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Written Answers to Questions
Friday 15 May 1992
LORD CHANCELLOR
Court Interpreters
Sir John Wheeler : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary to the Lord Chancellor's Department what cost implications the steering group of the major agencies of the legal system has identified in respect of the establishment of courses and training for court interpreters ; and what the cost would be of implementing a system of
qualifications.
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Mr. John M. Taylor : A steering group of the main agencies of the legal system has been convened by the Nuffield Foundation to promote the use of trained interpreters by the police, the courts and other legal services. The steering group has met four times since January 1991. It will start to address questions of cost at its next meeting on 21 May and will primarily be concerned with the cost to the legal system of using qualified interpreters and the setting up of training courses.
Legal Aid
Sir Thomas Arnold : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary to the Lord Chancellor's Department what was the legal aid (a) budget and (b) outturn in each year from 1979 to 1991 ; what was the percentage increase in each year after allowing for inflation ; and what number of people received legal aid in each year.
Mr. John M. Taylor : The information required is detailed in the table :
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#TCW92051500a
#TCW92051500b
#TCW92051500c
Dalai Lama
Mr. Riddick : To ask the Prime Minister if he will invite the Dalai Lama to visit the United Kingdom.
The Prime Minister : I have no plans to do so but the Dalai Lama is welcome to visit the United Kingdom at any time. I met him during his last visit in December last year.
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HOME DEPARTMENT
Electoral Registration
Dr. John Cunningham : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will place in the Library the public opinion survey carried out by his Department, entitled "Post Campaign Research for Electoral Registration Advertising".
Mr. Peter Lloyd : A copy of a report into the effectiveness of the 1991 advertising campaign on electoral registration entitled "Home Office Electoral Registration Campaign : Campaign Monitor Summary Report" was placed in the Library in January this year.
Dogs
Mr. Steen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he was first requested to confirm the byelaw approved by South Hams district council, based on the Home Office model, excluding all dogs from certain beaches along the coastline of south Devon during the summer months ; and if he will make it his policy to approve it immediately.
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Mr. Charles Wardle : On 19 July 1991, South Hams district council applied to the Home Office for confirmation of byelaws to regulate dogs on various beaches. A number of objections to the byelaws had been sent to the Home Office and the council was asked to comment on these in August and December 1991.After considering the objections, and the council's observations, my right hon. and learned Friend the Home Secretary confirmed the byelaws on 11 May 1992 and the consent of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport, which is also required for seashore byelaws, was granted on 12 May.
The byelaws, which were returned to the council by the Department of Transport on 12 May, will come into force on 19 May 1992.
NORTHERN IRELAND
Hotels
Mr. Beggs : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will publish details of the rateable valuation of each hotel in each parliamentary constituency in Northern Ireland.
Mr. Mates : The information is not available in the format requested. I have, however, written to the hon. Gentleman and placed a copy of my response in the Library.
Ethnic Minorities
Mr. Janner : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many and what percentage of officers in grades 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 respectively and overall in his Department are members of ethnic minorities.
Mr. Mates : At 31 March 1992, the Northern Ireland Office had 103 London-based staff, all of whom had been invited to take part in an ethnic monitoring survey. Of those who responded, 14 per cent. described themselves as belonging to an ethnic minority. None of these were in grades 1 to 7. The Northern Ireland civil service is not required to monitor the ethnic origin of its staff and the information is not therefore available.
Mr. Janner : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when the Northern Ireland Departments last conducted a survey of the ethnic origin of their employees ; when they next plan to do so ; and whether he will make a statement.
Mr. Mates : In June 1988, the home civil service completed a four- year programme of ethnic origin surveys covering all staff then in post. The Northern Ireland Office has continued to monitor staff who join the home civil service group in the Department and to update its records. The Northern Ireland Office is an equal opportunity employer and this is emphasised in all recruiting campaigns and advertising. The Northern Ireland civil service is not required to monitor the ethnic origin of staff, nor has it current plans to do so.
Coastal Protection
Mr. Clifford Forsythe : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he has any plans to tighten the laws preventing the exploitation of the natural assets and wildlife of the seashore by private extraction companies.
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Mr. Atkins : There are no plans at present to amend the current legislation.
Handicapped Children
Mr. Maginnis : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) how many specialist teachers of visually impaired children, who are not attending special schools, are employed on a part-time basis in each of the education and library board areas ; and what is their full-time equivalence ;
(2) how many specialist teachers of hearing impaired children, who are not attending special schools, are employed on a part-time basis in each of the education and library board areas ; and what is their full-time equivalence ;
(3) how many specialist teachers of visually impaired children, who are not attending special schools, are employed on a full-time basis in each of the education and library board areas ;
(4) how many specialist teachers of hearing impaired children, who are not attending special schools, are employed on a full-time basis in each of the education and library board areas ;
(5) how many specialist teachers of (a) visually impaired and (b) hearing impaired children, who are not attending special schools, are employed directly by the Department of Education for Northern Ireland.
Mr. Hanley : No specialist teachers of visually impaired children are employed on a full-time or part-time basis in any of the education and library board areas. A support service for all such children is provided by Jordanstown special school.
A number of full-time and part-time specialist teachers of hearing impaired children are employed in special units attached to mainstream schools as follows :
Board |Full-time |Part-time |Full-time
|equivalency
--------------------------------------------------------------
Belfast |7 |2 |0.8
Western |6 |1 |0.6
North Eastern |5 |- |-
South Eastern |7 |2 |1.0
Southern |5 |- |-
In addition, the education and library boards operate a peripatetic teaching service and four teachers in each board currently offer support to pupils with hearing problems and their teachers in special mainstream schools.
The Department of Education itself does not employ any teachers.
Mr. Maginnis : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how often, on average (a) a visually impaired and (b) a hearing impaired child, who is not attending a special school, will be visited by a specialist teacher each year ; and what is the average duration of each visit.
Mr. Hanley : This information is not held centrally.
Mr. Maginnis : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many children, not attending a special school, are registered as (a) visually impaired and (b) hearing impaired in each of the education and library board areas.
Mr. Hanley : The latest available information relates to the 1990-91 school year, and is as follows :
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/
Area board |Visually |Hearing
|impaired |impaired
-----------------------------------------------
Belfast |4 |69
Western |29 |63
North Eastern |17 |36
South Eastern |13 |64
Southern |18 |50
|--- |---
Total |81 |282
HEALTH
NHS Trusts
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on the position of hospital trusts in the national health service.
Dr. Mawhinney : NHS trust status is the management model of choice for the provision of health care within the national health service. The first 57 NHS trusts have shown that they are better able to respond to patients needs through the great freedoms and flexibility that NHS trust status affords. Ninety-nine hospitals and other units became operational as NHS trusts from 1 April 1992 and we look to them and to those coming forward in subsequent waves to continue the tradition.
Becton and Dickinson Pens
Mr. Hutton : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what assessments she has made of the cost of providing needles for BD pens on prescriptions ;
(2) whether needles for BD pens will be available on prescription ; and if she will make a statement ;
(3) what representations she has received on the question of providing needles for BD pens on prescription ; what was the content of those representations ; and if she will make a statement.
Dr. Mawhinney : We have received a small number of representations on this issue. Decisions about additions to the list of items which GPs may prescribe must be subject to the availability of resources and other competing priorities. In the case of insulin injection pens, and their special needles, negotiations about the price are continuing with manufacturers. From the information currently available, the cost of these pens and their needles would exceed the current cost of disposable needles.
Respite Care
Mr. Butcher : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will conduct a study of the general health of those carers whose dependants are in receipt of respite care.
Mr. Yeo : In 1985, the general household survey included a series of questions for people looking after a sick, handicapped or elderly person, so as to provide as full a picture as possible of informal carers. Information was collected about the health of carers and about time off from caring. In 1990, questions about informal carers were again included in the general household survey, and the results will be published in due course.
In addition, the Department is currently funding a three-year study at the National Institute for Social Work to investigate the effectiveness of respite services for the
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carers of confused elderly people. One component of the study, which is due to report later this year, is the impact of respite services on the health of carers.Tobacco Advertising
Mr. Sims : To ask the Secretary of State for Health when she expects to publish the report of the Department's chief economic adviser on the impact of banning tobacco advertising on consumption and prevalence ; and if she will make a statement.
Dr. Mawhinney : The contents of the Department's study on the effects of tobacco advertising will be made available in an appropriate form when it has been completed.
Intensive Coronary Care Beds
Mrs. Mahon : To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the answer of 12 May, Official Report, column 483, how many male intensive coronary care beds there are in Calderdale health authority ; and what is the comparable provision in other health authorities.
Dr. Mawhinney : In the year ending March 1991 there were four beds designated specifically for intensive care services in Calderdale health authority. Those beds are available for the urgent treatment of male and female patients. Provisional figures of available beds in intensive care wards in Calderdale and other authorities are given in the table.
Number of available beds in intensive care wards by district 1990-91.
(Provisional)
|Number
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|England |2,484
|Northern RHA |202
A01 |Hartlepool |7
A02 |North Tees |13
A03 |South Tees |21
A04 |East Cumbria |10
A05 |South Cumbria |5
A06 |West Cumbria |4
A07 |Darlington |9
A08 |Durham |8
A09 |North West Durham |8
A10 |South West Durham |8
A11 |Northumberland |6
A12 |Gateshead |2
A13 |Newcastle |79
A14 |North Tyneside |4
A15 |South Tyneside |6
A16 |Sunderland |11
|Yorkshire RHA |151
B12 |Hull |8
B13 |East Yorkshire |7
B14 |Grimsby |10
B15 |Scunthorpe |0
B22 |Northallerton |4
B23 |York |14
B24 |Scarborough |8
B25 |Harrogate |6
B32 |Bradford |5
B33 |Airedale |10
B42 |Calderdale |4
B52 |Huddersfield |15
B53 |Dewsbury |8
B62 |Leeds Western |16
B63 |Leeds Eastern |19
B72 |Wakefield |7
B73 |Pontefract |10
|Trent RHA |262
C01 |North Derbyshire |2
C02 |South Derbyshire |21
C03 |Leicestershire |42
C04 |North Lincolnshire |6
C05 |South Lincolnshire |11
C06 |Bassetlaw |9
C07 |Central Nottinghamshire |6
C08 |Nottingham |70
C09 |Barnsley |13
C10 |Doncaster |24
C11 |Rotherham |11
C12 |Sheffield |47
|East Anglia RHA |101
D01 |Cambridge |15
D02 |Peterborough |15
D03 |West Suffolk |14
D04 |East Suffolk |5
D06 |Norwich |16
D07 |Great Yarmouth and Waveney |8
D08 |West Norfolk and Wisbech |13
D09 |Huntingdon |16
|North West Thames RHA |138
E01 |North Bedfordshire |5
E02 |South Bedfordshire |5
E03 |North Hertfordshire |3
E04 |East Hertfordshire |9
E05 |North West Hertfordshire |11
E06 |South West Hertfordshire |5
E07 |Barnet |20
E08 |Harrow |12
E09 |Hillingdon |17
E10 |Hounslow and Spelthorne |7
E11 |Ealing |6
E14 |Riverside |27
E17 |Parkside |10
|North East Thames RHA |254
F01 |Basildon and Thurrock |7
F02 |Mid Essex |13
F03 |North East Essex |6
F04 |West Essex |2
F05 |Southend |66
F06 |Barking, Havering and Brentwood |5
F07 |Hampstead |18
F08 |Bloomsbury |66
F09 |Islington |4
F10 |City and Hackney |16
F11 |Newham |12
F12 |Tower Hamlets |17
F13 |Enfield |4
F14 |Haringey |10
F15 |Redbridge |2
F16 |Waltham Forest |7
|South East Thames RHA |159
GO1 |Brighton |12
GO2 |Eastbourne |2
GO3 |Hastings |4
GO4 |South East Kent |8
GO5 |Canterbury and Thanet |15
GO6 |Dartford and Gravesham |3
GO7 |Maidstone |4
GO8 |Medway |6
GO9 |Tunbridge Wells |10
G10 |Bexley |5
G11 |Greenwich |24
G12 |Bromley |20
G13 |West Lambeth |12
G14 |Camberwell |18
G15 |Lewisham and North Southwark |15
|South West Thames RHA |155
HO1 |North West Surrey |23
HO2 |W. Surrey and North East Hants |7
HO3 |South West Surrey |6
HO4 |Mid Surrey |14
HO5 |East Surrey |7
HO6 |Chichester |5
HO7 |Mid Downs |17
HO8 |Worthing |20
HO9 |Croydon |10
H10 |Kingston and Esher |6
H11 |Richmond, Twickenham and Roehampton8
H12 |Wandsworth |29
H13 |Merton and Sutton |6
|Wessex RHA |174
J11 |East Dorset |22
J12 |West Dorset |4
J21 |Portsmouth and South East Hants |22
J22 |South West Hampshire and Southampton |71
J23 |Winchester |4
J24 |Basingstoke |12
J31 |Salisbury |8
J32 |Swindon |12
J33 |Bath |11
J41 |Isle of Wight |8
|Oxford RHA |91
K11 |East Berkshire |3
K12 |West Berkshire |21
K21 |Aylesbury Vale |4
K22 |Wycombe |4
K23 |Milton Keynes |4
K31 |Kettering |7
K32 |Northampton |13
K41 |Oxfordshire |35
|South Western RHA |138
L11 |Bristol and Weston |19
L12 |Frenchay |8
L13 |Southmead |9
L21 |Cornwall and Isles of Scilly |18
L31 |Exeter |21
L32 |North Devon |6
L33 |Plymouth |16
L34 |Torbay |10
L41 |Cheltenham |3
L42 |Gloucester |9
L51 |Somerset |19
|West Midlands RHA |259
M01 |Bromsgrove and Redditch |7
M02 |Herefordshire |6
M03 |Kidderminster and district |6
M04 |Worcester and district |12
M05 |Shropshire |21
M06 |Mid Staffordshire |10
M07 |North Staffordshire |16
M08 |South East Staffordshire |12
M09 |Rugby |0
M10 |North Warwickshire |9
M11 |South Warwickshire |6
M12 |Central Birmingham |8
M13 |East Birmingham |7
M14 |North Birmingham |18
M15 |South Birmingham |10
M16 |West Birmingham |11
M17 |Coventry |22
M18 |Dudley |22
M19 |Sandwell |31
M20 |Solihull |1
M21 |Walsall |8
M22 |Wolverhampton |16
|Mersey RHA |118
N11 |Chester |14
N12 |Crewe |5
N13 |Halton |4
N14 |Macclesfield |3
N15 |Warrington |4
N21 |Liverpool |51
N31 |St. Helens and Knowsley |8
N41 |Southport and Formby |7
N42 |South Sefton |20
N51 |Wirral |2
|North Western RHA |234
P01 |Lancaster |10
P02 |Blackpool, Wyre and Fylde |15
P03 |Preston |18
P04 |Blackburn, Hyndburn and Ribble |7
P05 |Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale |11
P06 |West Lancashire |3
P07 |Chorley and South Ribble |0
P08 |Bolton |11
P09 |Bury |8
P10 |North Manchester |14
P11 |Central Manchester |19
P12 |South Manchester |32
P13 |Oldham |10
P14 |Rochdale |11
P15 |Salford |28
P16 |Stockport |10
P17 |Tameside and Glossop |5
P18 |Trafford |8
P19 |Wigan |12
|Special Health Authorities |48
T01 |The Hospital for Sick Children |0
T02 |National Hospital Nervous Diseases |2
T03 |Moorfields Eye Hospital |0
T04 |Bethlem Royal Hospital |0
T05 |National Heart and Lung Hospitals SHA|37
T06 |The Royal Marsden Hospital |0
T07 |Hammersmith, Queen Charlotte |9
T09 |The Eastman Dental Hospital |0
Source: DH Form KH3O, SD(Fylde) 14/05/92.
#9215
#9216
#9217
Care Homes
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is her latest estimate of the average weekly cost of a residential care place in local authority care homes.
Mr. Yeo : The latest available figures are those published by the Chartered Institute for Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA). Its estimates for 1991-92 suggest an average gross cost per place filled, excluding capital charges, for local authority residential care provision for elderly people of £190 a week.
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proposals she has to abolish the division between residential and nursing homes.
Mr. Yeo : None. Generally speaking, residential care homes and nursing homes cater for people with different needs. This is reflected in the different services and facilities which they offer.
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is her latest estimate of the number of residential places for the elderly in local authority care homes.
Mr. Yeo : At 31 March 1991, the latest date for which information is available centrally, there were 96,100 places in local authority residential care homes in England whose primary function was stated to be caring for the elderly.
South Essex Health Consortium
Mr. Mackinlay : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she has approved the setting up of the South Essex Health Consortium ; what is its function ; and what statutory base it has.
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Dr. Mawhinney : The South Essex Health Consortium is a non-statutory body formed to co-ordinate the purchasing of health care services on behalf of Southend, Basildon and Thurrock, Brentwood and part of Barking, Havering and Brentwood district health authorities and the southern part of Essex family health services authority. It did not require the approval of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State to be established.
Residential Care
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Health when she expects to receive the conclusions of the Howe inquiry into residential care ; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Yeo : The report of Lady Howe's inquiry will be made to the local government interests which commissioned it. We will be glad to consider any recommendations relevant to our responsibilities once the report is published, which I believe may be early in June.
Personal Social Services
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the adequacy of funding of local authority personal social services in the current financial year in terms of the ability of individual social services departments to undertake their statutory responsibilities.
Mr. Yeo : Personal social services (PSS) standard spending for 1992- 93 has been set at £4,850 million, an increase of 7.7 per cent. (3.1 per cent. in real terms) over 1991-92 standard spending, and 6 per cent. higher than 1991-92 budgets. The settlement provides a realistic increase in resources for PSS taking account of falling inflation, and allows for the first full-year costs of implementing the Children Act 1989, phase 2 of community care, new and increased specific grants, inflation and demography. PSS expenditure has increased by nearly 60 per cent. in real terms since 1978-79.
WALES
Communications (Eire)
Mr. Ainger : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will be meeting the Irish Transport Minister to discuss improving road and rail communications between Eire and the rest of Europe, particularly between St. Cleers and Pembroke Dock and Fishguard ferry ports.
Sir Wyn Roberts : My right hon. Friend has no plans to do so.
Seashore (Preservation)
Mr. Clifford Forsythe : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he has any plans to tighten the laws preventing the exploitation of the natural assets and wildlife of the seashore by private extraction companies.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : There are no plans at present to amend current legislation.
Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty
Mr. Dafis : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he has any plans to designate any further areas of outstanding natural beauty in Wales.
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Sir Wyn Roberts : The responsibility for designating areas of outstanding natural beauty rests with the Countryside Council for Wales, although such designations require confirmation by my right hon. Friend before they take effect. There are no proposals currently before my right hon. Friend.Welsh Development Agency
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what consultations he has had with the chairman of the Welsh Development Agency concerning the level of senior management staff turnover at the agency ; and if he will make a statement.
Information Technology
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what consultations he has had with the chairman of the Welsh Development Agency concerning (a) the resignation of Mr. Tony Meredith, the head of the information technology initiative and (b) the future structure and funding of the information technology initiative.
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what assessment he has made in conjunction with the chairman of the Welsh Development Agency of the number of information technology-based inward investment projects in the pipeline for Wales.
Mr. David Hunt : I regularly discuss a range of matters with the chairman of the agency, including the many prospective inward investment projects.
Polychlorinated Biphenyls (Pontypool)
Mr. Roger Evans : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what progress is being made with Panteg environmental monitoring study being undertaken by the university of East Anglia into levels of polychlorinated biphenyl contamination in the Pontypool area.
Mr. David Hunt : The study which I commissioned in January 1991 continues to make good progress. I published the first interim report last October, and I have now placed copies of the second and latest interim report in the Library of the House. The second report describes the detailed sampling and analysis programme which is now well underway. I expect the study to be completed early in 1993.
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EMPLOYMENT
Unemployment Benefit Office, Rawtenstall
Ms. Janet Anderson : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many claimants were suspended from unemployment benefit at the Rawtenstall unemployment benefit office in each year since 1987 ; and what percentage of claimants this represented each year.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : Questions on operational matters in the Employment Service executive agency are the responsibility of the agency's chief executive, to whom I have referred this question for reply.
Construction Industry
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many unemployed people in Wales were last employed in the construction industry in Wales.
Mr. McLoughlin : It is estimated from the labour force survey that in the spring of 1991 there were 23,000 unemployed people--on the internationally agreed International Labour Organisation definition--in Wales whose previous employment, within the past three years, was reported to have been in the construction industry.
Unemployment Statistics
Mr. Battle : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if she will list the number of jobs lost in the (a) textile industry, (b) transport and communication, (c) construction, (d) energy and water supplies, (e) other minerals and ore extraction, (f) metal goods, engineering and vehicles, (g) other manufacturing and (h) banking, finance, insurance etc. since January 1989, by month, (i) in Leeds, West and (ii) in England, giving the most recent figures available.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : The latest available estimates of changes in employment by constituency are for the period September 1987 to September 1989 when censuses of employment were taken. Employment estimates for standard regions are not available monthly and are available only at division level of the standard industrial classification 1980 (SIC 80). The available information is as follows :
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Employees in employment in England*
Net change since previous quarter(unadjusted)
Thousands
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|Construction |Transport and|Banking
|communication|insurance and
|finance
|Division 5 |Division 7 |Division 8
----------------------------------------------------------------------
1989
March |10 |3 |38
June |15 |21 |20
September |3 |12 |49
December |-6 |4 |11
1990
March |-6 |0 |20
June |-5 |0 |16
September |-7 |9 |-1
December |-21 |-11 |-38
1991
March |-35 |-20 |-20
June |-24 |-8 |-25
September |-24 |-5 |-6
December |-26 |0 |-46
England comprises the standard regions of Great Britain excluding
Wales and Scotland.
Training and Enterprise Councils
Mr. Alan Williams : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many training and enterprise councils give (a) £30 per week, (b) less than £30 per week and (c) over £30 per week under the enterprise allowance scheme.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : It is not possible to provide information in the form required, except at disproportionate cost.
OVERSEAS DEVELOPMENT
Aid
Mr. Dafis : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what specific financial assistance is currently being granted by the Government to developing countries to help reduce pollution and environmental damage ; and, of this amount, how much is ear-marked for (a) clean water and sanitation projects, (b) pollution reduction technologies and (c) improved protection for forests and natural habitats.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : We examine environmental issues in all projects financed under the aid programme. Separate figures are not maintained for assistance given to reduce pollution and environmental damage. The most recent information available shows that in 1989 £36.8 million was provided in bilateral assistance for water and sanitation projects. In the forestry sector, there are currently 202 projects either under way or in preparation at the total cost to the aid programme of £158 million. My right hon. and
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noble Friend the Minister for Overseas Development will be writing separately to the hon. Member on the subject of pollution reduction technologies.Mr. Dafis : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make it his policy to introduce new funding mechanisms to assist developing countries in dealing with the effects of climate changes.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : No. The internatinal negotiating committee for a framework convention on climate change completed its final session on 9 May 1992 in New York. It has been agreed that the global environment facility, under the auspices of the World bank, United Nations Development Programme and United Nations Environment Programme, will provide assistance to help developing countries fulfil their convention commitments. The United Kingom has pledged £40.3 million to the GEF and we have indicated our willingness to commit new and additional financial resources to replenish the facility at an appropriate moment if other countries do the same.
Mr. Battle : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what changes Her Majesty's Government propose to make in resources allocated to overseas aid over the next four years ; and what percentage of gross national product this will represent.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : Public expenditure provision for overseas aid to developing countries is £1,831 million in 1992-93, £1,899 million in 1993-94 and £1,975 million in 1994-95. The provision for 1995-96 will be considered during the public expenditure survey later this year. The percentage of gross national product that these provisions will represent is dependent upon developments in the United Kingdom economy.
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