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Mr. Gould : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will place in the Library a copy of the agreement between Fisons plc and English Nature concerning peat extraction.
Mr. Heseltine : I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Taunton (Mr. Nicholson) on 12 February 1992, Official Report, column 506. In addition I have arranged for a copy of the information package made available to the public by English Nature at the time of the announcement of the agreement to be placed in the Library.
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Nature Conservation
Mr. Jessel : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when the draft planning policy guidance note on nature conservation will be published.
Sir George Young : The Department of the Environment and the Welsh Office have today published a draft planning policy guidance note on nature conservation for public consultation and copies are being placed in the Library. The planning policy guidance provides up-to-date guidance on how the Government's policies on the conservation of our natural heritage are to be reflected in land use planning. It also sets out the main statutory obligations under both domestic and international law. We want to ensure effective conservation of wildlife and natural features while making adequate provision for development and economic growth. This planning policy guidance is designed to achieve that.
Wild Birds
Mrs. Roe : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what measures he proposes to take to protect wild birds in trade.
Mr. Baldry : With colleagues in the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, we are acting on a number of fronts to protect birds and other wild animals in trade.
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State, wrote last week to the European Commission to urge it to make speedy progress in drawing up the special safeguards for the transport of birds, negotiated last autumn by my right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, as part of a directive on the welfare of all animals in transport. To achieve immediate improvements in the conditions in which birds are transported. I am also writing, with my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Agriculture, to the International Air Traffic Association (IATA) to seek worldwide limits on the size of shipments. Should this approach fail, MAFF will introduce stricter limits nationally.
The Department has a particular responsibility for those birds and other animals whose import we licence. In preparation for next month's conference of the parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) I have identified with interested organisations, the introduction of checklists to monitor and enforce transport conditions as a top priority. The United Kingdom will complete these forthwith for imports of all animals subject to CITES controls. Checklists may be used as a basis for enforcement action ; the application of stricter transport conditions ; and for imposing restrictions on trade in particular species between particular countries. At the CITES conference, we shall urge others to follow our example on both the checklist and the collection of mortality statistics.
We shall also press for a substantial improvement in the implementation of CITES controls worldwide. In particular, as identified by our scientific advisers last year, action must be taken to remedy the failure of many countries to meet the Convention's requirements for the issue of export permits.
Our national licensing controls are already much more extensive than the basic CITES restrictions and we shall investigate further extension in the light of the latest
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mortality statistics. We shall also continue to encourage our partners in the European Community to join us in imposing tighter controls. I welcome the recent publication by the European Commission of proposals for a regulation which would meet many of the wide- ranging concerns I expressed to them last year. We shall examine the full implications of the proposals urgently starting with those relating to the care and housing of live animals. Where appropriate, we shall not hesitate to take action before the regulation comes into effect.Hedgerows
Mr. Colvin : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he intends to introduce grants for hedgerow maintenance.
Mr. Heseltine [pursuant to his reply, 20 November 1991, c. 159] : As part of our initiative "Action for the Countryside" which, together with my right hon. Friend the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, I launched today, we are introducing a new hedgerow incentive scheme to counter the problem of loss of hedgerows through lack of maintenance. The scheme will encourage farmers and landowners to manage hedgerows in ways that will ensure their long-term survival. The hedgerow incentive scheme will target hedgerows of particular historic, landscape or wildlife importance. Hedgerows are also being lost through removal and we have announced our intention to legislate when parliamentary time permits to introduce a hedgerow notification scheme.
In addition to our proposed new hedgerow incentive scheme, "Action for the Countryside" reviews other countryside policies, looks at the changes under way and sets out new initiatives for the future. The new initiatives concentrate on action to maintain a prosperous economy and thriving communities in the countryside, to protect and enhance the landscape, to provide for public enjoyment of the countryside and to protect and conserve wildlife. They are not put forward in isolation. The initiatives described here carry forward the principles of "This Common Inheritance" (Cmd 1200) and
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are complementary to policies already in hand. They demonstrate the importance that the Government attach to integrating development to sustain rural communities with the conservation of the countryside. The Government remain committed to keeping its policies in the countryside under review and will take further action when and where necessary to secure the delivery of its objectives.I am arranging for copies of "Action for the Countryside" to be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Education Expenditure
Mr. Cousins : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish a table showing for each local education authority the percentage increase in standard spending assessment for education comparing 1992-93 with 1991-92 ; how much of this variation was accounted for by variation in pupil numbers ; how much was to meet the full year effects of the 1991 teachers pay award ; and how much was for the anticipated effect of the 1992 pay award.
Mr. Key : The table shows for each authority the total percentage increase in the education standard spending assessment between 1991-92 and 1992-93 and the percentage increase accounted for by the changes in pupil numbers.
The overall cost of teachers' pay awards is among the pressures which the Government have taken into account in determining the appropriate amount for authorities to spend collectively on education in 1992-93. The cost of the pay awards is not, however, one of the indicators used to calculate education standard spending assessments and it is not therefore possible to identify a separate allowance for this cost within individual authorities' standard spending assessments.
Education authorities are to receive additional grant of £56.6 million in 1992-93 to fund the additional cost of the teachers' pay award. This will be distributed in line with the schools' elements of the education standard spending assessment.
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Comparison of 1991-92 and 1992-93 education services standard spending assessments for each
local education authority in England showing
overall percentage changes and the percentage change attributable to updating pupil numbers
Local authority |Percentage change|Percentage change
|1991-92 to |attributable to
|1992-93 education|pupil numbers
|standard spending
|assessment
|per cent. |per cent.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total England |7.1 |-
Total Shire counties |6.9 |-0.2
Total Metropolitan districts |6.4 |0.0
Total inner London boroughs including City |9.8 |1.2
Total outer London boroughs |8.2 |0.7
Total London boroughs |8.8 |0.9
Total Shire areas |6.9 |-0.2
Total Metropolitan areas |6.4 |0.0
Total London |8.8 |0.9
Isles of Scilly |19.6 |10.1
Greater London
City of London |-20.0 |-29.5
Camden |6.3 |-0.9
Greenwich |9.6 |2.4
Hackney |9.9 |1.0
Hammersmith and Fulham |11.9 |4.6
Islington |12.9 |3.2
Kensington and Chelsea |10.0 |4.5
Lambeth |11.7 |1.8
Lewisham |11.4 |0.8
Southwark |9.4 |1.5
Tower Hamlets |10.3 |0.5
Wandsworth |3.3 |-3.6
Westminster |11.8 |2.1
Barking and Dagenham |8.2 |1.1
Barnet |8.8 |0.1
Bexley |7.5 |0.5
Brent |7.5 |0.3
Bromley |5.9 |-0.8
Croydon |7.5 |-0.9
Ealing |9.1 |0.4
Enfield |7.7 |0.3
Haringey |10.8 |2.9
Harrow |6.0 |0.1
Havering |5.5 |-0.7
Hillingdon |6.7 |0.1
Hounslow |9.5 |1.8
Kingston upon Thames |6.7 |-0.5
Merton |8.4 |0.3
Newham |12.8 |4.0
Redbridge |8.5 |0.7
Richmond upon Thames |6.0 |-0.4
Sutton |8.2 |0.0
Waltham Forest |8.5 |2.0
Greater Manchester
Bolton |6.4 |0.1
Bury |7.1 |0.1
Manchester |7.8 |1.6
Oldham |4.7 |0.8
Rochdale |4.8 |-2.3
Salford |11.9 |-0.4
Stockport |5.4 |-0.8
Tameside |6.7 |0.3
Trafford |6.3 |-0.4
Wigan |7.1 |-0.5
Merseyside
Knowsley |9.5 |-0.1
Liverpool |5.9 |0.4
Sefton |7.1 |-0.4
St. Helens |4.3 |-1.1
Wirral |4.3 |0.2
South Yorkshire
Barnsley |5.3 |-4.8
Doncaster |6.7 |0.7
Rotherham |5.8 |-0.3
Sheffield |5.2 |-0.5
Tyne and Wear
Gateshead |7.2 |-0.5
Newcastle upon Tyne |5.3 |0.4
North Tyneside |7.8 |0.6
South Tyneside |6.8 |0.5
Sunderland |4.6 |-0.6
West Midlands
Birmingham |6.2 |0.8
Coventry |7.4 |0.1
Dudley |6.4 |-0.9
Sandwell |6.1 |-0.4
Solihull |6.3 |-1.7
Walsall |6.3 |0.4
Wolverhampton |4.6 |-0.2
West Yorkshire
Bradford |6.8 |0.8
Calderdale |7.1 |0.0
Kirklees |6.4 |-0.5
Leeds |7.3 |-0.2
Wakefield |7.0 |0.6
Shire counties
Avon |5.8 |0.1
Bedfordshire |8.2 |0.4
Berkshire |7.8 |0.1
Buckinghamshire |7.5 |0.3
Cambridgeshire |7.6 |0.3
Cheshire |6.2 |-0.3
Cleveland |6.4 |0.3
Cornwall |6.4 |-1.0
Cumbria |5.8 |-0.3
Derbyshire |6.0 |-0.8
Devon |6.9 |0.4
Dorset |8.5 |0.2
Durham |5.2 |-0.3
East Sussex |9.2 |0.6
Essex |7.9 |-0.7
Gloucestershire |7.0 |-0.1
Hampshire |7.2 |-0.1
Hereford and Worcester |6.4 |-0.3
Hertfordshire |7.3 |-0.7
Humberside |6.3 |0.0
Isle of Wight |7.8 |-0.3
Kent |6.5 |-0.7
Lancashire |6.8 |-0.6
Leicestershire |7.2 |0.1
Lincolnshire |7.0 |-0.5
Norfolk |7.6 |-0.1
Northamptonshire |8.3 |-0.1
Northumberland |6.9 |0.5
North Yorkshire |5.9 |-0.2
Nottinghamshire |6.2 |-0.2
Oxfordshire |6.5 |-0.3
Shropshire |5.9 |-0.7
Somerset |5.8 |-0.4
Staffordshire |7.0 |-0.3
Suffolk |6.8 |-0.1
Surrey |7.3 |-0.9
Warwickshire |5.8 |-0.7
West Sussex |8.4 |0.2
Wiltshire |6.5 |-0.1
Council Tenants Charter
Mr. Soley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the cost of preparation, publication and distribution of the council tenants charter.
Sir George Young : The estimated cost of the production, launch and distribution of 1 million copies of the full tenants charter and 5 million copies of the
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explanatory leaflet is £298,600, subject to final invoices. This includes the cost of translating the booklet into five languages and producing an audio-taped version for blind tenants. Further distribution costs will be incurred in response to demand.Column 571
North Yorkshire County Council
Mr. Rooney : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what the total level of Government support to North Yorkshire county council was in 1990-91, and in 1991-92 ; and what is the projected figure for 1992-93.
Mr. Key [holding answer 26 February 1992] : The bulk of North Yorkshire's revenue finance is derived from precepts on collection funds administered by the district councils within the county. The council, however, receives certain specific grants from the Government which are paid directly into its own general fund. Those inside aggregate external finance were estimated to be £33.409 million in 1990-91 and £36.823 million in 1991-92. Estimates for specific grants for 1992-93 are not available as the relevant returns have not yet been received by the Department. In 1992-93, North Yorkshire will also receive an additional grant towards the teachers' pay award of £0.746 million.
HOME DEPARTMENT
Crime Statistics
Mr. Battle : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will give the number of crimes (a) recorded and (b) detected by the West Yorkshire police for each year from 1976 to 1991 shown (i) in total and (ii) by each police station.
Mr. John Patten : The available information is given in the table. Figures for 1991 are not available. The chief constable's annual report for West Yorkshire gives crimes recorded and detected by sub-division only.
Notifiable offences recorded by the police
in
West Yorkshire 1976-90<1>
Year |Offences |Offences
|recorded |cleared up
--------------------------------------------
1976 |110,864 |57,876
1977 |127,942 |60,445
1978 |122,874 |60,250
1979 |118,418 |43,702
<2>1980 |127,527 |54,368
1981 |138,571 |57,191
1982 |152,136 |63,728
1983 |146,307 |68,806
1984 |158,656 |66,751
1985 |159,351 |67,214
1986 |165,586 |62,213
1987 |173,313 |68,062
1988 |166,195 |71,096
1989 |179,185 |68,512
1990 |227,631 |77,073
<1> Excluding criminal damage value £20 and
under.
<2> Figures for 1980 onwards are not
precisely comparable with
those for previous years.
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will indicate the number of (a) sexual offences and (b) sexual assaults against men in each year of the last five years for (i) London and (ii) nationally.
Mr. John Patten : Information on sexual offences recorded by the police for 1986 to 1989 is published in table 2.9 of "Criminal Statistics, England and Wales 1989" and figures for 1990 are published in table 3 of Home Office "Statistical Bulletin 13/91." The equivalent figures for London are published in Table 13.2 of the "Report of
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the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis 1990". Copies of all these publications are available in the Library.Mr. Caborn : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will give the number of crimes (a) recorded and (b) detected by the North Yorkshire police between October 1976 and September 1977 and in the same October to September period each year since then up to October 1990 to September 1991.
Mr. John Patten The available information is contained in the table. Clear up statistics are published only for calendar years.
Notifiable offences recorded in North Yorkshire Period |Recorded ----------------------------------- 12 months ending September 1977 |22,858 September 1978 |23,769 September 1979 |21,856 September 1980 |22,128 September 1981 |24,523 September 1982 |27,987 September 1983 |28,622 September 1984 |32,019 September 1985 |34,071 September 1986 |36,657 September 1987 |36,678 September 1988 |36,132 September 1989 |34,604 September 1990 |42,899 September 1991 |50,465
Police, North Yorkshire
Mr. Caborn : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will give the number of additional uniformed police officers, excluding special constables, that have been authorised to be added to the strength of the North Yorkshire police in each year from 1975 to 1991.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : It is not possible to distinguish between increases in uniformed and non-uniformed police officers as such information is not held centrally. The establishment of the North Yorkshire police has been increased by the following amounts between 1975 and 1990 :
Year |Police posts --------------------------------------- 1975 |111 1979 |40 1989 |15 1990 |25 1991 |6
The police authority did not request establishment increases in the years 1980-81 to 1987-88 inclusive.
Fingerprint Technology
Sir John Wheeler : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress has been made since the publication of Cm 1163 in applying automatic fingerprint recognition technology to the work of the National Identification Bureau.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : It remains an objective of the Government to apply automatic fingerprint recognition--AFR--technology to the work of the National
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Identification Bureau. To this end, the Home Office has been collaborating with the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the United States of America since autumn 1990 on studying how best to apply this technology to very large collections of fingerprints. Specialist staff are being recruited to the Home Office to manage a programme of work aimed at developing a national automatic fingerprint identification system to support both the identification of arrestees work undertaken presently by the NIB and the matching of fingerprint marks left at scenes of crime.Sir John Wheeler : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether all computerised systems used by police forces in England and Wales to handle fingerprints are (a) mutually compatible, (b) compatible with the system used in Scotland and (c) compatible with other systems in use or being developed by TREVI countries.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : The automatic fingerprint recognition--AFR-- systems supplied by any particular AFR manufacturer are based on proprietary standards which do not allow these systems to communicate directly with systems supplied by any other manufacturer. As police forces in England and Wales have purchased, or plan to purchase, AFR systems from different manufacturers, these systems will not be compatible. Nor will they all be compatible with the system in Scotland. Similarly, there are a number of different systems in use or being planned in TREVI countries.
The Home Office, the FBI and others, including the suppliers of AFR systems, have been co-operating with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in the USA to develop non-proprietary standards for image storage and for the interchange of fingerprint information between different AFR systems. Insofar as police forces in England and Wales purchase systems which meet these
non-proprietary standards, these systems will be compatible. This matter is currently being discussed with the Association of Chief Police Officers. The issue of compatibility between AFR systems in use in Europe is being considered by TREVI.
Electoral Roll (Prisoners)
Mr. Tony Lloyd : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will review the rules relating to the time at which a prisoner released after 31 October can register on the electoral roll.
Mrs. Rumbold : No. Convicted prisoners who are detained on the qualifying date of 10 October cannot be regarded as resident for electoral registration purposes at either their place of detention or their home address. There is no provision for adding to the register the names of people who became resident after the qualifying date. Released prisoners are in the same position as anyone else who becomes resident after the qualifying date.
Police, West Mercia
Mr. Conway : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what were the capital and revenue contributions from central Government to the West Mercia police authority for 1978-79, 1982-83, 1986-87 and 1991-92.
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Mr. Peter Lloyd : Information on the amounts of police specific grant paid by the Home Office to the West Mercia police authority in respect of its expenditure in 1978-79, 1982-83 and 1986-87, and expected to be paid in respect of 1991-92, is as follows. That part of the authority's expenditure which is not met by specific grant is apportioned between its constituent county councils, and their contributions to the authority's expenditure are supported by central Government through the revenue support grant system.
Specific grant paid to West Mercia
Police Authority
|£ millions
------------------------------------
1978-79<1><2> |8.2
1982-83<1><2> |17.8
1986-87<1><3> |24.1
1991-92<3><4> |42.7
<1> Grant paid on revenue
expenditure, loan charges and
revenue
contributions to capital
expenditure.
<2> Rate of grant 50 per cent.
<3> Rate of grant 51 per cent.
<4> Grant paid on revenue
expenditure, loan charges on
pre-April
1990 debt, and capital expenditure.
Prison Suicides
Mr. Sheerman : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many prisoners are recorded as having attempted suicide in 1990 and 1991 ;
(2) how many prisoners committed acts of self-injury in 1990 and in 1991 which resulted in medical treatment ;
(3) how many 15-year-old boys and girls in prison attempted suicide in 1990 and 1991.
Mrs. Rumbold [holding answer 10 February 1992] : In 1991 there was a recorded total of 2,846 acts of deliberate self-harm by prisoners in Her Majesty's Prison Service establishments. (Some prisoners committed acts of deliberate self-harm on more than one occasion.) Of the total, 11 were committed by 15-year-old prisoners. All reported acts of deliberate self-harm result in medical treatment. There may be some cases, however, in which the prisoners harmed themselves in a minor way but did not bring this to the attention of staff, and so the injury would not have been reported. It is not possible to distinguish reliably how many acts of deliberate self-harm were suicidal in intent.
The information requested for 1990 could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS
Middle East
Mr. Atkinson : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the middle east peace process ; and if he will list the forthcoming bilateral and multilateral meetings.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : A fourth round of bilateral negotiations started in Washington on 24 February. The first substantive meetings of the five multilateral working groups set up at the co-ordinating meeting in Moscow at the end of January are due to take place at the end of April and the beginning of May. They will cover economic development, water issues, the environment, refugees and arms control. We continue, with our European partners, to give full support to the process. Progress is bound to be slow but some momentum has now been achieved.
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NATO Secretary-General
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions were held with the Secretary-General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation in advance of his recent visit to Ukraine and Russia.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : The alliance's relations with the republics of the former Soviet Union have been regularly discussed at NATO, and the Secretary-General told allies of his plans to visit the Ukraine and Russia well in advance.
OVERSEAS DEVELOPMENT
Morocco
Mrs. Clwyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the Government's position on the recent decision of the European Parliament to suspend EC aid to Morocco.
Mrs. Chalker : The European Parliament vote on 15 January denied the necessary assent to the proposed EC/Morocco fourth financial protocol. Her Majesty's Government support the protocol as an important element in strengthening EC relations with Morocco. We believe that concern over human rights is best expressed separately and does not justify withholding assent to this protocol which we believe should be implemented.
ATTORNEY-GENERAL
Jury Trials
Mr. Nicholls : To ask the Attorney-General for each of the last three years for which figures are available, how many people elected for trial by jury ; how many of those who elected for trial by jury were subsequently convicted ; and how many of those who were convicted had a previous conviction, for an offence involving violence or dishonesty, whether or not such convictions were spent within the meaning of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.
Mr. John Patten : I have been asked to reply.
I will write to the hon. Member.
ENERGY
Offshore Oil and Gas
Mr. Cousins : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will publish a table showing the regional breakdown of British oil and gas production, defined by the regional location of the terminals at which offshore oil and gas was landed, and the wellhead site in the case of onshore oil and gas.
Mr. Moynihan : The information in tabular form, on a provisional basis, for 1991 is as follows :
Offshore oil and gas landings by region/terminal for 1991
Region/Terminal |Crude |Natural gas |Gas
|(million |liquids |(million cubic
|tonnes) |(million |metres)
|tonnes)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
East Anglia
Bacton |- |0.1 |18,897
East Midlands
Theddlethorpe |- |0.1 |9,424
North
Barrow |- |0.1 |6,701
Yorkshire/Humber
Easington |- |0.1 |2,770
Dimlington |- |0.0 |4,664
| ------- | -------
Regional Total |- |0.1 |7,434
| ------- | -------
Scotland
St. Fergus |- |2.1 |9,242
Flotta |8.9 |0.2 |-
Forties |16.6 |0.9 |-
Nigg |1.0 |- |-
Sullom Voe |35.4 |0.7 |-
| ------- | ------- | -------
Regional Total |61.9 |3.9 |9,242
|------- |------- |-------
Grand Total |61.9 |4.3 |51,698
Note:
In addition to the gas landed at terminals 3,346 million cubic
metres was produced and used mostly on production platforms. This
gives an overall production figure for 1991 of 55,440 million cubic
metres.
Onshore oil and gas production by region for 1991
Region |Oil |Gas
|(million tonnes)|(million cubic
|metres)
--------------------------------------------------------------------
East Midlands |0.2 |24
South East |0.2 |<1>21
South West<2> |3.2 |153
|------- |-------
Total |<3>3.7 |198
<1> Includes 3.9 from other land fields.
<2> Additional 0.1 million tonnes of NGL's were produced onshore
in the South West region.
<3> Due to rounding the sum of the constituent items may not equal
the total.
Departmental Staff
Mrs. Mahon : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will publish a table showing the number of (a) men and (b) women in his Department in each of 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. Wakeham : The information requested is in the following table :
Grade |Males |Females --------------------------------------- 1 |1.0 |- 2 |2.0 |- 3 |10.0 |- 4 |1.0 |- 5 |31.0 |3.0 6 |21.0 |1.0 7 |121.5 |12.0 SEO |39.0 |3.5 HEO |77.0 |19.0 Admin. Trainee |1.0 |- EO |88.0 |43.0 AO (CO) |50.5 |79.0 AA (CA) |25.5 |31.0 Notes: 1. Figures are as at 1 April 1991. 2. Full-time staff count as 1 and part-time staff 0.5.
Mrs. Mahon : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what is the total number of employees in his Department ; and how many are (a) black and (b) disabled.
Mr. Wakeham : As at 1 April 1991 the Department employed 969 staff of whom 808 (83 per cent.) had responded to the surveys ; of the respondents 85 (10.4 per cent.) have identified themselves as from the ethnic minorities. As at 1 June 1991 there were 13 registered disabled staff in the Department. These figures are on a headcount basis, that is, full and part-time staff count as one.
Energy Efficiency
Ms. Walley : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will extend the energy management and assessment scheme to include grants for equipment installed as part of an energy efficiency drive.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : No. The energy management assistance scheme is designed to help with the cost of consultancy and project management costs. Any capital investment identified as necessary within the scheme will be recovered in a short period from greater efficiency and savings.
PRIME MINISTER
Market Research
Mr. Gould : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list the companies recently commissioned by his office, the Cabinet Office and the citizens charter unit to carry out polling and market research ; and if he will list the areas of research, the questionnaires to be used and the groups to be questioned.
The Prime Minister : No such research has been commissioned recently by my office, the Cabinet Office or the citizens charter unit.
TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Company Directors
Mr. Bell : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) how many applications have been made by him or his predecessors to the courts for the disqualification of directors under the terms and provisions of the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986 ; how many have been successful ; and if he will make a statement ; (2) how many referrals there were to the disqualification unit of the Department of Trade and Industry for applications to be made for the disqualification of directors under the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986 for the years 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990 and 1991 ; and if he will make a statement ;
(3) if he will set out the criteria under which applications are made to the court for the disqualification of directors under the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Lilley : The criteria under which applications are made for the disqualification of directors under section 6
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of the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986 on the ground of unfitness are set out in schedule I to that Act. They include breach of duty, misapplication of funds, contraventions of the Companies Acts and the Insolvency Act and the extent of a director's responsibility for the causes of the company becoming insolvent. The courts must have regard to these matters in determining whether a person's conduct as a director of a particular company or companies makes him unfit to be concerned in the management of companies generally.The following numbers of unfit conduct reports have been made by official receivers and insolvency practitioners :
|Numbers
------------------------
1987 |3,115
1988 |4,231
1989 |3,234
1990 |4,235
1991 |5,747
|---
|20,562
In the period from 28 April 1986 to 31 December 1991, 2,184 disqualification applications have been made under section 6 of the Act ; 1,193 orders have been made and 190 applications have been dismissed or withdrawn.
Mr. Pawsey : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what support has been, and is being provided to Northern Ireland industrialists by way of the Export Credits Guarantee Department.
Mr. Sainsbury : The full range of ECGD facilities continues to be available to companies carrying on business in Northern Ireland.
Beer Orders
Mr. Crowther : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent meetings he has had with representatives of brewery companies on matters related to the implementation of the beer orders ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Lilley : I met the chairman of Grand Metropolitan plc, on 30 January 1992. My officials have also had recent meetings with a number of brewers about the implementation of the beer orders.
Barlow Clowes (Government Shareholdings)
Sir Robin Maxwell-Hyslop : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when and in what manner Her Majesty's Government intend to dispose of the shareholdings which they acquired following the transfer of assets from the collapsed Barlow Clowes holdings.
Mr. Lilley : The assets of the former Barlow Clowes entities are being administered by the appointed office holders.
WALES
Equal Opportunities
Mrs. Mahon : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is the total number of employees in his Department ; and how many are (a) black and (b) disabled.
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Mr. David Hunt : As at 1 January 1992 my Department employed 2, 411 whole-time equivalent staff ; 32 respondents to the ethnic origin survey have described themselves as being of ethnic minority ; 41 members of staff have chosen to register as disabled.Mrs. Mahon : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will publish a table showing the number of (a) men and (b) women in his Department in each of 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. David Hunt : The numbers of staff, as at 1 April 1991 were :
Grade<1> |Men |Women ------------------------------------------ 1 |1 |- 2 |2 |- 3 |10 |1 4 |6 |- 5 |55 |10 6 |74 |13 7 |133 |29 SEO |113 |21 HEO |164 |89 AT and HEO (D) |4 |3 EO |191 |235 AO |169 |317 AA |113 |199 <1> Including equivalent professional grades.
Second Home Owners
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will publish figures showing the amount of poll tax received by each local authority in Wales which derived from second home owners within the local authority area in both 1990 and 1991 ; and what are the estimated levels of council tax to be collected from second home owners in each local authority area in Wales for the first year of its operation.
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : Information on local authority standard charge income derived from second homes in Wales is not held centrally. Council tax income from second home owners in Wales will depend on the number of discretionary discounts awarded by local authorities, the valuation of the properties concerned, and the tax set by each local authority for 1993-94.
Ministerial Record
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list (a) his departmental failures and (b) his departmental achievements over the past year.
Mr. David Hunt : I shall be making a statement on the performance of my Department in the Welsh day debate on Thursday 27 February.
Roads
Mr. Gwilym Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when he intends updating the information given in the 1991 supplement to "Roads in Wales : Progress and Plans for the 1990s."
Sir Wyn Roberts : I have today published the 1992 supplement to "Roads in Wales : Progress and Plans for the 1990s". Copies have been placed in the Library of the House.
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EMPLOYMENT
Training
Mr. Cox : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what was the number of (a) men and (b) women taking Government employment training courses and registered as living in the London borough of Wandsworth as of 18 February.
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