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National Insurance Contributions
Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many people in Scotland are paying national insurance contributions as self-employed.
Mr. Jack : The information requested is not available separately for Scotland.
Pensions
Mr. Kirkwood : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) pursuant to his answer of 3 February, Official Report, column 96, what would be the net cost to the Exchequer of raising the basic state pension in 1992-93 to £59.15 per week for single pensioners and £95.70 per week for married couples on the same basis as given in that answer, after taking into account extra income tax receipts and off-setting savings on expenditure on income-related benefits ; (2) what would be the net cost to the Exchequer, after taking into account higher tax receipts and savings on expenditure on income-related benefits, of increasing the basic state pension in 1992-93 to £59.15 per week for single people and to £94.70 per week for married couples, on the basis that the increased pensions were paid to all regardless of contributory record.
Mr. Jack [holding answer 7 February 1992] : Information on the savings on income-related benefits is not yet available for 1992-93 in the form requested. However, using existing basic pension rates increased by £5 per week for a single person, giving £57 and £8 per week a married couple, giving £91.25, costings comparable with 1992-93 can be made.
For 1991-92 the gross cost would be £3.9 billion with offsetting savings of £1.0 billion on income-related benefits. Income tax receipts would rise by £0.2 billion. The net cost to the Exchequer would be £2.7 billion. The combined cost of this increase in national insurance contributions to a man on full-time average earnings and his employer would be £5.20 per week in 1991-92.
Pension Rights
Mr. Harry Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) if he will introduce an early warning system to inform contributors that they need to make back payments on their national insurance contributions to maximise their pension rights ; and if he will make a statement ;
(2) if he will produce advice for the public on arrangements for making back-payments of national insurance contributions to help people to maximise their pension rights ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Jack [ holding answer 24 February 1992 ] : The Department already writes automatically to relevant groups of contributors following the end of any year in which their contribution record is insufficient to count towards basic retirement pension. In addition, the
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Department also provides a retirement pension forecast to contributors : they can request a forecast by completing an application form (BR 19) obtainable at local social security offices. The forecast gives details of the pension entitlement based on the national insurance record held. It states the number of qualifying years required in the future to obtain the maximum pension which can be achieved, and offers advice on the payment of additional contributions, if required.The Contributions Agency has a high level of commitment to provide information and assistance to all its customers. This is shown in the charters recently issued by the agency and I will send the hon. Member copies of these documents.
SCOTLAND
Scottish Ambulance Service
Mr. Galbraith : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give for the Scottish Ambulance Service, Greater Glasgow area, in April 1991 and December 1991 the number of (a) urgent calls and (b) emergency calls.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : The information about the Greater Glasgow area is :
|April 1991 |December 1991
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Number of urgent calls |2,762 |2,779
Number of emergency calls |3,415 |4,175
Mr. Galbraith : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give the number of cases currently being considered by the procurator fiscal for fatal accident investigation in which delay in ambulance response from the Scottish Ambulance Service, Greater Glasgow area, is considered a possible factor.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : I am advised by my noble and learned Friend the Lord Advocate that no such cases are currently being considered.
Lead Poisoning
Sir Russell Johnston : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what studies his Department are conducting into the dangers of lead poisoning, especially for children ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : In January 1992 the chief scientist office of the Scottish Office Home and Health Department approved funding amounting to £27,000 for a one-year study by Dr. Mary Fulton of the University of Edinburgh to determine the impact of treating water to reduce its lead content on the blood lead levels of those children who participated in her earlier research into the influence of blood lead on the ability and attainment of children in Edinburgh. The health implications of lead are fully recognised by the Government and measures have been taken to reduce lead exposure through petrol, water, industrial emissions and a range of other sources.
Pittenweem Harbour
Mr. Menzies Campbell : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he intends to give borrowing consent to Fife regional council for the construction of a breakwater at Pittenweem harbour.
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Mr. Michael Forsyth : My right hon. Friend expects to announce his decisions on capital expenditure consents for local authorities very shortly.
Texts (Efficiency Scrutiny)
Mr. Bill Walker : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement about the efficiency scrutiny of text creation in the Scottish Office.
Mr. Lang : The efficiency scrutiny was recently completed and I have today placed in the House Library a copy of the scrutiny team's report. It makes a number of recommendations. My Department will now produce an action plan outlining the Scottish Office response to the report.
Candidiasis and Myalgic Encephalomyelitis
Mr. Eadie : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the provision made by each health board in the treatment of candidiasis and myalgic encephalomyelitis ; and what is the approximate spend of each health board annually on such treatment.
Mr. Michael Forsyth [holding answer 24 February 1992] : Treatment of these conditions is a matter for general practitioners in the first instance. Costs for the treatment of these conditions cannot be identified separately.
Publicity
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list all the television advertising campaigns and all other publicity campaigns costing over £100,000 to be carried out by his Department in February, March, April, May or June of the current year.
Mr. Lang [holding answer 24 February 1992] : A television and press publicity campaign on solvent misuse and drug abuse is currently running in Scotland and will continue into March. The cost is £115,000. To date, the only campaign planned for the next financial year is one to promote car crime prevention. It will run on television in April and May at a cost of £110,000.
TRANSPORT
Shipping (North Sea)
Mr. Wilson : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make it his policy to restrict North sea supply vessels to those which sail under the British flag.
Mr. McLoughlin : No. It is our policy to seek the removal of such restrictions elsewhere. Liberalisation of cabotage trade, including offshore supply services, is currently one of our main objectives in the European Community. We believe this to be in the best interests of the British shipping industry as well as of those who use its services.
Blackwall Tunnel
Mr. Spearing : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if, as part of the improvements for traffic control and avoidance of delays and congestion in and
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around the Blackwall tunnel, he will consider the merits of reverting to the practice of having a heavy duty breakdown vehicle permanently stationed at the north exit of that tunnel.Mr. Chope : I shall consider the hon. Member's suggestion.
Air Traffic Noise
Mr. Fearn : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will consider using the noise line statistics when judging the impact of air traffic on local communities.
Mr. McLoughlin : My noble Friend wrote to the hon. Member on this subject on 18 February.
Departmental Staff
Mrs. Mahon : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will publish a table showing the number of (a) men and (b) women in his Department in each of the grades (i) 1, (ii) 2, (iii) 3, (iv) 4, (v) 5, (vi) 6, (vii) 7, (viii) SEO, (ix) HEO, (x) administrative trainee, (xi) EO, (xii) CO and (xiii) CA.
Mr. McLoughlin : The table shows staff in the Department of Transport and its agencies by grade equivalent and gender. The figures reflect staff in post at 1 April 1991 of 15,984.
DTp staff by grade equivalent at 1
April 1991
Grade |Men |Women |Total
------------------------------------
Grade 1 |1 |0 |1
Grade 2 |4 |0 |4
Grade 3 |23 |0 |23
Grade 4 |17 |0 |17
Grade 5 |107 |9 |116
Grade 6 |149 |6 |155
Grade 7 |686 |69 |755
SEO |917 |72 |989
HEO |1,098 |310 |1,408
EO |3,122 |1,085 |4,207
AO |1,597 |2,655 |4,252
AA |951 |3,097 |4,048
Other |9 |0 |9
|--- |--- |---
Total |8,681 |7,303 |15,984
Mrs. Mahon : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what is the total number of employees in his Department ; and how many are (a) black and (b) disabled.
Mr. McLoughlin : The total number of non-industrial staff in post in the Department of Transport, and its agencies, on 1 April 1991 was 15,484. A survey of the ethnic origin of non-industrial staff showed that of the respondents--representing 81 per cent. of the Department--619 were from ethnic minority groups.
MOT Tests
Mr. Kirkwood : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many MOT tests were conducted in the area of Hawick, Roxburghshire in the last year for which figures are available.
Mr. Chope : There were 5,595 MOT tests carried out in the Hawick area between January and December 1991.
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British Rail Privatisation
Mr. Snape : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) whether it is his intention that the provisions of the citizens charter applicable to British Rail will also apply to private sector rail operators after privatisation of the railway ;
(2) how many civil servants he estimates will be required to be employed in regulation of safety, access, fares, franchising and service standards monitoring of the railway system after privatisation ; and whether their costs will be met by the Exchequer or the railway customer ;
(3) to which authority he intends to give responsibiliy for the safety training of railway staff and for testing in professional competence following the privatisation of British Rail ;
(4) what obligations he intends to place on private sector operators taking over parts of British Rail to contribute to the work of the Railway Heritage Trust and to continue and expand the community involvement currently undertaken by British Rail ; (5) how he intends introduction of automatic train protection will be financed following the privatisation of British Rail ; (6) to whom he intends to give responsibility for the maintenance of the bridges, viaducts and other structures on closed branch lines following the privatisation of British Rail ;
(7) which company or authority he intends to nominate to take over the 50 per cent. share of channel tunnel capacity contracted jointly to British Rail and French Railways following privatisation of British Rail ;
(8) how he intends essential safety expenditure will be financed following the privatisation of British Rail ;
(9) what arrangements he intends to make for railway research and development following the privatisation of British Rail ; (10) which authority he intends will represent Britain's railways on the International Union of Railways and the Community of European Railways following the privatisation of British Rail ;
(11) how he intends to ensure the co-ordination of the planning and publication of timetables and the provision of train service information to customers throughout Great Britain following the privatisation of British Rail.
Mr. Freeman : We shall make known our proposals in due course.
Passenger Transport, South-East
Mr. Squire : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will publish the total number of passengers (expressed as millions of passenger miles) carried by (a) London Underground, (b) London Buses, including tendered routes and (c) Network SouthEast in each year since 1980.
Mr. Freeman : The information requested is given in the table.
Passenger miles (millions)
|London |London bus |Network
|Underground|services<1>|SouthEast
------------------------------------------------------------
1980 |2,640 |2,579 |8,100
1981 |2,540 |2,500 |8,000
1982 |2,270 |2,320 |7,000
1983 |2,700 |2,436 |7,800
1984-85 |3,340 |2,587 |7,400
1985-86 |3,710 |2,562 |8,100
1986-87 |3,862 |2,687 |8,500
1987-88 |3,888 |2,786 |9,000
1988-89 |3,910 |2,769 |9,400
1989-90 |3,738 |2,728 |9,300
1990-91 |3,830 |2,713 |9,300
<1> Including tendered routes.
Speed Limiters
Mr. Roger King : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how he intends to implement the provisions of the recently agreed EC directive requiring the fitment of speed limiters to heavy goods vehicles and passenger-carrying vehicles.
Mr. Chope : The United Kingdom has been ahead of the EC in recognising the road safety and environmental benefits associated with speed limiters. It has been a requirement to fit speed limiters on new coaches since April 1989 ; and new goods vehicles over 7.5 tonnes maximum weight will have to have limiters fitted from 1 August 1992. In addition, domestic regulations already require existing coaches registered since April 1974 to have speed limiters fitted. We consulted last year on a proposal to require speed limiters to be fitted to certain types of existing heavy goods vehicles over 16 tonnes, and regulations to implement that initiative will be made shortly. We shall also be introducing regulations requiring that limiters must be secured against tampering only by officially approved centres.
Domestic regulations will need to be amended in due course to accommodate the additional requirements in the EC directive which will effectively limit the maximum speed of the coaches concerned to 65 mph, and the maximum speed of the heavy goods vehicles concerned to 56 mph. The regulations on existing heavy vehicles and coaches will also have to be extended to accommodate the slightly wider requirements of the EC directive. These amendments, which will ensure that domestic legislation satisfies all the EC requirements, will not need to be implemented until 1994 at the earliest.
M6
Mr. Knapman : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what is the current position on the proposed widening of the M6 and the competition for a private sector route in the Birmingham to Manchester corridor.
Mr. Rifkind : I have today announced plans for widening the M6 between junctions 11 and 20 to dual four-lane carriageway at an estimated cost of £450 million. A copy of the press notice setting out the details of what is proposed has been placed in the Library. I have also announced the decision that, for a variety of reasons, ranging from environmental to operational, none of the proposals received in response to the competition for a new privately-funded route in the Birmingham- Manchester corridor are to be taken forward. However, we shall keep under review the scope for involving the private sector further in road provision throughout the network. In widening the M6, environmental assessment will be carried out and landscaping, planting and noise protection
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measures will be used extensively. We shall continue to consult local authorities and other interested organisations as we develop designs for widening. We will mount exhibitions to show our designs to the public and enable them to comment, prior to embarking on the normal statutory procedures required for this kind of road improvement.Birmingham Western Orbital Route
Mr. Cash : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he plans to announce the next stage of the competition to build a privately funded Birmingham western orbital route.
Mr. Rifkind : I am today inviting pre-qualifying bids for this scheme from the private sector. A notice is being published in the Official Journal of the European Communities.
The aim of this pre-qualifying stage is to provide a basis for selecting a limited number of tenderers to avoid wasted tendering effort by the industry. The short-listed candidates will then be invited to tender to design, build, finance and operate the new road as a tolled road under a concession agreement with the Department. Authorisation for the road scheme will be sought by procedures introduced by the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991. The road will be required to meet the same environmental and safety standards as any public sector scheme and there will be the same opportunity for a public inquiry.
The aim is for the scheme to be completed in the late 1990s, the same target as for the previous public scheme.
Low-Energy Lighting
Mr. Corbett : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he will make it his policy progressively to introduce low-energy lighting in all the buildings operated by his Department.
Mr. McLoughlin : Guidance on the use of low-energy lighting has been issued throughout this Department and has already been applied in a number of its buildings. Such systems will be progressively introduced where it is cost effective to do so.
Motorway Lighting
Mr. Corbett : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what studies he has made of the impact of lighting on motorways on the incidence of driver/passenger fatalities and accidents ; and with what results.
Mr. Chope : The results of a study undertaken by the Transport and Road Research Laboratory were published in 1987. The study concluded that there does not appear to be any evidence to support an increase in the Department's current assumption of a 30 per cent. reduction in night-time accidents, but the range of uncertainty remains high.
British International Helicopters
Mr. David Porter : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement about the procedures that were followed when British Airways was privatised with regard to the arrangements entered into
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over British International Helicopters ; and what steps were taken to preserve the interests of the Exchequer and the staff of British International Helicopters.Mr. McLoughlin : British International Helicopters, formerly British Airways Helicopters Ltd. (BAHL), a subsidiary of British Airways, was sold in September 1986, prior to the privatisation of British Airways. The decision to sell BAHL and the details of the negotiations were commercial matters for the British Airways Board.
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Aberdeen Airways
Sir Teddy Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent application has been received for the operation of Aberdeen Airways ; and what factors are taken into account in considering such applications.
Mr. McLoughlin : The Civil Aviation Authority has referred the case of Aberdeen Airways to the Secretary of State for Transport under section 66(3) of the Civil Aviation Act 1982 for a decision as to whether the airline's air transport licences should be revoked. All such cases are considered on their merits.
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