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Shellfish Toxins
Mr. Livingstone : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what use has been made by his Department of shellfish toxins.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : A study on shellfish toxins was carried out in 1982 to establish whether such toxins have any effect on medical counter- measures against nerve agents.
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Genetic Engineering
Mr. Livingstone : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 21 May, Official Report, column 256, what is the value of the project into genetic engineering which is being sponsored by the Chemical and Biological Defence Establishment.
Mr. Aitken : This is matter for the chemical and biological defence establishment (CBDE) under its framework document. I have therefore asked the chief executive to reply direct to the hon. Member.
Capital Sentences
Mr. Mackinlay : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many requests have been received for review of capital sentences carried out under the British Army Acts between 1914 and 1920 in the latest period for which he has records.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : Since 1989, the Ministry of Defence has recieved nine requests for pardons for soldiers executed during the first world war.
Private A. Beverstein
Mr. Mackinlay : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Public Record Office the War Office correspondence relating to the case of No. 11/1799 Private A. Beverstein (enlisted as A. Harris) of 11 Battalion of the Middlesex Regiment.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The War Office correspondence relating to this case is already available for inspection at the Public Record Office, primarily in class WO95, piece No. 1856, and in the court-martial file, WO71, piece 456, which was released to the public domain in January of this year.
Ozone-destroying Chemicals
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will state, in tonnes, the total amount of ozone-destroying chemicals used by his Department in 1991 ; if he will list the military specifications his Department issues which require the use of an ozone-depleting chemical ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : Figures for the quantities of ozone-depleting substances used by the Department in 1991 are not available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. Arrangements have been made to modify MOD standards and specifications to eliminate the requirement to use ozone-depleting substances as alternative substances or means become available.
Menwith Hill Station
Mrs. Mahon : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 9 June, Official Report, column 17, for what reasons the military base at Menwith Hill station is linked by cable to the British Telecom Hunterstones tower.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The cables laid between Menwith Hill and the British Telecom relay station at Hunterstones tower did, at one time, carry British and United States defence communications. However, they were replaced a few years ago by a different British Telecom service and are consequently no longer in use.
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Mrs. Mahon : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 9 June, Official Report, column 97, if he will list the four United States armed services employed at Menwith Hill station.Mr. Archie Hamilton : The army, air force, navy and marine corps.
TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Companies, Leicester
Mr. Janner : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will identify the schemes that his Department already has in place to help companies in Leicester and specify when each began ; what resources the Government are putting into such schemes ; and what is their current and likely duration.
Mr. Sainsbury : There are a number of schemes of support which apply nationally and which are available to companies in Leicester. These include help and advice to new or existing exporters ; support in the area of research and technology such as the small firms merit award for research-- SMART--support for products under research--SPUR--and consultancy support under the enterprise initiative. It is not possible to specify expenditure in Leicester. The consultancy initiatives are due to terminate in March 1994, but the other schemes are ongoing. I have arranged for copies of the appropriate literature to be lodged in the House of Commons Library.
AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD
Clenbuterol
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the tonnage of beef found to contain clenbuterol over the last 12 months and its country or region of origin.
Mr. Soames : Under the Ministry's imported meat monitoring programme and retail animal products survey, 214 samples of bovine liver, muscle and kidney have been taken since June 1991 and analysed for residues of clenbuterol. Four samples from the Republic of Ireland proved positive. Details of the tonnages involved are not available. This surveillance programme focuses on produce from countries in which clenbuterol misuse is known to have occurred and therefore these results do not reflect the general incidence of clenbuterol residues in imported bovine meat.
In Great Britain, testing by the state veterinary service for clenbuterol residues in animals and carcases on farm and at slaughterhouses has been stepped up, but no evidence of misuse has been detected.
Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what information is available on the numbers of cattle herds in England, Scotland and Wales that (a) did and (b) did not experience any BSE cases in the years 1989, 1990 and 1991.
Mr. Soames : The number of herds with at least one confirmed case of BSE reported during the following years is shown in the table :
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|England |Wales |Scotland
---------------------------------------------
1989 |3,920 |397 |175
1990 |6,504 |712 |374
1991 |9,393 |1,292 |581
It is not possible to give precise figures for herds which did not suffer any confirmed cases of BSE, because agricultural census information does not differentiate between holdings with single and multiple herds or record minor holdings. But the numbers of holdings without a confirmed case in each of the years concerned were as follows :
|England |Wales |Scotland
--------------------------------------------------
1989 |77,831 |19,519 |16,983
1990 |73,186 |18,877 |16,673
1991 |68,423 |17,947 |<1>16,466
<1>Using 1990 census.
Rabies
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will place in the Library a copy of the unpublished recommendations on the movement of animals from a World Health Organisation expert committee on rabies.
Mr. Gummer : The recommendations are expected to be published shortly and a copy will be placed in the Library as soon as it is available.
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether the new rabies control measures agreed for cats and dogs which are traded for breeding purposes will require vaccination within 12 months before movement ; how long an animal will be prevented from being moved when it is vaccinated for the first time ; what are the requirements on revaccination ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Gummer : Animals must be vaccinated during the 12 months prior to movement. They must be at least three months of age before their first vaccination and cannot be traded until at least six months after the first vaccination. Revaccination at annual intervals dispenses with the need for additional blood tests and allows for movement immediately after the latest vaccination.
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether the regulations on rabies control agreed on 15 June apply to dogs and cats imported for breeding purposes from third countries as well as other EC countries ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Gummer : In the absence of more specific rules, measures in relation to imports from third countries can be no more favourable than those applying to member states. There is no reason to change our existing quarantine requirements on imports from third countries.
Animal Imports
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his answer of 22 June, Official Report, column 83, how many animals in each category were imported into the United Kingdom in 1991.
Mr. Gummer : These data are not collected.
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Pa te Producers
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the number of producers of pa te de foie gras in (a) England, (b) Scotland, (c) Wales and (d) Northern Ireland.
Mr. Curry : Foie gras is not produced on farms in the United Kingdom. Foie gras is imported, possibly for the production of pa te de foie gras, but information about the number of such producers is not available.
SCOTLAND International Agreements
Mr. David Shaw : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list all the bilateral and multilateral agreements directly or indirectly negotiated by his Department or a body acting on behalf of his Department with (a) Switzerland and (b) Liechtenstein.
Mr. Lang : I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to him by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, on 24 June, at columns 208-9 . I have nothing to add.
Child Care, Fife
Mr. McLeish : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he received the report of the inquiry into child care in Fife ; if he will publish it ; what was the total cost of the inquiry ; and whether Fife regional council will be asked to make a contribution to the costs.
Mr. Allan Stewart [holding answer 22 June 1992] : Sheriff Kearney submitted his report on 16 June to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State who is now considering it. Once he has completed his consideration he will decide whether to publish the report and how its recommendations should be followed up.
The full expenses incurred by the Scottish Office in holding the inquiry are estimated at £840,000.
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It is too early for my right hon. Friend to decide whether and in what way to exercise his powers under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 regarding the expenses of holding the inquiry.Highlands and Islands
Mr. Wallace : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) when the programme monitoring committee of the highlands and islands national programme of community interest last met ; and what projects were approved for funding ;
(2) what progress has been made by his Department and the European Commission in setting up the highlands and islands operational programme ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Allan Stewart [holding answer 23 June 1992] : The programme monitoring committee of the highlands and islands national programme of community interest most recently met on Shetland on Thursday 4 June 1992. No new project proposals were approved as the available funds had already been fully accounted for by projects approved in principle by the committee at earlier meetings.
Once the European Commission has approved the new operational programme, which is expected to be worth some £8 million over two years, the programme monitoring committee will consider further applications for project funding. The available funds are expected to be significantly over subscribed.
Social Security Funds
Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if the reallocation of Department of Social Security funds, to be done when community care plans are implemented in 1993, will be according to the Barnett formula.
Mr. Allan Stewart [holding answer 24 June 1992] : Ministers of the Departments concerned have yet to reach agreeement on the territorial distribution of the transfer.
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