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Mr. McLoughlin : The information is not available in the form requested.
At 29 March 1992, there were approximately 3,400 people on employment training and approximately 4,400 people on youth training in the Durham training and enterprise council area, of which Darlington is a part.
Trade Union Commissioner
Mr. Bayley : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what was the cost of running the office of the Commissioner for the Rights of Trade Union Members in the 1991-92 financial year and the amount of money spent on publicity for this office in 1991-92 ; and how many cases
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were (a) taken up by the office, (b) taken to court by the office and (c) won in court by trade union members supported by the office in 1991-92.Mr. McLoughlin : I understand that the total cost of running the office of the independent Commissioner for the Rights of Trade Union Members in the 1991-92 financial year was £289,701. Of this, £12,749 was spent on publicity. I also understand that during this period the commissioner granted assistance to 14 applications ; that court proceedings were brought in six of these cases ; and that all six cases resulted in orders from the court in favour of the assisted persons.
Labour Statistics
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment whether she will publish a table showing the proportions of (a) men and (b) women broken down by ethnic origin who are working as (i) full-time employees, (ii) part-time employees and (iii) self-employed.
Mr. McLoughlin : The available estimates are given in the table.
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Persons in employment by sex and ethnic origin; average, spring 1989-91 Great Britain
Persons of working age (16-59/64)2 Per cent
Ethnic minority groups
|All origins<2> |White |All |West Indian/Guyanese |Indian |Pakistani/Bangladeshi
origins<3>
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Men in employment
(thousands=100 percent.) |14.399 |13.710 |592 |112 |207 |102 |171
Full-time employees |78 |78 |72 |81 |69 |67 |73
Part-time employees |3 |3 |5 |<1>- |<1>- |<1>- |7
Self-employed |17 |17 |20 |11 |26 |24 |18
Women in employment
(thousands=100 percent.)10.750 |10.279 |399 |108 |134 |31
Full-time employees |53 |52 |62 |69 |62 |48 |59
Part-time employees |39 |39 |26 |25 |25 |<1>- |27
Self-employed |7 |7 |9 |<1>- |11 |<1>- |11
Source: Labour Force Surveys
<1> Less than 10,000 in cell: estimate not shown.
<2> The upper age limit is 64 for men and 59 for women.
<3> Includes those who did not state origin.
<4> Including those of mixed origin.
<5> Including those on Government employment or training programmes and employees not stating whether full-time/part-time. The full-time classification is based on respondents self-assessment.
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment whether she will publish a table showing unemployment rates by sex, age and ethnic origin for the period 1989 to 1991 using the latest labour force survey.
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Mr. McLoughlin : The available estimates are given in the table.
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ILO unemployment rates by sex, age and ethnic origin: average, spring 1989-1991
Persons aged 16 and over Great Britain
Per cent.
Ethnic minority groups
|All origins<2>|White |All |West Indian/ |Indian |Pakistani/ |All other
|Guyanese |Bangladeshi |origins<3>
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
All persons
All aged 16 and over |7 |7 |13 |14 |10 |21 |11
16-24 |11 |11 |20 |24 |16 |25 |18
25-44 |7 |6 |11 |11 |8 |19 |10
45-59-64 |6 |6 |11 |{inf 1}- |<1>- |<1>- |<1>-
60-65 and over<4> |5 |5 |<1>- |<1>- |<1>- |<1>- |<1>-
Men
All aged 16 and over |8 |7 |13 |15 |10 |21 |11
16-24 |12 |12 |22 |<1>- |<1>- |<1>- |<1>-
25-44 |7 |6 |11 |<1>- |8 |19 |10
45-64 |7 |7 |12 |<1>- |<1>- |<1>- |<1>-
65 and over |7 |6 |<1>- |<1>- |<1>- |<1>- |<1>-
Women
All aged 16 and over |7 |7 |12 |12 |10 |24 |11
16-24 |10 |9 |19 |<1>- |<1>- |<1>- |<1>-
25-44 |7 |7 |10 |<1>- |<1>- |<1>- |<1>-
45-59 |5 |5 |<1>- |<1>- |<1>- |<1>- |<1>-
60 and over |4 |4 |<1>- |<1>- |<1>- |<1>- |<1>-
Source: Labour Force Surveys.
<1> Less than 10,000 in cell: estimate not shown.
<2> Includes those who did not state origin.
<3> Includes those of mixed origin.
<4> Includes those over state retirement age.
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment whether she will publish a table showing employment by industry and ethnic origin for the period 1989 to 1991 for (a) men and (b) women broken down into (i) whites and (ii) ethnic minorities.
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Mr. McLoughlin : The available estimates are given in the table.
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Employment+ by industry and ethnic origin; average spring 1989-91
Great Britain
Persons in employment<2> aged 16 and over Thousands
SIC 1980<3> Males Females
|White |Ethnic |White |Ethnic
|minority |minority
|groups |groups
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
All industries<4> |13,726 |580 |10,600 |393
0 Agriculture, forestry, fishing |420 |<1>- |117 |<1>-
1 Energy and water supply |472 |<1>- |88 |<1>-
2 Extraction of minerals, metal manufacture, etc |590 |15 |188 |<1>-
3 Metal goods, engineering and vehicles |1,887 |74 |520 |22
4 Other manufacturing |1,369 |62 |844 |44
44/55 Footwear, clothing and leather goods |83 |12 |208 |20
5 Construction |1,725 |29 |187 |<1>-
6 Distribution, hotels, catering and repairs |2,235 |168 |2,651 |96
61/63 Wholesale distribution |582 |20 |279 |11
64/65 Retail distribution |1,101 |87 |1,626 |57
66 Hotels and catering |323 |53 |710 |28
7 Transport and communications |1,158 |65 |351 |18
79 Postal services and telecommunications |331 |21 |125 |<1>-
8 Banking and finance, etc |1,404 |59 |1,328 |45
83 Business services |803 |36 |681 |23
9 Other services |2,431 |100 |4,301 |156
91 Public administration, national defence, etc |870 |23 |627 |25
93 Education |502 |15 |1,144 |22
95 Medical/health/veterinary services |243 |29 |994 |59
96 Other services to the public<5> |288 |19 |1,112 |41
Source: Labour Force Surveys.
<1>Less than 10,000 in cell: estimate not shown.
<2>Excluding those on Government employment and training programmes.
<3>Results are shown for all SIC 1980 divisions, and for classes accounting for at least 30,000
persons from ethnic minority groups.
<4>The totals include those who did not specify industry.
<5> Comprises all other public services excluding sanitary, research and development,
recreational and domestic services.
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment whether she will publish a table showing employment by broad occupation by ethnic origin and by sex for the period 1989 to 1991.
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Mr. McLoughlin : The available estimates are given in the table.
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Employment<2> by broad occupation, ethnic origin and sex; average: spring 1989-1991\z$\ Great Britain
Employees and self employed aged 16 and over Per cent.
All origins<3White Ethnic minority groups
|All |West Indian/|Indian |Pakistani/ |All other
|Guyanese |Bangladeshi |origins<4>
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
All persons
All (thousands = 100 per cent.) |25,467 |24,326 |8,916 |217 |337 |127 |291
All non-manual occupations |57 |57 |57 |47 |60 |45 |67
Managerial and professional |33 |33 |34 |26 |37 |27 |43
Clerical and related |16 |16 |16 |17 |16 |10 |17
Other non-manual |8 |8 |8 |4 |7 |8 |7
All manual occupations |43 |43 |42 |52 |40 |54 |33
Craft and similar |16 |16 |15 |16 |14 |17 |8
General labourers |1 |1 |1 |<1>- |<1>- |<1>- |<1>-
Other manual |27 |27 |27 |36 |25 |36 |24
Men
All (thousands = 100 per cent.) |14,401 |13,726 |580 |108 |205 |100 |167
All non-manual occupations |48 |48 |49 |32 |59 |40 |64
Managerial and professional |36 |36 |36 |20 |43 |28 |48
Clerical and related |5 |5 |6 |<1>- |9 |<1>- |8
Other non-manual |6 |6 |7 |<1>- |6 |<1>- |7
All manual occupations |52 |52 |51 |68 |41 |59 |36
Craft and similar |25 |25 |24 |28 |16 |17 |12
General labourers |1 |1 |1 |<1>- |<1>- |<1>- |<1>-
Other manual |26 |26 |26 |39 |24 |41 |24
Women
All (thousands = 100 per cent.) |11,066 |10,600 |393 |109 |133 |27 |124
All non-manual occupations |68 |68 |68 |63 |62 |64 |72
Managerial and professional |29 |29 |31 |33 |28 |<1>- |35
Clerical and related |30 |30 |29 |26 |27 |<1>- |30
Other non-manual |10 |10 |9 |<1>- |<1>- |<1>- |<1>-
All manual occupations |32 |31 |31 |37 |38 |36 |28
Craft and similar |4 |4 |4 |<1>- |11 |<1>- |<1>-
General labourers |0 |0 |<1>- |<1>- |<1>- |<1>- |<1>-
Other manual |28 |28 |27 |33 |27 |<1>- |25
<1> Less than 10,000 in cell; estimate not shown.{fill}Source: Labour Force Survey.
<2> Including those not stating employment status.
<3> Includes those who did not state origin.
<4> Includes those of mixed origin.
#9251
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment whether she will publish a table showing unemployment rates by ethnic origin in Greater London for people aged 16 years and over in 1991.
Mr. McLoughlin : The information is as follows :
ILO unemployment rates in Greater London by ethnic origin (persons aged 16 and over) Average spring 1989-91 |Per cent. --------------------------------------------------------------------- All origins<1> |7 White |7 Ethnic minority groups |13 West Indian/Guyanese |11 Indian |12 Pakistani/Bangladeshi |12 All others<2> |14 Source: Labour Force Surveys. <1> Includes those who did not state origin. <2> Includes those of mixed origin.
AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD
Rabies
Mr. David Shaw : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if a vaccine now exists which can guarantee complete immunity against rabies.
Mr. Soames : Modern vaccines are effective. However, no vaccine can guarantee complete immunity in all animals.
Mr. David Shaw : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he expects the European Commission to publish its proposals on the harmonisation of rabies prevention measures in the EC.
Mr. Soames : We expect a proposal shortly.
Mr. David Shaw : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is his policy towards the rabies orders currently in force in the United Kingdom ; and what assessment he has made of how effective they have been in preventing the outbreak of rabies over the last 20 years.
Mr. Soames : Our present rabies orders have been very effective in preventing any outbreak of rabies outside quarantine and provide us with the means to control an outbreak should one occur. They reflect the Government's determination to maintain this country's freedom from rabies.
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Bee Disease
Mr. Gareth Wardell : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make available to bee-keepers supplies of products for the suitable treatment of bees infected with the parasite varroa jacobsonni.
Mr. Curry : Supplies of a suitable product are already available from my Ministry to bee-keepers with colonies in which the presence of the varroa jacobsoni mite has been confirmed and where immediate treatment is considered necessary.
Pesticides
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what research has been undertaken by his Department into the use of the pesticides atrazine and simazine ; and if he will make a statement on their use in the United Kingdom.
Mr. Soames : The agricultural use of atrazine and simazine is monitored through the studies carried out by the MAFF Pesticide Usage Survey Group. Recent reports show that in England and Wales approximately 41 tonnes of atrazine are used per year, primarily on maize. The major uses of simazine are on beans, peas and in orchards where approximately 140 tonnes are used annually. In addition there are major non-agricultural uses of both atrazine and simazine.
Abattoirs
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assessment he has made of the impact of the new EC abattoir standard regulation on the United Kingdom slaughtering industry ; if he will make a statement on the exemption proposed for the United Kingdom ; and what are the exemptions applicable in each of the other EC countries.
Mr. Soames : The EC abattoir standard is set out in an EC directive (91/497/EEC) on the hygiene and marketing of fresh meat which will be implemented in the United Kingdom by the Fresh Meat (Hygiene and Inspection) Regulations 1992 the draft of which has recently been circulated for consultation. Over half of British meat is already produced in abattoirs approved as meeting the EC standard. We anticipate there will be no shortage of slaughtering capacity in Great Britain after 1992 although some rationalisation of the industry is inevitable.
There are no exemptions in the directive for slaughtering operations. "Low- capacity" slaughterhouses processing up to 12 livestock units per week are subject to
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less onerous rules on structure and layout of premises, although they must comply with the hygiene requirements. There are also provisions for the EC's Standing Veterinary Committee to approve the extension of the "low throughput" rules to slaughterhouses processing between 12 and 20 livestock units per week provided certain criteria are met. We anticipate that very few premises in Great Britain will meet the criteria laid down but any applications received will be considered on a case by case basis.A separate directive (91/498/EEC) provides for additional time to be granted to businesses unable to meet all of the EC requirements on structure and layout of premises by 1 January 1993. A large number of operators have applied to take advantage of this provision for temporary derogations whilst they upgrade their premises. Any applications from other member states for extending the "low throughput" rules must be authorised by the Standing Veterinary Committee so we shall be aware of them in due course. Commission inspectors will monitor applications of the directive in all member states. If there is any substantive evidence that any member state is not applying the rules correctly, the Government will raise the matter with the Commission.
Consumers Committees
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the numbers of consumers committees in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and the number of (a) paid staff and (b) volunteers who work for them.
Mr. Soames : Full details of the United Kingdom's consumer committees are available in the HMSO publication "Public Bodies 1991" (ISBN 0-11-430064-X) including their membership and, where appropriate, their remuneration.
Food and Farming Festival
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what contribution his Department made to the national festival for food and farming held in Hyde park in May ; what was the cost of his Department's contribution ; and what environmental matters were taken into account in preparing and establishing the contribution.
Mr. Curry : MAFF took part in the ASDA festival of food and farming as part of its overall exhibition programme for 1992-93, the cost of which is met from within the Department's paid publicity budget for the year. The various elements of the Hyde park exhibit were designed for this year's exhibitions programme as a whole which will take in other major venues. One section was devoted to environmental issues and was designed especially to encourage understanding of environmental matters.
BNFL
Dr. John Cunningham : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what action he is taking to ensure that British Nuclear Fuels plc makes a full statement about the findings of recent monitoring of the coastline in west Cumbria ; and if he will make a statement.
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Mr. Curry : I have sought and received assurance from British Nuclear Fuels plc that it will continue to release full information on this matter as it becomes available. The Government's own monitoring programme confirms there is no threat to the public.
Swine Influenza
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the number of recorded cases of pigs with swine influenza caused by virus strain type HI 195852 by region.
Mr. Soames : Although the Department is aware of a recent apparent increase in the incidence of respiratory disease in pigs, swine influenza is not a notifiable disease, so comprehensive data are not maintained.
DEFENCE
Interdisciplinary Research Centres
Mr. Livingstone : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if his Department has any plans (a) to renew its funding of the interdisciplinary research centre on semiconductor materials which ended in March and (b) to fund any other interdisciplinary research centres.
Mr. Aitken : The answers are (a) yes, and (b) no.
Research
Mr. Livingstone : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the 11 polytechnics and 43 universities referred to in his answers to the hon. Member for Brent, East on 20 January, Official Report, column 16 and to the hon. Member for Leyton (Mr. Cohen) on 12 February 1985, Official Report, column 141 at which his Department has funded research in the last three years.
Mr. Aitken : I will place a list of the bodies concerned in the Library of the House.
Chemical and Biological Warfare
Mr. Livingstone : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the location of all facilities shared by Britain with any other countries in the field of chemical and biological warfare ; and what is the nature of their work.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : No facilities are shared with any nation for chemical and biological warfare or defence. The United Kingdom abandoned all offensive chemical and biological weapons in the late 1950s. Since then the United Kingdom has been wholly concerned with chemical and biological defence, ie the provision of effective protective measures for the United Kingdom armed forces.
Mr. Livingstone : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many people are on the Chemical and Biological Defence Board of the Defence Scientific Advisory Council referred to in his answer to the hon. Member for Clackmannan (Mr. O'Neill) on 11 December 1991, Official Report , column 476 ; how many on the Chemical and Biological Defence Board are from universities and polytechnics ; and what are the occupations and backgrounds of the others on the board.
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Mr. Archie Hamilton : The Chemical and Biological Defence Board comprises up to 22 members, including 12 independent members from industry, universities and institutions of higher education, and 10 official members from the civil service and the armed forces. The current strength is nine independent members--five from universities and four from the private sector--and 10 official members--six service officers, of whom four are medically qualified, plus four senior scientific civil servants from various Government Departments.Mr. Livingstone : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence in what year Britain stopped producing chemical and biological weapons ; for what reasons this decision was taken ; which committees within the Ministry of Defence and the Cabinet Office were involved in making the decision ; and whether the papers are openly available to be seen in the Public Records Office.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : Britain stopped producing biological weapons in 1943 and chemical weapons in 1945. Biological weapon production, which was very limited, ended when the required stockpile had been achieved. Production of chemical weapons ceased because there was a sufficient stockpile, including captured German stocks. The United Kingdom unilaterally abandoned all offensive chemical and biological weapons over 30 years ago in the late 1950s and since then our role has been to ensure that the United Kingdom armed forces are effectively protected against chemical and biological weapons. Relevant papers are not available in the Public Records Office. The rest of the question could be answered only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Livingstone : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what are the names of the general defence agreements in which information in the field of chemical and biological defence is passed between Britain, the United States of America and other allies ; and when each of these agreements was signed.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : There are a number of agreements with NATO allies covering research, development, deployment and standardisation of chemical and biological defence equipment. The following international agreements include chemical and biological defence in their scope :
a. The United Kingdom-United States-Canada memorandum of understanding on chemical and biological (CB) defence which addresses research, development, production and procurement of chemical and biological defence equipment. This was signed in 1980 and has been an extremely effective means of ensuring close collaboration between the three countries.
b. NATO army armaments group (NAAG) panel VII on nuclear, biological and chemical (NBC) defence and its sub-panels and working groups are the main NATO fora. CB defence is also discussed by other NATO panels and by the NATO defence research group.
c. The United Kingdom-United States-Canada-Australia American, British and Canadian Armies (ABCA) agreement between the Armies of the four countries. This includes a group known as the Quadrupartite Working Group (QWG) which has a panel on NBC defence.
d. The United Kingdom-United States-Canada-Australia air standardisation co -ordinating committee agreement which also has a sub-group addressing CB defence.
e. The United Kingdom-United States navies have an information exchange agreement which includes NBC defence in its scope. f. The technical co- operation programme which involves the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand is concerned with collaboration in defence research and has a sub-group that is active on CB defence.
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g. The Anglo-French defence research group allows the exchange of information and collaboration on research for CB defence. h. The Anglo-Netherlands-Norwegian collaboration project exchange of information and collaboration on research for CB defence. i. FINABEL, an army-army agreement covering CB defence information exchange between Britain, France, Italy, Netherlands, Germany, Spain and Belgium.Suicides
Mr. Livingstone : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many staff in his Department's research and development establishments have committed suicide since 1985 ; and if he will list them according to the date and the establishment where each was working.
Mr. Aitken : My noble Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence will write to the hon. Gentleman.
Genetic Engineering
Mr. Livingstone : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what contracts and agreements currently exist between his Department and universities and other institutions of higher education for the research related to genetic engineering referred to in his answer to the hon. Member for Leyton (Mr. Cohen) on 30 June 1988, Official Report, column 313.
Mr. Aitken : One, sponsored by the Chemical and Biological Defence Establishment.
Forces Welfare Funds
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make it his policy to increase the level of British forces welfare funds.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The funding and resources made available for the wide variety of activities grouped together under the general term of "welfare" are kept under continual review.
Research Projects
Mr. Livingstone : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will publish a list of Ministry of Defence research projects in universities and polytechnics which are unclassified.
Mr. Aitken : It is not our practice to give details of individual research contracts.
Mr. Livingstone : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) how many research projects in British universities and polytechnics have been funded since December 1985 through the United States strategic defence initiative programme ; what has been the total value of these projects ; and how many universities and polytechnics in Britain have received funding through the strategic defence initiative programme since December 1985 ;
(2) how many research projects in British universities and polytechnics are currently being funded under the United States strategic defence initiative programme ; what is the total value of these projects ; and how many British universities and polytechnics are currently receiving funding for research from the strategic defence initiative programme.
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Mr. Aitken : Since the signing of the memorandum of understanding on SDI between the United States and the United Kingdom, we understand that some 41 such contracts worth over $10.7 million in total have been awarded by the United States, benefiting 23 United Kingdom academic institutions. Nineteen of these contracts are still current, valued at approximately $6.4 million. Thirteen universities and polytechnics are involved in this current research work.Porton Down
Mr. Livingstone : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many scientific papers the staff of the Chemical and Biological Defence Establishment at Porton Down have published in open scientific journals and literature in each year since 1985.
Mr. Aitken : This is a matter for the Chemical and Biological Defence Establishment (CBDE) under its framework document. Therefore, I have asked the chief executive of CBDE to write to the hon. Member.
Monoclonal Antibodies
Mr. Livingstone : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what contracts and agreements currently exist between his Department and universities and other institutions of higher education for research related to the production or application of monoclonal antibodies, referred to in his answer to the hon. Member for Leyton (Mr. Cohen) on 30 June 1988, Official Report, column 314.
Mr. Aitken : Two, sponsored by the Defence Research Agency.
Careers Liaison Officers
Mr. Livingstone : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many staff from the Atomic Weapons Establishment have been appointed careers liaison officers to universities or polytechnics in the last three years ; and which universities or polytechnics have been involved.
Mr. Aitken : The MOD nominates suitable members of staff to act as recruitment liaison officers with universities and polytechnics on its behalf. Over the last three years nine staff serving at AWE have been so nominated.
Private Anthony Evans
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the investigation into the case of Private Anthony Evans lately of the Royal Regiment of Wales.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : Ex-Private Evan's allegations of racial abuse by members of his battalion have been investigated by the special investigations branch of the Royal Military Police and subsequently by a board of inquiry.
The findings of the board of inquiry will next be considered by the Army Board.
Playgroups
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the current annual grant to pre-school playgroups for children of service families.
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Mr. Archie Hamilton : There is no direct MOD grant to individual pre -school playgroups for children of service families. The Ministry of Defence does fund a number of posts within the Pre-School Playgroups Association to provide co-ordination of the support to the PPA network of fieldworkers in British Forces Germany, and general support and guidance to playgroups in other overseas commands. This co-ordination ensures appropriate training and development of fieldworkers to promote good practice in pre-school playgroups in service locations. The grant made available to the PPA in the current financial year is £116,000.
Submarines
Mr. Hutton : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he expects tenders to be invited for the ordering of batch 2 Trafalgar class submarines.
Mr. Aitken : Studies into the design of a batch 2 Trafalgar class are in progress. Subject to the outcome, we expect to invite tenders for design and build of the first submarine during the course of next year.
Collaborative Projects
Mr. Speed : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the collaborative projects on military equipment currently being undertaken by the United Kingdom and other countries in the Western European Union.
Mr. Aitken : The following is a list of collaborative projects currently being undertaken by the United Kingdom and at least one other country which is a member of the Western European Union :
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Army Cadet Force
Mr. Michael J. Martin : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Army Cadet Force units are operating in Scotland.
Naval Craft
Mr. George : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which (a) Leander class frigates and (b) Ton class minehunters are currently in service in the Royal Navy.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The Navy currently has six Leander class frigates, Andromeda, Argonaut, Hermione, Juno, Scylla and Sirius, and six ton class minehunters, Brinton, Iveston, Kellington, Nurton, Sheraton and Wilton.
Ministerial Visit, Washington
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on (a) matters discussed and (b) decisions taken, during his meeting with his United States counterpart on his recent visit to Washington.
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Mr. Archie Hamilton : My right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Defence discussed a wide variety of issues of mutual interest with Mr. Cheney during his visit to Washington.
UNCED
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what particular contributions his Department has made to the United Kingdom submissions to the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development to be held in Rio de Janeiro in June ; and what has been the cost of his Department's input.
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