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application for the designation of the service for the treatment of severe combined immunodeficiency and related disorders provided by Newcastle general hospital, and will make its recommendation later in the year.Residential Homes
Mr. George Howarth : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance she proposes to give to local authorities on how to deal, under the new community care arrangements, with cases where elderly residents in private residential or nursing homes who are self-financed exhaust their resources and are unable to continue paying their own fees.
Mr. Yeo : People who are already resident in residential care and nursing homes when the National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990 takes full effect next April will have preserved rights to income support under the present system. This applies whether they are currently self- financing or not. They will continue to be able to turn to the Department of Social Security for public financial support.
People who enter residential care and nursing homes on a self-financing basis on or after the date the Act takes effect and subsequently exhaust their own financial resources will be able to approach local authorities. The local authority would then undertake an assessment of their care needs. We have issued extensive guidance on care management and assessment which covers all new cases seeking public support after April 1993.
PRIME MINISTER
Parliamentary Questions
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Prime Minister if he will review the amount of paper used in answering hon. Members' questions.
The Prime Minister : There are no specific proposals to review the amount of paper used but, like all stationery items, Government Departments aim to keep costs to a minimum and cut out waste wherever possible.
Earth Summit
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Prime Minister if he will arrange for the deposition in the Library of copies of the texts of (a) the Rio declaration on sustainable development, (b) the intergovernmental declaration on the management of forests, (c) the full text of agenda 21 blueprint for environmental action, (d) the biodiversity convention and (e) the climate convention as agreed at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development.
The Prime Minister : I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment gave to the hon. Member for Roxborough and Berwickshire (Mr. Kirkwood) on 17 June 1992, Official Report, col. 562.
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Prime Minister if he will set out those issues that Her Majesty's Government pressed to be omitted from the final text of the agenda 21 document as a pre-condition of signing it at the Earth summit in Rio de Janeiro.
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The Prime Minister : The Government fully supported the Agenda 21 action plan and did not press for any issues to be omitted before agreeing the final text.Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Prime Minister if he will make it his policy to consult non-governmental organisations in Her Majesty's Government's preparation of proposals for the Sustainable Development Commission agreed at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio, prior to their submission for consideration at the United Nations General Assembly in the autumn.
The Prime Minister : The Government consulted non-governmental organisations on a wide range of environment and development issues before the Earth summit and will continue to do so during the follow-up. As I announced in Rio, the United Kingdom will convene, next June, a major international forum of the non-governmental community to examine and clarify their role in the practical implementation of Agenda 21.
Darwin Initiative
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to his statement of 15 June, Official Report, column 649, what additional resources Her Majesty's Government plan to make available to support his Darwin initiative on natural resources, research and monitoring, the compilation of inventories on important species, and the promotion of international co-operation and techniques for conservation respectively.
The Prime Minister : We are still considering the level of resources which will be required.
Maastricht Treaty
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list all the subjects on which (a) majority voting and (b) qualified majority voting are allowed under the Maastricht agreement.
The Prime Minister : I refer the hon. Member to my answer to the hon. Member for Newham, South (Mr. Spearing) on 20 May 1992, Official Report, column 168-69. Where no specific voting rule is stated (e.g. for procedural issues), the residual rule of simple majority applies, by virtue of article 148(1) of the treaty of Rome.
Colombia
Mr. Bennett : To ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to his statement of 15 June, Official Report, column 650, what assistance has been provided to Colombia to aid the fight against drug trafficking ; what information he has on the number of people killed in Colombia in the course of suppressing that traffic ; and what consideration he gave to the levels of killings when deciding on the level of financial assistance.
The Prime Minister : As indicated in the Official Report of 15 June 1992, column 650 we have provided a substantial package of anti-drugs assistance to the judicial and law-enforcement authorities in Colombia. The only accurate figure for the number of people killed in Colombia in the course of suppressing drugs trafficking is the number of anti-narcotics police officers lost, which for 1991 was 35. In deciding on the level of financial
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assistance, our first consideration has been support for the democratically elected government of Colombia in their fight to maintain the rule of law.Global Forum
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Prime Minister what additional resources Her Majesty's Government have earmarked for supporting the global forum of non-governmental organisations and aid agencies in 1993.
The Prime Minister : The Government are currently assessing the cost of supporting the proposed conference and we will be making provision for this in our plans for the next financial year.
Global Environmental Facility
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Prime Minister what plans Her Majesty's Government have to report to Parliament on the ways in which the global environmental facility will spend the £100 million which the United Kingdom is to contribute.
The Prime Minister : The Overseas Development Administration will continue to report on its global environmental assistance programme, through which our contributions to the global environmental facility are made, in the annual Foreign and Commonwealth Office departmental report.
Value Added Tax
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Prime Minister whether the Government intend to challenge the decision of the European Court on the imposition of VAT on spectacles, hearing aids and dentures.
The Prime Minister : No. There is no right of appeal against a judgment of the European Court. The court found in February 1988 that the United Kingdom, in exempting supplies of spectacles and hearing aids (not dentures), had contravened article 13 of the EC Sixth VAT Directive. As a result of the judgment, the VAT Act 1983 was amended by section 13 of the Finance Act 1988 with effect from 1 September 1988.
TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Company Directors
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will introduce legislation to control payments and remunerations made to company directors.
Mr. Neil Hamilton : At present the details of directors' service contracts over one year are, with some exceptions, required under the Companies Act 1985 to be made available for inspection by shareholders who may ask questions or put forward resolutions on directors' pay at the annual general meeting. Also, directors' service contracts for a period of five years or more are subject to approval by general meeting.
United Nations
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement on the future of the United Nations conference on trade and development following the decision to establish the new United Nations Sustainable Development Commission.
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Mr. Needham : The Government welcome the agreement at the eighth UN conference on trade and development in Cartagena in February this year, that UNCTAD should be radically reformed so that it can carry out its role to help promote sustained and sustainable economic development more effectively.If UNCTAD's reforms are to be effective, its work should not duplicate but should complement the activities of the new United Nations Sustainable Development Commission, once this body's role is agreed by the UN General Assembly meeting this autumn.
Environmental Incentives
Mr. Dafis : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make it his policy to launch a research programme on incentives to industry to meet environ-mental standards which would consider the application of (a) charges, (b) resource taxes, (c) tradeable permits, (d) subsidies and (e) performance bonds.
Mr. Leigh : The White Paper on the Environment, "This Common Inheritance", contains a commitment to a programme of research into the potential use of market-based instruments as a means of environmental protection. This work falls to several Departments. An important example of current work is the study which my Department has commissioned jointly with the Department of the Environment of the role economic instruments might play in helping us to achieve our recycling targets.
Lean-burn Engines
Mr. Dafis : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what efforts are currently being undertaken by his Department to encourage the development of lean-burn engines.
Mr. Leigh : The Department is not currently supporting the development of lean-burn engines. However, technologies across the range of approaches leading to reduced vehicle emission, including leanburn engines, are eligible for support, subject to meeting the support criteria.
Financing Schemes
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what plans he has to outlaw off-balance-sheet financing schemes.
Mr. Neil Hamilton : The Companies Act 1989 extended the definition of a subsidiary undertaking and has resulted in the bringing on to consolidated balance sheets some schemes which were previously off-balance sheet. I have no plans for further statutory provisions. However, the Accounting Standards Board is working towards an accounting standard on the matter.
Supervisory Bodies
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will introduce legislation under which shareholders will be able to seek damages from the recognised supervisory bodies in respect of the audit failures identified in the DTI inspectors' reports.
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Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will establish an independent statutory body to hear complaints against the bodies recognised as the recognised supervisory bodies in the Companies Act 1989.
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what plans he has to introduce legislation to require that completed ballot papers for elections of the officers to the recognised supervisory bodies are not returned to the secretaries of those bodies.
Mr. Neil Hamilton : I have no such plans.
Liability
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what plans he has to provide a statutory definition of liability.
Expense (Statutory Definition)
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what plans he has to provide a statutory definition of expense.
Independent Ombudsman
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what proposals he has for appointing an independent ombudsman to hear complaints against the recognised qualifying bodies by the students of that body.
Mr. Neil Hamilton : I see no need for such proposals.
Accounting Standards
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what proposals he has to prevent partners from the accountancy firms criticised by his Department's inspectors from having a seat on the Accounting Standards Board.
Mr. Neil Hamilton : Appointments to the Accounting Standards Board are a matter for the Financial Reporting Council.
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list the costs of his Department's investigations which he has recovered under section 439 of the Companies Act 1985 from the auditing firms criticised in the inspectors' reports.
Mr. Neil Hamilton : My right hon. Friend has no powers under section 439 to require those criticised in an inspectors' report to contribute to the cost of the investigation.
Audits
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what plans he has to abolish audits for small companies.
Mr. Neil Hamilton : I have at present nothing to add to the statement made by my predecessor, my hon. Friend the Member for Wokingham (Mr. Redwood) on 18 February 1992, Official Report, columns 122-25.
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Company Investigations
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list the number of company investigations authorised under the various sections of the Companies Act 1985 for the year ended 31 March.
Mr. Neil Hamilton : Information on the number of Companies Act investigations, by section, is to be published in the companies annual report. The table gives the number of investigations under the Companies Act in the year ending 31 March 1992.
|Number
--------------------------
Section 432 |4
Section 442 |3
Section 446 |1
Section 447 |155
Total |163
Mountleigh Property Group
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will appoint inspectors to investigate the collapse of Mountleigh Property Group.
Mr. Neil Hamilton : It is not my Department's policy to comment on individual companies.
If the hon. Member has information to suggest that the appointment of inspectors is appropriate, my officials will consider it if the hon. Member forwards it in the usual manner.
Company Receivers
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will launch an independent investigation into ways in which company receivers are appointed.
Companies Act Inspectors
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the President of the Board of Trade whether he will provide a list showing the names and business connections of the individuals who are currently acting as inspectors in connection with the investigations authorised under the Companies Act 1985.
Mr. Neil Hamilton : The information requested by the hon. Member is as follows :
D. Donaldson, QC.I. Watt, FCA of KPMG Peat Marwick, Chartered Accountants.Miss, E. Appelby, QC.P. Foss, FCA of Moores Rowland, Chartered Accountants.L. Ziman of Nabarro Nathanson, Solicitors.W. Hoffman, FCA of Baker Tilly, Chartered Accountants.P. Heslop, QC.R. Lewis, FCA of Kidsons Impey, Chartered Accountants.D. A. Evans, QC.B. Worth, FCA of Clark Whitehill, Chartered Accountants.E. W. Hamilton, QC.J. A. Scott, FCA of BDO Binder Hamlyn, Chartered Accountants.C. P. F. Rimer, QC.J. White, FCA of KPMG Peat Marwick, Chartered Accountants.
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W. M. Gage, QC.A. H. Gilroy, FCA of BDO Binder Hamlyn, Chartered Accountants.R. G. B. McCombe, QC.J. K. Heywood, LLB, FCA of Price Waterhouse, Chartered Accountants.P. H. Bovey of DTI.M. A. Pickford of Government Actuary's Department.A. R. Fausset of DTI.D. G. Dean, FCCA of DTI.A. H. S. Robertshaw of DTI.C. K. B. Mayhew of DTI.M. Crystal, QC.V. B. A. Temple, Barrister.D. L. Spence of Grant Thornton, Chartered Accountants.R. J. L. Thomas, QC.R. T. Turner, FCA of Neville Russell, Chartered Accountants.Bryanston (Inspectors' Report)
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the President of the Board of Trade whether he will publish the inspectors' final report on Bryanston.
Recreational Craft
Mr. Spearing : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what barriers to trade, within the European Economic Community for recreational craft of between 2.5 and 24 m length for use on inland waterways or coastal waters, have been identified by the European Commission which are associated with draft directive 6119/92 concerning the removal of any such barriers.
Mr. Sainsbury : The barriers to trade identified by the European Community Commission are the technical rules for type approval under national legislation applying in France and Italy.
Magnox Nuclear Power Stations
Mrs. Helen Jackson : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what is the age of each of the Magnox nuclear power stations ; and at what age each of the stations will be decommissioned.
Mr. Eggar : Nuclear Electric's seven operating Magnox stations first produced power in the following years :
|Year
---------------------------
Bradwell |1962
Dungeness A |1965
Hinckley Point A |1965
Trawsfynydd |1965
Sizewell A |1965
Oldbury |1967
Wylfa |1971
A further Magnox station at Berkeley is currently being decommissioned.
The date at which any operating Magnox station will be decommissioned is a commercial matter for Nuclear Electric plc, subject to the views of the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate.
Mrs. Helen Jackson : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will publish an independent assessment of the safety and life expectancy of the Magnox reactors.
Mr. Eggar : I understand that is the Health and Safety Executive's (HSE) normal practice to publish the
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independent nuclear installations inspectorate's (NII) findings of its assessment of operators' long term safety reviews (LTSRs) of Magnox nuclear power stations. The NII's findings on the LTSRs for Berkeley, Bradwell, Calderhall, Chapel Cross, Hinkley Point A, and Hunterston A have been published. The HSE propose to publish the NII's findings on the LTSRs for Dungeness A, Oldbury, Sizewell A, Traswfynydd, and Wylfa in due course.Nuclear Safety
Mrs. Helen Jackson : To ask the President of the Board of Trade on what or whose expert advice decisions on the safety of nuclear power operations are made.
Mr. Eggar : The nuclear installations inspectorate, which is part of the Health and Safety Executive, regulate the safety of nuclear installations by virtue of powers contained in the Health and Safety At Work etc Act 1974 and relevant statutory provisions of the Nuclear Installations Act 1965.
Net Book Agreement
Mr. Sproat : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what calculations he has made of the economic effects to public libraries of the abolition of the net book agreement.
Mr. Neil Hamilton : Figures are not available. In 1991 expenditure on books and pamphlets by United Kingdom public libraries was £101 million and this figure includes a 10 per cent. discount on net books under the library licence which is a part of the NBA.
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Assistance Programmes
Mr. Milburn : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will provide a table of expenditure of his Department's programmes of assistance to industry broken down by programme and cross-referenced for standard regions, showing Greater London as a separate region, for each year from 1987-88 (a) at current prices and (b) at 1987-88 prices.
Mr. Sainsbury : The information sought is not available except at disproportionate cost. However, a breakdown by region of expenditure on the Department of Trade and Industry's programmes of regional assistance to industry and for other industrial support under the Industrial Development Act 1982, including the consultancy initiatives, is provided in the appendices to the Industrial Development Act 1982 annual reports. Total expenditure on each of the Department's programmes is shown in the annual appropriation accounts.
Regional Offices
Mr. Milburn : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will provide a table of expenditure showing the running costs of each regional office of his Department and the cost of running sub-regional offices aggregated by region, and with Greater London shown separately, and excluding the funding programmes operated by the offices for each year from 1987-88 (a) at current prices and (b) at 1987-88 prices.
Mr. Sainsbury : The information requested is shown in the following table. Greater London is part of the south east region. No separate figures for Greater London are available.
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|c|Department of Trade and Industry regional office running costs|c|
|c|£ Thousands|c|
1987-88 1988-89 1989-90 1990-91 1991-92
|Current |1987-88 |Current |1987-88 |Current |1987-88 |Current |1987-88 |Current |1987-88
|prices |prices<1>|prices |prices<1>|prices |prices<1>|prices |prices<1>|prices |prices<1>
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
North East |2,727 |2,727 |3,250 |3,032 |3,412 |2,990 |4,246 |3,431 |4,420 |3,338
North West |2,758 |2,758 |3,686 |3,439 |3,633 |3,184 |3,609 |2,916 |3,997 |3,018
Yorkshire and Humberside1,600 |1,600 |2,098 |1,957 |2,300 |2,016 |2,686 |2,170 |2,863 |2,162
East Midlands |1,115 |1,115 |1,432 |1,336 |1,599 |1,401 |1,728 |1,396 |1,865 |1,408
West Midlands |2,043 |2,043 |2,572 |2,400 |2,951 |2,586 |3,133 |2,531 |3,705 |2,798
South West |1,011 |1,011 |1,390 |1,297 |1,461 |1,280 |1,616 |1,306 |1,804 |1,362
South East |1,389 |1,389 |2,429 |2,266 |2,663 |2,334 |2,876 |2,324 |3,221 |2,432
East<2> |391 |343 |1,124 |908 |1,423 |1,075
<1>Deflated by the public spending plans GDP deflator.
<2>The East region was created during 1989-90 by splitting off the counties of Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk
and Suffolk from the South East region.
Assisted Areas
Mr. Milburn : To ask the President of the Board of Trade (1) what proportion of Great Britain's working population live in the current assisted areas ; and what changes he envisages in this figure as a result of his recently announced review ;
(2) what percentage of the current assisted areas are (a) development areas and (b) intermediate areas ; and what changes he envisages in this split as a result of his recently announced review.
Mr. Sainsbury : Under the current assisted areas map of Great Britain, 42 (13 per cent. by number) of the 322 travel-to-work areas have development area status, 56 (17.4 per cent.) have intermediate area status, and 1 (0.3
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per cent.) is part intermediate area and part non assisted area. In working population terms, approximately 15 per cent. have development area status and a further 20 per cent. have intermediate area status.The consultation paper we have issued made it clear that the coverage of the assisted areas is unlikely to increase. We have not decided, in advance of representations received under the consultation arrangements, the precise extent of the new map or the split between the two categories. These will in due course have to be agreed with the European Commission.
Mr. Milburn : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will provide a table of expenditure on regional financial assistance to each development area and
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intermediate area in the Northern region in each year since the last revision of the assisted areas held in 1984 (a) at current prices and (b) at 1984 prices.Mr. Sainsbury : Expenditure on regional financial assistance in the Northern region broken down into development areas and intermediate areas from 1984-85 at
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current prices and at 1984-85 prices is set out in the following table. The schemes covered in the table are regional development grants, regional selective assistance and regional enterprise grants. A more detailed breakdown by assisted area is available only at disproportionate cost.Column 63
|c|Regional Financial Assistance|c|
|1984-85|1985-86|1986-87|1987-88|1988-89|1989-90|1990-91|1991-92
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Northern region at current prices
DA |106.1 |84.4 |116.0 |84.2 |113.8 |97.6 |63.4 |45.3
IA |1.1 |1.1 |4.4 |2.5 |3.6 |2.2 |3.3 |1.2
Northern region at 1984-85 prices
DA |106.1 |79.9 |106.4 |73.27 |92.4 |74.3 |44.6 |29.8
IA |1.1 |1.0 |4.0 |2.2 |2.9 |1.7 |2.3 |0.8
Notes:
1.The table comprises expenditure on Regional Development Grants, Regional Selective Assistance and
Regional Enterprise Grants.
2.The Northern Region is defined as the area covered by the North East and Cumbria.
Uranium
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what applications he has received to import highly enriched uranium fuel from Iraq to Dounreay.
Mr. Eggar : None. AEA Technology and British Nuclear Fuels plc are awaiting the decision of the International Atomic Energy Agency as to whether their services will be required.
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