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Written Answers to Questions
Friday 14 February 1992
ENVIRONMENT
Dewsbury Rugby League Club
Mrs. Ann Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he expects to make an announcement on the planning application by Dewsbury rugby league club at Owl lane, Dewsbury, Ref. GO/62/04666/82.
Sir George Young : My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment expects to announce his decision about the planning application shortly.
Toxic Wastes
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what consideration he has given to the proposals put forward by the International Chetek Corporation to destroy toxic wastes through vaporisation by underground nuclear explosions.
Mr. Baldry : We have seen reports of the proposals but no approach has been made to us by the company about them and we do not know the details. However, we would expect to take a very cautious approach to the use of peaceful nuclear technology for waste disposal.
Nuclear Waste Repository
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if, pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for Copeland (Dr. Cunningham) of 7 February, Official Report, column 303, he will set out those organisations and individuals with whom UK Nirex Ltd. is consulting over its current proposals for an underground nuclear waste repository.
Mr. Baldry : This is a matter for UK Nirex Ltd.
ATTORNEY-GENERAL
Community Charge (Liverpool)
Mr. Alton : To ask the Attorney-General what action he intends to take to initiate proceedings to have Liverpool city council's city treasurer declared a vexatious litigant.
The Attorney-General : I have no plans to initiate proceedings of this kind.
Housing Repossessions
Mr. Hain : To ask the Attorney-General how many orders for repossession were granted in favour of building societies, banks or the mortgage lenders by the county court covering Neath in 1979, 1990 and 1991.
The Attorney-General : The 1979 figures are not available. The total number of mortgage possession
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actions entered, suspended orders and orders made during 1990 and 1991 in each county court in England and Wales is contained in two lists which have been placed in the libraries of both Houses of Parliament. These figures do not indicate how many houses have been repossessed through the courts as not all of the orders made will have resulted in the issue and execution of warrants of possession. At this stage the 1991 figures are provisional and therefore liable to revision in the future.NORTHERN IRELAND
Circaprint NI Ltd
Mr. Beggs : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what was the total cost to public funds of grants paid towards site acquisition and construction of the former Circaprint NI complex at Newtownabbey, Co. Antrim.
Mr. Needham : The total grant paid by the Industrial Development Board to Circaprint (NI) Ltd towards the purchase of, and improvements to, the factory buildings at Monkstown amounted to £219, 378.
Mr. Beggs : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether the Industrial Development Board or Department of Economic Development will receive any repayment of grants as a result of the sale of Circaprint NI Ltd. including all grant aided plant and equipment.
Mr. Needham : The Industrial Development Board has claimed sums repayable by Circaprint (NI) Ltd. To date no repayments have been made.
Belfast Airport
Mr. John D. Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, pursuant to his answer of 28 January, Official Report, column 521, which political parties have used the facilities now available at Belfast international airport.
Mr. Needham : The management of Belfast international airport is a matter for Northern Ireland Airports Ltd. However, I am advised by them that facilities at the airport have been hired by the Conservative party.
Scientific Procedure Establishments
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what is the number of inspectors employed to monitor scientific procedure establishments in Northern Ireland.
Traffic Cameras
Mr. Harry Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many automatic cameras have been installed at traffic-light- controlled junctions ; and how many more are planned this year.
Mr. Needham : Seventeen closed circuit television cameras have been installed for traffic signal control purposes. No additional cameras are planned this year.
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AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD
Regional Service Centre (Devon and Cornwall)
Mr. Harris : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he has reached a decision on the location of his Ministry's regional service centre for Devon and Cornwall.
Mr. Gummer : Following a further study, I have concluded that Devon and Cornwall will be served by two centres. The regional service centre, with 72 regional administrative posts, will be at Exeter ; and the region's capital grant work will be carried out by a unit of 20 posts at Truro. The decision to keep a unit in Cornwall reflects my conclusion that the Ministry's responsibilities for agriculture and the general health of the rural economy are best served by maintaining an administrative presence in this isolated and remote part of the country.
This decision means that in total there will be 99 posts in Truro when account is taken of the ADAS state veterinary service and other MAFF posts which continue to be located there. The overall impact on jobs in the Truro office is minimal.
Mink Farming
Mr. Andrew Mitchell : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what recent information he has received about the decline in mink farming.
Mr. Curry : The number of mink farms in England and Wales has halved over the last three years.
EDUCATION AND SCIENCE
Teacher Training
Mr. Andrew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science on what date he received from the Council for Accreditation of Teachers in Education its report on the review of the training of teachers to teach reading ; and when he proposes to make the report publicly available.
Mr. Fallon : My right hon. and learned Friend received the report on 31 December. It will be issued in due course.
Schools (Finance)
Ms. Armstrong : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science, pursuant to his announcement of 11 February, "More Capital for Popular Schools", if he will identify (a) any additional sums of money for this purpose and (b) the rule whereby voluntary-aided schools could be allowed to expand only where there were no spare places in county schools nearby.
Mr. Fallon : The decision on the additional resources to be set aside each year to enable popular schools to expand will be taken in the light of next year's public expenditure.
It has hitherto been the policy of successive Governments not normally to make capital available to allow voluntary-aided schools to expand their capacity where there are spare school places in other maintained schools in the area.
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Adult Education
Mr. Andrew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will state, in relation to his Department's survey of local education authority expenditure on adult education (a) how many authorities were contacted, (b) the names of the authorities, (c) the level of expenditure on further and adult education in each case, with the averages for the sample, (d) the level of expenditure identifiable as relating to adult education, with the average for the sample and (e) the definition of further and adult education employed ; and if he will deposit the survey in the Library.
Mr. Eggar : The Department's survey related to all expenditure on further education colleges and adult education centres in the financial year 1989-90. It asked LEAs to divide this expenditure between education of the type set out in schedule 2 to the Further and Higher Education Bill [Lords] and other education. It was addressed to all LEAs in England except those in Inner London, which were not in existence in 1989-90, but were sent a copy of the survey for information. Responses have been received from over 70 LEAs but a consultant has been employed to seek out further responses and to examine the position in Inner London. The consultant's report is expected towards the end of this month and I will deposit a copy in the Library. However, it is not the practice to disclose individual responses to Government surveys.
Business Sponsorship Scheme for Sport
Mr. Pawsey : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make a statement on the business sponsorship scheme for sport.
Mr. Atkins : I am happy to announce today further details of how the business sponsorship scheme for sport is to operate in England. We aim to start the scheme as soon as possible in the coming financial year. Its initial funding in England, where it will be run by the Institute of Sports Sponsorship, will be £3 million. The scheme will provide a much needed boost to business sponsorship of sport at the grass roots level, ensure that business gets better value for its sponsorship and promote partnership between sport and business at the local level. It will be aimed particularly at the inner cities and at promoting opportunities for young people. Since it is targeted at the grass roots, national events in the sporting calendar will be excluded and it will not cover sponsorship of individuals.
Subject to the discretion of an indpendent panel, the awards will match first time sponsors pound for pound with a minimum of £1,000 and a maximum of £75,000. Existing sponsors seeking to renew their sponsorship of a grass roots event or project will also be eligible for pound for pound matching of any increase in their sponsorship. It will be open to either the sponsoring company or the sports body to apply for the award of matching finance. Each award will be used by the sports body to enhance the value of the sponsorship and offer the sponsor an even better deal. The award will be paid to the sports body once the sponsor had made his own contribution.
There is no limit to the number of awards a business can receive. The scheme will be open to applicants throughout the year for any eligible sports events or projects, whatever the size of the sports body.
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The scheme will be available throughout Great Britain. Details of how it will operate in Scotland and Wales will be announced later.OVERSEAS DEVELOPMENT
Hungary
Sir Russell Johnston : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what aid the United Kingdom has provided to Hungary to help her deal with refugees from the conflict in the former Yugoslavia ; and if he will make a statement.
Mrs. Chalker : The European Community has so far contributed some 2 million ECU to the refugee problem in neighbour countries of the former Yugoslavia, mainly via UNHCR and ICRC. UNHCR has itself recently carried out a mission in Hungary and is now preparing a budget for this year's activities. This will enable it to continue helping the Hungarian authorities provide basic assistance and secure conditions in anticipation of early repatriation. We are major contributors in both the EC and UNHCR.
Joint Funding Scheme
Mrs. Clwyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will provide details of how the joint funding scheme of the Overseas Development Administration is monitored.
Mrs. Chalker : All agencies receiving funds through the joint funding scheme are required to provide annual audited accounts which separately identify the joint funding scheme grant.
Five agencies to which we provide block grants to finance a number of projects are required to provide a project description for all new projects and, each quarter, to submit a statement of project expenditure showing the duration of the project and the total financial commitment. Each agency provides an annual report on all continuing projects. All other agencies supported under the scheme are required to submit financial reports on their projects at least every six months. Progress reports are required annually and a final report is called for on the completion of each project.
Review visits to selected projects are carried out at least twice a year by advisers and officials. Evaluations of specific projects are carried out by professional advisers on an ad hoc basis.
Overall expenditure is monitored throughout the year to ensure that the scheme's financial targets are met.
Mrs. Clwyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will provide a full list of countries in which joint funding scheme projects were implemented, for the most recent year.
Mrs. Chalker : A full list of countries in which the joint funding scheme projects were implemented in the last financial year is as follows :
Afghanistan
Angola
Bangladesh
Belize
Benin
Bhutan
Bolivia
Botswana
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BrazilBurkina Faso
Burundi
Cambodia
Cameroon
Chad
Chile
China
Colombia
Dominica
Dominican Republic
Ecuador
Egypt
El Salvador
Ethiopia
Fiji
Gambia
Ghana
Grenada
Guinea Bissau
Haiti
Honduras
India
Indonesia
Jamaica
Jordan
Kenya
Laos
Lebanon
Lesotho
Madagascar
Malawi
Malaysia
Maldives
Mali
Mauritania
Mexico
Morocco
Mozambique
Namibia
Nepal
Nicaragua
Niger
Nigeria
Pakistan
Panama
Papua New Guinea
Paraguay
Peru
Philippines
Rwanda
Senegal
Sierra Leone
Solomon Islands
Somalia
South Africa
Sri Lanka
St. Lucia
Sudan
Swaziland
Tanzania
Thailand
Togo
Uganda
Uruguay
Vanuatu
Vietnam
West Bank
Yemen Arab Republic
Zaire
Zambia
Zimbabwe
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