| Previous Section | Home Page |
SOCIAL SECURITY
Elderly People (Benefits)
Mr. McGrady : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will launch a major and continuing publicity and information exercise aimed at the elderly to encourage them in the take-up of their rights and entitlements to benefits.
Miss Widdecombe : We have no plans for a single campaign of the kind described, but we continue to consider the particular needs of elderly people.
Recent initiatives include a new leaflet for older pensioners, linking benefits at significant life changes is being produced with the help of agencies.
Advertising campaigns supported by leaflets and posters for cold weather payments are mounted whenever and wherever severe weather conditions occur.
More general leaflets, for elderly people on low incomes and who are sick and disabled are distributed to post offices, including a leaflet on what to do when someone dies. We have also redesigned claim forms to benefit elderly people.
Column 31
Agencies, such as citizens advice bureaux are kept informed through a mailing list. GPs, hospitals and clinics ; day centres and homes, Age Concern ; ministers of religion ; chemists ; libraries, also receive information.A new leaflet, "Caring for Someone?", FB31, was issued in November 1991 for long-term sick and disabled people.
A new helpline--0253 858858--for war pensioners came into service last month, supported by a new leaflet to publicise the service. On 2 and 9 April 1992 special BBC/DSS programmes for the elderly will be screened by "Advice Shop".
The BBC select--night-time service--will broadcast a 15-minute programme with information for carers of elderly people.
The Department will continue to give specific attention to the ongoing information needs of elderly people.
Community Care Grants
Mr. Meacher : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when he expects to reply to the letter from the hon. Member for Oldham, West of 17 January concerning high priority applications for community care grants to the Cambridge district office.
Mr. Scott : I replied to the hon. Member today.
Council Tax
Mr. Battle : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, further to the answer of 13 December by the Prime Minister, Official Report , column 553 , if he will give details of the examination which has taken place into the impact upon claimants in receipt of family credit and the new disability working allowance of increasing the taper for the proposed council tax rebates to 20 per cent. ; and if he will show the results of that examination.
Miss Widdecombe : The proposed council tax benefit taper of 20 per cent. needs to be considered in the context of the introduction of 100 per cent. maximum rebates. There will be no minimum contribution to the council tax and income-related benefit levels will not be adjusted, despite the fact that people will no longer be expected to make a 20 per cent. contribution to the community charge. The effect of the higher taper on those people who receive family credit or disability working allowance, and housing benefit as well as council tax benefit, will be very small. Their marginal deduction rate will increase slightly from 96 to 97 per cent.
Source : Modelled using data drawn from the 1987-88 family expenditure surveys at 1991-92 prices and estimated benefit levels.
Single Mothers
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many representations he has received regarding officers of his Department threatening or actually cutting off income support from single mothers who refuse to name the father of their child, in advance of the operation of the Child Support Act 1991 in April.
Mr. Jack : We have received seven representations in which this allegation has been made. We take such allegations very seriously, and we have made clear at all times that, while our current policy is to encourage single mothers to co-operate with the Department in obtaining
Column 32
maintenance for their children, nothing must be said or done to suggest that income support can be reduced or not paid if they refuse to co-operate. Mr. Michael Bichard, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency, shares our concern that the current procedures must be followed in all cases and is happy to investigate any case referred through to him. Steps have been taken to ensure that the correct procedures are followed, and these include sending a bulletin to all offices which sets out again how officers should deal with these sensitive matters. While it is clearly wrong to give a misleading impression to single parents about the possible consequences of not providing information, nevertheless it is right to expect single mothers to co-operate in obtaining maintenance where there is no good reason not to do so, and liable relative officers are advised to proceed in that expectation.Pension Funds (Regulation)
Mr. Wilshire : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when he will introduce regulations to place restrictions on the investment of the assets of occupational pension schemes in employer-related investments.
Mr. Newton : I have today laid before Parliament regulations under schedule 4 to the Social Security Act 1990 which will restrict to 5 per cent. the proportion of their resources which occupational pension schemes may invest in the sponsoring company, or any other company associated or connected with it. The regulations will come into effect on 9 March 1992.
The provision in the Act implemented a recommendation by the independent Occupational Pensions Board in its 1989 report entitled "Protecting Pensions" that self-investment should be restricted to 5 per cent.
The regulations follow a period of consultation with the board and with industry about how this objective can be achieved without causing undue difficulties for companies whose schemes already involve significant self- investment. The regulations therefore include transitional provisions which will give schemes time to reduce any existing self-investment, but which will prohibit the acquisition of any new self-investment while the 5 per cent. limit is exceeded.
Where self-investment exceeds 5 per cent. on 9 March 1992, transitional arrangements permit self-investment to continue to exceed 5 per cent., but only in the following restricted circumstances :--
where a pension scheme has made a loan to the sponsoring employer which is current on 17 February 1992, the employer must repay the loan to the pension fund to reduce self-investment to 5 per cent. by 8 March 1994 or, if later, the earliest date on which repayment can be enforced ;
where a pension scheme has more than 5 per cent. of its assets invested in the sponsoring or associated company in the form of equity of that company listed on a recognised stock exchange, the scheme's holding must be reduced to 5 per cent. by 8 March 1994 ; where a pension scheme has more than 5 per cent. of its assets invested in the sponsoring or associated company in the form of equity traded on a second tier market of a recognised stock exchange, the scheme's holding must be reduced to 5 per cent. by 8 March 1997 ;
a pension scheme may continue indefinitely to hold more than 5 per cent. of its assets in the sponsoring or associated company in the form of the equity of the company if a private company or in the form of property leased to the company. While however the self-investment exceeds 5 per cent. the pension scheme may not acquire any additional self-investment.
Column 33
The self-investment restrictions do not apply to :----the investments of small self-administered schemes where the number of members is fewer than 12, all the members are trustees and all the members have agreed in writing to the self-investment ; --individual insurance arrangements where the member agrees in writing to the insurance company investing in the member's company ; --employer-related investment held in bank or building society accounts ;
--employer-related investment derived from members' additional voluntary contributions.
The regulations also impose an obligation on pension scheme trustees to disclose to scheme members, beneficiaries and trade union details of any self-investment, whether it exceeds 5 per cent., and whether, and if so how, they propose to reduce the percentage.
Mr. Kirkwood : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what consideration is being given by his Department to any changes that may now be necessary to pension fund regulation ; and if he will make a statement.
Miss Widdecombe : I refer the hon. Member to my reply to the hon. Member for Leyton (Mr. Cohen) on 20 December 1991 at columns 374-75 and to my hon. Friend the Member for Spelthorne (Mr. Wilshire) today.
Income Assessment
Mr. O'Brien : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will now consider changing the assumed level of weekly income of £1 for every £250 in savings which is taken into consideration when assessing community charge rebates and other social benefits ; and if he will make a statement.
Miss Widdecombe : I refer the hon. Member to my reply to the hon. Member for Newcastle upon Tyne, Central (Mr. Cousins) on 31 January 1992 at column 697 .
EDUCATION AND SCIENCE
University College, Teesside
Mr. Devlin : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many places will be available for students at the new University college in Teesside when it opens in September.
Mr. Alan Howarth : I understand from the university of Durham and Teesside polytechnic, the institutions managing the admissions to the college, that about 240 places will be available for students in the next academic year, increasing to 1,000 within five years.
Speech Therapy
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what money has been allocated to local education authorities to enable them to fulfil their duty in relation to children who have a statemented need for speech therapy.
Mr. Fallon : The local authority grant settlement for English local education authorities for 1992-93 took account of the broad range of pressures facing them and the increase of 7.1 per cent. should enable them to meet all the duties placed upon them in respect of pupils whose statements of special educational needs specify speech therapy as special educational provision.
Column 34
Warwickshire
Sir Dudley Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he or his officials will meet senior education officers of Warwickshire to discuss the educational situation in that county.
Mr. Fallon : Officials at the Department are always ready to meet officers of Warwickshire education authority to discuss issues of concern to them.
Sir Dudley Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what assessment he has made of the standard of education and the maintenance of school infrastructure in Warwickshire.
Mr. Fallon : My right hon. and learned Friend does not make assessments of the quality of education, or of the standards of school maintenance, in any particular education authority area. Statistics on levels of achievement in public examinations in different local education authorities are, however, kept by the Department and are publicly available. Reports by Her Majesty's inspectorate on individual schools are also published. The Education (Schools) Bill currently before Parliament will ensure that all schools in Warwickshire are regularly inspected on a four-year cycle with published reports of each inspection.
Special Needs
Ms. Armstrong : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will list the amount allocated to each local education authority for expenditure on special educational needs provision for each year since 1985, at constant prices.
Mr. Fallon : The schools component of standard spending assessments- -SSAs--does not separately identify an element for special educational needs. However it does include an allowance, equivalent to about 20 per cent. of standard spending for schools, for the additional cost of educating pupils in areas of relative deprivation which is distributed according to an index of additional educational needs. Authorities are not bound by SSAs, but are free to make their own decisions about total spending on education and the distribution of funding between the schools sectors. The amount of spending on special educational needs provision within mainstream schools with delegated budgets is a matter for the governors of those schools.
Pupil Testing
Mr. Straw : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will publish a table showing for each local authority in England the proportion of its primary schools, and relevant age of pupils, which were included in its return to his Department and his aggregate results of the 1991 key stage 1 tests.
Mr. Eggar : A table showing for each local authority in England the proportion of primary schools used to compile the aggregate results of the 1991 key stage 1 tests, published on 19 December, was provided in a written answer to the hon. Member for Newham, South (Mr. Spearing) on 15 January, Official Report, columns 580-82 . The following table shows what proportion of the total cohort of pupils eligible for testing in each LEA is
Column 35
represented by the pupils tested in these schools. There is no information about the precise distribution of the ages of pupils tested in each LEA, although all pupils tested completed key stage 1 of the national curriculum in the core subjects in the 1990-91 school year.
Proportion of 7 year old pupils from maintained schools
processed
for the purposes of publication of 19 December Report
|Percentage of
|pupils in KS1
|results
---------------------------------------------------------
Camden |94
Greenwich |74
Hackney |100
Hammersmith and Fulham |100
Islington |62
Kensington and Chelsea |100
Lewisham |90
Southwark |55
Wandsworth |85
Westminster |96
Barking and Dagenham |100
Barnet |91
Bexley |100
Brent |91
Bromley |97
Croydon |100
Ealing |72
Enfield |100
Haringey |100
Harrow |92
Havering |100
Hillingdon |78
Hounslow |49
Kingston upon Thames |100
Merton |100
Newham |46
Redbridge |95
Richmond upon Thames |86
Sutton |100
Waltham Forest |94
Birmingham |72
Coventry |100
Dudley |98
Sandwell |93
Solihull |99
Walsall |100
Wolverhampton |96
Knowsley |91
Liverpool |67
St. Helens |94
Sefton |98
Wirral |97
Bolton |68
Bury |100
Manchester |97
Oldham |86
Rochdale |94
Salford |63
Stockport |100
Tameside |99
Trafford |94
Wigan |73
Barnsley |93
Doncaster |87
Rotherham |97
Sheffield |87
Bradford |99
Calderdale |100
Kirklees |59
Leeds |96
Wakefield |100
Gateshead |97
Newcastle upon Tyne |96
North Tyneside |74
South Tyneside |96
Sunderland |98
Avon |100
Bedfordshire |89
Berkshire |99
Buckinghamshire |56
Cambridgeshire |98
Cheshire |88
Cleveland |100
Cornwall and Isles of Scilly |99
Cumbria |93
Derbyshire |88
Devon |99
Dorset |89
Durham |91
East Sussex |62
Essex |100
Gloucestershire |93
Hampshire |78
Hereford and Worcester |99
Hertfordshire |93
Humberside |98
Isle of Wight |84
Kent |94
Lancashire |90
Leicestershire |85
Lincolnshire |100
Norfolk |60
North Yorkshire |100
Northamptonshire |100
Northumberland |100
Nottinghamshire |89
Oxfordshire |72
Shropshire |96
Somerset |95
Staffordshire |93
Suffolk |96
Surrey |97
Warwickshire |97
West Sussex |99
Wiltshire |92
|-------
Total England |89
Music
Dr. Hampson : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what consideration he gave to the curriculum requirements for music in Wales and Scotland when drawing up his plans for England.
Mr. Eggar : My right hon. and learned Friend based his draft order for music in the national curriculum for pupils aged five to 14 on the advice of the National Curriculum Council, the statutory body which advises him on curriculum matters in respect of schools in England. The music curriculum for schools in Wales and Scotland is a matter for my right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Wales and for Scotland in the light of advice from their respective curriculum councils.
Dr. Hampson : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what assessment he has made of the impact his proposed curriculum requirements for teaching music in England will have on the structure of the GCSE ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Eggar : The draft order on the music curriculum which is currently out for consultation covers five to 14-year-olds only. The implications of the final order for GCSEs in music will be considered by the School Assessment and Examinations Council, in consultation
Column 37
with the National Curriculum Council, when they come to revise the criteria for new GCSE syllabuses for first examination in 1996.Research Expenditure
Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the current level of research expenditure for the Universities Funding Council ; and what is the projected expenditure for the next three years.
Mr. Alan Howarth : The Universities Funding Council allocated £680 million on research-based criteria to universities in academic year 1991-92. This sum was not hypothecated for research. The council has allowed each institution to determine its own spending on teaching and research within the aggregate funds available to it from all sources. The level of funding is determined on an annual basis. The UFC's allocation for 1992-93 announced today represents an underlying increase of over 11 per cent. above the level for 1991-92.
Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what has been the budget for
Column 38
research of the Universities Funding Council and its predecessor body in real and constant price terms since 1979.Mr. Alan Howarth : Neither the Universities Funding Council--UFC-- nor its predecessor, the University Grants Committee--UGC--has hypothecated funding for research. Each institution has been free to determine its own spending on teaching and research within the aggregate funds available to it from all sources. Estimates of UFC-funded spending on research are set out in the "Annual Review of Government Funded Research and Development", copies of which are in the Library. Estimated spending on scientific research funded by the UGC and UFC respectively increased by 9 per cent in real terms between 1979-80 and 1989-90.
Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what has been the budget in real and constant price terms of each of the research councils since 1979.
Mr. Alan Howarth : Details of the grants in aid to the research councils since 1979-80 from this Department, in both cash terms and at 1992 -93 prices are as follows.
Column 37
£ million
|1979-80|1980-81|1981-82|1982-83|1983-84|1984-85|1985-86
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AFRC-cash |29.5 |37.5 |42.0 |43.6 |45.8 |46.7 |52.7
1992-93 prices |71.7 |77.0 |78.6 |76.2 |76.5 |74.3 |79.5
ESRC-cash |16.8 |20.2 |20.7 |20.7 |22.9 |22.0 |23.6
1992-93 prices |40.8 |41.5 |38.8 |36.2 |38.3 |35.0 |35.6
MRC-cash |57.2 |72.9 |101.5 |107.5 |113.7 |117.2 |122.3
1992-93 prices |130.1 |149.7 |190.1 |187.9 |189.9 |186.5 |184.4
NERC-cash |36.6 |46.7 |54.3 |58.0 |61.6 |65.3 |67.9
1992-93 prices |88.9 |95.9 |101.7 |101.4 |102.9 |103.9 |102.4
SERC-cash |175.6 |201.4 |216.8 |234.4 |254.3 |278.8 |298.4
1992-93 prices |426.7 |413.5 |405.9 |409.7 |424.8 |443.6 |449.9
£ million
|1986-87|1987-88|1988-89|1989-90|1990-91|1991-92|1992-93
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AFRC-cash |57.1 |54.9 |61.1 |74.3 |88.4 |95.6 |101.6
1992-93 prices |83.4 |76.0 |78.9 |90.1 |98.9 |99.9 |101.6
ESRC-cash |23.8 |24.8 |27.0 |31.5 |36.6 |35.6 |40.7
1992-93 prices |34.7 |34.3 |34.9 |38.2 |40.9 |37.2 |40.7
MRC-cash |128.3 |139.8 |149.6 |176.3 |185.7 |202.9 |218.8
1992-93 prices |187.3 |193.5 |193.2 |213.9 |207.7 |212.0 |218.8
NERC-cash |70.3 |73.3 |91.9 |115.0 |135.2 |123.7 |126.8
1992-93 prices |102.6 |101.5 |118.7 |139.4 |151.2 |129.3 |126.8
SERC-cash |316.2 |357.5 |367.6 |406.2 |440.8 |456.4 |494.9
1992-93 prices |461.6 |494.9 |474.8 |492.7 |492.8 |477.0 |494.9
Note:
The 1992-93 figures were announced to the House on 16 December 1991 (Official
Report, columns 33-35). They exclude the amounts in respect
of dual support transfers totalling £ 48 million.
In addition to the grant in aid from this Department, the councils also receive substantial income from other sources.
Column 38
Undergraduates
Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many full-time undergraduates there were at British universities in each year since 1979.
Mr. Alan Howarth : The information is given in the table.
Column 39
Great Britain-Full-time
undergraduate students
|Number
------------------------
1979 |245,093
1980 |251,154
1981 |253,371
1982 |250,024
1983 |244,249
1984 |241,688
1985 |242,922
1986 |246,430
1987 |250,710
1988 |260,684
1989 |275,320
1990 |289,069
Source: Universities
Statistical Record.
Teachers' Pay
Mr. Cousins : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) if he will state the allocation among local education authorities of the extra funding for teachers' pay which was recently announced ;
(2) what is the projected cost of the teachers' pay award in each local education authority ; and what is the cost above the standard cost uplift implied by the revenue support grant settlement.
Mr. Fallon : The Government's proposal to implement the recommendations of the school teachers review body will add an estimated 7.8 per cent. to the teachers' pay bill of local education authorities in England and Wales in 1992-93. The pay bill of LEAs in inner and outer London and some authorities in the south-east will go up by slightly more than the average because of the additional cost of the review body's recommendations on non-discretionary London allowances. In order to help local authorities to cover the cost of the award the Government propose to pay additional grant to authorities in England and Wales totalling £60 million. The £60 million broadly represents the difference between the cost of an award consistent with the overall uplift in education standard spending allowed in the 1992-93 RSG settlements for England and Wales--7.2 per cent.--and the actual cost of the award--7.8 per cent. England's share of the £60 million is £56.5 million. The Government propose that, subject to the House of Commons approval, the additional grant in England should be distributed to local education authorities on the basis of the schools elements of their standard spending assessments. Illustrative allocations to individual LEAs on this basis are set out in the following table. Distribution of the Welsh share of £3.5 million is a matter for the Secretary of State for Wales.
Table showing the distribution of additional grant for
each local
education authority in England in £ s
Local authority |Additional
|grant
-------------------------------------------------------
Greater London
City of London |734
Camden |191,824
Greenwich |340,194
Hackney |344,129
Hammersmith and Fulham |166,063
Islington |255,946
Kensington and Chelsea |106,766
Lambeth |400,767
Lewisham |344,808
Southwark |337,366
Tower Hamlets |388,635
Wandsworth |283,150
Westminster |152,476
Barking and Dagenham |196,396
Barnet |345,836
Bexley |275,540
Brent |394,356
Bromley |302,405
Croydon |383,654
Ealing |391,396
Enfield |350,949
Haringey |304,639
Harrow |227,177
Havering |279,549
Hillingdon |274,867
Hounslow |279,894
Kingston upon Thames |140,044
Merton |177,791
Newham |405,011
Redbridge |287,167
Richmond upon Thames |120,937
Sutton |192,471
Waltham Forest |321,977
Greater Manchester
Bolton |332,815
Bury |187,135
Manchester |624,614
Oldham |297,607
Rochdale |265,175
Salford |267,431
Stockport |307,183
Tameside |263,627
Trafford |238,630
Wigan |351,479
Merseyside
Knowsley |243,683
Liverpool |667,301
Sefton |336,079
St. Helens |224,426
Wirral |428,119
South Yorkshire
Barnsley |241,839
Doncaster |380,746
Rotherham |320,063
Sheffield |527,881
Tyne and Wear
Gateshead |230,089
Newcastle upon Tyne |309,228
North Tyneside |231,081
South Tyneside |178,571
Sunderland |360,732
West Midlands
Birmingham |1,519,457
Coventry |378,100
Dudley |324,641
Sandwell |379,363
Solihull |224,404
Walsall |336,406
Wolverhampton |340,690
West Yorkshire
Bradford |716,003
Calderdale |242,797
Kirklees |486,771
Leeds |811,248
Wakefield |354,339
All Purpose Authority
Isles of Scilly |4,169
Shire Counties
Avon |974,079
Bedfordshire |703,722
Berkshire |886,505
Buckinghamshire |818,998
Cambridgeshire |755,620
Cheshire |1,113,732
Cleveland |792,026
Cornwall |530,969
Cumbria |547,589
Derbyshire |1,007,005
Devon |1,043,418
Dorset |610,464
Durham |698,966
East Sussex |670,182
Essex |1,821,532
Gloucestershire |568,408
Hampshire |1,707,874
Hereford and Worcester |745,915
Hertfordshire |1,155,985
Humberside |1,075,491
Isle of Wight |144,030
Kent |1,777,478
Lancashire |1,647,414
Leicestershire |1,089,525
Lincolnshire |679,359
Norfolk |807,025
Northamptonshire |703,169
Northumberland |363,015
North Yorkshire |746,045
Nottinghamshire |1,180,252
Oxfordshire |575,576
Shropshire |478,931
Somerset |473,021
Staffordshire |1,164,795
Suffolk |677,208
Surrey |994,128
Warwickshire |524,822
West Sussex |732,529
Wiltshire |614,368
University Lectures
Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many Universities Funding Council funded full-time lecturing staff there were in 1979 ; and how many there were at the most recent count.
Mr. Alan Howarth : Universities derive their funds from a variety of sources including the Universities Funding Council, and before it the University Grants Committee. The total number of
wholly-university funded full-time academic staff with teaching and research duties in United Kingdom universities was 33,173 in 1979-80 and 30,644 in 1990-91. UGC and UFC funds respectively will have provided partial support for virtually all of these posts.
DEFENCE
Employment (Scotland)
Mr. Dewar : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many armed forces personnel are currently located in Scotland.
Column 42
Mr. Archie Hamilton : At 1 January 1992, there were a total of 19, 845 regular armed forces personnel located in Scotland. These comprised 9,876 Royal Naval personnel, including sea service personnel in home waters with Scottish home ports, 2,978 Army personnel and 6,991 Royal Air Force personnel.
Gulf Trust
Mr. Ashley : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much money the public has donated to the Gulf Trust.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : I understand from the trustee of the Gulf Trust that almost £2,900,000 has been donated.
Mr. Ashley : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the answers, Official Report, 23 January, column 336, on what date the Gulf Trust will be formally wound up ; and if he will, then provide information, about the amount of money allocated to each of the service benevolent funds.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The deed of trust for the Gulf Trust provides for the winding-up of the trust on 12 February 1993, or such longer period as the trustee may determine after consultation with the Secretary of State for Defence. The amount of money allocated to each of the service benevolent funds donated to the Gulf Trust will be announced when the Gulf Trust is wound up.
Northern Ireland
Mr. Ashley : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the number in the forces who, while in service in Northern Ireland, have been (a) killed, (b) injured, (c) so seriously injured as to become disabled, (d) have suffered acknowledged mental distress and (e) have been discharged from the forces on medical grounds, including both physical and mental causes.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : From August 1969 until 31 December 1991, a total of 434 service men, excluding the Ulster Defence Regiment, were killed while on operations in Northern Ireland. Corresponding figures for injuries have been maintained centrally only from 1979. Since then, a total of 3,838 service men have been injured. Attributable figures for disablement, mental distress, and any consequential medical discharge are not available in the form requested.
UN Conference, Rio de Janeiro
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what contribution his Department is making to Her Majesty's Government's preparations for the United Nations conference on environment and development to be held in Rio de Janeiro in June.
Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : In common with other Government Departments, the Ministry of Defence is participating, as necessary, in the work required to develop and secure the Government's overall objectives for the UN conference on environment and development.
Cold Weather Monitoring
Mr. Kirkwood : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the minimum overnight temperatures recorded by the Meteorological Office in degrees
Column 43
Fahrenheit for cold weather purposes for each of the nights of January 1991 and January 1992 at (a) Boulmer weather station and (b) Eskdalemuir weather station.Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : I have asked the chief executive of the Meteorological Office to write to the hon. Member.
SCOTLAND
Project 2000
Mr. Wallace : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what financial allocation has been made to each health board in 1991-92 and is proposed for 1992-93 in respect of Project 2000.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : The information requested is as follows :
Board |1991-92 |1992-93
|£ million|£ million
----------------------------------------------------------
Argyll and Clyde |1.996 |2.235
Ayrshire and Arran |0.495 |0.535
Borders |0.534 |0.825
Dumfries and Galloway |0.458 |0.495
Fife |0.699 |1.089
Forth Valley |0.700 |0.756
Grampian |1.691 |1.828
Greater Glasgow |3.039 |3.286
Highland |0.534 |0.578
Lanarkshire |1.068 |1.155
Lothian |2.124 |2.350
Orkney |0.060 |0.065
Shetland |0.075 |0.080
Tayside |1.627 |1.777
Western Isles |0.120 |0.130
|--- |---
Total |15.220 |17.184
HIV and AIDS
Mr. Strang : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many non -haemophiliacs in Scotland have contracted HIV infection as a result of national health service transfers of (a) blood, (b) blood products and (c) tissue ; and how many of each of these groups became infected before the introduction of screening of donations in October 1985.
Mr. Lang : I refer to the reply that my hon. Friend gave on 6 November 1991, Official Report, at column 175. The total number of reported cases in Scotland as at 31 January was 12.
I have announced today that the special financial help already made to those with haemophilia and HIV in Scotland is to be extended to those infected with HIV as a result of blood transfusion or tissue transfer in the United Kingdom.
Fishing Boats (Repairs)
Mr. Menzies Campbell : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make it his policy to ensure that in the application of the 135-day tie-up rule no account will be taken of trips by fishing boats to enable them to undergo repairs.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : I can confirm that where a vessel is tied up for repairs this period can count towards the 135 days. Of course, by definition time spent at sea in reaching a yard is not time in port in terms of EC Regulation 3882/91.
Column 44
Forestry
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on progress achieved in development of United Kingdom forestry policy for the United Nations conference on environment and development to be held in Rio de Janeiro in June.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : The United Nations conference on environment and development is expected to agree to a statement of principles for the sustainable management and development of forests, and to give a programme of action to conserve and to expand the world's forests. The Government fully support those initiatives.
Sustainable, multi-purpose forestry is central to the Government's domestic forestry policy which I am sure will fully accord with the agreements that are signed at the United Nations conference.
Cyclists
Mr. Harry Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many cyclists have been (a) injured and (b) killed in road traffic accidents in each year since 1981.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton [holding answer 14 February 1992] : The information requested on pedal cycle casualties in Scotland is as follows :
Number of pedal cycle casualties in Scotland
|Killed |Injured
|(serious and
|slight)
----------------------------------------------------
1981 |20 |1,458
1982 |16 |1,440
1983 |24 |1,647
1984 |16 |1,834
1985 |14 |1,567
1986 |19 |1,443
1987 |14 |1,534
1988 |6 |1,401
1989 |16 |1,534
1990 |17 |1,407
Traffic Cameras
Mr. Harry Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many automatic cameras have been installed at
traffic-light-controlled junctions ; and how many more are planned this year.
| Next Section
| Home Page |