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Mr Lindsay EvansMr. Richard Haslam
Mr. Thomas Lloyd
This body has not yet met, so Chairman and Vice- Chairman have not yet been appointed.
Cardiff Bay Barrage
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what was the cost of the consultancy contract given to Mott, MacDonald of Cambridge in groundwater modelling in connection with the report by Mr. R. F. Stoner of Southampton university on the groundwater consultation exercise on the side -effects of the Cardiff bay barrage, published on 20 January.
Mr. David Hunt : My Department's contract was for Mr. Stoner's advice and report with the university of Southampton, and not Mott, MacDonald.
AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD
Coopers and Lybrand
Mr. Cousins : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the projects, the purposes, and the cost of his Department's use of the Coopers and Lybrand group since 1989.
Mr. Curry : Since 1989 Coopers and Lybrand has carried out projects to provide advice to the Ministry on the following matters : Regional Structure Review
administration of grant and subsidy schemes.
future organisation of regional administration and the Agricultural Development and Advisory Service (ADAS).
Information Technology
value of video conferencing to the Ministry.
technical assurance for the farm survey system study.
The cost of these projects is a matter of commercial
confidentiality.
Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the total number of individual animals by species in which BSE has been confirmed in each of (a) 1988, (b) 1989, (c) 1990 and (d) 1991.
Mr. Maclean : Bovine spongiform encephalopathy is a disease of cattle. The total number of cases confirmed by date of clinical onset in the requested years is as follows :
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(a) 3,038 (b) 7,614 (c) 14,332 (d) 19,792 (provisional)Multi-rig Trawls
Mr. Morley : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps he is taking to ban twin-prawn rigs.
Mr. Curry : Fisheries departments are at present consulting the United Kingdom fishing industry about a range of proposals to conserve nephrops stocks, including the possibility of banning twin or multi-rig trawls in this fishery.
Copies of the consultation document were placed in the Library on 6 December 1991.
Fish Withdrawals
Mr. Morley : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what quantities of fish have been withdrawn from sale under arrangements made by his Ministry in the last month.
Mr. Curry : Provisional figures gathered from the ports show that during the month of January, up to and including 23 January, 134 tonnes of fish had been withdrawn from the market under EC Council regulation 3687/91 at ports in England and Wales.
Privatisations
Mr. Page : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will give in respect of each privatisation since 1979 (a) the loss or profit of each company in the five years prior to privatisation and (b) any grants or loans made over the same period.
Mr. Curry : The Department has carried out no privatisations over this period.
Labour Statistics
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will give the numbers of (a) farmers and (b) farm workers employed in each county of England in June 1991.
Mr. Gummer : The information requested is given in the table. Data are taken from the June 1991 agricultural census and hence exclude minor holdings not covered by the annual census.
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Distribution of farmers and workers by county
County |Principal |Other |Spouses of |All other |Total
|farmers or |partners or |farmers/partners|workers
|partners |directors |or directors
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Avon |1,602 |588 |529 |3,576 |6,295
Bedfordshire |961 |443 |341 |1,962 |3,707
Berkshire |619 |216 |206 |1,475 |2,516
Buckinghamshire |1,479 |600 |460 |2,216 |4,755
Cambridgeshire |2,842 |1,279 |929 |6,150 |11,200
Cheshire |3,567 |1,328 |1,378 |5,442 |11,715
Cleveland |355 |164 |116 |440 |1,075
Cornwall |5,757 |1,775 |2,379 |5,495 |15,406
Cumbria |5,288 |2,255 |2,378 |4,712 |14,633
Derbyshire |3,057 |1,186 |1,078 |3,298 |8,619
Devon |9,129 |2,852 |3,921 |9,106 |25,008
Dorset |2,402 |934 |985 |4,123 |8,444
Durham |1,838 |739 |666 |1,816 |5,059
East Sussex |1,798 |601 |642 |3,879 |6,920
Essex |2,828 |1,371 |1,032 |7,149 |12,380
Gloucestershire |2,586 |888 |932 |3,903 |8,309
Greater London |336 |144 |142 |1,071 |1,693
Greater Manchester |1,174 |492 |430 |1,557 |3,653
Hampshire |2,343 |886 |829 |6,606 |10,664
Hereford and Worcester |5,487 |1,992 |2,036 |9,463 |18,978
Hertfordshire |995 |424 |338 |2,011 |3,768
Humberside |2,909 |1,550 |849 |6,362 |11,670
Isle of Wight |417 |128 |164 |789 |1,498
Isles of Scilly |56 |10 |27 |71 |164
Kent |3,325 |1,323 |1,136 |14,751 |20,535
Lancashire |4,456 |1,989 |1,893 |6,969 |15,307
Leicestershire |2,190 |943 |719 |3,227 |7,079
Lincolnshire |4,779 |2,415 |1,676 |13,086 |21,956
Merseyside |401 |176 |155 |838 |1,570
Norfolk |4,085 |1,710 |1,274 |11,856 |18,925
North Yorkshire |7,255 |3,164 |2,589 |10,348 |23,356
Northamptonshire |1,584 |717 |530 |2,389 |5,220
Northumberland |2,005 |935 |662 |2,895 |6,497
Nottinghamshire |1,554 |764 |487 |3,113 |5,918
Oxfordshire |1,630 |638 |552 |3,288 |6,108
Shropshire |4,035 |1,539 |1,592 |5,547 |12,713
Somerset |4,651 |1,676 |1,777 |6,501 |14,605
South Yorkshire |1,176 |532 |412 |1,547 |3,667
Staffordshire |3,667 |1,349 |1,378 |4,892 |11,286
Suffolk |2,848 |1,287 |997 |7,802 |12,934
Surrey |1,339 |422 |487 |3,477 |5,725
Tyne and Wear |223 |96 |64 |370 |753
Warwickshire |1,923 |755 |638 |3,176 |6,492
West Midlands |366 |154 |127 |775 |1,422
West Sussex |1,730 |578 |682 |6,131 |9,121
West Yorkshire |2,490 |866 |853 |2,994 |7,203
Wiltshire |2,370 |889 |820 |4,340 |8,419
|------- |------- |------- |------- |-------
England |119,907 |47,762 |44,287 |212,984 |424,940
Fruit and Vegetables
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his answer on 16 December 1991, Official Report, column 77, and the subsequent response from the intervention board, whether the cauliflowers, apples and pears that were withdrawn and ploughed into the ground or used as animal feed were sold by the intervention board and at what price ; who is eligible to use these fruit and vegetables ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Gummer : This is a matter for the chief executive of the intervention board executive agency who will write to the hon. Member.
Agricultural Land (Planning Applications)
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, further to the answer to the hon. Member for South Shields on 20 January, Official Report, column 23, if he will give the figure for the number of planning applications that were objected to for each year since 1980.
Mr. Gummer : The information requested is :
Year |Number --------------------- 1980 |366 1981 |489 1982 |251 1983 |157 1984 |203 1985 |176 1986 |203 1987 |58 1988 |31 1989 |33 1990 |26
Sheep
Mr. Marlow : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food why there has been an increase in the length of the claim for sheep premium form SAP1B (Rev G1991) for 1992.
Mr. Curry : The 1992 sheep annual premium scheme claim form has been expanded in order to give effect to new European Community rules concerning the eligibility for premium of members of producer groups, shepherds and producers who lease all or part of their flocks.
Mr. Marlow : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what will be the effect on the health of the ewe flock of requiring to replace fallen ewes within the period in order to retain premium payments.
Mr. Curry : It is not possible to access what, if any, effect the replacement rules would have on the health of the ewe flock. However, I would expect the prudent farmer to take all necessary precautions to ensure that only healthy animals are introduced into his flock, irrespective of whether this is during or outwith the sheep annual premium scheme retention periods.
Mr. Marlow : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many man hours he expects the
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average sheep farmer will require to comply with the recording and correspondence requirements of the new system for claiming ewe premium.Mr. Curry : The time sheep farmers require to complete the recording and correspondence obligations of the sheep annual premium varies considerably, not least according to the number of sheep losses they incur. The obligations--which in a modified form already existed prior to 1992-- should be seen against the background of an expected average premium payment of about £4,500 per producer in 1992.
Mr. Marlow : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what are the benefits to United Kingdom agriculture of the additional requirements in the sheep premium application procedure.
Mr Curry : The new rules for sheep annual premium are designed to improve the effective administration of a scheme which is estimated to be worth some £400 million to United Kingdom producers in 1992.
Mr. Marlow : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what will be the effect on the orderly marketing of barren, lambless and milkless ewes of the lapsing of premium unless ewes are held until the end of the period.
Mr. Curry : It has been a requirement of the sheep annual premium scheme since 1984 that eligible animals must be kept throughout one of the two 100-day retention periods in order to benefit from premium. In the United Kingdom these periods have been set so as to minimise any adverse effect on the orderly marketing of sheep.
Mr. Marlow : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what control the EC has over the enforcement of the ewe premium arrangements in France, Italy, Greece and Spain ; and what steps he intends to take to ensure that they will be enforced.
Mr. Curry : European Community rules on enforcement of the sheep annual premium scheme are administered by the national authorities in each member state. Audit inspections are carried out by European Community auditors in all member states to ensure that they operate the scheme in accordance with the rules and member states face financial penalties should they fail to do so. The United Kingdom takes the lead in the Community in pressing for the effective enforcement of EC schemes and will continue so to do.
SCOTLAND
Ports Policing
Sir John Wheeler : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what arrangements are made in Scotland for funding police forces for special branch ports policing.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : The Government pay police grant of 51 per cent. on all approved net expenditure for the police including provision for ports policing. Exceptionally 100 per cent. funding is provided to Dumfries and Galloway constabulary for the costs of those officers who are engaged entirely on prevention of terrorism duties at the ports of Stranraer and Cairnryan.
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This arrangement is in recognition of the exceptional demands which policing of these ports makes on the resources of this small force.Farm Workers
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give the numbers of (a) farmers and (b) farm workers employed in each region of Scotland in June 1991.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : The number of farmers, spouses doing farm work and farm workers employed on main agricultural holdings in June 1991, by local authority region, is shown in the table.
Number at June 1991
Region |Farmers |Spouses doing|Farmworkers
|farm work
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Borders |1,321 |561 |2,427
Central |783 |371 |978
Dumfries and Galloway 2,372 1,157 3,784
Fife |759 |328 |1,687
Grampian |4,737 |1,947 |4,911
Highland |3,246 |1,343 |1,957
Lothian |747 |301 |1,809
Strathclyde |4,232 |2,201 |5,170
Tayside |2,081 |833 |3,421
Islands |3,120 |1,351 |1,169
|--- |--- |---
Scotland |23,398 |10,393 |27,313
Note: These figures are not comparable with those for previous years
due to a change in the basis of the figures in 1991 which had the
effect of adding a net 3,400 holdings to the main holdings list. This
resulted in an increase in 1991 of some 2,300 occupiers, 800 spouses
and 800 farmworkers compared with figures on the previous basis.
Hospital Closures
Mr. Kennedy : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the proposals from health boards for local hospital closures which he has confirmed, since 1979, where the application has been accompanied by a generally favourable assessment of the hospital by the Scottish Hospital Advisory Service ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : Health boards are responsible for assessing need, for purchasing services to meet the needs they identify and to set and monitor standards. It is for each board to decide how best to discharge those responsibilities and what factors to take into account in doing so.
Scottish Hospital Advisory Service
Mr. Kennedy : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the composition of the Scottish Hospital Advisory Service, indicating in the case of each member their specific medical specialty.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : Dr. A. W. Drummond, director, consultant psychiatrist ; Mr. Ross Mitchell, administrator ; Dr. Desmond Cormack, nurse ; and Mr. J. Wood, social work, part time.
Mr. Kennedy : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list those occasions since 1979 when, in advance of seeking approval for the closure of a local hospital, the health board has preceded the application by entering into
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a commercial contract with the private sector aimed at substituting the NHS care so provided ; and if he will make a statement.Mr. Michael Forsyth : This information is not held centrally. Arrangements made by health boards prior to submitting an application for closure of an NHS facility are for the boards themselves to determine. But decisions on hospital closures are for Ministers ; health boards should not, therefore, enter into permanent arrangements which would pre-empt ministerial decisions.
Relocation
Mr. Campbell-Savours : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the policy of Scottish Enterprise and local development agencies towards providing assistance to companies which have plants located in England and which they wish to relocate in Scotland.
Mr. Allan Stewart [holding answer 24 January 1992] : Scottish Enterprise and the local enterprise companies would assess very carefully any proposals from companies wishing to relocate to Scotland before considering whether it would be appropriate to offer assistance. Any assistance provided would be within the terms of arrangements agreed by the Government and would take account of factors such as employment displacement.
Hay Premium
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what proposals he has for a hay premium, as outlined in the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds Conservation Review 1991, a copy of which has been sent to him, to conserve the corncrake in Britain ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Michael Forsyth [holding answer 20 January 1992] : My right hon. Friend has no plans to propose a hay premium but measures to protect ground nesting birds
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such as the corncrake are already in place in the Machair of the Uists and Benbecula, Barra and Vatersay environmentally sensitive area. Consideration will be given to the need for similar measures in other relevant areas selected for further designations.Dogs
Mr. Maxton : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he intends to publish the report of the Scottish working party on dogs ; and what action he intends to take on the recommendations made in that report.
Mr. Allan Stewart [holding answer 24 Janaury 1992] : My right hon. Friend does not plan to publish the report of the Scottish working group on dogs.
The Government have already tackled a number of the issues raised by the group in the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 and the Breeding of Dogs Act 1991. On 1 April 1992 we intend to introduce regulations under sections 149-151 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 to deal with the problems associated with stray dogs and the enforcement of the existing collar and tag requirements. Changes recommended by the group to the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 and the introduction of dog byelaws are currently under consideration.
NORTHERN IRELAND
Farm Workers
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will give the numbers of (a) farmers and (b) farm workers employed in each county in Northern Ireland in June 1981 and June 1991.
Mr. Hanley : The information requested is given in the table. The figures are from the June agricultural censuses for 1981 and 1991 and exclude minor holdings not covered by the census :
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B
Farmers Spouses of farAll other farmworker
County |1981 |1991 |1981 |1991 |1981 |1991
------------------------------------------------------------------
Antrim |7,090 |6,463 |1,269 |1,044 |3,731 |3,792
Armagh |4,806 |4,357 |608 |531 |2,086 |2,315
Down |7,428 |6,741 |1,102 |953 |4,251 |4,091
Fermanagh |4,368 |4,052 |646 |545 |1,839 |1,549
Londonderry |4,847 |4,595 |724 |563 |2,758 |2,796
Tyrone |8,340 |8,083 |1,110 |926 |3,660 |3,816
Northern Ireland |36,879|34,291|5,459 |4,562 |18,325|18,359
Extradition
Mr. William Ross : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether the Royal Ulster Constabulary have sought the extradition of Kevin McKenna from the Irish Republic in relation to IRA activity.
Dr. Mawhinney : It is not our practice either to confirm or to deny the existence of particular extradition requests in advance of an arrest and the bringing of the person concerned before a court.
Angelo Fusco
Mr. Peter Robinson : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list the representations he has made to the Government of the Republic of Ireland following the release on bail of Angelo Fusco.
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Dr. Mawhinney : We are seeking the return of Angelo Fusco to Northern Ireland, from the Republic of Ireland, to serve a life sentence for murder, two life sentences for attempted murder and two determinate sentences for possession of firearms with intent. We do not comment on Irish judicial decisions ; but I can confirm that we have expressed concern to the Irish Government about the implications of bail in the case.
Remand Prisoners
Mr. Peter Robinson : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will state, in list form, the length of time each prisoner presently held on remand in Northern Ireland has been in prison.
Dr. Mawhinney [holding answer 23 January 1992] : It would be inappropriate to list individual prisoners on
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remand in Northern Ireland, however, the following table gives a summary of the numbers of prisoners--male and female--held on remand.
Time on remand |Number of
|prisoners
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Less than 12 months |334
More than 12 months but less than 18 months |35
More than 18 months but less than 2 years |12
2 years and over |11
|---
Total |392
Note: The above figures relate to prisoners serving continuous and
uninterrupted periods in custody as at 30 November 1991.
DEFENCE
Services Sports
Ms. Hoey : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the official sports and games given financial support by (i) the Army, (ii) the Royal Navy and (iii) the Royal Air Force.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The following sports are financially supported by one or more of the services :
Association Football
Badminton
Basketball
Boxing
Canoeing
Cricket
Cycling
Equestrian sport/equitation
Fencing
Gliding
Golf
Hockey
Judo
Lawn Tennis
(Modern) Pentathlon
Rowing
Rugby Union Football
Sailing
Squash/Rackets
Table Tennis
(Sports) Parachuting
Athletics/Cross Country/Tug of War
Ski-ing/Bobsleighing
Swimming/Diving/Water Polo
Target Shooting/Rifle Shooting/Small Arms
Gymnastics/Trampoline
Angling
Motor Sports
Mountaineering
Orienteering
Volleyball
Sub acqua
Model Aircraft
Netball
Rounders
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