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Mr. Leigh : The target dates for publication of the Department's home accident surveillance system statistics for the years specified are as follows :1990 : October 31 1992
1991 : July 31 1993
EC Regulations
Mrs. Gorman : To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many EC regulations have been introduced this year which apply to matters covered by his Department.
Mr. Needham : For the year, up to and including the 19 June 1992, some 36 EC regulations were introduced for which the Department of Trade and Industry has overall responsibility.
Trade Statistics
Mr. Cousins : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what was the annual output, United Kingdom market size and trade balance for activity headings 3301, 3302, 3441, 3443, 3453, and 3454 for each complete year from 1987.
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Mr. Sainsbury : The information is shown in the table.
|c|Balance of Trade|c|
SIC<1> |3301 |3302 |3441 |3443 |3453 |3454
£ millions
--------------------------------------------------------
1987 |-340 |-548 |-276 |146 |-584 |-731
1988 |-25 |-891 |-351 |321 |-794 |-821
1989 |23 |-1,365|-238 |157 |-848 |-819
1990 |103 |-1,322|-162 |234 |-601 |-509
1991 |170 |-1,045|-123 |198 |-677 |-257
|c|Balance of Trade|c|
SIC<1> |3301 |3302 |3441 |3443 |3453 |3454
£ millions
--------------------------------------------------------
1987 |-340 |-548 |-276 |146 |-584 |-731
1988 |-25 |-891 |-351 |321 |-794 |-821
1989 |23 |-1,365|-238 |157 |-848 |-819
1990 |103 |-1,322|-162 |234 |-601 |-509
1991 |170 |-1,045|-123 |198 |-677 |-257
|c|Balance of Trade|c|
SIC<1> |3301 |3302 |3441 |3443 |3453 |3454
£ millions
--------------------------------------------------------
1987 |-340 |-548 |-276 |146 |-584 |-731
1988 |-25 |-891 |-351 |321 |-794 |-821
1989 |23 |-1,365|-238 |157 |-848 |-819
1990 |103 |-1,322|-162 |234 |-601 |-509
1991 |170 |-1,045|-123 |198 |-677 |-257
Standard Industrial Classification (1980) :
3301 Office machinery.
3302 Electronic data processing equipment.
3441 Telegraph and telephone equipment.
3443 Radio and electronic capital goods.
3453 Electronic sub-assemblies and active components.
3454 Electronic consumer goods and miscellaneous equipment. Sales of principal products of each industry.
Home demand = Sales Imports Exports.
Data not available.
Data source : CSO.
Trans-European Networks
Mr. Spearing : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what are the implications of the proposals for Trans-European networks contained in articles 129b, c and d of the treaty on European union for equalisation on harmonisation of the relevant system costs, or costs to the consumers or users of such designated networks.
Mr. Needham : Action by the Community on Trans-European Networks in energy telecommunications and transport, provided for in articles 129b to 129d of the treaty on European union, is to be aimed at promoting interconnection and inter-operability of national networks within a framework of open and competitive markets. If the Community succeeds in encouraging larger and more liberalised networks, this can be expected to lead to greater competition and thus to bring prices for consumers and users more closely into line with costs.
Mersey Barrage
Mr. Pike : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what financial assistance was given from public funds by Her Majesty's Government towards the Travers Morgan economic study for the Mersey Barrage Company ; and what percentage that was of the total cost.
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Mr. Eggar : The Government's contribution to the Travers Morgan Economic study for the Mersey Barrage Company was £77,391.50. This was 50 per cent. of the total cost of that study.
Mr. Pike : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what guidance he has given to the Mersey Barrage Company on cost benefit analysis, including the likely environmental costs, in assessing the viability of any future barrage scheme.
Mr. Eggar : The Mersey Barrage Company commissioned the consultants Travers Morgan Economics to undertake a cost benefit analysis of the Mersey barrage. The methodology adopted for assessing environmental costs reflected the consultant's views, at that time, of the most appropriate valuation mechanism. The analysis included an evaluation of the cost of creating lost habitat for wildfowl and some plants caused by the Barrage scheme. The Mersey Barrage Company has discussed these costs with its Environmental working party, which includes statutory organisations and environmental interest groups. Government officials have been in discussion with the Mersey Barrage Company on the methodology and results of the cost benefit analysis. The
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Government consider a proper assessment of the environmental impact of the barrage a key issue in appraising the scheme.Nuclear Power
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the President of the Board of Trade how much of the depleted uranium stockpiled at civil nuclear facilities has been re- enriched for use in United Kingdom or foreign nuclear programmes since 1955.
Mr. Eggar : Over 15,000 tonnes of depleted uranium from the reprocessing of magnox irradiated fuel have been enriched for use in civil nuclear fuel.
Sub-Sahara Africa
Mrs. Clwyd : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what was the total value of exports to sub-Saharan Africa during 1990 ; if he will give a breakdown of the main items ; and what was the total value of United Kingdom exports and imports from sub-Saharan Africa during 1990 and for the latest year for which figures are available.
Mr. Needham : Details of trade with sub-Saharan Africa are published in the overseas trade statistics of the United Kingdom.
Coal Privatisation
Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what expressions of interest he has received from potential purchasers of British Coal ; and if he wil make a statement.
Mr. Eggar : A number of unions and companies have expressed an interest in purchasing all or part of the coal industry. It is a matter for the organisations themselves whether they wish their interest to be made public.
Regional Assistance
Mr. Shore : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what has been the level of the United Kingdom's receipts from the European regional fund of the European Community in each year since 1985 ; and what is the total size of the ERF in the same period.
Mr. Sainsbury [holding answer 30 June 1992] : European regional development fund receipts since 1985 are shown in the table.
|c|European regional development fund receipts|c|
|Total EC |United Kingdom|Percentage
|mecu |mecu |share
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
1985 |1,624 |484 |29.8
1986 |2,484 |507 |20.4
1987 |2,535 |527 |20.8
1988 |3,093 |578 |18.7
1989 |3,920 |612 |15.6
1990 |4,554 |465 |10.2
1991 |5,181 |483 |9.3
Timeshare
Mr. Nigel Griffiths : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if the Director General of Fair Trading will examine the suitability of William Montgomery, director of International Resort Sales and Travel Ltd., to hold a credit licence.
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Mr. Leigh : Consumer credit licensing is the responsi-bility of the Director General of Fair Trading and I will draw the hon. Member's question to his attention.
Instruments of Torture
Mr. Alex Carlile : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he has any plans to tighten restrictions governing the granting of permits to export components which can be used as instruments of torture ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Needham : I refer the hon. Member to the reply that I gave to the hon. Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire (Mr. Kirkwood) on 18 May 1992, Official Report, column 22 .
Market Testing
Dr. Marek : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what has been the total cost so far of the market testing initiative in his Department since November 1991.
Mr. Eggar : An estimate of the total cost since November 1991 is not available.
Dr. Marek : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what estimate he has made of savings in his Department as a result of the market testing programme.
Mr. Eggar : No such estimate has been made.
Dr. Marek : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will give a date when he will announce the areas of work in his Department to be market tested ; and whether all relevant information will be made publicly available.
Mr. Eggar : As promised in the White Paper, "Competing for Quality", departmental targets for market testing in 1992-93 will be announced later this year.
Mr. Terry Davis : To ask the President of the Board of Trade who has been appointed as a consultant to his Department for market testing.
Mr. Eggar [holding answer 29 June 1992] : No such appointment has been made.
Coal Industry
Mr. Dobson : To ask the President of the Board of Trade whether, following the special arrangements for Britain arrived at on the EC working time directives, the Government intend to proceed with the repeal of the Coal Miners Regulations Act 1908.
Mr. Eggar [holding answer 30 June 1992] : We do not envisage repealing the 1908 Act until the proposed EC directive has been implemented.
Mr. Dobson : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what changed working practices British Coal have negotiated with representatives of its work force since the passage of the Coal Industry Act 1992.
Mr. Eggar [holding answer 30 June 1992] : This is a matter for British Coal.
Mr. Clapham : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what support he has given to promoting United Kingdom investment in the Colombian state-owned coal-mining industry.
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Mr. Needham [holding answer 30 June 1992] : My Department held a seminar in London on 29 April to draw energy opportunities in Colombia, including investment opportunities, to the attention of United Kingdom industry.Mr. Clapham : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he intends to provide Government support for British Coal's anti-dumping claim against Colombian coal imported initially into the EC and then into the United Kingdom.
Mr. Needham [holding answer 30 June 1992] : The Government raised no objection to the European Commission opening an investigation into British Coal's anti-dumping complaint because it is only by investigation that the full facts of the matter can be established. It is now for the Commission to decide whether the allegations in the complaint are such that an investigation is warranted.
Inmos
Mr. Flynn : To ask the President of the Board of Trade (1) if he will list the dates of all approaches he has made to M. Carpentier, head of D.G. XIII of the European Commission, concerning the threatened closure of Inmos ;
(2) if he will list the dates of contacts he has initiated with D.G. XVI of the European Commission, concerning the threatened closure of Inmos ;
(3) what discussions he has had with the European Commission on any proposal to relocate Inmos to another site in the United Kingdom ; (4) if he will list the dates and outcome of all contacts and meetings he has had with each directorate of the European Commission on the future of Inmos.
Mr. Sainsbury [holding answer 29 June 1992] : Discussions took place on 10 June with the Commission about Inmos's request for a £30 million grant to support its proposed £60 million investment in Newport.
This request far exceeds the level of support we would normally consider for investment projects in the Newport area. The Commission has however made it clear that there can be no prospect of United Kingdom Government aid at the level sought, and the company has been told.
Although I am not aware of any proposals by the company to locate elsewhere in the United Kingdom, we remain ready to discuss matters with it.
Brazilian Mahogany
Mr. Cann : To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many cubic metres of Brazilian mahogany were imported into the United Kingdom in 1991.
Mr. Needham [holding answer 29 June 1992] : The only information which relates to mahogany imported from Brazil is that which has been sawn or chipped lengthwise, sliced or peeled, of a thickness exceeding 6mm, defined as code 440723901 of the Standard International Trade Classification, Revision 3. Under this heading there were 45,762 cubic metres of mahogany imported into the United Kingdom from Brazil in 1991.
Nuclear Power
Mr. Cann : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will ensure that a public inquiry will be heldbefore Nuclear Electric is allowed to build the proposed Sizewell C.
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Mr. Eggar [holding answer 29 June 1992] : On 9 November 1989 the Secretary of State for Energy informed the House that no capital expenditure approval would be given to Nuclear Electric plc. for any new nuclear station beyond Sizewell B pending the outcome of a review of the future prospects for nuclear power in the United Kingdom, which will be undertaken in 1994. That remains the position. It also remains the case that, before reaching his decision on any application for his consent to construct and operate an electricity generating station my right hon. Friend is obliged to hold a public inquiry into the application of a relevant local planning authority has objected to it.
If there is no objection from a relevant local planning authority, my right hon. Friend may still call for a public inquiry to be held at his own discretion.
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will place in the Library copies of all correspondence since 1990 between himself or his predecessor, and the chairmen of (a) Nuclear Electric, (b) British Nuclear Fuels plc. and (c) the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority on the matter of future development plans of each organisation.
Mr. Eggar [holding answer 30 June 1992] : I meet the chairmen of these companies regularly to discuss a range of issues. Future development plans are commercial matters for the companies concerned.
Steel
Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement concerning his policy to encourage the export of steel products.
Mr. Needham [holding answer 30 June 1992] : My Department supports the export efforts of the steel industry--as of British industry as a whole--by providing, through the Overseas Trade Services, a comprehensive range of information, advice, services and practical assistance.
The United Kingdom is keen to secure an effective multilateral steel agreement and supports the European Commission efforts to resume talks on the outstanding issues.
DEFENCE
Air Force Training
Mr. Foulkes : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) if he will make a statement on the outcome of the Euro-NATO training group consideration of alternative means of meeting NATO air force training requirements following the abandonment of plans for a NATO tactical fighter training centre ;
(2) if he will make a statement on his future plans for provision of training for RAF strike/attack units following the abandonment of plans for a NATO tactical fighter training centre.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : Although there are no plans at present to continue with the NATO tactical fighter training centre, the project has not been abandoned. The partner nations of the Euro-NATO training group, including the United Kingdom, continue to investigate
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alternative means of meeting training requirements. Training for RAF strike/attack units will continue mainly in the United Kingdom, but with regular participation in NATO, North American and other overseas exercises.Low Flying
Mr. Foulkes : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many operational low-flying movements have been authorised in each of the tactical training areas in each month since June 1991.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The information requested is as follows :
|Northern|Central |Borders
|Scotland|Wales
----------------------------------------------
1991
June |0 |0 |0
July |0 |0 |0
August |0 |7 |0
September |0 |9 |9
October |54 |0 |38
November |47 |18 |188
December |85 |3 |382
1992
January |70 |2 |141
February |99 |21 |361
March |271 |7 |263
April |57 |8 |187
Mr. Foulkes : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many complaints about low flying were received from addresses located within each of the numbered low-flying areas in the United Kingdom during 1991.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The information requested is as follows :
Low flying |Numbers of
areas |complaints or
|inquiries
------------------------------------------
1 |62
2 |735
3 |21
4 |320
5 |430
6 |292
7 |791
8 |230
9 |16
11 |424
12 |160
13 |15
14 |352
16 |291
17 |466
18 |204
Mr. Foulkes : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many low-flying sorties were carried out in each low-flying area in the United Kingdom in each month since January 1991.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : Records are not kept of the number of low- flying sorties carried out in each low-flying area in the United Kingdom. The total number of sorties flown from January 1991 to April 1992, the most recent months for which figures are available, is 173, 470.
Mr. Foulkes : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many low -flying sorties were carried out by Royal Air
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Force aircraft from Canadian forces base Goose Bay in (a) 1990 and (b) 1991 ; and if he will provide a breakdown of the figures by aircraft type.Mr. Archie Hamilton : The information requested is as follows :
Aircraft Type |1990 |1991 -------------------------------------------------------- Tornado GR1 |819 |481 Tornado F3 |82 |0 Harrier |14 |4
Mr. Foulkes : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many low-flying sorties have been flown by (a) RAF Tornado strike/attack aircraft, and (b) RAF Tornado F3 aircraft, during each Distant Frontier exercise in Alaska since 1990.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The information requested is :
|Number of Sorties
1990
Tornado G1 |41
1992
Tornado GR1 |160
Tornado F3 |75
Mr. Foulkes : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence by what height and lateral distance military aircraft are instructed to avoid the village of Dalmellington.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : It is not our practice to release detailed information on flying restrictions in individual areas.
Mr. Foulkes : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what agreements have been reached with the United States of America authorities concerning (a) the use of existing weapons and electronic warfare ranges and low-level training routes and (b) the provision of additional weapons, electronic warfare and low-level training facilities, for use by Royal Air Force aircraft deployed to Eielson air force base, Alaska.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : Royal Air Force deployments to Eielson air force base, Alaska have been at the invitation of the United States air force. The invitations granted specified use of weapons and electronic warfare ranges and designated low-level training routes and areas. Possible future deployments are being considered with the United States authorities.
RAF Trainer
Mr. Home Robertson : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on his Department's requirement for a basic flight trainer for the Royal Air Force, showing the scale and nature of the requirement, the timetable for procurement, the aircraft which it is designed to replace, and the approximate overall cost of the programme.
Mr. Aitken : Basic flying training in the RAF is undertaken by all trainee pilots, prior to their undertaking more specialised training in other, fixed-wing aircraft or helicopters. At present, flying training is carried out in
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either Jet Provost or Tucano aircraft, which are currently replacing the remaining Jet Provost. We expect this replacement to be completed before the end of next year, by which time we will have taken 130 Tucano aircraft into service at an overall cost of some £150 million. We expect the Tucano to meet the RAF's basic flying training requirement until well after the turn of the century.Stand-off Missile
Mr. Home Robertson : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on his Department's requirement for a conventionally armed stand-off missile, showing the scale and nature of the requirement, the timetable for procurement, the weapon systems which it is designed to replace, and the approximate overall cost of the programme.
Mr. Aitken : We have sought the views of industry on the proposals for conventionally armed, air-launched, stand-off missile to complement the JP233. These responses are currently being assessed. No procurement decisions have been taken.
Psychiatric Services
Mr. Mackinlay : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) how many service personnel received help from the armed forces psychiatric services, or were referred to the national health service psychiatric services, in each year for the last 10 years, other than in respect of the Gulf war ;
(2) how many service personnel received help from the armed forces psychiatric services, or were referred to the national health service psychiatric services, as a consequence of the Gulf war.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : Information in the form requested is not held centrally. The numbers of psychiatric treatment episodes in the armed forces, which covers all treatments involving a discharge from a medical unit, in the 10-year period to 1991, are as follows :
|Number
---------------------------
1982 |1,109
1983 |1,166
1984 |1,031
1985 |1,081
1986 |1,041
<1>1987 |1,131
1988 |1,151
1989 |1,204
1990 |1,182
<2>1991 |<3>1,126
<1>Figures prior to 1987
do not include one day
cases.
<2>1991 figures are
provisional.
<3>Includes 68 episodes
related to the Gulf War.
Defence Export Services Organisation
Mr. Cousins : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many staff of the Defence Export Services Organisation are engaged in the administration of the Al Yamamah and Anglo-Malaysian defence exports contracts.
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