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key goals set is the need to ensure that more women are appointed at the most senior levels as firm evidence of the commitment to making best use of all staff. Detailed guidance on how these goals may be achieved, and the results monitored, is to be issued in due course.Toxocara Canis
Mr. William Ross : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research his Department has carried out into which domestic and wild animals in the United Kingdom act as hosts for toxocara canis.
Mr. Dorrell : The Department has carried out no such research.
Lead Poisoning
Sir Russell Johnston : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what studies his Department is conducting into the dangers of lead poisoning, especially for children ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Dorrell : The Department is not at present carrying out any such studies. There has been very extensive research into the dangers of lead poisoning, with particular attention to neuropsychological effects in children. Studies of the latter, undertaken in the United Kingdom and elsewhere, were reviewed in 1988 by an advisory group of the Medical Research Council, the main agency through which the Government support biomedical and clinical research in the United Kingdom. The advisory group concluded that
"any effects of lead at the exposure levels seen in the United Kingdom are very small and cannot be detected with any certainty but the evidence for an association between body lead burden and IQ is now stronger In view of these conclusions it would be prudent to continue to reduce the environmental lead to which children are exposed."
Since 1974 it has been the policy of successive Governments to contain and reduce exposure to lead wherever practicable, particularly in those circumstances where people are most exposed. Successful measures have been taken to reduce lead exposure through petrol, water, air, food, industrial emissions, paint, cosmetics, ceramic glazes and toys, and monitoring programmes have shown a continuing fall in blood lead levels in children and adults.
Ozone Layer
Mr. Strang : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what consideration he has given to Government action to protect British people from the likely effects of the depletion of the ozone layer over the Arctic and northern latitudes ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Dorrell : I refer the hon. Member to the replies I gave the hon. Member for Dewsbury (Mrs. Taylor) on 20 December 1991 at columns 353-54. The Department proposes to seek advice from the Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment (COMARE) on what further action may be appropriate.
Whitley Council Appeals Machinery
Mr. Kirkwood : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will make a statement outlining the legal provisions relating to the abolition of the General Whitley Council appeals machinery as set out in section 32 of the General Whitley Council ;
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(2) if he will explain the reasons for the abolition of the General Whitley Council appeals machinery ; and what consultations he has had with Whitley Council representatives before deciding to do so ; (3) if he will set out the machinery he proposes to put in place of the provisions now revoked as a result of his abolition of section 32 of the General Whitley Council.Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : The new conditions provide for employing authorities to introduce more straightforward local procedures after consultation with staff and local staff representatives.
Section 32 of the General Whitley Council provisions was seen increasingly as a cumbersome and ineffective way of handling differences of opinion between employing authorities and individual members of staff. Individual grievances which were not resolved at employing authority level were referred to a second level of appeal and, if again unresolved, to a third national level of appeal. There was no provision which required such appeals--which could be taken forward only by a professional organisation or trade union representing an aggrieved employee--to be finally resolved, and so many cases, some of which took a year or more to go through the system, were never resolved. This system did little to foster good industrial relations locally.
The management side of the General Whitley Council were in negotiations with the staff side for about four years to change the procedures until August 1991 when the talks broke down.
In the light of lack of progress the existing agreement was revoked and replaced by new conditions, using powers in paragraph 10 of schedule 5 of the National Health Services Act 1977 and regulations 3 and 4 of the National Health Service (Remuneration and Conditions of Service) Regulations 1991.
The new machinery is as follows :
Procedures for settling differences about conditions of service 1. The procedures set out below apply where an officer is aggrieved in relation to any matter affecting his conditions of service, but do not apply to settling differences relating to:--
(a) dismissal or disciplinary matters,
(b) disputes appropriate to resolution in accordance with section 33 of the General Whitley Council Handbook,
(c) organisational change, or
(d) matters for which it has been agreed that specific Whitley Council Procedures will apply.
3. The procedures determined by employing authorities shall provide for the reference of grievances to a person or body other than the employing authority where the parties agree, in relation to a specific grievance, that the reference is appropriate.
4. Where the grievance relates to the application of a national agreement reached through the National Whitley Council, either party may seek clarification as to the intended interpretation of the agreement from the joint secretaries of the National Whitley Council if those secretaries agree to provide that clarification.
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Marriages
Mr. Shersby : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he has any plans to introduce legislation to require those responsible for conducting marriage ceremonies to require documentary evidence of the age, identity and marital status of those who are marrying ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Dorrell : The Government, in their White Paper "Registration : proposals for change"--Cm. 939--said that it will legislate to give to registrars and to the clergy of the Church of England and the Church in Wales powers to call for documentary evidence of the age, identity and marital status of those who are marrying. The legislation will be introduced as soon as parliamentary time allows.
Mr. Shersby : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what restrictions exist on a registrar of civil marriages in England and Wales informing the appropriate authorities that an individual seeking to marry has overstayed his or her permitted visit to the United Kingdom.
Mr. Dorrell : Superintendent registrars are statutory officers exercising functions under the Marriage and Registration Acts under the direction of the Registrar General. They are not agents of the immigration service and the fact that an individual has overstayed his or her permitted visit to the United Kingdom does not constitute a lawful impediment to that person marrying in this country. However, if a superintendent registrar has good reason to suspect that the proposed marriage of a person from abroad has been arranged for the sole purpose of evading statutory immigration controls he or she is instructed to report the facts to the Registrar General. If the Registrar General is satisfied that the marriage is purely one of convenience, then the facts will be passed on to the Home Office.
Children Act 1989
Mr. Andrew Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proposals he has for monitoring implementation of the Children Act 1989.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : I have today issued a paper on the Department of Health's strategy for monitoring implementation of the Children Act. Copies of the paper have also been placed in the Library.
The monitoring strategy relies in the main on
--an enhanced collection of management information returns covering the key provisions of the Children Act.
--social services inspectorate's programme of a major survey of local authorities' progress towards implementation of the Act coupled with small scale inspections and development work.
research.
Information drawn from these sources will form the basis of my report to Parliament at the end of 1992 on the first year of the Children Act in operation.
Cervical Smears
Ms. Harman : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list each district health authority which are (a) reaching the one month target, (b) not reaching the one month target for cervical smear tests and (c) the number of weeks taken to process cervical smear tests in districts which are not meeting the target (i) currently, (ii) last year and (iii) five years ago.
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Mrs. Virginia Bottomley [holding answer 10 February 1992] : As at December 1991, the latest available date, the following district health authorities were not reaching the one month target for cervical smear tests :
District |Length of
|backlog
|weeks
---------------------------------------
Bradford |5
Huntingdon |5
Parkside |5
Sheffield |5
South Bedfordshire |5
Northampton |7
Camberwell |11
Action is being taken by all the health authorities concerned to bring the remaining backlogs within the one month target. All other district health authorities were reaching the one month target at December 1991.
In March 1991, the following district health authorities were not reaching the one month target for cervical smear tests :
District |Length of
|backlog
|(weeks)
------------------------------------------
Barnet |9
Basildon and Thurrock | 6.5
Bath |12
Brighton |8
Bromley |8
Cambridge |7
Croydon |5
Enfield |12
Hampstead |6
Haringey |5
Huntingdon |5
Merton and Sutton |5
North East Essex | 6.5
Nottingham |5
Parkside |9
Redbridge |12
Scunthorpe |7
Shropshire |23
South Derbyshire |5
Southend |12
South Tees | 6.5
Stockport<1> |13
Sunderland |6
Tameside<1> |7
Tunbridge |6
Waltham Forest |5
<1> July 1991.
All other districts were reaching the one month target at March 1991.
Information on the processing of cervical smear tests is not available for five years ago. The one month target was introduced in 1988, following the setting up of the NHS cervical screening programme.
For information relating to July 1991 I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave her on 16 July 1991 at column 145.
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TRADE AND INDUSTRY
United Nations Trade Conference
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether his Department was represented at the Eighth United Nations Conference on Trade and Development in Cartagena, Colombia.
Mr. Sainsbury : As Minister for Trade, I attended the opening ceremony on 8 February 1992 and made a statement on 10 February. Officials from my Department will be in attendance throughout the conference.
Hong Kong (Ministerial Visits)
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether, on his visit to Hong Kong in September 1988, the then Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Trade and Industry, the hon. Member for Warwickshire, North (Mr. Maude), took part in party political activities in addition to official duties.
Mr. Lilley [holding answer 13 February 1992] : The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Trade and Industry arrived in Hong Kong in the morning of 27 September 1988 and left in the afternoon of 29 September. His programme included a breakfast with Conservatives Abroad.
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether, on his visits to Hong Kong in (a) June 1988 and (b) April 1989, the then Secretary of State took part in party political activities in addition to official duties.
Mr. Lilley [holding answer 13 February 1992] : Lord Young arrived in Hong Kong in the afternoon of 19 June 1988 and left in the evening of 22 June. His programme included early evening drinks with Conservatives Abroad.
Lord Young returned to Hong Kong in the early evening of 16 April 1989 and left the same evening. This programme did not include any political engagements.
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether, on his visit to Hong Kong in September 1990, the Minister for Trade took part in party political activities in addition to official duties.
Mr. Lilley [holding answer 13 February 1992] : The Minister for Trade arrived in Hong Kong in the afternoon of 22 September 1990 and he left in the afternoon of Wednesday 26 September. His programme did not include any political activities.
Electricity Prices
Mr. Hardy : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what reduction he expects in production or employment in 1992-93 in those industries which are heavy users of energy as a result of the recent and proposed increases in electricity prices ; and what steps he proposes to take to ensure that such developments are minimised.
Mr. Redwood [holding answer 18 February 1992] : The Government are aware of the concerns of large users about electricity prices, and have asked them for more detailed information. But they cannot predict the effects of changes in electricity prices on production or employment.
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NORTHERN IRELAND
Northern Ireland (Emergency Provisions) Act 1991
Mr. Trimble : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern ireland (1) how many applications have been made under section 57 of the Northern Ireland (Emergency Provisions) Act 1991 for the exercise of the powers conferred by schedule 5 to that Act ; and how many authorisations have been granted ;
(2) how many notices have been issued under paragraph 2 of schedule 5 to the Northern Ireland (Emergency Provisions) Act 1991 requiring (a) the attendance of persons or (b) the production of documents ;
(3) how many applications have been made for the issue of warrants under paragraph 3 of schedule 5 to the Northern Ireland (Emergency Provisions) Act 1991.
Dr. Mawhinney : My right hon. Friend proposes to publish on an annual basis statistics relating to the use made of these provisions.
Mr. Trimble : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether he will list all the highways (a) closed or (b) diverted by orders made under section 25 of the Northern Ireland (Emergency Provisions) Act 1991 or the equivalent provision in earlier Acts giving in each case the date of the order.
Dr. Mawhinney : The information relating to the period prior to 16 May 1991 is not available in the format requested and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Since 16 May 1991, the closure of the following roads has been directed by order of the Secretary of State.
Under section 19A(1)(a) of the Northern Ireland (Emergency Provisions) Act 1987
1. The Movarran Road between Ordnance Survey grid references 18107304 and 18027285, in the townland of Movarran, County Fermanagh--directed by order dated 29 May 1991.
2. The border crossing point between Ordnance Survey grid references 15667188 and 15727180, in the townland of Rushindoo, to the north of Kesh, County Fermanagh--directed by order dated 5 June 1991.
3. The border crossing point between Ordnance Survey grid references 44002264 and 44142287, in the townland of Clonkee, to the south-east of Newtownbutler, County Fermanagh--directed by order dated 21 June 1991.
Under section 25 of the Northern Ireland (Emergency Provisions) Act 1991
1./2. The Killymeal Road, near its junction with Viewfort, Dungannon, County Tyrone and Orpheus Road, near its junction with Killymeal Road, Dungannon, County Tyrone--directed by order dated 24 September 1991.
3. The Antrim Road at Ordnance Survey grid reference 14858187, near Aldergrove International Airport, County Antrim--directed by order dated 29 September 1991.
The Secretary of State has not directed the diversion of any road in this period.
GP Fund Holding
Mr. Hume : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement detailing communications to general medical practitioners encouraging fund-holding practices outlining what incentives exist and
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detailing the extent and timing of contact on the matter with health and social services boards with whom the general medical practitioners have their contracts.Mr. Hanley : A detailed programme setting out how the GP fund- holding scheme will work in Northern Ireland and inviting expressions of interest was sent to all general practitioners on 16 December 1991. Expressions of interest will be accepted up to the beginning of March 1992 after which there will be a process of assessment in which health and social services boards will be closely involved.
Ballot Papers
Mr. William Ross : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps he is taking to monitor the number of persons refused a ballot paper at the forthcoming general election because they are not in possession of the correct identification document.
Dr. Mawhinney : The Government have no plans to undertake such an exercise. The requirement for voters to produce a specified document at elections in Northern Ireland is well known and well advertised. Every elector in Northern Ireland either has or is in a position to obtain at least one suitable document free of charge.
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AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD
Potato Marketing Board
Mr. Gill : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is his policy regarding the future of the Potato Marketing Board and the potato marketing scheme.
Mr. Curry : The Government's policy is to encourage the Potato Marketing Board to respond to the needs of the market and to keep the potato marketing scheme under review in the light of developments in the European Community and elsewhere.
Common Agricultural Policy
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will update his answer of 17 June 1991, Official Report, column 20, giving revised figures for the common agricultural policy budget in 1991 and 1992, and forecasts for 1993 ; if he will state whether forecasts for 1993 incorporate changes in expenditure as a result of the current EC Commission proposals for CAP reforms ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Gummer : The table gives the information requested for the years up to 1992. A forecast for 1993 is not yet available as it would depend on decisions that have yet to be taken.
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Year Guarantee section<1> Guidance section Other CAP expenditure<2>Total expenditure
on the CAP
|mecu |£ million|mecu |£ million|mecu |£ million|mecu |£ million
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1985 |19,728 |11,601 |690 |406 |52 |31 |20,470 |12,037
1986 |22,119 |14,330 |727 |471 |47 |30 |22,893 |14,831
1987 |22,950 |16,508 |863 |621 |32 |23 |23,845 |17,152
1988 |27,640 |18,749 |1,142 |775 |58 |39 |28,840 |19,564
1989 |25,849 |16,925 |1,349 |883 |49 |32 |27,247 |17,840
1990 |26,430 |18,764 |1,825 |1,296 |77 |55 |28,332 |20,114
<3>1991 |32,359 |22,550 |2,011 |1,401 |143 |100 |34,734 |24,205
1992 |36,849 |25,679 |2,644 |1,843 |364 |254 |39,857 |27,775
<1> Figures for 1992 include 1,000 mecu (£ 697 million) for the monetary reserve.
<2> Other agricultural expenditure comprises mainly 50 per cent. of 5-year set-aside scheme, income aids (since 1990)
and agricultural
inspections.
<3> 1991 figures consist of provisional outturn (guarantee section and part of other CAP expenditure) and budget
provisions (the rest).
Sources: 1985-1990: Budget outturn figures.
1991: Budget plus provisional outturn.
1992: Budget.
Hungarian Meat Fraud
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement about the problems encountered in the Hungarian meat fraud, referred to in his Ministry's expenditure plans 1992- 93 to 1994-95.
Mr. Gummer : This matter is already under consideration by the courts and further investigations are continuing. In the circumstances, I am unable to comment.
WALES
Farm Incomes
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what were the net farm income figures for Wales for each year since 1985-86 to 1989-90, inclusive, for (a) upland farms and (b) lowland farms that are involved in cattle and sheep mixed farming ; and if he will make a statement.
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Mr. David Hunt: Net farm income figures for lowland livestock farms have not been published separately since 1984-85. The extension of the less -favoured areas (LFAs) in that year led to a change in classification of a substantial number of lowland livestock farms to LFA livestock farms, and the resulting lowland livestock sample figures became statistically unreliable. Figures for hill and upland cattle and sheep farms for the period 1985-86 to 1989-90 are :
Net farm income
|£ '000
------------------------
1985-86 |9.0
1986-87 |9.3
1987-88 |12.5
1988-89 |16.4
1989-90 |10.9
Usk Barrage
Mr. Edwards : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what representations he has received regarding the (a) environmental, (b) agricultural and (c) groundwater impact of the proposed Usk barrage ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. David Hunt : I have received a number of representations on the environmental impact of the proposed Usk barrage.
Chiropody Services
Mr. Edwards : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement regarding the provision of chiropody services in Monmouth and in Gilwern, Gwent.
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : The provision of chiropody services is the responsibility of the health authority. There has been a temporary withdrawal of service at Gilwern due to accommodation problems, but the problem has now been resolved and the health authority will resume the service shortly. Meanwhile, chiropody services are available at Brynmawr and Abergavenny.
Metal Production
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what proportion of (a) United Kingdom iron, (b) crude steel and (c) tinplate is produced within Wales.
Mr. David Hunt : In 1991, 35 per cent. of United Kingdom iron production, 35 per cent. of United Kingdom crude steel production, and 100 per cent. of United Kingdom tinplate production took place within Wales.
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how much steel is made per head in Wales ; and what were the equivalent figures for 1976, 1981 and 1986.
Mr. David Hunt : In 1981, 176 tonnes of raw steel were produced per steel worker in Wales. The equivalent figures for 1986 and 1991 were 239 tonnes and 341 tonnes respectively. No figures are available for 1976.
Fish Farm Appeals, Milford Haven
Mr. Gareth Wardell : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he is now in a position to announce his decision on fish farm licence appeals in Milford Haven.
Mr. David Hunt : There is one appeal outstanding in this area. My officials wrote to the appellants over a year ago requesting information that is needed before I can determine the appeal. No information has yet been received, but my officials have recently written again, asking whether the appellants are able to provide the information or now wish to withdraw the appeal.
Electricity Supply
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what percentage of United Kingdom electricity is generated in Wales.
Mr. David Hunt : I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply that I gave him on 24 July 1991 at column 628.
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