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Miss Widdecombe : I refer my hon. Friend to the statement made by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State earlier today.
Family Credit
Mr. Chisholm : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will take action to speed up the processing of family credit claims ; and if sufficient resources are available to meet current levels of claims.
Mr. Burt : The administration of family credit is a matter for Mr. Michael Bichard, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member and copies will be placed in the Library and the Public Information Office.
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Departmental Press Release
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what was the purpose and cost to public funds of his Department's press release dated 11 May consisting of a curriculum vitae of the Minister of State for Social Secuirty and Disabled People ; and how many inquiries were received in answer to it.
Mr. Burt : In common with other Government Departments' practice, the press release of updated biographical details was for information only. The cost for production and distribution was under £100. To date there have been no inquiries.
Pensioners (Income)
Mr. John Marshall : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make a statement about the change in pensioners' real income since 1979.
Miss Widdecombe : The average total net income of single pensioners and pensioner couples increased by 34 per cent. between 1979 and 1988.
Queen's Speech
Mr. Thurnham : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what representations he has received about the measures announced in the Queen's Speech ; and if he will make a statement.
Miss Widdecombe : We have received a number of representations concerning the new 1 per cent. additional rebate which we intend to introduce from April 1993 for appropriate personal pension holders age 30 and over.
We shall continue to build upon the reforms introduced in 1988 with the aim of further modernising and improving our social security system.
WALES
Fish Protection
Mr. Llwyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when he plans to announce his decision on the implementation of byelaws regarding the protection of salmon and sea-trout in the estuaries of (a) Meirionnydd and (b) north Wales.
Mr. David Hunt : Following receipt of these proposed byelaws in 1991, consideration by the Department and discussions with the promoters have identified the need for some modifications. The Welsh Office has yet to receive final versions from the promoters.
Enterprise Allowance
Mr. Dafis : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many of those individuals who have started up businesses based on the enterprise allowance in each of the years since its introduction, were still trading (a) after 12 months, (b) after 24 months and (c) after 36 months.
Sir Wyn Roberts : The information is not available in the form requested.
Mr. Dafis : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many people have been awarded moneys through the
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enterprise allowance scheme in Wales in each year from the introduction of the scheme to the current year ; and in each of those years, how many people (a) attended enterprise allowance awareness day seminars, (b) applied for enterprise allowance assistance but were refused, (c) were awarded enterprise allowance assistance but had the assistance terminated within the first 12 months and (d) continued to receive enterprise allowance assistance for a full 12-month period.Sir Wyn Roberts : The numbers of enterprise allowance awards in Wales are readily available only since 1987-88 and are set out in the table.
The information required to answer points (a) to (d) of the question is not available.
|c|Enterprise allowance scheme|c| |c|Yearly entrants ( Wales)|c| April to March --------------------------- 1987-88 |6,654 1988-89 |6,942 1989-90 |5,433 1990-91 |4,048 1991-92 |3,267
Mr. Dafis : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is the total sum budgeted by his Department for the enterprise allowance scheme in Wales in the current financial year ; what has been the total cost of the enterprise allowance scheme in Wales in each year since its introduction ; and in each year, what proportion of the total cost is accounted for by administrative expenses.
Sir Wyn Roberts : The total sum budgeted for enterprise allowance in Wales in the current financial year is £5.3 million. The information on the total cost of enterprise allowance in each year since 1987-88 is set out in the table. The information is not readily available for Wales for the earlier years from the introduction of the scheme in 1982 to 1986-87.
Information on the total cost accounted for by administrative expenses is not available.
|c|Enterprise allowance
scheme|c|
|c|Expenditure by financial
year (Wales)|c|
|£ million
------------------------------
1987-88 |12.0
1988-89 |12.9
1989-90 |12.4
1990-91 |9.0
1991-92 |7.1
Valleys Programme
Mr. Hain : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the urban aid allocations for each year between 1987 and 1988 and 1992-93 to each district authority in the valleys programme area.
Mr. David Hunt : Urban programme allocations between 1987-88 and 1992-93 for district authorities wholly or partly within the valleys programme area are given in the table :
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Local Authority |1987-88 |1988-89 |1989-90 |1990-91 |1991-92 |1992-93
|£ |£ |£ |£ |£ |£
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dinefwr BC |132,211 |469,751 |377,700 |443,000 |687,731 |365,375
Llanelli BC |565,181 |322,197 |433,337 |495,254 |442,327 |489,327
Blaenau Gwent BC |983,291 |1,535,680 |2,415,849 |3,658,459 |5,910,950 |2,168,010
Islwyn BC |467,461 |573,219 |869,900 |1,004,350 |1,070,884 |1,456,686
Torfaen BC |720,127 |1,230,806 |1,255,349 |927,488 |821,739 |664,436
Cynon Valley BC |938,186 |979,098 |1,072,744 |1,405,701 |2,284,621 |1,803,960
Merthyr Tydfil BC |1,229,332 |1,112,515 |1,215,003 |1,207,657 |1,071,184 |1,084,581
Ogwr BC |1,026,757 |1,212,365 |1,201,414 |1,195,481 |1,195,108 |1,229,028
Rhondda BC |1,037,248 |1,943,154 |2,042,747 |2,033,889 |1,836,311 |2,221,285
Rhymney Valley DC |708,991 |1,032,646 |1,096,007 |1,098,230 |655,358 |834,750
Taff Ely BC |333,113 |307,380 |429,045 |437,561 |675,850 |669,782
Brecknock BC |99,732 |1,600 |101,600 |122,000 |27,000 |250,000
Port Talbot BC |631,902 |770,823 |564,485 |705,425 |630,700 |183,047
Lliw Valley BC |362,735 |571,485 |431,750 |368,900 |309,300 |368,078
Neath BC |415,678 |496,627 |503,544 |516,324 |823,520 |554,317
Swansea CC |722,858 |673,528 |534,879 |524,943 |574,727 |544,277
Note: Pre-1992-93 figures include, where applicable, supplementary allocations made during the year. Allocations to Blaenau Gwent
BC from 1988-89 onwards include special provision for the National Garden Festival.
Mr. Hain : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what were the male, female and youth unemployment rates in April for the years (a) 1988, (b) 1989, (c) 1990, (d) 1991 and (e) 1992 for the United Kingdom, Wales and the south Wales valleys programme area.
Mr. David Hunt : The table shows the information requested, where available. Youth unemployment cannot be expressed as a rate as a breakdown of the work force by age is not available.
|c|Unemployment rates at April<1>|c|
Valleys Area Wales United Kingdom
|Male |Female|Male |Female|Male |Female
--------------------------------------------------------
1988 |18.9 |9.9 |13.5 |7.7 |10.8 |6.5
1989 |14.9 |7.0 |9.8 |5.2 |8.3 |4.4
1990 |13.1 |5.1 |8.4 |3.8 |7.4 |3.5
1991 |17.5 |5.6 |11.4 |4.4 |10.3 |4.4
1992 |18.7 |5.9 |13.1 |4.9 |13.0 |5.3
Source: Employment Department.
<1> Workforce based, unadjusted.
Mr. Hain : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what was the percentage change in (a) total unemployment and (b) long-term unemployment between April 1988 and April 1992 and between April 1990 and April 1992 for the United Kingdom, Wales and the south Wales valleys.
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Mr. David Hunt : The table gives the percentage changes in total unemployment and long-term unemployment as requested.
|Percentage change|Percentage change
|April 1988-1992 |April 1990-1992
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total Unemployment<1>
South Wales Valleys area |-14.3 |37.2
Wales |-10.3 |48.6
United Kingdom |7.9 |68.3
Long-Term Unemployment<2>
South Wales Valleys area |-18.3 |60.1
Wales |-24.2 |60.3
United Kingdom |-18.3 |55.8
Source: Employment Department.
<1> Unadjusted.
<2> Unemployed for more than 52 weeks.
Mr. Hain : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list he number and rates of long-term unemployed more than one year in April for the years (a) 1988, (b) 1989, (c) 1990, (d) 1991 and (e) 1992 for the United Kingdom, Wales and south Wales valleys programme area.
Mr. David Hunt : The table shows unadjusted numbers and rates of long-term unemployed for the years and areas requested.
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Valleys area Wales United Kingdom
April |Number |<1>Rate |Number |<1>Rate |Number |<1>Rate
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1988 |13,937 |5.7 |52,057 |4.1 |1,029,206|3.6
1989 |10,544 |4.3 |36,504 |2.8 |744,120 |2.6
1990 |7,111 |3.0 |24,606 |1.9 |539,725 |1.9
1991 |7,583 |3.1 |25,626 |2.0 |555,057 |2.0
1992 |11,385 |4.7 |39,436 |3.0 |840,849 |3.0
Source: Employment Department.
<1> The long-term unemployed (ie for more than 52 weeks) expressed as a
percentage of the total work force.
A465
Mr. Hain : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will give figures for the number of (a) reported motor accidents and (b) deaths for each year since 1979 on the section of the A465 between Aberdulais and Glynneath.
Sir Wyn Roberts : The number of accidents involving personal injury and the number of deaths resulting from
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these accidents on the stretch of the A465 between Aberdulais, junction with A4109, and Glynneath, junction with B4242, are given in the table :Column 59
|Number of |Number killed
|accidents<1>
--------------------------------------------------------
1979 |23 |2
1980 |13 |-
1981 |10 |-
1982 |27 |1
1983 |11 |1
1984 |14 |4
1985 |18 |2
1986 |18 |3
1987 |10 |-
1988 |14 |3
1989 |19 |1
1990 |36 |3
<2>1991 |25 |3
<1> Excluding those where there was no personal
injury-for which no information is available.
<2> Provisional.
Mr. Hain : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement about the start date for construction of the missing link of the A465 between Aberdulais and Glynneath.
Sir Wyn Roberts : The scheme is planned to start in the current financial year. That is contingent on the management of the trunk road programme as a whole.
Mr. Hain : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement about the fatal road accident on the A465 at Resolven on Saturday 30 May.
Sir Wyn Roberts : The accident involved three cars and occurred on a double bend in the late afternoon during wet weather. Two of the occupants were killed, four seriously injured and two slightly injured. An investigation will be carried out when full details are available.
Ancient Woodland
Mr. Win Griffiths : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make it his policy to double the planting of native broadleaf species in those counties which have lost one third of their ancient woodland since 1930.
Mr. David Hunt : The area of broadleaves planted in Wales has more than trebled over the last decade. A total of 450 hectares of broadleaves have, on average, been planted each year during the last five years, as compared with an average of 120 hectares during the previous seven years. Nearly all the planting was carried out with native species.
The Government's policy is that there should be a continuing expansion of the area of native woodland in Wales.
Mr. Win Griffiths : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales whether sites of special scientific interest which may include ancient woodland will, in future, be protected from any depradation by agriculture, quarrying or any other activity.
Sir Wyn Roberts : Sites of special scientific interest are already protected under the provisions of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. The joint Welsh Office/Department of the Environment circular No. 1/92 "Planning Controls over Sites of Special Scientific Interest", which took effect from 2 January 1992, announced further planning safeguards for these areas.
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Earnings
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will show the gross weekly earnings of full-time adult employees in Wales as a percentage of the British average in 1980, 1985, and 1990 for (a) males and (b) females.
Mr. David Hunt : The information requested is given in the table :
|c|Average gross weekly
earnings<1>|c|
|c|Wales as a percentage of
Great Britain|c|
|Male |Female
-----------------------------
April
<2>1980 |95.7 |95.7
<3>1985 |93.1 |94.0
<3>1990 |87.5 |89.5
Source: New Earnings Surveys
<1>Full-time employees whose
pay for the survey period
was not affected by absence
<2>Men aged 21 and over,
women 18 and over
<3>All on adult rates
School Governors
Mr. Richards : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will detail the action he has taken or proposes to take to recruit school governors in Wales.
Sir Wyn Roberts : The year 1992 marks the end of the first four-year term for governors who were appointed in the wake of the Education Reform Act. Some 13,000 school governorships in Wales come up for renewal later this year. While I hope that many existing governors will wish to put their names forward for a further four-year term, I anticipate that there will be many opportunities for others to become governors for the first time.
We have, therefore, produced bilingual leaflets and posters together with a Welsh language video which local authorities and schools will be using as part of their efforts to encourage parents and others to become school governors. Local education authorities and schools are also working hard to ensure that all vacancies are filled.
We all have an interest in ensuring that our children have a good education --the future is in their hands. I hope that as many people as possible will take the opportunity that presents itself this year to put their name forward and become involved in the running of their local school. It is a very rewarding job.
FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS
Lockerbie Bombing
Sir Teddy Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress he has made in his contacts with the Government of Libya over the transfer from Libya of the two persons suspected of involvement in the Lockerbie air disaster ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : We are continuing our efforts to persuade the Libyan Government to comply with our request, endorsed by UN Security Council resolution 731, to hand over the two Lockerbie suspects for trial in Scotland or the United States. If Libya does not implement this resolution, the sanctions regime imposed under Security Council resolution 748 will remain in place.
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Refuseniks
Mr. John Marshall : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations have been made on behalf of refusenik Arkady German and his family, of St. Petersburg.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : We can consider raising with the Russian authorities the case of Arkady German and his family, but to make effective representations we would need further details.
Mr. John Marshall : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations have been made on behalf of refusenik Mark Grunkin and his family of Krasnogorsk.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : We can consider raising with the Russian authorities the case of Mark Grunkin and his family, but to make effective representations we would need further details.
Mr. John Marshall : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations have been made on behalf of refusenik Arkady Gordon and his family, of St. Petersburg.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : We can consider raising with the Russian authorities the case of Arkady Gordon and his family, but to make effective representations we would need further details.
Mr. John Marshall : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations have been made on behalf of refusenik Alexander Gekker and his family, of Kishinev.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : We can consider raising with the Moldovan authorities the case of Alexander Gekker and his family, but to make effective representations we would need further details.
Mr. John Marshall : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations have been made on behalf of refusenik Alexander Melnikov and his family, of Apotity.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : We can consider raising with the Russian authorities the case of Alexander Melnikov and his family, but to make effective representations we would need further details.
Mr. John Marshall : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations have been made on behalf of refusenik Alfred Rafalovich and his family, of St. Petersburg.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : We can consider raising with the Russian authorities the case of Alfred Rafalovich and his family, but to make effective representations we would need further details.
Mr. John Marshall : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations have been made on behalf of refusenik Dmitri Yakubovsky and his family, of Kiev.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : We made several representations to the authorities in Ukraine on behalf of Dmitri Yakubovsky and his family ; the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed us in March that he had received permission to leave the country.
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Mr. John Marshall : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations have been made on behalf of refusnik Leib Levin and his family, of Ust Kamenogorsk.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : We made several representations on behalf of Leib Levin and his family ; we understand that he has now received permission to leave Kazakhstan.
Human Rights Conference
Mr. David Atkinson : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on Her Majesty's Government's policy towards the forthcoming United Nations world conference on human rights.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : The United Kingdom is closely involved with EC and other like-minded countries in the preparatory process leading to the world conference on human rights, due to be held in Vienna from 14 to 25 June 1993. The United Kingdom attaches particular importance to agreement on better implementation of international human rights standards.
Guardian" Ban
Mr. John D. Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations have been made to the Government of the Republic of Ireland following the ban on the sale of the British Guardian newspaper in the Republic on Thursday 21 May.
Mr. Hurd : None. No approach was made to Her Majesty's Government by The Guardian newspaper or by others directly involved.
Young Endeavour
Mr. Barry Field : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports have been received from the Australian Government on the training and use of Young Endeavour.
Mr. Goodlad : The board of the Young Endeavour youth scheme produces an annual report, and makes a copy available to the British Government.
Since being presented to Australia in January 1988 the ship has carried more than 2,000 young Australians on 10-day sail training voyages, and 1,650 disabled young people on shorter trips. It has also called at numerous ports around Australia and been visited by approximately 20,000 members of the public each year. In addition, the vessel undertakes flagship duties such as going to Auckland for the Commonwealth games in 1990 and representing Australia in the present grand regatta Columbus.
Dependent Territories (Investments)
Mr. Barry Field : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will set out his policy and advice to Ministers of Finance in the United Kingdom's dependent territories on (a) the tendering for and appointment of investment advisers and (b) the tendering for and appointment of investment performance monitors.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : Responsibility for the tendering for an appointment of investment advisers and investment
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performance monitors for the United Kingdom's dependent territories rests with the Minister of Finance, or equivalent official, of each territory. Dependent territories wishing to recruit such advisers will do so on the basis of local legislation and regulations.Newspaper Distribution
Mr. John D. Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the application of protocol 17 of the Maastricht treaty as it applies to freedom of distribution of United Kingdom newspapers.
Mr. Garel-Jones : The protocol to which the right hon. Member refers is, of course, not yet in force. On 2 May, European Community Foreign Ministers agreed a legal interpretation and solemn declaration stating that it was not their intention that the protocol should limit the freedom to travel and the right to information about services legally available in other member states, as I told my hon. Friend the Member for Hendon, South (Mr. Marshall) on 13 May. I understand that the Government of the Irish Republic intend to hold a referendum later this year on an amendment to their constitution to confirm this.
Iran
Mr. Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is his policy with regard to the export of military equipment to Iran.
Mr. Douglas-Hogg : The guidelines relating to all deliveries of defence equipment to Iran were set by the then Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on 29 October 1985. They remain strictly enforced.
Tamil Refugees
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Indian Government concerning the enforced repatriation of Tamil refugees from Tamil Nadu to Sri Lanka.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : None. The Indian Government temporarily suspended repatriation of Tamil refugees from Tamil Nadu to Sri Lanka on 15 May.
Ceremonial Dress
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to his answer of 13 May, Official Report, column 110, if he will itemise the expenditure on ceremonial dress for 1991 -92.
Mr. Goodlad : Ceremonial dress for HM representatives cost as follows :
|£
-----------------------------------
Bangladesh |2,735
Holy See |3,193
Kathmandu |615
Luxembourg |3,440
Stockholm |2,613
British Virgin Islands |2,725
Kuala Lumpur |756
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what use is to be made of the ceremonial dress normally reserved for the Governor of Hong Kong.
Mr. Goodlad : As I said in reply to the hon. Member's question on 13 May, Mr. Patten does not propose to wear ceremonial dress. None has therefore been made for him.
HEALTH
Child Protection Units
Mrs. Roche : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what are the staffing numbers for each local authority child protection unit in England and Wales ; and what they were in 1979.
Mr. Yeo : This information is not held currently.
Organ Transplants
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will bring forward proposals to amend the Human Organ Transplants Act 1989 further to provide for the circumstances in which an organ may be retrieved from a dead person for the purposes of transplant, to require the anonymity of the donor and the recipient, to define death for the purposes of that Act of 1989 as the total and irreversible loss of brain function and for connected purposes.
Mr. Sackville : No. Conditions for the removal of human organs from dead people for transplantation are provided in the Human Tissue Act 1961. The anonymity of the donor and recipient is covered by the common law principle of patient confidentiality which applies to all medical information. The determination of death is a matter for the clinical judgment of doctors. Brain stem death criteria have been accepted by the medical profession as conclusive evidence of death and are already applied for the purposes of organ retrieval.
Dental Treatment
Ms. Walley : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effect on the availability of national health service dental care in Staffordshire of his Department's proposals to cut fees to national health service dental practitioners ; and if he will make a statement.
Dr. Mawhinney : We have made fair and reasonable proposals on dentists' remuneration which are being considered by the dental rates study group. These proposals would lead to the average dentist receiving in 1992- 93 not just the 8.5 per cent. increase in pay recommended by the Review Body on Doctors' and Dentists' Remuneration--and accepted in full by the Government--but some £5,000 in the full year in addition. We see no reason why such an offer should adversely affect the availability of the national health service dental care in Staffordshire, or elsewhere.
Food Hygiene
Mr. Kirkwood : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what is Her Majesty's Government's policy with regard to the proposals in the EC draft directive on the hygiene of foodstuffs ; and if she will make a statement ;
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