisheries were taken twice weekly from the main processing plants. If toxins reached certain levels, sampling was transferred to the major scallop ports at Seahouse and Amble on a twice weekly basis. Queens
During July and August, when Queens were landed at ports along the North east coast at North Shields, Whitby, Scarborough and Bridlington, samples were taken twice weekly.
Crabs and Whelks
If certain levels in mussels were exceeded in a two week period then crabs and whelks were sampled twice weekly at Berwick, Holy Island, Amble, Blyth, North Shields, Redcar, Whitby, Scarborough and Bridlington.
Grant and Advice Schemes
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will give the numbers of staff by grade employed in each of his Ministry's divisional offices in each grant and advisory scheme, and the number of staff employed by grade on the same schemes at each of the new regional scheme centres.
Mr. Gummer : The information is not available in the form requested. The purpose of the regional reorganisation is to provide a more cost effective and efficient service for customers. It is projected that the new structure will result in a net loss of about 150 posts across the country as a whole. Of these, about 40 are the result of efficiency savings that will arise from the concentration of grant and subsidy processing at fewer, larger centres.
Czechoslovakia
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what advice and financial aid from his Ministry has been given to Czechoslovakia since 1989.
Mr. Gummer : Financial aid to the Czech and Slovak Republics is the responsibility of my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs. My Department has had many contacts at ministerial and official level concerning advice to the Czech and Slovak Republics, particularly regarding state farm privatisation and training in seeds and plant varieties matters. In addition, my Department has arranged the exhibition and donation of agricultural books to universities in the Czech and Slovak Republics.
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Trawlers
Mr. Morley : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many inspections his Department has had of individual trawlers who have de-rated engines within the 221 kW limit, to ensure they are complying with existing EC rules and their registration documents.
Mr. Curry : Every vessel inspected at sea has its official documents checked to ascertain its recorded engine power. In 1991, 1823 such inspections were carried out by the Royal Navy on behalf of the Ministry of which 735 were on United Kingdom registered vessels.
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WALES
Leukaemia Research
Mr. Gareth Wardell : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what effect he expects the granting of trust status to have in the level of research into leukaemia and associated blood disorders in Wales haematology units.
Enforcement Action Appeals
Mr. Gareth Wardell : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will publish, for each of the last 10 years, by district council area, the number of enforcement action appeals that he has (a) determined and (b) upheld.
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : Information in the form requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost. Available information, for the whole of Wales, is as follows :
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|1981|1982|1983|1984|1985|1986|1987|1988|1989|1990
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Appeals determined |142 |93 |122 |126 |143 |152 |141 |130 |110 |128
Appeals upheld (and Notices quashed) |65 |29 |48 |48 |63 |83 |85 |54 |54 |65
In a number of cases where the enforcement notice was not quashed, appeals may have been successful to the extent that the requirements of the enforcement notice may have been varied.
Health Purchasing Consortium
Mr. Gareth Wardell : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will reconsider his decision to set up a West Wales health purchasing consortium.
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : The hon. Gentleman is in error. My right hon. Friend has made no such decision. The existing health authorities remain. East Dyfed and Pembrokeshire health authorities, together with the Dyfed FHSA, have committed themselves to formulating arrangements for a collaborative approach in meeting the health care needs of their local residents. This is a local initiative which has been welcomed.
Land Acquisition
Mr. Gareth Wardell : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will publish for each of the last 12 years, the public inquiries that have taken place in Wales relating to the acquisition of land for road construction schemes ; and if he will separately distinguish each person who received reimbursement from his Department of costs for representation and appearance at such inquiries, together with the sum disbursed.
Sir Wyn Roberts : The public inquiries that have been held in each of the last 12 years in respect of trunk road schemes in Wales that included land acquisition are detailed in the following table. Information relating to the reimbursement of costs of persons for either representation or appearance at such inquiries is not available.
Public inquiries relating to trunk road schemes 1980-1991 Year and Scheme
1980
Hawarden By-Pass (A55)
Carmarthen Southern By-Pass (A40)
Morfa Improvement (A487)
Pontyfenni Diversion (A40)
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Abercynon-Pentrebach (A470)Pont ar Gothi By-Pass (A40)
Bangor By-Pass (A55)
Llanon Village, Centre Section (A40)
Dolcorsllwyn-Dolysgallog (A470)
Newbridge/Ruabon, Johnstown (A483)
1981
Kilgetty-Stepaside By-Pass (A477)
Improvement at Cemmaes Road (A470)
Improvement from RAC Box 487 to Storey Arms (A470)
1982
Carmarthen-Bancyfelin Hill Diversion (A40)
Penmaenbach-Dwygyfylchi Improvement (A55)
Gresford-Pulford (A483)
1983
Holywell By-Pass (A55)
Bodelwyddan By-Pass (A55)
1984
1985
Pont Rhyd, Llwyncelyn (A487)
1986
Road Improvements at Haverfordwest (A40)
Boundary Terrace, Llandrindod Wells (A483)
Chirk By-Pass (A483)
1987
Cardigan By-Pass (A487)
Nant-y-Caws By-Pass (A48)
Aston Hill (A494)
Travellers Inn Improvement (A55)
1988
Llandeilo Northern By-Pass (A40)
Haverfordwest By-Pass (A40)
Ty-nant-Dinmael (A5)
1989
Malpas Road Relief Scheme (M4)
Ruallt Hill Improvement (A55)
Bwlch Cutting Improvement (A40)
Welshpool Relief Roads (A483)
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Mold By-Pass (A494)1990
Aberdulais-Glynneath Improvement (A465)
Whitland By-Pass (A40)
1991
Glangrwyney Bridge (A40)
Aber Improvement (A55)
Sows
Mr. Geraint Howells : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many breeding sows there are in Wales ; what were the corresponding figures for 1971 and 1981 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. David Hunt : Figures from the June agricultural census are given in the following table :
Breeding Sows in Wales In June |Number ------------------------ 1991 |11,950 1981 |16,256 1971 |36,129
Ewes
Mr. Geraint Howells : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many breeding ewes there are in Wales ; what were the corresponding figures for each year since 1980 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. David Hunt : Figures from the June agricultural census are given in the following table :
Breeding Ewes in Wales in June Year |Numbers ------------------------------ 1991 |5,222,915 1990 |5,234,964 1989 |5,111,490 1988 |4,893,276 1987 |4,700,960 1986 |4,566,884 1985 |4,460,463 1984 |4,392,208 1983 |4,270,282 1982 |4,125,966 1981 |4,015,836 1980 |3,898,352
Fluoridation
Mr. Gareth Wardell : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will issue a definitive circular on fluoridation.
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : I am considering this matter and I will write to the hon. Gentleman.
GPs (Night Calls)
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what steps his Department has taken to investigate the extent to which night-time calls pose a problem for general practitioners in Wales.
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : All aspects of the GP contract are kept under continuous review by Health departments. It is for the General Medical Service Committee (GMSC) as the body properly representative of the profession, to raise any specific concerns through the normal negotiating channels. They have not done so on this matter.
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what evidence he has regarding variations in night-time calls made to general practitioners in Wales ; and if he will provide the figures for each family health services authority area for each of the past five years.
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : Requests for night visits reflect patient demand and this will vary between different GP practices. Although a GP is a responsible for his patients 24 hours a day he is nevertheless free to exercise his clinical judgment on deciding whether a night visit is necessary.
The new GP contract which came into effect on 1 April 1990 introduced a two tier night visit fee payable to GPs by their local FHSA. The higher fee (£45) is payable in respect of night visits made by a doctor from the patient's own practice or from a small rota of local GPs. A lower fee of £15 is payable in all other circumstances. Prior to 1 April 1990 a single fee was payable.
The amounts paid to GPs for night visits in each FHSA area in Wales for the last five financial years are as follows :
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Night visit fees paid in Wales by family health services authority (FHSA)
1986-87 1987-88 1988-89 1989-90 1990-91
Higher night visit fee Lower night visit fee
FHSA |Number |Expenditure|Number |Expenditure|Number |Expenditure|Number |Expenditure
|Number |Expenditure|Number |Expenditure
|(£ ) |(£ ) |(£ ) |(£ ) |(£ ) |(£ )
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Clwyd |6,089 |98,031 |6,830 |117,482 |6,848 |128,395 |6,938 |154,361 |14,414 |648,616 |- |-
Dyfed |6,649 |107,054 |7,048 |121,220 |7,706 |144,487 |7,492 |166,702 |16,389 |737,515 |164 |2,461
Gwent |9,378 |150,985 |9,589 |164,927 |11,381 |213,394 |9,900 |220,266 |15,124 |680,583 |7,489 |112,332
Gwynedd |4,561 |73,438 |4,942 |85,002 |5,357 |100,444 |4,736 |105,386 |9,801 |441,036 |- |-
Mid Glamorgan |9,921 |159,734 |11,115 |191,174 |12,172 |228,234 |11,062 |246,136 |17,502 |787,586 |288 |4,324
Powys |1,836 |29,559 |2,061 |35,445 |2,160 |40,497 |1,983 |44,132 |4,536 |204,101 |91 |1,364
South Glamorgan |9,094 |146,419 |10,619 |182,642 |10,788 |202,277 |11,320 |251,863 |11,446 |515,056 |9,286 |139,293
West Glamorgan |10,170 |162,203 |10,601 |182,333 |12,148 |227,783 |10,691 |237,875 |9,473 |426,288 |8,068 |121,021
Note:
Prior to 1 April 1990, a night visit fee was payable for each visit requested and made to a patient between the hours of 11 pm and 7 am.
Since 1 April 1990, the night visit fee period lies between the hours of 10 pm and 8 am (ie an extension of two hours).
Ecstasy
Mr. Rathbone : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what has been done to inform all of those concerned with drugs misuse about ecstasy, its symptons and its harmful effects.
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Mr. Nicholas Bennett : The Department already has a comprehensive non-specific prevention programme as part of its initiative to combat drug misuse through which information about ecstasy will be disseminated.
In respect of the medical profession, health departments have recently published updated guidelines on
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