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Written Answers to Questions
Tuesday 21 January 1992
ATTORNEY-GENERAL
Criminal Legal Fees
Mr. John Morris : To ask the Attorney-General if the Lord Chancellor will raise the level at which criminal legal fees are referred to the central taxation units from £4,000 to £8,000 for a trial period.
The Attorney-General : No. The central taxing teams were established only 10 months ago for the purpose of determining claims over £4,000. They are still settling into their role and it would be premature to consider changing it.
When a number of claims for less than £4,000 are linked to claims for between £4,000 and £8,000, circuit taxing directors have authority to release these claims to the court for determination and this is done wherever possible. This enables the teams to concentrate on those cases which properly require their expertise. The Lord Chancellor keeps the progress of the teams under close review.
Sunday Trading
Mr. Alton : To ask the Attorney-General when he received an invitation from Hull city council for him to join them in an enforcement action against illegal Sunday trading ; and what was his response.
The Attorney-General : The town clerk and chief executive of Hull city council wrote to me on 11 September 1991 and 29 November 1991 and invited me to co-operate with local authorities in enforcing the provisions of the Shops Act 1950. He was informed on both occasions that I did not consider that it was appropriate for me at present to intervene. I explained my views in the answer which I gave to the private notice question from my hon. Friend the Member for Orpington (Mr. Stanbrook) on 27 November 1991 at column 913.
FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS
Treaty of Rome
Mr. Favell : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what arrangements have been made to ensure that copies of the consolidated treaty of Rome, as amended at Maastricht, are available (a) to Members of Parliament and (b) to members of the general public ; and when these arrangements will be put in place.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : A total of 838 copies of the draft treaty on European union agreed at Maastricht were made available to Members of Parliament on 16 December 1991. The text is now being prepared for signature, provisionally scheduled for 7 February. The final text of the treaty will then be published as a Command Paper. Once this has been laid before the House, it will be available to the public through HMSO.
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Saudi Arabia
Mr. Atkinson : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to Saudi Arabia about financing the military training of young muslims in Afghanistan ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : Since the US/Soviet agreement of last September to halt arms supplies to both sides in Afghanistan we have urged the Saudis, both bilaterally and with our EC partners, to provide only humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan. The Saudi Government have told us that they fully support the efforts of the UN
Secretary-General to find a political solution to the conflict.
Immigration
Mr. Cox : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the present number and current waiting time for interviews of (a) men and (b) women in (i) Bombay, (ii) New Delhi, (iii) Karachi and (iv) Islamabad, who are seeking entry visas to join either their wife or husband in the United Kingdom, as of 14 January.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : As at 14 January, the numbers of husbands and wives waiting for a first interview for an entry clearance to join their spouses in the United Kingdom, together with the estimated waiting times in months, are :
|(a) |((b) |Waiting
|Husbands |Wives |time
------------------------------------------------------------
(i) |Bombay |73 |238 |3
(ii) |New Delhi|80 |158 |3
(iii) |Karachi |40 |41 |2
(iv) |Islamabad|978 |690 |3
There is no difference in the waiting times for husbands and wives.
Libya
Mr. Bernie Grant : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will set out the provisions of treaty and other international law underlying Her Majesty's Government's assessment that the Government of Libya is not a competent authority to investigate and try the two Libyan nationals named in the warrant issued by the Lord Advocate.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : It is not international law which has led us to the conclusion that it would be wholly inappropriate for Libya to try the accused. The reasons for our conclusion are contained in the written reply I gave the hon. Gentleman on 17 January 1991, at column 713.
Mr. Stanbrook : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will supply a copy of the prosecution evidence against the Libyan citizens alleged to be responsible for the murders at Lockerbie to the Libyan court inquiring into the case.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : No. As the Lord Advocate said in his statement on 14 November 1991, proceedings became active for the purpose of the Contempt of Court Act 1981 when the sheriff granted warrants for arrest and he could not therefore comment on the evidence on which the
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charges are based. The statement made by the Lord Advocate contains details of the allegations against the accused. Copies of the statement are available in the Library of the House.British Visas (Teheran)
Sir Eldon Griffiths : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he expects to start issuing the full range of British visas in Teheran.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : As I said to my hon. Friend on 17 January, at column 712 , visas for some categories of visitors from Iran are already issued by our embassy in Tehran. We expect to expand the operation in stages as circumstances allow.
Iran
Sir Eldon Griffiths : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans he has for Ministers or officials of the Iranian Government to meet their British opposite numbers in London and Teheran.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : We are in regular contact with the Iranians through diplomatic channels in both London and Tehran. There have been occasional contacts at ministerial level.
Commonwealth of Independent States
Mr. Cryer : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans he has to reorganise his Department following the break-up of the former Soviet Union and establishment of the Commonwealth of Independent States.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : Over the past five months the FCO department that deals with political questions in the former Soviet Union has been reorganised and reinforced to take account of the independence of former Soviet republics. Departments dealing with economic aspects, including the know-how fund, are devoting increased time and resources to the member states of the Commonwealth of Independent States ; and the redeployment of further resources in the area is now being considered. Interdepartmental co -ordination has also been strengthened.
East Timor
Mr. Cryer : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will obtain for his Departmental library a copy of the Yorkshire Television's "First Tuesday" programme broadcast on 7 January on the massacre of civilians at the Santa Cruz cemetery in East Timor in November last year ; and what recent representations he has made to the Indonesian Government over these murders.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : We have a copy of the broadcast. The Indonesian authorities have been made fully aware of our views and those of the European Community on the incident.
Mr. Amos : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the continuing occupation of East Timor by Indonesia.
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Mr. Lennox-Boyd : The Indonesian authorities are well aware that we do not recognise their annexation of East Timor. We continue to support the efforts of the UN Secretary-General to bring about a solution.
North Korea
Mr. Cryer : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information he has about how North Korea was able to build a military grade plutonium production reactor outside international safeguards based on blueprints of the United Kingdom military magnox plants at Calder hall, Sellafield.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : Technical information about the Magnox reactors at Calder hall, Sellafield has been in the public domain for over 25 years. We continue to urge the Democratic People's Republic of Korea to fulfil her obligations under the non-proliferation treaty and sign an agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency which would place all of her nuclear facilities under safeguards.
Mr. Cryer : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the United Kingdom as a depository state for the nuclear non-proliferation treaty was consulted by the respective Governments of North and South Korea during their recent successful negotiations to establish a full nuclear safeguards inspection regime at nuclear facilities in North Korea.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : The recent joint declaration between the Republic of Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea which provides, inter alia, for mutual inspection of each other's nuclear facilities is a wholly bilateral agreement which does not fall within the remit of the treaty on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons--NPT. While we naturally welcome the conclusion of the agreement, we still look to the DPRK to fulfil her obligations under the NPT and sign a fullscope safeguards agreement with the IAEA.
Soviet Troops
Mrs. Margaret Ewing : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has received from the Governments of the Baltic states on the continuing presence of Soviet troops in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : President Landsbergis of Lithuania raised the matter of former Soviet troops in the Baltic states with my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister and me when he visited the United Kingdom in October 1991. The President asked Her Majesty's Government for their support in demanding the complete withdrawal of the former Soviet forces. We were happy to give our support.
Although we have not received any direct formal representations from the Baltic states on this matter since October, the Baltic states have raised it since at bilateral and multilateral meetings.
Mrs. Margaret Ewing : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the relevant authorities on the continuing presence of Soviet troops in the Baltic states ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : HM ambassador to Russia has raised our concerns over the presence of former Soviet
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troops in the Baltic states with the authorities of the Commonwealth of Independent States. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs also discussed this matter with the President of the Russian Federation on 20 January. We have expressed the hope that early agreement will be reached on a timetable for the withdrawal of these forces.Southern Somalia
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he will take steps to ensure that the continued conflict and instability in southern Somalia is on the agenda for the current month's New York summit on the role of the United Nations.
Mrs. Chalker : We do not expect the Heads of Government Security Council summit to address regional issues in detail.
Kenya
Mrs. Clwyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Kenyan Government about the recent detention of Professor Wangari Maathai by the Kenyan authorities ; and if he will make a statement.
Mrs. Chalker : Professor Wangari Maathai is one of a number of Kenyan citizens arrested for alleged participation in a press conference held on 10 January at which President Moi was accused of planning an imminent military coup.
Professor Maathai has been charged with publishing false rumours under section 66 of the Kenyan penal code and has been released on bail. Her case will be heard on 27 January. She has categorically denied that she was ill- treated while in police custody.
ENVIRONMENT
Rating Appeals (Bournemouth)
Mr. Atkinson : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many appeals against the 1990 rating assessments in the Bournemouth area are outstanding ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Key : Appeals against 1990 rating assessments in the Bournemouth area are dealt with by the Dorset valuation and community charge tribunal. At the end of 1991 the tribunal had outstanding some 9,100 such appeals in respect of the whole of Dorset.
Valuation and community charge tribunals are independent bodies. The prioritisation and timing of cases is primarily a matter for them. However, the Department wrote to all English tribunals in June 1991 urging them to progress 1990 list appeals as quickly as possible.
Community Charge Register
Mr. Atkinson : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what measures exist to protect single women listed in the community charge register from being trageted by mail order firms, telephone canvassers and door-to-door salesmen ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Key : The extract of the community charges register which each charging authority must hold available for
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public inspection may show only property addresses and chargepayers' surnames and initial letters of any other names. It may not provide any indication of sex. Registration officers may not supply the extract to any other person except so far as it is necessary to permit inspection.Boundary Commission
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the areas where the Boundary Commission is carrying out reviews in the county of Essex.
Mr. Key : The Local Government Boundary Commission is carrying out reviews on the Greater London-Essex boundary and also on the parish boundaries of Rochford district council.
Right to Buy, Northamptonshire
Mr. William Powell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many dwellings were owned by each district council in Northamptonshire at the time that the right to buy was introduced ; how many are owned at the latest date ; what percentage that is of the original figure ; and how many uncompleted applications there are at the latest date.
Mr. Yeo : The information available from local authorities' annual housing investment programme returns is as follows.
Number of dwellings owned by the authority at 1 April
|1980 |1991 |(2) as
|percentage
|of (1)
|(1) |(2)
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Corby |13,628 |8,143 |60
Daventry |6,082 |4,133 |68
East Northamptonshire |6,047 |4,849 |80
Kettering |6,626 |5,016 |76
Northampton |12,925 |16,350 |126
South Northamptonshire |5,745 |3,859 |67
Wellingborough |7,750 |6,009 |78
Right to buy was introduced in October 1980. Changes in local authorities' dwellings stocks include other losses and gains apart from sales through the right to buy. In the case of Northampton district council, the 1991 stock reflects the acquisition of some 6, 400 dwellings from the Commission for New Towns in April 1985. Information on uncompleted applications to these authorities is not collected centrally.
Council Tax
Mr. Fry : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make it his policy to relieve householders whose property has been repossessed from the liability to pay either the community charge or the council tax on more than one property.
Mr. Key : Since 1 April 1991 no standard community charge has been payable where the person subject to the charge is the mortgagor and the lender is in possession under the mortgage. We intend to continue this provision under the council tax.
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Burley-on-the-Hill, Rutland
Mr. Latham : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he is now in a position to announce his decision on the planning appeal regarding Burley-on-the-Hill, Rutland, a grade one listed building.
Mr. Yeo : The Secretary of State is in receipt of the inspector's report and will announce his decision soon.
Property Services Agency
Mr. Cryer : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the failures of security in the privatised Property Services Agency that permitted unauthorised individuals access to Government safes and cabinets.
Mr. Yeo : PSA Services has not yet been privatised and is still a Government Department. The accounting officer will be giving evidence to the Public Accounts Committee on 27 January on the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General which comments on the accounting problems relating to security furniture. The Government will, of course, consider any report the committee makes on this issue. The computer recording the accounting material had no data on it which would facilitate access to Government safes and cabinets. Unauthorised access to it would not have created any threat to security.
Gipsies
Mr. Ashton : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he expects to announce his decision on the application by Bassetlaw district council to build a permanent site for gipsy travelllers at Fox Covert, Worksop, Nottinghamshire.
Mr. Yeo : My right hon. Friend expects to reach a decision shortly, and I will write to the hon. Member.
Local Authority Members
Mr. O'Brien : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he intends to review the present system of payment of allowances to members serving on local authorities ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Key : The new system took effect in April 1991. It will be reviewed after a year's operation, in consultation with the local authority associations.
Rents
Mr. Battle : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what information he has on the extent to which private landlords reduce the rent charged to their tenants after a rent officer has assessed a market rent for housing benefit subsidy purposes which is substantially lower than the initial rent charged.
Mr. Yeo : We have no evidence as to whether the rents asked by private sector landlords reflect the assessments of market rents provided by rent officers to local authorities for housing benefit purposes. Rent officers interpret the rental market, which is influenced by many factors.
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National Parks
Mr. Knapman : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he expects to publish the Government's response to the Countryside Commission's review of national parks.
Mr. Trippier : My right hon. Friends the Secretary of State and the Secretary of State for Wales have today published the Government's response to the national parks review. Copies have been placed in the Library of the House.
The Government are grateful to the Countryside Commission for initiating a review of the policies and practices of the national parks in England and Wales. The review was undertaken by an independent panel under the chairmanship of Professor Ron Edwards. He and his team are to be congratulated on their work, which was wide ranging and thorough.
The Government reiterate in the strongest terms their commitment to the national parks. We have addressed those recommendations, drawn from the review, which were commended to us by the Countryside Commission and the Countryside Council for Wales. Our response is a positive one which reflects our concern to ensure the future of the parks into the next century and strikes a balance between the park purposes of conservation and public enjoyment on the one hand and the needs of those who live and work in them on the other. We are confident that our response is the firmest assurance to all those who cherish the parks that their future is secure and that the proper protection and management of Britain's finest landscapes is assured. The response confirms our intention to create all national park authorities as independent bodies, as the Lake District and Peak District already are, though still within the local government framework. We propose further detailed consultation on the membership of national park authorities designed to secure, among other things, truly local representation and to explore the establishment of local consultative bodies for each park to ensure that the views of those who live and work in the parks are fully taken into account in the policies and practices of park authorities.
The Government intend to restate national park purposes to refer expressly to quiet enjoyment and understanding and to conservation of the wildlife and cultural heritage ; to take steps to ensure that responsibility for detailed planning in their areas should rest with national park authorities ; and to invite local highway authorities, where they have not already done so, to delegate rights of way responsibilities to national park authorities.
The Government's objective is that major development should not take place in the national parks save in exceptional circumstances, but, if it is, the work should be done to high environmental standards. Because of the serious impact that major developments may have on the natural beauty of the parks, applications for such development must be subject to the most rigorous examination. In our response, we have developed a single test against which all major proposals should be considered.
We also intend to consider further the countryside agencies' recommendations that there should be a statutory duty on Ministers and public agencies in the exercise of their responsibilities as they affect national
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parks. In considering the wording of such a duty, it will be necessary to recognise that it cannot simply override the purposes or objectives of individual Ministers or public bodies but should be designed to ensure that they take national parks' purposes into account in any situation where there is a potential conflict. The Countryside Commission endorsed the review panel's conclusion that the New Forest should be formally recognised as a national park with a tailor-made constitution. The New Forest is a uniquely valuable area in landscape and nature conservation terms and it deserves the strongest protection in keeping with its national and international importance, while accepting the review panel's conclusion that it would not be appropriate to establish the New Forest as a national park under the 1949 legislation. We believe, however, that the recommendations put forward by the New Forest committee-- on which the national and local government bodies with interests in the forest are represented--provide a sound basis for achieving improved protection. The Government therefore intend to take steps to designate the New Forest area as one of national significance within which the strongest protection of landscape and scenic beauty should apply. With this would be linked a mechanism for funding and statutory status for the committee to reflect its role in co-ordinating the management of the area. The position would be essentially analogous to that of the Broads which enjoys the same degree of protection as a national park but has its own institutional arrangements tailored to the local situation. Following local consultation legislation will be needed to implement these proposals.The Government look to the Countryside Commission and the Countryside Council for Wales to work closely with the national park authorities in carrying forward those recommendations of the review panel which do not call for direct Government action.
Watch Tower House
Mr. Gorst : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what representations he has received from local residents and preservation societies at the prospect of substantial extensions to Watch Tower house in the site zoned as green belt on the Ridgeway at Mill Hill ; and if he will give an assurance that he has no plans to alter Government policy in a way that would facilitate further developments on this site ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Yeo [holding answer 20 January 1992] : No representations have been received about proposed extensions to Watch Tower house on the Ridgeway at Mill Hill in the London borough of Barnet. It is for the local planning authority to consider any applications for planning permission, having regard to their recently adopted unitary development plan and to determine applications in accordance with the plan unless material considerations indicate otherwise. The Government's policy on green belts remains as set out in planning policy guidance note 2 and circular 12/91. There are no proposals to alter the policy that :
"Inside a Green Belt, approval should not be given, except in very special circumstances, for the construction of new buildings or for the change of use of existing buildings for purposes other than agriculture and forestry, outdoor sport, cemeteries, institutions standing in extensive grounds, or other uses appropriate to a rural area".
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Renewable Energy
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if, pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for Newport, West, 13 December, Official Report, column 554, he will list the energy organisations to which he sent the policy planning guidance notes on renewable energy, to which he makes reference.
Mr. Yeo [holding answer 20 January 1992] : The energy organisations to which the draft planning policy guidance notes were sent are as follows :
Association of Independent Electricity Producers
Mersey Barrage Company Ltd.
British Wind Energy Association
Severn Tidal Power Group
Office of Electricity Regulation
Combined Heat and Power Association
Water Power Users' Association
Non-Fossil Purchasing Agency
Electricity Association Ltd.
Centre for Alternative Technology
Adaprojects Ltd. (Ecogen Ltd.)
Anglesey Mining plc
Wind Power Systems Ltd.
Northumbrian Water Ltd.
South Wales Electricity
Abbey Produce (Ramsey) Ltd.
Cambridge Health Authority
Oiltools Offshore Services Ltd.
James Paget Hospital
West Beacon Farm Power
UK Wind Farms Ltd.
Resource Conservation plc
Blyth Harbour Wind Farm
J. Stobart & Sons Ltd.
Ren Energy Sys Ltd.
Carters Wind Turbines Ltd.
Windcluster Ltd.
Whitendale Generation Ltd.
Taff-Ely Windfarm Ltd.
Windstar Turbines Ltd.
Cornwall Light and Power Co. Ltd.
West Coast Wind Farms
Aylescott Driers
Cold Northcott Wind Farm Ltd.
Wind Energy Group Ltd.
Yorkshire WT Ltd.
D. Gillson & Son Ltd.
Century Steels Ltd.
Mr. Hector Buckley
Y. W. Enterprises Ltd.
Sutcliffe Hockenhull
Severn Trent Water
Low Wood Products Ltd.
Miss Cooke and Miss Newton
National Power
R. J. Armstrong Evans
Arc Ltd.
Thomas Graveson Ltd.
Blue Circle WM
Aveley Methane Ltd.
Landfill Gas Ltd.
EME Generation Ltd.
Tarmac Econowaste Ltd.
BFI Packington Ltd.
Bidston Methane Ltd.
WWM Mainsprint
NORWEB Generation
Wimpey WM
O'Brien Energy Europe Ltd.
Merseyside Power Trading Ltd.
Summerleaze Ltd.
Darrington Quarries Ltd.
Broom Energy Ltd.
W. Yorks Waste Management
British Coal Corporation
S. E. London CHP Ltd.
Cory Environmental Ltd.
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