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Mr. Tom Clarke : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what Government publications are designed to explain to companies the
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purpose and the benefits of the aid trade provision ; and from which government department these government publications can be procured.Mrs. Chalker : The purpose and benefits of the aid and trade provision are explained in the ATP "Guidelines for Applicants" booklet. This may be obtained from the Projects and Export Policy division of the Department of Trade and Industry or from the Crown Agents, CDC and ATP Department of the Overseas Development Administration. Copies of the booklet have been placed in the Libraries of the House.
Agricultural Specialists
Mrs. Clwyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many full-time agricultural specialists the Overseas Development Agency has overseas at present ; and how many of them are women.
Mrs. Chalker : The Overseas Development Administration has 10 headquarters staff members working as full-time agricultural specialists overseas, of whom one is a woman. In addition we have a total of 106 contract officers employed overseas on technical co-operation assignments of whom 10 are women. This figure includes 16 staff from our agency, the Natural Resources Institute, all of whom are men.
Cash Limits
Mr. Bowis : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what changes have been made in the 1991-92 cash limit for expenditure by the Overseas Development Administration.
Mrs. Chalker : Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimate the cash limit on the Overseas Aid Vote (class II vote 5) will be increased by £22,188,000 from £1,638,342,000 to £1,660,530,000. The increase primarily provides for additional bilateral assistance to the former Soviet Union. The supplementary also provides for an increase of £900,000 in the net running costs limit of the Natural Resources Institute. The increase will be charged to the reserve and will not therefore add to the planned total of public expenditure.
PRIME MINISTER
VAT
Mr. Molyneaux : To ask the Prime Minister if he will indicate the provisions (a) under which the EC could propose an increase in the VAT rate in the United Kingdom and (b) under which the United Kingdom may veto the proposal.
The Prime Minister : No such proposal exists. Under the provisions of article 99 of the treaty of Rome, the Commission of the European Community could, in theory, propose for example, a minimum standard rate higher than that in the United Kingdom. However any such proposal, in common with all fiscal matters under article 99 of the treaty, would be subject to unanimity and thus the United Kingdom retains an absolute right of veto.
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Peru
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Prime Minister what discussions he has had with the President of Peru on biodiversity in the Peruvian rain-forest and its protection.
The Prime Minister : I discussed with President Fujimori the forthcoming UN Conference on Environment and Development. I emphasised the importance we attach to effective conventions on climate change and biodiversity, as well as an agreement on principles for the sustainable use and management of all types of forest.
RECHAR
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Prime Minister if Her Majesty's Government will make a study of the differences in United Kingdom and Italian practice in the use of regional funds, such as RECHAR.
The Prime Minister : Members of the House of Lords Select Committee on the European Community visited Italy in October 1991 during their inquiry into EEC regional development policy. Their report has been published and is available in the Library.
Italy is not eligible for RECHAR.
Communist Party (Meetings)
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list all meetings by (a) Ministers and (b) officials of Her Majesty's Government with (i) Ministers, (ii) diplomats and (iii) other Communist party officials of the former Soviet Union since May 1979 in (1) the United Kingdom and (2) elsewhere ; and what were the purposes of the ministerial and diplomatic meetings.
The Prime Minister : Detailed information of this kind is not held centrally, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. There are, however, frequent contacts with Ministers and officials of the former Soviet Union at all levels on questions of mutual interest.
Disarmament Paper
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Prime Minister if he will obtain for the library at 10 Downing street a copy of the United Nations Department for Disarmament Affairs topical paper No. 5 (1991), "Conversion : Economic Adjustments in an Era of Arms Reductions" (Volume II).
The Prime Minister : The publication is available from the United Nations documents section in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office from where copies will be obtained as required.
Engagements
Mr. Harry Greenway : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Thursday 6 February.
The Prime Minister : This morning I presided at a meeting of the Cabinet and had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others. In addition to my duties in the House I shall be having further meetings later today.
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ENERGY
Electricity Privatisation
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy, pursuant to his answer of 28 January, Official Report, column 505, whether Schroder Wagg's appointment as head underwriters to the regional electricity companies sale was by competitive tender.
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy further to his answer of 28 January, Official Report, column 505 , if he will list those advisers whose appointments were not subject to competitive tender.
Mr. Wakeham : The five appointments referred to in that answer as not subject to competitive tender were :
United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (AGR output).
J. Henry Schroder Wagg (Trade sale).
John Chiene (Pricing).
Professor Littlechild (Regulatory).
R. L. Associates (Setting X for Area Boards).
Carbon Dioxide Emissions
Mr. Win Griffiths : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will list the initiatives taken by his Department to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and indicate the estimated reduction for each initiative by (a) 2000 and (b) 2005.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : I refer the hon. Member to the reply given today by my hon. Friend, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Environment.
SOCIAL SECURITY
Income and Benefit Levels
Mr. Meacher : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list all benefits payable to those with incomes over £25,000 a year ; how many in this income category receive them ; what is the total cost of each benefit to persons with these incomes ; and what is the average value of the benefit to those above this income level.
Mr. Jack : The main social security benefits which are not income- related, and could therefore be payable, provided other criteria are met, to benefit units with incomes over £25,000 a year, are as follows :
Retirement pension
Christmas Bonus
Widows' Benefits
Unemployment Benefit
Sickness Benefit
Statutory Sick Pay
Invalidity Benefit
Industrial Disablement Benefit
Industrial Death Benefit
Maternity Allowance
Statutory Maternity Pay
Non-contributory Retirement Pension
Invalid Care Allowance
Severe Disablement Allowance
Attendance Allowance
Mobility Allowance
Child Benefit
One Parent Benefit
War Disablement Pension
War Widows' Pension
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Unemployment benefit is not paid to those with earnings in excess of £52 a week, and those aged 55 or over and getting more than £35 a week under an occupational or personal pension scheme have their unemployment benefit reduced by 10p for every 10p of pension over £35.Mobility allowance and attendance allowance will be replaced by disability living allowance in April 1992 for those who become disabled before aged 65.
It is not possible to give meaningful information for these benefits individually, because the sample sizes are too small to draw reliable data from. Details of claimants' incomes are not collected routinely, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Benefits (Capital Disregards)
Mr. Andrew Bowden : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will increase the £3,000 capital disregard on income support and housing benefit.
Miss Widdecombe : The limit below which capital is completely ignored continues to be kept under review, as with all aspects of the benefit system, but there are no plans to change it at present.
Residential Care Homes
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will state for each year since 1979 the numbers of claimants of supplementary benefit or income support towards the cost of private residential care who have subsequently claimed benefit towards the costs of private nursing care and then again claimed towards the cost of private residential care.
Miss Widdecombe : The information requested is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many claimants in the Wakefield benefit office's area are currently claiming towards the cost of (a) private nursing care, (b) private residential care and (c) voluntary nursing or residential care.
Miss Widdecombe : I understand from Mr. Michael Bichard, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency, that the information is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Building Society Accounts
Mr. Rooney : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will meet the Building Societies Association to discuss the imposition of charges on small accounts and the implications for pensioners and other recipients of state benefits paid direct into such accounts.
Miss Widdecombe : We have already been in contact with the Building Societies Association (BSA). I understand that the Halifax building society is the only BSA member currently planning to make such charges. People who wish their benefits payments to be made into an account at another building society should contact their local social security office and with details of the new account. The procedure involved is a simple one and the staff there will be happy to help them.
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Cash Limits
Mr. Malins : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security whether there have been any changes in the cash limits or running costs limits of his Department for 1991-92.
Mr. Scott : Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimate the cash limit for class XIV, vote 4 (administration and miscellaneous services) will be increased by £22, 716,000 from £1,901,217,000 to £1,923,933,000. The revision takes account of the additional administrative expenditure arising from new procedures for the payment of mortgage interest in respect of income support recipients (£10,881,000), an increase in agency payments to Department of Employment (class VI, vote 2) (£30,000,000), a transfer to Department of Health and Social Services (Northern Ireland) vote 3 of £1,161,000, a transfer from Department of Health (class XIII, vote 3) of £819,000, a transfer from Property Services Agency of the Department of the Environment (class VIII, vote 13) of £260,000, a transfer from Department of Employment : Employment Service (class VI, vote 2) of £657,000, a transfer to Department of Health (class XIII, vote 3) of £50,000 and a transfer to Scottish Office (class XV, vote 20) of £35,000). The additional requirements are partially offset by an increase in receipts of £18,655,000 and the balance (£22,226,000) will be charged to the reserve and will not therefore add to the planned total of public expenditure.
In addition to the running cost increases included above there is also an increase of £6,790,000 to take account of expenditure previously classified as capital now being regarded as running costs.
As a result of these changes the running costs limit of the Department of Social Security will be increased by £9,145,000 from £2,149,908,000 to £2,159,053,000.
HOME DEPARTMENT
Adoption
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for each of the last three years, (a) how many children have been brought into the United Kingdom for adoption through private or unauthorised channels, (b) out of that total how many of these adoptions were found to be unsuitable and (c) what was the average waiting time for adoption/immigration authorisation relating to children from (i) Romania, (ii) Brazil and (iii) Colombia.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : Only very limited information is available except in relation to Romanian children brought here during the last two years. In 1990, 83, and in 1991, 13 Romanian children were brought to the United Kingdom without entry clearance with a view to adoption. No Romanian children have been brought to the United Kingdom without entry clearance so far this year. The average waiting time for decisions on entry clearance applications made on behalf of Romanian children for the purpose of adoption was approximately six weeks in 1991. Information is not held centrally on the progress and outcome of subsequent adoption proceedings in the United Kingdom.
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Punt-Gunning
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many black powder licences were issued in each of the last three years, by county, for the purpose of punt-gunning.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : Information on the numbers of black powder licences--which were superseded on 1 November 1991 by explosives certificates--issued by chief officers, and their purpose, is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Immigration
Mr. Rooney : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will state for each of the last five years for which figures are available the number of persons granted right of permanent stay broken down by country of origin.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : Information on persons accepted for settlement in the United Kingdom in the years 1986-90, by nationality, is published in table 14 of the Home Office Command Paper "Control of Immigration : Statistics United Kingdom 1990" (Cm 1571), a copy of which is in the Library. Corresponding information for 1991 is not yet available.
Mr. John Kamara
Mr. Parry : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to reach a decision regarding the case of Mr. J. Kamara, a constituent of the hon. Member for Liverpool, Riverside, who is serving a prison sentence.
Mr. John Patten : I expect to receive a police report on the many inquiries conducted in this case very soon. I will then be in a position to decide whether any action on my part is appropriate.
Mr. Parry : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will publish the names of the people who have written to him concerning the case of John Kamara, a prisoner ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. John Patten : No. It is not our practice to publish the names of persons who have contacted us about individual cases. We have received many letters including more than 100 from Members of Parliament and Members of the European Parliament.
Cash Limits
Sir John Wheeler : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proposals he has for changes to the 1991-92 cash limits within his responsibilities and to his Department's running costs limit.
Mr. Kenneth Baker : Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimate, the cash limit on class IX, vote 2, prisons, England and Wales, will be increased by £137,000,000 which, after the surrender of the increase of £3,949,000 for end-year flexibility announced by my right hon. Friend, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, on 17 July 1991, Official Report, columns 185-88, will increase from £1,332,391,000 to £1,469,391,000. The additional provision is necessary because of the continuing need to pay for the cost of
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keeping prisoners in police cells. Extra provision is also necessary to meet the construction costs of new prisons and for the accelerated integral sanitation programme. The increase will be charged to the reserve and will not therefore add to the planned total of public expenditure.The cash limit on class IX, vote 3 will be reduced by £19,000,000 from £890,952,000 to £871,952,000, to reflect a transfer of resources to class IX, vote 1 for the purpose of criminal injuries compensations payments and a special grant to the Northumbria police authority.
The Home Office running cost limit will remain unchanged at £1,304, 000,000.
Firemen
Mr. Steinberg : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the number of (a) full-time firemen and (b) part -time firemen employed in the United Kingdom for each year since 1981.
Mr. John Patten : The information for England and Wales is given in the table. Questions relating to the fire service in other parts of the United Kingdom are the responsibility of my right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Year |Number of |Number of
|full-time |part-time
|firefighters |(retained)
|firefighters<1>
----------------------------------------------------------------
1981 |34,223 |15,745
1982 |34,117 |15,535
1983 |34,206 |15,887
1984 |34,536 |16,129
1985 |34,575 |16,144
1986 |34,783 |16,138
1987 |34,515 |15,984
1988 |35,011 |16,126
1989 |34,784 |15,861
1990 |35,002 |15,959
1991 |35,162 |16,025
<1>These figures include wholetime firefighters with retained
obligations
Betting Offices
Mr. Turner : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what representations he has received concerning the consultative document on the evening opening of licensed betting offices ; and when he hopes to make a statement on his conclusions ;
(2) how many letters he has received for, and how many letters against, the evening opening of betting offices ; and for how long he is prepared to consider further representations.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : Since issuing our consultation document on the evening opening hours of licensed betting offices on 14 October, we have received representations on both the principle and the practicalities of evening opening of licensed betting offices. We have received 27 letters in favour of evening opening and 518 letters against it, as well as a petition against evening opening with some 1,650 signatures. A number of the letters on both sides represent the views of trade associations or other interest groups.
We are now considering the representations received, in the light of which some further consultations may be necessary. It is not possible to predict at this stage how quickly that work can be completed, but we are prepared to consider further representations in the meantime.
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Mr. Turner : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what consideration he is giving to the precise times of evening opening of betting offices and days of the week and, specifically, the opening of betting offices on Sundays.Mr. Peter Lloyd : Our consultation document set out the main options for regulating the times and days of evening opening. We are considering the views expressed in response to that document before deciding whether betting offices should be allowed to open in the evenings and, if so, at what times. The consultation exercise does not extend to Sunday opening of betting offices on which we have no present plans to legislate.
Street Deaths
Mrs. Golding : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what are the figures for deaths on public streets in (i) London, (ii) Manchester, (iii) Birmingham, (iv) Liverpool and (v) England and Wales due to causes other than violence or road traffic accidents for the periods 1 October 1990 to 30 April 1991 ; and for the year ended 31 December 1991.
Mr. John Patten : I understand from the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys that to answer this question would involve disproportionate cost.
Poland (Visas)
Ms. Walley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received about visa requirements relating to Poland ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : Last year about 120 representations were received from right hon. and hon. Members about the visa requirement for Polish nationals, and about 50 letters from members of the public. A recent review of the visa requirement has led my right hon. Friend to conclude that it is too soon to assess the experience of some of our European partners who have abolished visas for polish nationals. My right hon. Friend has decided therefore to look again at the need for this requirement in the summer when the effect of visa abolition on other member states of the Community should be clearer.
Solicitors' Telephone Calls
Mr. Fraser : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will investigate allegations by the Criminal Law Solicitors Association that telephone calls from solicitors to prisoners held by the City of London police are recorded and stored on tape.
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