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Ms. Abbott : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many offences the death penalty is available to an Army court martial in respect of accused persons, including civilians, (a) in the United Kingdom in time of peace and (b) outside the United Kingdom in peacetime or wartime.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The Army Act 1955 provides for the death penalty in the United Kingdom and overseas for the following offences : assisting the enemy ; serious misconduct in action ; obstructing operations ; mutiny ; and failure to suppress mutiny.
This applies to any person, service man or civilian, subject to the Act. It is the policy, however, that such sentences should never be carried out in peacetime.
Ms. Abbott : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what directions are given to officers convening courts martial to inform the news media of the time and place at which a courts martial in the Army is to be held ; and what is the practice followed.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : All Army headquarters convening courts martial are to compile weekly a list of forthcoming trials and this is to be posted at least 24 hours--48 hours in the case of the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR)--before the time of the first trial mentioned. The lists are posted at, or in the vicinity of, the headquarters in a place which is accessible to the public. Also the news media can contact the Ministry of Defence press desk to ascertain the time and place of a specific courts martial.
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Ms. Abbott : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what are the maximum powers of minor punishment which can be inflicted by commanding officers or company commanders in the Army on officers, warrant officers, non-commissioned officers and other ranks, without the defendant having any right to elect trial by court martial.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The maximum powers are :
Commanding Officer
Officers--Severe Reprimand
Warrant Officers--Severe Reprimand
Non-Commissioned Officers--Severe Reprimand
Other Ranks--Admonition, Restriction of Privileges
Company Commanders
Junior Non-Commissioned Officers--Reprimand
Other Ranks--Admonition, Restriction of Privileges
Ms. Abbott : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what are the maximum powers of summary punishment which can be inflicted by commanding officers in the Army on officers, warrant officers, non-commissioned officers, other ranks and civilians subject to military law subject to the right of the defendant to elect trial by court martial.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The information is as follows :
Officers--forfeiture of seniority.
Warrant officers--fine of up to 28 days pay.
Non-commissioned officers--fine of up to 28 days pay.
Other ranks--60 days detention.
Civilian--fine of up to £100.
Military Custody
Ms. Abbott : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what was the number of persons in the year ended 28 February 1991 who have died in military custody, and from what cause, (a) in the United Kingdom and (b) outside the United Kingdom.
Ms. Abbott : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what facilities are available to persons in military custody (a) in the United Kingdom and (b) outside the United Kingdom to get legal aid and advice.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : In the United Kingdom, when someone is interviewed by the service police, that person is entitled to advice from a civilian solicitor in accordance with the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE) 1984 and the relevant code of practice. If the matter is to be dealt with by court martial, the person may apply for legal aid by way of civilian professional assistance in accordance with a legal aid scheme that is administered by the Ministry of Defence. A person held in military custody but to be tried in a civil court can apply for civil legal aid through the civil courts. Outside the United Kingdom it is normal practice for officers of the legal services to perform the role of a civilian solicitor when a person is interviewed by service police under PACE. The military legal aid scheme is available overseas in the same way as it is within the United Kingdom, although it is extended to cover alleged offences, tried by criminal courts, committed on or off duty. The legal aid scheme is available to all ranks and to members of the civilian component and dependants.
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Commanding Officers (Hearings)
Ms. Abbott : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what access the public and news media are giving to hearings before commanding officers ; and what means they have of knowing when such hearings are to take place.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : Unlike in the case of courts martial, the public and news media have no access to hearings before commanding officers. The services do not inform the public or news media when such hearings are to take place.
Empty Ministry Property
Mr. Austin-Walker : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list all empty residential property in the London borough of Greenwich which is in the ownership or control of his Ministry and the type of accommodation available ; how long each property has been vacant ; and what is the intended future use.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : As at 31 March 1992, the latest date for which figures are available, 99 MOD-owned service married quarters, out of a total of 659, were vacant in the London borough of Greenwich. Ninety-eight had been vacant for under one year and one for between one and two years. All the properties are required for use by serving or redundant service personnel.
Many of the vacant properties were either undergoing or awaiting major maintenance work or modernisation and some were already allotted to service families who were due to move in shortly. In addition, nine married quarters were in the process of being sold and negotiations were taking place to lease 30 quarters to a housing association to accommodate redundant service personnel.
HOUSE OF COMMONS
Members Office Costs
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Lord President of the Council what is the estimated cost of increasing the office costs allowance for hon. Members by 25 per cent.
Mr. Newton : The office costs allowance represents a maximum sum against which a Member may claim actual expenses incurred. The cost arising from an increase in the maximum of the OCA would depend, therefore, on the extent to which the allowable expenses of Members increased. The maximum additional cost of a 25 per cent. increase in the OCA would be around £4.7 million in a full year.
OVERSEAS DEVELOPMENT
Horn of Africa
Mrs. Clwyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what pledges Her Majesty's Government have made for food aid to the Horn of Africa ; and what percentage of total pledges they represent in real terms.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : We have so far in 1992-93 pledged 57,000 tonnes of bilateral food aid for the Horn of Africa.
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In addition, we have agreed to the use of 8,346 tonnes of our multilateral pledge to the World Food Programme for emergency operations in Eritrea. Taken together, these represent some 6.5 per cent. of total pledges, which, according to the WFP, amount to approximately 1 million tonnes for 1992.Mrs. Clwyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if Her Majesty's Government will be increasing levels of food aid to the Horn of Africa in response to the recent statements from the UN World Food Programme.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : An additional 12,000 tonnes of food aid for the Horn of Africa was announced on 1 June in response to recent reports indicating the need for further pledges. A new special emergency programme for the Horn of Africa (SEPHA) appeal is expected shortly and we will be considering carefully our response to that as soon as it is issued.
Mrs. Clwyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what quantity of aid the Overseas Development Administration has provided for Ethiopia for the years 1989 to 1992 ; and what quantity of aid it plans to provide in the years 1993 to 1996, in cash and real terms.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : Expenditure in 1989, 1990 and 1991 was respectively £12 million, £20 million and, provisionally, £22 million, mainly in the form of humanitarian assistance. In 1992, humanitarian aid provided under the bilateral programme has so far amounted to £11 million.
Future humanitarian needs, and our response, will be considered at the time. Under the long-term bilateral development programme, we expect to be involved in the rehabilitation process through non-governmental organisations and in such key sectors as education, including training.
Mrs. Clwyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if Her Majesty's Government will provide additional resources to ensure that pledges of food aid to the Horn of Africa are not delayed.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : In addition to new pledges of food aid, we have already provided £4 million for infrastructure projects aimed at facilitating delivery of relief supplies. We shall be considering carefully what further response is required to the new special emergency programme for the Horn of Africa appeal, which is expected shortly.
EDUCATION
Student Unions (Grants)
Mr. Riddick : To ask the Secretary of State for Education how much was paid out by higher and further education institutions via block grant to student unions in the past nine years (a) as a national total, (b) per pupil and (c) by institution.
Mr. Forman : Grant payments from universities in Great Britain to their student unions in the years in question were :
Academic |£ million |<1>Per student years |(£)<1> ------------------------------------------------------------ 1982-83 |15.1 |45.91 1983-84 |16.4 |50.25 1984-85 |15.9 |48.68 1985-86 |17.0 |51.12 1986-87 |17.2 |50.48 1987-88 |17.5 |50.56 1988-89 |17.1 |47.22 1989-90 |18.0 |47.07 1990-91 |<2>19.7 |<2>48.70 <1>The per student figures are based on total full and part-time student numbers. <2>Provisional.
The "Universities Statistical Record", which collects these figures, does not publish information on student union grants disaggregated by institution. Information is not available centrally for institutions in the polytechnics and colleges funding council sector or the further education sector.
Schools, Colne Valley
Mr. Riddick : To ask the Secretary of State for Education how much money each of the following schools in the Colne Valley constituency received in 1991-92 and will receive in 1992-93 from Kirklees local education authority ; and how many pupils each school had at the beginning of those two years ; Colne Valley high school, Holmfirth high school, Honley high school, Moorend high school and Salendine Nook high school.
Mr. Forth : The information is taken from Kirklees local education authority's budget statements for the years 1991-92 and 1992-93, published under section 42 of the Education Reform Act 1988 :
L
1991-92 1992-93
High School |Number |Budget |Number |Budget
|of pupils |share |of pupils |share
|£ |£
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Colne Valley |1,399 |2,302,459 |1,446 |2,543,317
Holmfirth |1,005 |1,604,226 |1,031 |1,750,826
Honley |1,150 |1,936,100 |1,121 |2,036,093
Moorend |800 |1,388,723 |808 |1,476,858
Salendine Nook |1,105 |1,768,887 |1,132 |1,923,585
Illiteracy
Sir Thomas Arnold : To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to his answer of 20 May, Official Report, columns 158-59, whether the figure of 5.5 million functionally illiterate pupils includes those people who are literate in another language but functionally illiterate in English.
Mr. Forman : No. The adult literacy and basic skills unit estimates that an additional 500,000 adults in England and Wales whose first language is not English are "functionally illiterate" in English.
Taiwanese Students
Mr. Robert Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many students from Taiwan and currently studying in universities and colleges of further education in the United Kingdom.
Mr. Forman : Figures for the latest available academic year 1990-91 show that there were 591 students from
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Taiwan on courses of higher education, with a further 152 taking courses of further education in the United Kingdom.Discretionary Awards
Mr. Denham : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what measures are taken by his Department to monitor the nature, range and value of discretionary awards made by local education authorities.
Mr. Forman : My Department collects information annually from each local education authority in England and Wales on the number and aggregate value of discretionary awards made by it under sections 1(6) and 2 of the Education Act 1962 to students for attendance on courses of further and higher education.
Refurbishment
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for Education how much money has been spent on refurbishing his Department over the past three years.
Mr. Forman : The information is as follows :
Year |£ thousands ------------------------------------ 1989-90 |277 1990-91 |302 1991-92 |697
The London headquarters of the Department moved to new premises in January 1992.
Local Management of Schools
Mr. Alex Carlile : To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will make a statement concerning the effects of local management of schools over the past two years.
Mr. Forth : The effects of local management of schools can be loosely attributed to the two main planks of LMS policy--formula funding and delegation.
The introduction of formula funding has meant that schools have been allocated funds according to a system that is open and equitable. Historical inequities have been revealed and are being addressed. The new openness has resulted in greater confidence and better-informed debate about relative funding needs. LMS has ensured that schools are funded mainly on the basis of their success in recruiting pupils--the more pupils they attract, the more money they get. In this way, LMS has given schools a strong incentive to be responsive to parents and rewards good schools.
Local management of schools requires the bulk of the local education authority school budget to be delegated to schools themselves, for governors to manage as they see fit. When schools receive a delegated budget, governing bodies also acquire the power to appoint and dismiss staff. LMS has therefore resulted in a marked shift of power from LEAs to schools. It has meant less money being retained and spent in county hall and more being spent in and by schools. It has meant greater flexibility for schools to manage their budget according to their own priorities.
We must remember that LMS is still in its infancy. Not all schools yet have full control of budgets allocated entirely by uncushioned formula. Transitional arrangements have however to be phased out by April 1994--1995
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for inner London LEAs. Nevertheless, LMS has been widely welcomed by schools and there is general agreement that it has been a major positive development. That success has been due, in large part, to the dedication and hard work of governors and senior management in schools who have embraced their wider responsibilities with enthusiasm. Nor would LMS have been possible without the major contribution of LEA officers. I believe that the present popularity of LMS is well founded and I am confident that, as LMS policy matures, it will make an increasing contribution to improving standards in our schools.London University
Mr. Alex Carlile : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what percentage of students for the last available year at London university were from (a) the United Kingdom, (b) the United States of America and (c) Japan ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Forman : This information is not held centrally.
Seven-year-olds (Testing)
Mr. Fatchett ; To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will set out the percentage of seven-year-olds in the 1991 standard assessment tasks who reached (a) level 3, (b) level 2, (c) level 1 in attainment target 2 of English--reading--and (d) the percentage of children who failed to reach level 1.
Mr. Forth : As indicated in "Testing 7 year olds in 1991 : results of the National Curriculum assessments in England", copies of which are in the Library of the House, the percentages of seven-year-olds reaching the different levels in the reading component of English in the 1991 tests for seven-year-olds were as follows :
|Per cent.
--------------------------------------------
Level 3 |21
Level 2 |50
Level 1 |26
Working towards level 1 |2
Disapplied/not tested |1
TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Renewable Energy
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will set out in summary form the main information that his Department made available on renewable energy sources for consideration at the United Nations conference on the environment and development.
Mr. Eggar : The United Kingdom national report for the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development included the White Paper "This Common Inheritance" and the first-year report. These documents, copies of which are in the Library of the House, set out the United Kingdom's position on renewable sources of energy. In addition, my Department provided advice to the United Kingdom delegation to the conference on the renewable energy aspects of Agenda 21, particularly in relation to the chapter on the atmosphere.
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Auditing Firms
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the President of the Board of Trade whether he will investigate the lowballing practices of major auditing firms.
Nuffield Press
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the President of the Board of Trade, further to his correspondence with the hon. Member for Great Grimsby in respect of Nuffield Press Ltd., when he became aware of the errors in its accounts ; what information he has sought from Coopers and Lybrand ; and what steps have been taken by the auditors or the company to inform auditors of the errors in accounts.
Mr. Neil Hamilton : A typographical error in a note to the company's accounts was drawn to my Department's attention by the hon. Member in his letter of 23 March to my predecessor, my hon. Friend the Member for Wokingham (Mr. Redwood). As the hon. Member is aware from the subsequent letters from my predecessor and myself, the facts were checked with the company's auditors and the company is understood to be arranging to revise the accounts by a supplementary note.
Sunshine Policies
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the President of the Board of Trade whether he has any proposals under which the Accounting Standards Board will be required to embrace sunshine policies.
Mr. Neil Hamilton : This is a matter for the Accounting Standards Board.
Textile Industry
Mr. Gordon Prentice : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he proposes to designate Lancashire as a region for assistance under the Retex initiative.
Mr. Sainsbury : The European Commission has decided that grants under the Retex initiative, for regions heavily dependent on the textiles and clothing sector, should be available only within areas designated for objective 1, 2 or 5 (b) of the structural funds. The travel-to-work areas of Accrington and Rossendale, Blackburn, Bolton and Bury, Burnley, Liverpool, Pendle, Rochdale and Wigan and St. Helens--which lie wholly or partly within Lancashire--are so designated.
The Commission has asked the Government to decide by 4 December 1992 which parts of the designated areas should receive Retex grants. I shall take a decision in due course.
BBC
Mr. Maclennan : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he has received the report of the Monopolies and Mergers Commission into the promotion by the BBC of its publications on air ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Neil Hamilton : My right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade is currently considering the Monopolies and Mergers Commission report on the
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publicising, in the course of providing a television broadcasting service, of goods supplied by the broadcaster, which he received on 19 June. The report will be published as soon as is practicable. The contents of all MMC reports remain confidential until publication. If the MMC finds no adverse effects, my right hon. Friend has no power to act. If the MMC has reached any adverse findings, he will decide what steps, if any, should be taken to remedy the situation.Coal
Mr. Morgan : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will give his most up-to-date estimate of the level of coal stockpiled on the ground at (a) pitheads and (b) power stations in the ownership of National Power, PowerGen or British Coal ; what proposals he has, pursuant to the transitional coal-burn arrangement covering the period to April 1993, to encourage consumption of current coal stocks by the electricity generating companies ; and what steps he will take to reduce coal stocks after April 1993.
Mr. Eggar : Information on coal stocks held at power stations and collieries in Great Britain is available in "Energy Trends", a statistical bulletin published monthly by my Department and available in the Library of the House. Coal consumption is a commercial matter for the companies concerned.
Manufacturing Industries
Mr. Nicholas Winterton : To ask the President of the Board of Trade (1) if he will make a statement detailing his policies for the future of the United Kingdom manufacturing industries ;
(2) if he will make it his policy to ensure that manufacturing industries remain major, successful and competitive contributors to the economy.
Mr. Sainsbury : The Government's policy is to provide the environment within which British industry can thrive. As the Confederation of British Industry noted in its report "Competing with the World's Best", recent years have seen a transformation in Britain's manufacturing base.
Monopolies and Mergers Commission
Mr. Martlew : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what studies are at present being undertaken by the Monopolies and Mergers Commission ; and when it started these inquiries.
Mr. Neil Hamilton : The MMC is presently undertaking these inquiries :
Type of reference and |Referral |Due (in date order) subject matter ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Merger Bond/British International Helicopters |9 June 1992 |9 September 1982 Merger Bristow/British International Helicopters |9 June 1992 |9 September 1992 Merger BM Group/Thwaites |11 June 1992 |11 September 1992 Monopoly Contact Lens Solutions |30 April 1992 |29 February 1993
Cars
Mr. Martlew : To ask the President of the Board of Trade when he will be responding to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission report into the price of new cars in the United Kingdom.
Mr. Neil Hamilton : On 6 May my right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade announced that he had asked the Director General of Fair Trading to begin discussions with car suppliers with a view to implementing the Monopolies and Mergers Commission's recommendations on the supply of new cars and for advice on whether any further action should be taken by the competition authorities in the light of a statement which Sir Leon Brittan made on the EC study of car prices.
Commonwealth Development Corporation
Sir Fergus Montgomery : To ask the President of the Board of Trade when he proposes to publish the Monopolies and Mergers Commission report on the Commonwealth Development Corporation ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Neil Hamilton : The report is published today. The commission was asked to carry out an extensive inquiry into the efficiency and costs of, and the service provided by, the Commonwealth Development Corporation.
The commission is impressed by the dedication with which CDC staff work towards the corporation's objectives. It finds that the CDC is a competent organisation and that it provides a particularly valuable form of assistance to the economies of developing countries. It believes that the CDC's project-based approach, organisation and long-term commitment to its investments are well suited to its objectives. It reports that cash management is effective and that costs are not excessive and are well controlled.
The commission nevertheless concludes that the CDC could continue to make efficiency improvements. The commission recommends in particular that CDC should invest only in projects that, generally, meet specified rate of return thresholds and have an acceptable social and environmental impact ; CDC should adopt a policy of charging market rates on its loans ; CDC should improve its treatment of risk in projects appraisals ; and CDC should set up a representative programme of evaluation and operational projects. The commission notes some disadvantages in the current policy framework regarding restrictions on CDC's borrowing and liquidity, and the structure of its balance sheet. It believes that these issues should be examined further in the context of the forthcoming five-yearly review of CDC carried out by interested Government Departments and CDC.
The CDC will produce a preliminary response to the commission's findings within three to four months, in the light of which my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs will make a statement.
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