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Mr. Michael Forsyth : The Department's employment and training programmes are open to people unemployed for more than six months who are between the age of 18 and the state pension age, except for employment training and employment action where the upper limit is currently 59. We keep our provision for unemployed people under continual review, and have no plans for a scheme specifically restricted to people aged 40 or over.
Building Apprenticeships
Ms. Eagle : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many full apprenticeships in the building trade were begun in the north-west in each of the last five years and in 1981, 1971, 1961.
Mr. Baldry : The information requested is not available. The available information relates to the value of orders received by contractors for new construction work in 1991, by region subdivided by public sector and private sector clients. This is published in table 2.8 of "Housing and Construction Statistics" part 2, No. 48, a copy of which is in the Library.
WALES
Factor 8
Mr. Elletson : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement on the operation of the Medicines Act (Exemptions from Licences) (Importation) Order 1984--SI, 1984, No. 673--in relation to named patient arrangements for the supply of unlicensed factor 8 preparations and other unlicensed pharmaceutical products.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health on 1 July, Official Report, column 636. Responsibility for the operation of the Medicines Act (Exemptions from Licences) (Importation) Order 1984 (SI, 1984, No. 673) is a matter for the Medicines Control Agency, which is an executive agency of the Department of Health.
Assisted Areas
Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) what is the estimated cash value of assisted area status in Wales for each year since 1979 ;
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(2) what is his estimate of the cash value for each assisted area in Wales for each year since 1979 ;(3) if he will give the cash amount of assistance to industry in Wales in 1979, 1983 and 1991.
Mr. David Hunt : The information requested is not readily available. I will write to the hon. Gentleman with such information as my Department can provide and place a copy of my reply in the Library of the House.
Unemployment
Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will state, for Wales and by county, the number of people unemployed for (a) more than six months but less than 12 months, (b) more than 12 months but less than two years and (c) more than two years, sub-divided for males and females ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. David Hunt : The latest month for which data is available is April 1992. The numbers unemployed in each of the categories requested are available from the NOMIS database, which can be accessed on-line by House of Commons Library staff.
The following tables show the information as requested :
|c|Unemployed for more than six months and
less than 12 months<1>|c|
|Male |Female|Total
--------------------------------------------
Clwyd |2,727 |809 |3,536
Dyfed |2,469 |841 |3,310
Gwent |3,240 |880 |4,120
Gwynedd |2,057 |660 |2,717
Mid Glamorgan |4,244 |977 |5,221
Powys |477 |169 |646
South Glamorgan |3,599 |901 |4,500
West Glamorgan |2,830 |714 |3,544
Wales |21,643|5,951 |27,594
<1>Unadjusted.
Source: Employment Department.
|c|Unemployed for more than 12 months and
less than two years<1>|c|
|Male |Female|Total
--------------------------------------------
Clwyd |2,086 |381 |2,467
Dyfed |2,162 |433 |2,595
Gwent |3,486 |603 |4,089
Gwynedd |1,556 |367 |1,923
Mid Glamorgan |4,910 |676 |5,586
Powys |383 |96 |479
South Glamorgan |3,508 |536 |4,044
West Glamorgan |2,750 |439 |3,189
Wales |20,841|3,531 |24,372
<1>Unadjusted.
Source: Employment Department.
|c|Unemployed for more than two years<1>|c|
|Male |Female|Total
--------------------------------------------
Clwyd |1,082 |246 |1,328
Dyfed |958 |210 |1,168
Gwent |2,272 |434 |2,706
Gwynedd |1,168 |276 |1,444
Mid Glamorgan |3,259 |498 |3,757
Powys |184 |50 |234
South Glamorgan |2,286 |330 |2,616
West Glamorgan |1,583 |228 |1,811
Wales |12,792|2,272 |15,064
<1>Unadjusted.
Source: Employment Department.
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AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD
International Whaling Commission
Mr. John Marshall : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will report on the progress achieved so far at this week's meeting of the International Whaling Commission in Glasgow.
Mr. Gummer : The IWC meeting in Glasgow, which I opened earlier in the week, is expected to conclude its work later today. There has been a series of achievements in our efforts to protect whales and cetaceans which we greatly welcome.
Discussions continue today on the development of tougher and more prudent means of stock management. We have made clear that we will not even consider any resumption of commercial whaling unless stocks are healthy ; there are tough, transparent and fully agreed systems of monitoring and inspection ; and there are methods of killing whales which are humane. Our approach is shared by many other countries. Meanwhile, the moratorium on all commercial whaling will remain firmly in place. We shall not support requests for any form of interim quota.
A new United Kingdom proposal, dealing with research into Antarctic ecosystems, and the impact of global environmental changes on whale stocks, has been adopted. The United Kingdom will be playing a full part in these studies.
We have strongly endorsed resolutions to study the establishment of a circumpolar whale sanctuary such that this may be adopted at the IWC's 45th meeting next May. In the meantime, we co-sponsored a successful resolution securing a whale sanctuary in the Indian Ocean for a further 10-year period.
On humane killing, the United Kingdom has carried forward its strong commitment. We gained IWC agreement to a special three-day workshop in Glasgow last week under the independent chairmanship of Professor Sir Richard Harrison. An 11-point action plan has now been agreed, calling for more research, regular reviews on methods and their effectiveness, and analyses of times to death. We are presently pressing for action on the cruelty aspects of the Faroese pilot whale hunt.
Discussions continue today on the scientific whaling programmes proposed by Norway and Japan. We shall oppose these as failing to meet in full the needs of the IWC's criteria for lethal research. Finally, although good progress is being made, the work of the IWC this week has been made doubly difficult by Norway's announcement on Monday that it will resume commercial whaling next year, regardless of future decisions of the Commission. We have already strongly condemned this--and so have 17 Commissioners--as seriously undermining the IWC and the work that it is trying to do to protect the world's whale stocks.
Spongiform Encephalopathies
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the number of confirmed cases of BSE in each county of England and Wales since 1 June.
Mr. Soames : The number of cases confirmed for England and Wales from 29 May to 26 June is as follows :
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County |Confirmed cases
-------------------------------------------------------
England
Avon |68
Bedfordshire |7
Berkshire |17
Buckinghamshire |23
Cambridge |7
Cheshire |109
Cleveland |3
Cornwall |285
Cumbria |129
Derbyshire |70
Devon |410
Dorset |252
Durham |26
Essex |14
Gloucestershire |69
Hampshire |76
Hereford and Worcester |65
Hertfordshire |12
Humberside |22
Isle of Wight |18
Kent |43
Lancashire |137
Leicestershire |56
Lincolnshire |20
London |3
Manchester |3
Merseyside |7
Norfolk |108
Northamptonshire |17
Northumberland |31
Nottinghamshire |16
Oxon |49
Shropshire |119
Somerset |313
Staffordshire |134
Suffolk |37
Surrey |24
Sussex East |47
Sussex West |56
Tyne and Wear |2
Warwickshire |42
West Midlands |4
Wiltshire |156
Yorkshire North |166
Yorkshire South |15
Yorkshire West |24
Wales
Clwyd |56
Dyfed |218
Glamorgan Mid |2
Glamorgan South |6
Glamorgan West |5
Gwent |20
Gwynedd |13
Powys |52
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the total number of (a) confirmed and (b) suspected cases of BSE in each county or region in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland for the seven days in the week ending 19 June.
Mr. Gummer : The information as requested from 12 to 19 June 1992 is as follows. The confirmed cases will have a date of clinical onset of disease and date of report before 12 June.
County/region |Confirmed cases |Reported cases
|13 to 19 June 1992
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
England
Avon |18 |13
Bedfordshire |1 |1
Berkshire |4 |3
Buckinghamshire |10 |4
Cambridge |3 |0
Cheshire |31 |29
Cleveland |1 |1
Cornwall |89 |30
Cumbria |54 |19
Derbyshire |13 |19
Devon |110 |60
Dorset |90 |22
Durham |8 |2
Essex |4 |2
Gloucestershire |9 |14
Hampshire |19 |12
Hereford and Worcester |6 |9
Hertfordshire |3 |0
Humberside |2 |3
Isle of Wight |8 |3
Kent |17 |6
Lancashire |43 |28
Leicestershire |17 |8
Lincolnshire |7 |8
London |1 |1
Manchester |1 |0
Merseyside |0 |1
Norfolk |25 |18
Northamptonshire |3 |8
Northumberland |15 |6
Nottinghamshire |1 |3
Oxfordshire |18 |9
Shropshire |35 |17
Somerset |91 |53
Staffordshire |52 |29
Suffolk |12 |13
Surrey |9 |5
Sussex East |16 |5
Sussex West |18 |15
Tyne and Wear |0 |0
Warwickshire |7 |7
West Midlands |1 |0
Wiltshire |43 |36
Yorkshire North |52 |23
Yorkshire South |2 |3
Yorkshire West |7 |2
Wales
Clwyd |22 |5
Dyfed |12 |39
Glamorgan Mid |0 |0
Glamorgan South |2 |1
Glamorgan West |0 |1
Gwent |2 |4
Gwynedd |3 |4
Powys |6 |10
Scotland
Borders |1 |0
Central |0 |3
Dumfries |22 |13
Fife |3 |0
Grampian |9 |3
Highland |0 |1
Lothian |1 |0
Orkney |0 |0
Shetland |0 |0
Strathclyde |16 |15
Tayside |4 |2
Western Isles |0 |0
Northern Ireland
Antrim |0 |1
Armagh |0 |1
Down |1 |5
Fermanagh |0 |1
Londonderry |0 |1
Tyrone |1 |1
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Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many times the spongiform encephalopathy advisory committee has met each year since its establishment.
Mr. Gummer : I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to his question on 17 June 1992, Official Report, at column 573.
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) if he will list the countries which are refusing to import cattle from the United Kingdom due to concern over BSE ; and if he will make a statement ;
(2) if he will list the countries which are refusing to import milk and milk products from the United Kingdom due to concerns over BSE ; and if he will make a statement ;
(3) if he will list the countries which are refusing to import boneless beef from the United Kingdom because of concerns over BSE ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Gummer : The information is as follows :
Cattle
Boneless Beef Algeria
Barbados
Dominica
Egypt
Grenada
Guyana
Jamaica
Japan
Libya
Malaysia (state of Sarawak only)
Montserrat
Philippines
St. Kitts
St. Lucia
St. Vincent
Saudi Arabia
Syria
Taiwan
United Arab Emirates
Milk and Milk Products
Libya
Sweden
Syria
Sweden bans the importation from the United Kingdom of bovine milk products for consumption by farm animals. Milk for human consumption may continue.
Notes :
In addition, cattle over six months of age may not be sent to other member states unless imported in the United Kingdom after 18 July 1988.
Many of these countries are members of the worldwide veterinary organisation, the Office Internationale des Epizooties (OIE). The OIE general assembly recently unanimously endorsed advice that, subject to certain conditions, trade with the United Kingdom in these products is safe. We will be pressing these countries--along with the non-OIE members-- to accept these conditions so that trade in these products may resume.
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food on what date each of the individuals represented on the spongiform encephalopathy advisory committee were appointed ; and if he will make a statement.
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Mr. Gummer : All the members of the spongiform encephalopathy advisory committee were appointed in April 1990, except for Professor Richard Barlow and Mr. David Pepper, who were added in September 1990.
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many times the consultative committee on research into spongiform encephalopathies has met each year since its establishment.
Mr. Gummer : The consultative committee on research into spongiform encephalopathies met on three occasions in 1989 before it was reconstituted as the spongiform encephalopathy advisory committee.
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the number of felines confirmed as having spongiform encephalopathy in each of the following age ranges : (a) below 12 months, (b) one to two years, (c) two to three years, (d) three to four years, (e) four to five years and (f) over five years ; and what information he has on the likely cause of transmission.
Mr. Soames : The information requested is as follows up to 26 June 1992 :
>
Age |Number of felines
|with spongiform
|encephalopathy
--------------------------------------------------------------
Less than 12 months |0
One year to two years |1
Two years to three years |1
Three years to four years |3
Five years and over |21
Age not known |1
Insufficient cases of FSE have yet been identified to enable any conclusions about the epidemiology of the condition, or the source of infection, to be drawn. Information is, however, being collected about each confirmed case.
British Beef
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the countries which ban the import of British beef.
Mr. Soames : These countries are as follows :
Algeria
Argentina
Barbados
Brazil
Chile
China
Dominica
Egypt
Grenada
Guyana
Iran
Jamaica
Japan
Libya
Montserrat
Philippines
Sarawak
St. Kitts
St. Lucia
St. Vincent
Saudi Arabia
Sultanate of Oman
Syria
Column 725
TaiwanTunisia
Turkey
United Arab Emirates
Bovine Offal
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) if he will list the legislation relating to the prohibition of the export of animal protein material derived from specified bovine offals ; and if he will make a statement ;
(2) what restrictions he has imposed on the export of cattle offal from the United Kingdom ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Gummer : The exportation of the specified bovine offals and protein derived from them from Great Britain to other member states of the Europen Community and to third countries is banned under the Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Order 1991 and the Export of Goods (Control) Order 1991.
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