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Mr. Lennox-Boyd : The migration and visa correspondence unit of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office replied in accordance with standard practice on 21 January.
TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Research Institutes
Mr. Cousins : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list by standard region (a) the research institutes operated for, or on behalf of, his Department and the total employment thereat, (b) the total number of such institutes and the total employment therein and (c) if he will express the regional totals as a percentage of the national totals.
Mr. Leigh : The Department has four research establishments as follows : the Laboratory of the Government Chemist--LGC--and the National Physical Laboratory--NPL--both based at Teddington ; Warren Spring Laboratory--WSL--at Stevenage ; and the National Engineering Laboratory-- NEL--at East Kilbride. Each of the establishments has been established as an executive agency.
The details requested are as follows :
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Establishment Staff in post Percentage in
|region
---------------------------------------------
LGC
South East |337.5
NPL
South East |833 |79.1
South East |313.5
Scotland |391.5 |20.9
|------- |-------
Total |1,875.5 |100
Trade Fairs (Support)
Mr. Patrick Thompson : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement about the support available from his Department to assist United Kingdom companies participating in overseas trade fairs.
Mr. Sainsbury : The report of a Rayner efficiency scrutiny review of the status of the Department's fairs and promotions branch was presented to me in June 1991. A copy was placed in the Library of the House. I have accepted the key recommendations of the report, which are :
"the separation of the operations of Fairs and Promotions Branch into two units, one concerned with the administration of grant support and the other with the delivery of exhibition project management services. The services unit will operate on a full economic cost basis from 1 April 1992. The feasibility of its becoming a "Next Steps" agency will be reviewed in the Autumn of 1993 ;
greater freedom of choice for sponsoring organisations, such as trade associations and chambers of commerce, to negotiate directly with exhibition organisers and contractors for space and/or stand construction so as to obtain maximum benefits on behalf of their exhibitors ;
simplification of the administration of the grant support scheme. This will involve the introduction of fixed grants towards the costs of space and stand construction to replace the present system of assistance of half the estimated direct costs of providing these facilities."
We will be introducing administration grants to offset the cost of sponsoring organisations of making their own arrangements for the provision of exhibition services and increasing the level of travel grants available to eligible exhibitors taking part in exhibitions outside western Europe.
Offers of support under these new terms, which are designed to maintain the level of subsidy to eligible exhibitors at broadly 50 per cent. of the costs of space and stand provision, will be introduced after 1 April 1992. There will be no cut in the budget available to the fairs and promotions branch. Rather, the introduction of a streamlined system of fixed grants will enable the branch's budget to support a greater number of British groups attending overseas trade fairs.
These new arrangements will achieve substantial savings in administrative costs, and better value for money for British exporters. They will lead to even more effective United Kingdom representation at overseas trade fairs.
Cotton
Mr. Nicholas Winterton : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what information he has concerning the number of cotton mill closures which have occurred in each of the last five years for which figures are available ; and what estimate he has made of the cost to the United Kingdom economy in each of those years.
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Mr. Leigh : This information is not available.Mr. Nicholas Winterton : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what was the value and volume of output of the United Kingdom cotton spinning industry in each of the last five years for which figures are available ; and what corresponding figures he has for the average of the rest of Europe in each of those years.
Mr. Leigh : The value of output of spinning and doubling on the cotton system--SIC activity 4321--is shown on pages 250-251 of "Business Monitor PA 1002", a copy of which is available in the Library of the House.
Comparable information for Europe is not available, nor is information available on the volume of output.
Mr. Nicholas Winterton : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what information he has concerning the profitability of (a) the United Kingdom and (b) the European cotton spinning industries.
Mr. Leigh : This information is not available.
Mr. Nicholas Winterton : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent action he has taken to prevent the dumping of spun cotton products by (a) Turkey, (b) Brazil and (c) Egypt.
Mr. Sainsbury : The European Commission opened an anti-dumping investigation into imports of cotton yarn on 22 March 1990. Provisional anti-dumping duties were imposed by the Commission on 28 September 1991 on imports from Brazil, Egypt and Turkey. The provisional duties are due to expire on 28 March 1992 and we are awaiting the Commission's proposals for terminating the investigation definitively.
Arms Exports Exhibition
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether temporary export licences are required by United Kingdom manufacturers for equipment that they intend to display at the Eurosatory arms export exhibition to be held in Paris from 22 to 27 June.
Mr. Sainsbury [holding answer 21 January 1992] : Any item which falls under the control of the Export of Goods (Control) Order 1991 requires an export licence before it can be exported, whatever the purpose of export. Whether that licence is for a temporary or permanent period of export depends upon the circumstances of each case.
Instruments of Torture
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) if he will make a statement on his policy on the export of strobe lights and white noise generators ;
(2) what investigations he is undertaking into exports to the United Arab Emirates of equipment capable of use for the purposes of torture.
Mr. Sainsbury [holding answer 27 January 1992] : I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave on 23 January 1992, at columns 292-94.
TRANSPORT
Bus Demonstration Projects
Mr. Trotter : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport which bus demonstration projects he will be supporting.
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Mr. Freeman : Supplementary credit approvals totalling £3 million are to be allocated to local authorities in England outside London for capital expenditure on measures to promote bus use in 1992-93. Table 1 sets out the detailed allocations. The Department will be writing to each of the authorities notifying them of the purpose for which approvals have been given. Up to a further £1 million is being held for schemes in London. Consideration is being given to projects in London in the light of the red route proposals and a further announcement will be made as soon as possible.
These allocations are in addition to acceptance of the Chester park and ride scheme for transport supplementary grant at a total estimated cost of £1.245 million which was announced on 19 December as part of the main transport supplementary grant and credit approval settlement for 1992-93.
I am pleased that local authorities are giving serious consideration to the role of the bus in helping to alleviate the problems of our urban environment. The allocations we have made will enable authorities to introduce a number of measures to promote bus use, including a range of bus priority schemes. We shall be monitoring some of the projects for demonstration purposes. I would like this to be the start of an ongoing programme and more resources are planned for this purpose in 1993-94.
I am also keen to encourage the use of low floor buses and to evaluate the possible part that clean fuel vehicles might play in meeting our future transport needs. We shall be writing to local authorities inviting them to put forward proposals for projects of this nature for which further supplementary credit approvals could be allocated.
Table 1
Local authority supplementary
credit approvals for bus priority
measures 1992-93
|£,000
-----------------------------------
Counties
East Sussex |225
Oxfordshire |200
Hampshire |20
Surrey |25
Avon |100
Norfolk |225
Leicestershire |70
Northamptonshire |100
Nottinghamshire |300
Lancashire |250
Cleveland |50
Metropolitan Districts
Birmingham |165
Coventry |50
Dudley |100
Walsall |70
Manchester |150
Salford |150
Oldham |100
Leeds |200
Sheffield |350
Newcastle |100
|----
Total |3,000
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Privatisation
Mr. Page : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 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.
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Mr. McLoughlin : The available information is as follows.
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(a) Profit performance (pre-tax profit (loss)-Historic cost convention) £ million Company (Year privatised) |1979 |1980 |1981 |1982 |1983 |1984 |1985 |1986 |1987 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NFC (1982) |n/a |n/a |4.3 |- |- |- |- |- |- ABP (1983) |22.4 |11.5 |(10.3) |5.5 |- |- |- |- |- NBC<1> |- |- |5.0 |19.0 |27 |25 |18 |- |- British Airways (1987) |- |- |- |(108.0) |74 |185 |191 |195 |- BAA<2> (1987) |- |- |- |- |30 |48 |72 |84 |90 <1>The National Bus Company was broken up and sold as 72 separate companies between 1986 and 1988. Figures are not available for each individual company. The figures given are the operating profit of the NBC group, before taxation and extraordinary items, and after receipt of operating subsidiaries. <2>Last full year in public sector.
(b) Grants and loans
The figures given below are the industries' external financing outturns; these are net figures which
include government approved borrowing and
grants. The grant element is indicated where applicable.
£ million
|1977-78|1978-79|1979-80|1980-81|1981-82|1982-83|1983-84|1984-85|1985-86|1986-87|1987-88
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NFC EFL |37 |29 |28 |10 |7 |- |- |- |- |- |-
[Grant |29 |13 |11 |5 |2] |- |- |- |- |- |-]
ABP EFL |- |-13 |-7 |1 |13 |-12 |- |- |- |- |-
[Grant |- |- |- |- |- |-] |- |- |- |- |-]
NBC EFL |- |- |- |- |74 |56 |58 |49 |41 |19 |118
[Grant |- |- |- |- |64 |69 |66 |64 |66 |- |-]
BA EFL |- |- |- |- |149 |-35 |-174 |-335 |-211 |-113 |-
[Grant |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |-] |-]
BAA EFL |- |- |- |- |2 |2 |18 |10 |-21 |17 |-9
[Grant |- |- |- |- |1 |- |- |- |- |- |-]
Motorway Accidents
Mr. Pawsey : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to his answer of 17 January, Official Report, columns 656-57, on discussions with other Governments on research into accidents caused by motorists falling asleep, if he will give details of the most recent occasion on which his regular contacts included discussion of this aspect of road safety.
Mr. Chope : Driver fatigue was most recently discussed with officials of the United States National Highway Traffic Safety Administration at a meeting in Washington on 16 January.
London Travel Statistics
Mr. Spearing : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what information he possesses concerning the passenger hours spent in movement in central London on a normal weekday by (a) foot, (b) bus, (c) underground railways, (d) black taxi cab and (e) private motor car.
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Mr. McLoughlin : The information requested is not available.
Mr. Spearing : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what information he has concerning the passenger miles carried in central London during a usual week by (a) private motor cars, (b) black taxi cabs, (c) buses and (d) public or chartered coaches ; (2) what information he possesses concerning the approximate proportion or percentage of passenger miles travelled per day on roads in central London by (a) private motor cars, (b) black taxi cabs, (c) buses and (d) public and chartered coaches during (i) weekday peak hours, (ii) weekday non-peak hours, (iii) weekends and (iv) any other period.
Mr. McLoughlin : The available estimates are given in the table and relate to travel on trunk and principal roads in central London in 1990. These estimates have been derived from a number of sources and are very approximate.
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Million passenger kilometres travelled per: Percentage passenger kilometres by mode
|Week |Weekday |Weekend Day|Week |Weekday
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cars |22.0 |3.0 |3.0 |52 |46
Taxis |2.5 |0.5 |0.5 |6 |8
London Buses |15.0 |2.5 |1.5 - |35 |38 |30 -
Other Buses |3.0 |0.5 |7 |8
Note: Estimates of passenger kilometres are rounded to the nearest half million. The figures for weekdays
and weekends are therefore not necessarily consistent with those for the weekly totals.
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M3
Mr. John Browne : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when the portion of the new M3 south and east of Compton and Stanford village is to be completed and the present 50 mph speed limit discontinued.
Mr. Chope : The Compton-Bassett section of the M3 is expected to be open to traffic and the current speed limits lifted as soon as the signalling system has been completed.
A19
Mr. Cummings : To ask the Secretary of State for transport if he will list the road works which are to be carried out on that stretch of the A19 running through the Easington constituency in the financial year 1992- 93, indicating the cost of such works.
Mr. Chope : The information requested has not yet been finalised but as soon as it is I shall write to the hon. Member.
Stranraer to Larne Ferries
Ms. Walley : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make public the report his Department has undertaken on hours worked by ratings on Sealink Stena Stranraer to Larne service ferries.
Mr. McLoughlin : The Department is unable to make public its findings on the hours worked by ratings on Sealink Stena Stranraer to Larne service ferries because of undertakings given to respect the confidentiality of the seafarers concerned. However, I can confirm that an investigation has been undertaken and that steps have been put in hand by the company at the Department's request to ensure that working hours are properly recorded.
Concessionary Fares
Mr. Prescott : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many (a) district councils and (b) metropolitan district councils have introduced a concessionary fares scheme for elderly or disabled people in their area under discretionary powers granted by the Transport Act 1985.
Mr. Rifkind : According to a survey by my Department in 1986, there were concessionary fare schemes for pensioners or disabled people in over 90 per cent. of districts in England and Wales, some operated by district councils and some by county councils. In metropolitan areas the passenger transport executives can provide these schemes, and I understand that they all do so. In London a scheme is funded by the boroughs.
Tees and Hartlepool Port Authority
Mr. Butler : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he is now in a position to announce his decision on the recommendation put to him by the board of the Tees and Hartlepool port authority concerning the sale of its undertaking.
Mr. Rifkind : Yes. In my answer to a question from my hon. Friend the Member for Stockton, South (Mr. Devlin) on 18 December I said that I had written to the chairman
Column 500
of THPA to say that I was minded to give my formal consent to the sale of the authority's successor company--Tees and Hartlepool Port Authority Ltd.--to Teesside Holdings Ltd. as soon as I was able to do so ; and that this would be possible only after the scheme of transfer submitted by the authority under section 9(1) of the Ports Act 1991 and the order providing for a levy on disposals of land to be made under section 17 of the Act had come into effect. The former took effect on 30 December 1991 and the latter on 16 January. Since I gave my answer to my hon. Friend's question on 18 December, a number of representations have been put to me concerning the sale, notably by Mr. John Hackney, the chief executive of THPA and chairman of the THPA Consortium plc, and by the hon. Member for Middlesbrough (Mr. Bell), who have sought to persuade me that I should withhold my consent to the THPA board's recommendation concerning the sale of the port. I have considered the matters which have been put before me very carefully, including taking counsel's advice. I have concluded that there is nothing in them which would justify my taking a different decision from the one I was minded to take in December. I am satisfied that the THPA board conducted the sale of its undertaking properly, and fully in accordance with the procedure agreed with my Department. In so far as it has been represented to me that the advice of THPA's professional advisers was misleading to the THPA consortium, I am satisfied that it was proper advice and should not have given rise to any misapprehension on the part of the consortium. I am further satisfied that the board evaluated the final bids which it received in accordance with the objectives of sale agreed between THPA and myself and that it did not apply any additional or different objectives of sale. These objectives were : "In assessing the merits of competing offers, the Board of the Authority will have particular regard to the desirability of encouraging the disposal to managers and staff of the whole or a substantial part of the equity share capital of its privatised undertaking. The Board will seek the best open market price for its undertaking having regard to its desire to ensure that after privatisation the undertaking should continue to operate in ways which are beneficial to the local economy. To that end the Board will look closely at the background and business plans of prospective purchasers to satisfy itself that they are directed to the maintenance of a viable, competitive port operation ; to the maintenance of the port as a separate entity with day-to-day management and control located in Teesside ; and to the need for proposals for the use of THPA's assets to be for the development of the port business or for the promotion of developments which are locally beneficial."Among the matters drawn to my attention was the statement in the Teesside Holdings' bid that an existing member of the THPA board and a leading local solicitor, neither of whom was named, would be appointed to the Teesside Holdings' board. It was suggested that this created a potential conflict of interest on the THPA board in the consideration of the bids. Each of the non-executive members of the THPA board and their legal adviser have confirmed that they received no approach on this matter from 3i, whose nominees on the Teesside Holdings' board the directors would be ; and Teesside Holdings has similarly confirmed that it made no such approach. I am satisfied that no conflict of interest arose in the THPA board's consideration of the bids.
I have also considered representations concerning Humberside Holdings and other companies associated with the Holloway family. Humberside Holdings, which is
Column 501
itself owned in part by Powell Duffryn and in part by the Holloway family, holds an equal share with Powell Duffryn and 3i in the equity share capital of Teesside Holdings Ltd. Mr. John Holloway is the intended chief executive of Tees and Hartlepool Port Authority Ltd. I have found nothing in the evidence put before me concerning either Mr. John Holloway or Humberside Holdings which would make it proper for me to withhold my consent to the proposed sale to Teesside Holdings Ltd.I am now writing to the chairman of THPA giving my consent to the sale of the authority's undertaking to Teesside Holdings Ltd. I should like to place on record my appreciation of the patience which the chairman and members of the THPA Board have shown during the delay in my reaching a final decision caused by the need for me to consider these representations.
Leicester Eastern Bypass
Mr. Vaz : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when the consultation process will begin on the Leicester eastern bypass ; and what are the expected start and completion dates.
Mr. Chope : In the event of a viable scheme being identified, it is likely that public consultation could take place in autumn 1993. Subject to the satisfactory completion of all the statutory procedures and the availability of funds, work could start around the end of the century with a construction period of about two years.
Tyre Treads
Mr. Cryer : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what evidence was used to justify the increase in tyre tread depth requirement from 1 mm to 1.6 mm ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Chope : The increased tyre tread depth regulation was introduced in response to a mandatory requirement of EC directive 89/459. In its explanation of the expected impact on business costs and jobs, the EC Commission justified the measure on the basis that, among other things, it would result in an increase in road safety and a reduction in, and diminution in the costs of, accidents. The opinion of the Government was set out in explanatory memorandum 8714/87.
Dock Labour Scheme
Ms. Walley : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what representations he has received from third parties directly affected by the abolition of the national dock labour scheme.
Mr. McLoughlin : In early 1990, hon. Members wrote to me about three cases. One was on behalf of two constituents who worked in the office of a stevedoring company which went into liquidation when the dock labour scheme was abolished, and who complained that they received a lower scale of redundancy compensation than ex-registered dockworkers. The other two were on behalf of unsecured creditors of another firm, whose dividend from the liquidator was likely to be greatly diminished on account of this Department's claim for refund in respect of the employer's 50 per cent. contribution to compensation payments. I was unable to help in any of these cases.
Column 502
A1 (Bypasses)
Mr. O'Brien : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the names of the towns which have been bypassed along the route of the A1 since 1962.
Mr. Chope : I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 21 November 1991, at column 244. The towns bypassed are as listed : Aberford
Alnwick
Belford
Berwick upon Tweed
Biggleswade
Boroughbridge
Catterick
Doncaster
Eaton Socon/St. Neots
Felton
Gateshead
Grantham
Hatfield
Letchworth
Morpeth
Newark on Trent
Newcastle upon Tyne
Stamford
Stevenage
Welwyn Garden City
Wetherby
Bypassed by A1(M)
Birtley
Chester le Street
Darlington
Durham
Newton Aycliffe
Glasgow to London Rail Service
Mr. Wray : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on Her Majesty's Government's support for improved rail services from Glasgow to London.
Mr. Freeman : British Rail is continuing to develop plans for the west coast main line. An investment submission has not yet been put to the Department, but we will consider carefully any such submission.
Stockport Bypass
Mr. Favell : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport on which date he expects the A6M Stockport bypass to be open to the public ; and if he will make a statement.
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