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Syria
Mr. Dunnachie : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information he has on the release of Mu'taz Qutlabi, held in Fir Amn al-Dawa, Damascus, and of the imminent release of other political prisoners in Syria.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : We have no specific information on the individual mentioned. We are trying to obtain verification and further details of the recently reported release by the Syrian authorities of 2,864 political prisoners.
SOCIAL SECURITY
Myalgic Encephalomyelitis
Mr. McGrady : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what steps will be taken to ensure that those who suffer from myalgic encephalomyelitis will be entitled to invalidity benefit.
Mr. Scott : Entitlement to invalidity benefit does not depend on the nature of a person's incapacity for work. People suffering from myalgic encephalomyelitis may qualify if they satisfy the entitlement conditions. We have no plans to make special provision for people suffering from this particular condition.
Sick Pay
Sir Ian Gilmour : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will publish figures showing the different rates of statutory sick pay at current and at 1991 prices, and as percentages of gross average earnings and average earnings net of income tax and national insurance contribution, in each year since statutory sick pay replaced national insurance sickness benefit.
Mr. Scott : The information requested is in the table.
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Date Rate of Equivalent Gross Net weekly earnings Percentages
|SSP |value at |average |B as |B as |B as
|April 1991 |weekly |percentage |percentage |percentage
|Prices |earnings<1>|Single |Married |of D |of E |of F
A |B |C |D |E |F |G |H |I
|(£. p) |(£. p) |(£. p) |(£. p) |(£. p)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6 April 1983 |40.25 |63.56 |164.70 |110.80 |116.60 |24.4 |36.3 |34.5
|33.75 |53.30 |164.70 |110.80 |116.60 |20.5 |30.5 |28.9
|27.20 |42.95 |164.70 |110.80 |116.60 |16.5 |24.5 |23.3
6 April 1984 |42.25 |63.44 |178.80 |120.60 |127.30 |23.6 |35.0 |33.2
|35.45 |53.23 |178.80 |120.60 |127.30 |19.8 |29.4 |27.8
|28.55 |42.87 |178.80 |120.60 |127.30 |16.0 |23.7 |22.4
6 April 1985 |44.35 |62.28 |192.40 |130.10 |137.30 |23.1 |34.1 |32.3
|37.20 |52.24 |192.40 |130.10 |137.30 |19.3 |28.6 |27.1
|30.00 |42.13 |192.40 |130.10 |137.30 |15.6 |23.1 |21.8
6 April 1986 |46.75 |63.71 |207.50 |141.70 |149.00 |22.5 |33.0 |31.4
|39.20 |53.42 |207.50 |141.70 |149.00 |18.9 |27.7 |26.3
|31.60 |43.06 |207.50 |141.70 |149.00 |15.2 |22.3 |21.2
6 April 1987<2> |47.20 |61.71 |224.00 |155.90 |163.00 |21.1 |30.3 |29.0
|32.85 |42.95 |224.00 |155.90 |163.00 |14.7 |21.1 |20.2
6 April 1988 |49.20 |61.90 |245.80 |174.80 |182.00 |20.0 |28.1 |27.0
|34.25 |43.09 |245.80 |174.80 |182.00 |13.9 |19.6 |18.8
6 April 1989 |52.10 |60.67 |269.50 |191.30 |198.90 |19.3 |27.2 |26.2
|36.25 |42.21 |269.50 |191.30 |198.90 |13.5 |18.9 |18.2
6 April 1990 |52.50 |55.86 |295.60 |212.80 |221.10 |17.8 |24.7 |23.7
|39.25 |41.76 |295.60 |212.80 |221.10 |13.3 |18.4 |17.8
6 April 1991 |52.50 |52.50 |318.90 |230.00 |238.30 |16.5 |22.8 |22.0
|43.50 |43.50 |318.90 |230.00 |238.30 |13.6 |18.9 |18.3
Notes:
<1> Earnings shown are the average for full-time adult male employees.
<2> Middle rate of SSP abolished from 6 April 1987.
Child Benefit
Mr. Clelland : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make it his policy to increase child benefit for all children to the level it would have been if it had been uprated in line with inflation since 1987.
Mr. Scott : As my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has made clear on a number of occasions, we are committed to increasing the current level of child benefit in line with inflation. Child benefit is and will remain a strong element in our policies for family support. From 1988 we have introduced extra help for families on income-related benefits which will amount to over £600 million in 1992-93. This, together with last year's increases in child benefit,
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means that the current level of overall expenditure on families with children is now greater than it would have been if we had simply uprated child benefit each year after 1987 in line with inflation.Sir Ian Gilmour : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will publish figures showing child benefit plus the national insurance long-term addition for children of (a) widows and (b) invalidity pensioners, at current and at 1991 prices, and as percentages of gross average earnings and average earnings net of income tax and national insurance contributions, in each year since 1979.
Mr. Scott : The figures, which are the same for widows and invalidity pensioners, are in the table :
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A B C D E
Uprating Rate of Child BenefiEquivalent value of Gross male weekly Equivalent net week
date Child Dependency benefit at April 199average earnings witearnings with amounts in
Increase prices amounts in column B column B as percentage
percentage
Single person Married couple
|£ |£ |£ |Per. cent|£ |Per cent.|£ |Per cent.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
November 1979 |11.10 |24.52 |114.10 |9.7 |79.90 |13.9 |83.60 |13.3
November 1980 |12.25 |23.47 |135.10 |9.1 |93.40 |13.1 |97.80 |12.5
November 1981 |12.95 |22.16 |149.50 |8.7 |101.00 |12.8 |105.40 |12.3
November 1982 |13.80 |22.22 |160.60 |8.6 |107.40 |12.8 |112.50 |12.3
November 1983 |14.10 |21.65 |172.40 |8.2 |115.50 |12.2 |121.30 |11.6
November 1984 |14.50 |21.22 |187.40 |7.7 |125.90 |11.5 |132.50 |10.9
November 1985 |15.05 |20.88 |199.50 |7.5 |134.40 |11.2 |141.60 |10.6
July 1986 |15.15 |20.68 |210.90 |7.2 |143.80 |10.5 |151.20 |10.0
April 1987 |15.30 |20.00 |224.00 |6.8 |155.90 |9.8 |163.00 |9.4
April 1988 |15.65 |19.69 |245.80 |6.4 |174.80 |9.0 |182.00 |8.6
April 1989 |16.20 |18.86 |269.50 |6.0 |191.30 |8.5 |198.90 |8.1
April 1990 |16.90 |17.98 |295.60 |5.7 |212.80 |7.9 |221.10 |7.6
April 1991 |<1>17.95 |17.95 |318.90 |5.6 |230.00 |7.8 |238.30 |7.5
<1> Where the new higher rate of Child Benefit for the eldest qualifying child applied, the Child
Dependency Increase was adjusted so that the
total level of support remained the same for all children.
OVERSEAS DEVELOPMENT
Egypt
Ms. Clwyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much all donors are contributing to the World bank and social fund to mitigate the social impact of economic reform in Egypt.
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Mrs. Chalker : We understand that the following pledges have been made to the social fund project in the Arab Republic of Egypt, in addition to an International Development Association loan of SDR105 million--$140 million--approved in June 1991 :
Donors |$ million
------------------------------------------
European Community |140
USAID |55
Arab Fund |50
Kuwait Fund |50
Aub Dhabi Fund |50
Switzerland |30
Germany |30
Denmark |10
Canada |10
France |10
Sweden |10
Netherlands |6
Austria |5
UNDP |4
Norway |2
|-------
Total (including IDA) |602
Tropics (Biodiversity)
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list each programme supported by the Overseas Development Administration for research and development of the biodiversity of the tropics since 1987, with the funds allocated to each in each year and the annual totals.
Mrs. Chalker : We funded 62 projects on biodiversity from central research and development funds in 1987-88, 58 projects in 1988-89 and 43 projects in 1989-90. I am placing in the Library a list of projects in each year, including the total cost of each project and the cost to ODA in each financial year. Information relating to 1990-91 will be contained in ODA's report on research and development for that year, which is in preparation. ODA is one of the largest contributors to the International Board for Plant Genetics Resources.
Biodiversity Programmes
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what priority the Minister of Overseas Development has given to the forestry discipline within the Overseas Development Administration's biodiversity programmes.
Mr. Chalker : We made it clear in the ODA's publication "Biological Diversity and Developing Countries : Issues and Options", June 1991, that tropical forests, which may contain over 90 per cent. of species, have a very high priority within our support to biodiversity programmes in developing countries.
ODA Staff (Qualifications)
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many staff of the Overseas Development Administration have qualifications in forestry.
Mrs. Chalker : Three advisers in the Overseas Development Administration's London headquarters and 17 staff at the ODA's agency, the natural resources institute, have qualifications in foresty. In addition, there are 15 similarly qualified people serving overseas on technical co- operation assignments.
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Hong Kong (Ministerial Visit)
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether, on his visit to Hong Kong in September 1988, the Minister for Overseas Development took part in party political activities in addition to official duties.
Summit on the Advancement of Rural Women
Mrs. Heal : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether his Department will be sending a representative to the summit on the advancement of rural women to be held in Geneva later this month.
Mrs. Chalker : Representation will be provided by the United Kingdom mission to the United Nations in Geneva.
Horn of Africa
Mr. Andrew Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what Her Majesty's Government's contribution will be to the SEPHA appeal for the Horn of Africa for the period February to July 1992.
Mrs. Chalker : I have this week approved a British contribution of £23 million to the appeal. The contribution is made up as follows :
|£ million
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Food Aid
(i) |Ethiopia, including Eritrea
| 20,000 tonnes |<1>12
(ii) |Sudan
| 25,000 tonnes
Non-food Aid
(i) |UNHCR activities in the Horn |5
(ii) British NGO humanitarian activities in the Horn 6
|-------
|23
<1>Approximate.
This pledge is additional to the £107 million, including 185,000 tonnes of food aid and our share of EC emergency aid, which we have committed for humanitarian relief in the Horn of Africa since the present crisis began in September 1990. The food aid total included £2.2 million for Somalia which I announced in January this year.
International Fund for Agricultural Development
Mrs. Heal : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs why it has been decided not to contribute funds to the special famine relief programme run by the International Fund for Agricultural Development ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Dunnachie : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will reconsider his decision not to make available funds to assist the United Nations International Fund for Agricultural Development's special programme for Africa ; and if he will make a statement.
Mrs. Chalker : I refer the hon. Members to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Bradford, West (Mr. Madden) on 12 February.
Column 613
PRIME MINISTER
Engagements
Mr. Harry Greenway : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Thursday 13 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.
Press Freedom
Mr. Allen : To ask the Prime Minister what is his policy on the freedom of the press ; and what steps have been taken to implement his policy since 1979.
The Prime Minister : The Government are committed to safeguarding the freedom of the press. They consider this is best secured by responsible journalism and effective self-regulation. In pursuit of this policy the Government have supported the recommendations of the Calcutt committee for a non-statutory Press Complaints Commission. We are committed to reviewing the effectiveness of the new arrangements later this year.
EDUCATION AND SCIENCE
Durham Education Authority
Mr. Hague : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how much was spent per pupil by Durham education authority in (a) current expenditure and (b) capital expenditure in 1979 and 1990.
Mr. Fallon : Spending per pupil in nursery schools, primary schools and secondary schools in Durham is shown in the table. The table shows actual spending in 1979-80 and in 1989-90, the latest year for which the information is available, at both current and 1989-90 prices.
Current prices 1989-90 prices<3>
Year |Net |Capital |Net |Capital
|institutional |expenditure |institutional |expenditure
|expenditure<1>|per pupil |expenditure<1>|per pupil
|per pupil<2> |per pupil<2>
|(£) |(£) |(£) |(£)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1979-80 505 30 1,010 60
1989-90 1,430 55 1,430 55
<1> Net institutional expenditure covers the direct costs in schools
of salaries and wages, premises and certain supplies and services. It
does not include the cost of school meals, home to school transport,
LEA central administration, and financing costs of capital
expenditure.
<2> The figures are derived from Durham Local Education
Authority's returns of its spending to the Department of the
Environment and of its pupil numbers to the Department of
Education and Science.
<3> Figures for 1979-80 have been repriced to 1989-90 prices using
the GDP (market prices) deflator index.
Taxonomic Research
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is his Department's policy on the funding of taxonomic research in the United Kingdom.
Mr. Alan Howarth : The Department funds research through its grants from the science budget to the research
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councils and through the higher education funding councils which provide block grants to higher education institutions.In deciding the overall level of funding to be made avaialble, and the allocation of the science budget to individual research councils, the Government take account of advice from the funding councils and from the Advisory Board for the Research Councils. It is then for individual research councils and higher education institutions to decide how to deploy the resources made available to them, including the level of funding for taxonomic research.
Student Grants
Sir Ian Gilmour : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will publish a table showing mandatory grant levels for students pursuing first degree courses, at current and at constant 1991 prices in each year since 1979 ; and if he will also show net maximum parental contributions as percentages of average earnings in the same years.
Mr. Alan Howarth : The table shows the value of the mandatory grant , in cash terms and at 1991 prices, and the maximum assessed parental contribution as percentage of average earnings for 1979-80 to 1991-92. The contribution assessed for parents on average earnings in any year would be considerably less than the maximum contribution figure shown in the table. Further, the assessed contribution for any parent cannot exceed the maintenance grant to which the student is entitled.
Stautory maximum
|2contribution
Academic |Grant in |1991 value |In cash |As per
year |cash terms |of grant |terms |cent. of
|average
|£ |£ |earnings
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1979-80 |1,245 |2,832 |n/a |n/a
1980-81 |1,430 |2,807 |n/a |n/a
1981-82 |1,535 |2,705 |n/a |n/a
1982-83 |1,595 |2,620 |n/a |n/a
1983-84 |1,660 |2,593 |n/a |n/a
1984-85 |1,775 |2,648 |n/a |n/a
1985-86 |1,830 |2,578 |4,000 |45
1986-87 |1,901 |2,600 |4,300 |45
1987-88 |1,972 |2,589 |4,600 |44
1988-89 |2,050 |2,543 |4,900 |43
1989-90 |2,155 |2,485 |5,300 |42
1990-91 |2,265 |2,355 |5,800 |42
1991-92 |2,265 |2,265 |5,800 |39
n/a=Not applicable. Between 1979-80 and 1984-85 there was no
statutory maximum parental contribution.
Note:
Rate applicable to students living away from the parental home and
studying at an institution outside London. From 1990-91 student
loans were available of up to £420 in 1990-91 and £580 in 1991-92 (at
the outside London rate).
NORTHERN IRELAND
Circaprint NI Ltd.
Mr. Beggs : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on what date Circaprint NI Ltd. went into receivership ; which company was appointed as receivers ; what action has been taken to date by the appointed receivers to enable redundant workers to receive moneys
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to which they are entitled ; and if he will seek to expedite settlement of outstanding claims lodged by former employees.Mr. Needham : Joint administrative receivers were appointed to the parent company Circaprint Holdings Plc on 5 April 1991. No receiver was, however, appointed to Circaprint (NI) Ltd. and the Department of Economic Development has therefore undertaken, under article 47 of the Industrial Relations (NI) Order 1976, to discharge such of the functions of a receiver as are necessary to ensure that former employees of the Northern Ireland company receive payment of holiday pay, pay in lieu of notice and redundancy payments to which they are entitled.
It is anticipated that qualifying claims will be paid not later than the end of February 1992.
Mr. Beggs : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what is the total value of grants paid towards the cost of all plant and equipment including installation costs from start up until closure of Circaprint NI Ltd.
Hong Kong (Ministerial Visit)
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether, on his visit to Hong Kong in December 1989, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, the hon. Member for Wiltshire, North (Mr. Needham) took part in party political activities in addition to official duties.
AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD
Agricultural Development Advisory Service
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will publish figures showing the total budget of the Agricultural Development Advisory Service in Wales in each year since 1978- 79.
Mr. Curry : The budgetary costs for the Agricultural Development Advisory Service, as currently constituted in Wales for the last three years and the current year to date are as follows :
|£000's
-----------------------------
1988-89 |<1>5,950
1989-90 |<1>5,878
1990-91 |<1>5,780
<2>1991-92 |3,541
<1> Includes costs of
Trawsgoed experimental
husbandry farm
transferred to the Institute
of Grassland and
Environmental Research
on 31 March 1991.
<2> To end December 1991.
Prior to this separate delegated budgets for Wales are not identifiable, and figures could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many people are currently employed by the Agricultural Development Advisory Service in Wales ; and if he will publish the total numbers employed within each experimental husbandry farm.
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Mr. Curry : There are currently 177 permanent staff employed by the Agricultural Development Advisory Service in Wales and 12 of these staff are employed at Pwllpeiran experimental husbandry farm.
Mink Farming
Mr. Andrew Mitchell : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps he is taking to ensure that mink farms do not release mink into the wild.
Mr. Maclean : All mink farms are inspected annually by Ministry officials to ensure that they meet the security standards required by the Mink (Keeping) Regulations 1975, as amended.
Dietary Supplements
Mr. Fearn : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what arrangements his Department has made to consult interested parties before preparation of a draft EC directive on dietary supplements.
Mr. Maclean : I refer the hon. Member to my reply to the hon. Member for Falkirk, West (Mr. Canavan) on 6 February, Official Report, column 450.
Pollution Control
Miss Emma Nicholson : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what measures the Government intends to introduce to enable United Kingdom farmers to meet new pollution control requirements.
Mr. Curry : As my right hon. Friend the Minister announced on 21 January, a pilot study will be set up to see if farmers can reduce water pollution by preparing and implementing plans for the safe disposal of animal manure, slurry and other organic wastes. Later this year the Department will issue a code of good agricultural practice for the protection of air. These will supplement existing measures including 50 per cent. grant aid for waste storage facilities and free general advisory visits by the Agricultural Development Advisory Service on pollution avoidance.
Tropical Forest Resource Group
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the work programme of the tropical forest resource group at the royal botanic gardens, Kew.
Mr. Curry : The tropical forest resource group, which was launched on 29 January 1992, is a consortium of 11 organisations including the royal botanic gardens at Kew. Its aim is to provide information and expertise to project and policy developers worldwide in the areas of forest management and conservation, agroforestry and related land use. Kew's role will be to provide support in its special fields of taxonomic research on plants and fungi, with additional capabilities in experimental research, seed storage and horticulture.
Agricultural Land
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food to how many consultations from local planning authorities relating to individual planning
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applications for non-agricultural development his Department responded in each six months since January 1988 ; if he will provide for each period the number of objections, conditional objections, appraisals, no objections and cases which were either withdrawn or in which the referal was inappropriate ; and how many hectares of each grade of agricultural land, including 3a, 3b and 3c, were involved in each period.Mr. Gummer : The information requested for England and Wales is as follows :
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|1 January 1988 |1 July 1988 to |1 January 1989 |1 July 1989 to |1 January 1990 |1 July 1990 to
|to 30 June 1988 |31 December 1988|to 30 June 1989 |31 December 1989|to 30 June 1990 |31 December 1990
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total number of
consultations |775 |715 |648 |648 |692 |747
Objections |17 |14 |19 |14 |16 |10
Conditional response |114 |96 |59 |53 |76 |77
Appraisal |344 |282 |305 |360 |401 |470
No objection |238 |215 |89 |80 |67 |44
Withdrawn |24 |12 |15 |13 |15 |19
Wrong referral |38 |96 |161 |128 |117 |127
Hectares
Grade 1 |172.9 |870.3 |802.4 |154.6 |252.4 |226.5
Grade 2 |1,171.7 |1,183.0 |1,600.9 |1,729.0 |2,442.9 |2,739.6
Grade 3a |2,733.2 |2,911.2 |3,025.3 |2,715.9 |2,992.9 |2,395.9
Grade 3b |4,897.4 |4,666.3 |4,396.1 |2,632.7 |4,568.2 |4,337.8
Grade 3 (no sub-division) 1,509.5 1,520.2 1,757.3 3,857.2 5,623.9 6,155.0
Grade 4 |947.2 |859.9 |939.8 |1,042.0 |1,243.3 |2,108.7
Grade 5 |190.1 |374.4 |143.5 |215.2 |427.3 |192.5
Other land |4,249.1 |3,671.9 |6,321.1 |5,218.8 |5,188.4 |8,506.9
Note:
"Conditional response" includes both conditional acceptances and objections.
Revised guidelines and criteria introduced for grading the quality of agricultural land provided for two subgrades of grade 3 land : 3a and 3b, the latter being a combination of the previous 3b and 3c.
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his answer of 27 January, Official Report, colums 445-46, if he will list for each year since 1980 the number of applications which were rejected by his Ministry and were subsequently refused by the local authorities concerned ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Gummer : The records do not show this information.
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the amount of agricultural land in England in each grade, including 3a and 3b, in (a) 1986 and (b) 1992.
Mr. Gummer : The published agricultural land classification maps and data are based on strategic planning work carried out in the 1960s and do not sub-divide grade 3 land. The original survey showed the proportion of land in each grade in England to be as follows :
|per cent.
------------------------------
Grade 1 |3.3
Grade 2 |16.7
Grade 3 |54.0
Grade 4 |15.7
Grade 5 |10.3
The agricultural land classification maps and data provide only a very general indication of the distribution of land quality. Resurveying at a larger scale is necessary to obtain a definitive grade for individual sites.
Column 618
Agriculture Council
Mr. Andy Stewart : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the outcome of the Agriculture Council on 10 to 11 February.
Mr. Gummer : I represented the United Kingdom at this meeting of the Council together with my hon. Friend the Member for Skipton and Ripon (Mr. Curry), Parliamentary Secretary in my Department, and my noble Friend Lord Strathclyde, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland.
Discussion concentrated on the Commission's proposals for CAP reform. The Portuguese presidency presented a new compromise paper which may have moved matters forward by a small amount, but major divergencies of view remain. I was one of several Ministers who said that they would not be able to come to final decisions until the outcome of the current GATT round were known. Otherwise I maintained the United Kingdom position on the lines I have explained to the House on several occasions. Discussion will resume at the next meeting of the Council starting on 2 March.
The Commissioner said that he would bring forward a package of structural proposals, which were intended to help the Community's soft fruit industry. This follows the representations I have made about the difficulties caused for the United Kingdom industry by low-priced imports from eastern Europe.
Bananas
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assessment he has made of the consequences of the proposal in the draft general agreement on tariffs and trade text, that import controls on bananas should be converted into a tariff on African, Caribbean and Pacific banana producers.
Mr. Gummer : The draft general agreement on tariffs and trade text calls for all border measures other than
Column 619
ordinary customs duties applying to agricultural products to be converted into tariff equivalents and for current access opportunities to be maintained on terms at least equivalent to those existing. The tariff equivalent would in principle be applied to all dollar banana imports above current access volumes. It is unclear whether the tariff equivalent would have to be paid on African, Caribbean and Pacific sendings above their current level ; nevertheless, fruit up to that volume would continue to enter the Community duty free.Common Agricultural Policy
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will give the amount in pounds sterling spent on the common agricultural policy in 1991 ; what are the current forecasts of expenditure for 1992, 1993 and 1994 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Gummer : The amount spent on the common agricultural policy in 1991 was £24,105 million . The common agricultural policy budget for 1992 is £27,836 million --which includes £697 million for the monetary reserve. It is not normal practice to forecast anticipated expenditure for subsequent years, which depend on decisions yet to be taken.
Converted at £ : 1.435 ecu.
Food Imports
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the amounts and types of fruit, vegetables and meat with country of origin for food imported into the United Kingdom in (a) 1990 and (b) 1991.
Mr. Gummer : Volumes and values of imports are published in the monthly CSO Business Monitor "Overseas Trade Statistics of the United Kingdom"--MM20--which is available in the Library of the House. Table III of this monitor gives both monthly and year-to-date data at the five-digit SITC level, classified by main country of consignment, not necessarily the country of origin. Figures for the first 11 months of 1991 are available in the November 1991 edition ; the December 1991 edition, which will contain provisional figures for 1991, will be available later this month. Final annual figures are published in Business Monitor MA20 ; the 1990 edition is available in the Library of the House and the 1991 edition will be available by the end of 1992. Country of origin figures are not published but are available from Her Majesty's Customs and Excise, normally through its appointed marketing agents.
Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his answer of 20 January, Official Report, column 24, on BSE deaths, if he will give a month by month breakdown of the figures given for the cattle dying at age two and three.
Mr. Maclean : The information requested is as follows. The figures differ from those in the previous answer as further cases with a date of onset during 1991 have been confirmed.
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Age at onset
Month of |2 to 3 years|3 to 4 years
onset 1991
----------------------------------------------------
January |10 |205
February |6 |228
March |5 |315
April |6 |351
May |6 |344
June |4 |362
July |5 |394
August |3 |437
September |3 |247
October |0 |173
November |0 |87
December |0 |20
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is his latest information as to the age at death of cattle diagnosed as suffering from BSE so far this year.
Mr. Maclean : Only five cases of cattle suffering from BSE have so far been confirmed in Great Britain which have a date of clinical onset in 1992. Their ages were one each at three, five and six years, and two at four years.
EMPLOYMENT
Older Workers
Mr. McGrady : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will introduce special measures to help unemployed older workers re-enter the work force.
Mr. Jackson : A wide range of unemployment and training measures is already available to help older unemployed people back to work. We are also keen that all employers should give proper recognition to the qualities that older workers possess. We are therefore, setting up an advisory group on older workers, as announced by my right hon. and learned Friend on Tuesday 11 February, Official Report, columns 809-21. The group will have an important role to play in the identification and dissemination of good practice in the employment of older workers.
Mr. McGrady : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what steps have been taken to formulate new legislation to prevent unfair dismissal for all on grounds of age, to provide job security for older workers and to prevent age discrimination in job advertisements and in recruitment, in-service training, promotion and education.
Mr. Jackson : None. We do not believe that legislation is the way to tackle these issues.
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