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Ms. Walley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement relating to the effect on the environment of continued production of HCFCs and other chemicals.
Mr. Maclean : In the forthcoming revision of the Montreal protocol on substances that deplete the ozone layer we will promote provisions to ensure the HCFCs are used only in those applications where they are the only practicable alternative to use of the much more damaging CFCs. The use of HCFCs instead of CFCs in these applications will be beneficial for the ozone layer.
Radioactive Waste
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what communications he has had with the Federal German Environment Ministry as regards to the acceptability to Germany of implementing the radiological equivalence plan for the return of radioactive wastes arising from reprocessing as announced to Parliament on 2 May 1986, Official Report, column 500.
Mr. Maclean : The question of the substitution of radioactive wastes remains under consideration. The views of the German government on any proposals made by British Nuclear Fuels plc will be a matter to be taken up as appropriate with the German Government by BNFL's customers.
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Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment pursuant to his reply of 14 July, Official Report, columns 643-4, if he has now received from the Radioactive Waste Management Advisory Committee its views on the implementation of the radiological equivalence proposals for the return of radioactive wastes after reprocessing.
Mr. Maclean : Yes, and I am considering the Radioactive Waste Management Advisory Committee's report.
Probation Hostels
Mr. David Howell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether planning permission is required for a mainly probation hostel to switch to a mainly bail hostel.
Mr. Baldry : The conversion of a building used mainly as a probation hostel to one used mainly as a bail hostel would probably not require planning permission, unless the building were enlarged or the exterior substantially altered.
Rents
Mr. Raynsford : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what assumption he proposes to apply in respect of the maximum increase in guidelines rents to take effect from April 1993, under the housing revenue account subsidy determinations.
Mr. Baldry : My right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State will consult local authorities and other interested organisations in November on the proposed HRA subsidy determinations for 1993-94, including the proposed maximum increase in rent guidelines. His final decisions will be announced in December.
Housing Funds
Mr. Spearing : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will give the place, manner or mode in which he has placed restrictions on the expenditure of local authorities on new municipal housing from funds accrued by them from sales of residential premises, together with the statutory basis of such restriction, and the approximate total sums of such funds now available for such building ; and if he will make a statement on the policy of Her Majesty's Government concerning the future use of these funds.
Mr. Robin Squire : Under part IV of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989, local authorities may use 25 per cent. of their capital receipts from the sale of council houses, and 50 per cent. of most other receipts, to finance new capital expenditure on any service. They are required to set aside the balance as provision to meet credit liabilities. The total of the amounts set aside under the present capital finance system, including receipts from council house sales, was about £5.5 billion at 31 March 1991. If authorities were allowed to spend a larger proportion of their capital receipts, their net indebtedness would rise and the total of spending by the public sector and the public sector borrowing requirement would be increased. The present system has also enabled a greater proportion of capital receipts to be recycled in the form of new credit approvals to those authorities where needs are greatest. We therefore have no plans to change these arrangements.
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Municipal Mutual Insurance
Mr. Vaz : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what discussions and meetings he has had concerning Municipal Mutual Insurance and local government insurance.
City Challenge
Mr. Vaz : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how much money has so far been awarded under the city challenge programme.
Mr. Robin Squire : Subject to satisfactory performance by pacemakers and the approval of authorities' action plans for round 2, city challenge expenditure on pacemakers and round 2 winners will be £82.5 million and £150 million per annum respectively for five years. No decisions on future rounds of city challenge have yet been taken.
Mr. Vaz : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when the next round of the city challenge awards is to be announced.
Mr. Robin Squire : Twenty local authorities, with their partners, bid successfully in the second round of city challenge and are currently preparing five year action plans for ministerial approval with a view to implementation from April 1993. They have been asked to submit their completed plans by 31 December 1992 and it is intended that approval decisions will be announced in February 1993. A decision about subsequent rounds of city challenge will be made in due course.
Local Government Finance
Mr. Vaz : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how much extra Government grant he has determined he will need to provide to compensate for the fact that average house prices are lower than the Government estimated for the council tax valuation.
Mr. Robin Squire : The provision for Government grant each year depends on a large number of factors. These include the Government's view of the appropriate total of revenue spending by local authorities, the estimated amount of non-domestic rates, the implications for local taxes and what the country can afford. Average house prices are not a material consideration, either under the present system or under the forthcoming council tax.
Competitive Tendering
Mr. Vaz : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what studies he has carried out into the costs or savings of compulsory competitive tendering.
Mr. Robin Squire : The Department has commissioned two studies by the Institute of Local Government Studies at the university of Birmingham to evaluate the effects of the competitive tendering provisions in the Local Government Planning and Land Act 1980 and the Local Government Act 1988 on local authorities' direct service organisations. The studies include consideration of the costs and savings.
A report summarising the initial findings of the evaluation of the 1988 Act was published in February
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1991. Copies are available in the House Library. I anticipate that final reports for both studies will be published in the new year.Letchworth Garden City Corporation
Mr. Heald : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what plans he has for the long-term future of Letchworth garden city corporation.
Mr. Baldry : The Corporation was established as a statutory body under the Letchworth Garden City Corporation Act 1962 to manage the garden city estate. The Department recently invited the corporation to consider how best to undertake its functions within the private sector, while retaining the fundamental aims and objectives of the garden city movement.
The corporation has indicated that it intends to place a Bill before Parliament this November to transfer the assets, liabilities and activities of the corporation to a new charitable organisation to be called the Letchworth Garden City Heritage Foundation. The corporation is currently undertaking a consultation exercise on its proposals.
The Department supports the corporation's proposed way forward.
Poll Tax
Mr. Vaz : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will provide the total and a breakdown of the costs so far of the implementation of the poll tax.
Mr. Robin Squire : I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Falkirk, West (Mr. Canavan) on 15 July 1992, Official Report, column 1132.
Mr. Vaz : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the total expenditure so far by his Department on publicising the poll tax and related information.
Mr. Robin Squire : Since enactment, my Department has produced, distributed, and maintained a series of leaflets on the community charge system. At various times advertising was taken to draw the attention of the public to these leaflets and to the availability of community charge benefit and transitional relief and how to claim them. The costs to date are £5,710,500.
Tarmac Construction
Mr. Vaz : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list all funds paid to Tarmac Construction in connection with its takeover of the Property Services Agency ; and if he will give a statement of how these sums were arrived at.
Mr. Redwood : No funds have been paid to Tarmac Construction as yet. The amounts to be paid over in connection with Tarmac's purchase of PSA Projects were determined by open competition and will depend on the numbers of staff choosing to transfer on sale with the business, the completion audit and thereafter on the numbers of any redundancies should there be insufficient work in the future to sustain employment levels as planned.
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Opencast Coal
Mr. Mike O'Brien : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what proposals he has to amend the passage in mineral planning guidance 3 of 1988 on opencast which says that it is in the national interest to maximise coal production ;
(2) if he will withdraw mineral planning guidance 3 on opencast and let local councils decide whether they want opencast in their area.
Mr. Baldry : I announced on 15 July that the guidelines will be revised. My Department expects to bring forward a draft for public consultation next year. I hope that the hon. Member will appreciate that I cannot pre-empt what the revised guidelines will say.
Mr. Mike O'Brien : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what consideration he will give to the level of overall coal production in taking the decision on whether an opencast site should be allowed at Baddesley Ensor in Warwickshire ; (2) when he expects to announce his decision on the application for an opencast site at Baddesley Ensor in Warwickshire.
Mr. Baldry : I shall take account of all considerations which are material to the planning decision. The decision will be announced as soon as possible.
Sludge Incinerators
Mr. Spearing : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what planning applications for sludge incinerators are currently being considered by planning authorities in England and Wales ; and if he will name those which he has called in for public inquiry.
Mr. Baldry : There is no mechanism whereby the Secretary of State for the Environment or the Secretary of State for Wales are automatically informed of all planning applications for sewerage sludge incinerators, as planning applications are primarily a matter for the local planning authorities. However the Town and Country Planning (Development Plans and Consultation) Directions 1992 require local planning authorities to notify the Secretaries of State of development proposals which would significantly prejudice implementation of a development plan. We are therefore aware of only two applications currently before local planning authorities. These are Thames Water's incinerator proposals at Crossness in the London borough of Bexley and at Beckton in the London borough of Newham. Neither of these applications has been called in. There may be other applications of which we are unaware.
In addition to these current applications, Northumbrian Water and International Technology Europe Ltd. have appealed to the Secretary of State in respect of their incinerator proposals at East Howden in North Tyneside and at Portrach in Stockton-on-Tees ; a public inquiry has been held and the Secretary of State is considering the inspector's report.
Local Government
Mr. Vaz : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what studies he has conducted or intends to conduct into the relative costs of two-tier and single-tier structures for local government.
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Mr. Robin Squire : The Local Government Commission will assess the costs and benefits of changes to local government structure in the shire counties as it carries out its reviews area by area. In 1984 we estimated that some £100 million long-term savings per annum resulting from staff reductions should follow abolition of the Greater London council and the metropolitan county councils. We later estimated that some 6,300 posts had been saved immediately on abolition.
WALES
Manufacturing Trainees
Mr. Llwyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many (a) apprenticeships and (b) trainee posts in manufacturing industry were available in Wales in each year from 1979 onwards.
Sir Wyn Roberts : Estimates from the Employment Department's short- term employment surveys are given in the table. Welsh data from this source are available only from 1981 up to 1990 after which this inquiry was discontinued. The labour force survey sample in Wales does not allow for reliable estimates of manufacturing apprentice numbers for Wales, but the 1992 results showed that an estimated 206, 000 people of working age across all industries in Wales had received a job-related training in the four weeks prior to the survey compared with a figure of 95,000 in 1984, when this information was first recorded.
Manufacturing industries
Year |Number of |Number of other
|apprentices |trainees
|(thousands) |(thousands)
----------------------------------------------------------------
1981 |6.0 |1.9
1982 |4.7 |1.8
1983 |3.6 |1.2
1984 |3.1 |1.4
1985 |2.8 |0.9
1986 |2.3 |1.1
1987 |2.3 |1.4
1988 |2.4 |1.3
1989 |2.2 |1.3
1990 |2.2 |1.7
Source: Short Term Employment Surveys, Employment Department.
Jobs
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will give details of all jobs that have transferred from companies in Wales to companies operating in other EC countries in the last four years including dates, company names and totals of jobs lost to Wales.
Mr. David Hunt : This information is not available.
DWR Cymru
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many prosecutions of DWR Cymru have been made since September 1991 ; and what pollution incidents were involved.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : Information regarding prosecutions brought by the National Rivers Authority against pollution incidents occurring in its Welsh region during
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1991 is contained in the authority's report "Water Pollution Incidents in 1991" published in September 1992, a copy of which is available in the Library of the House. This is the second report, which is updated annually.Paediatric Occupational Therapy
Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will grant special funds to Clwyd health authority for the establishment of a paediatric occupational therapy service in Clwyd.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : Clwyd health authority is required to formulate a local strategy for health jointly with the family health services authority and to use the resources which it has at its disposal for the health care needs of its resident population in accordance with its own locally determined priorities. If it wishes to see a new service offered by service providers in Clwyd, it should explore with those providers and local GP fund holders the viability of developing such a service.
Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many paediatric occupational therapy services there are in each of the health authorities of Wales.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : The requested information is not held centrally.
Myalgic Encephalomyelitis
Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what initiatives he is taking concerning the assessment and treatment of myalgic encephalomyelitis.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : The Welsh Office, in common with other Government health Departments, accepts myalgic
encephalomyelitis--ME--as a debilitating and distressing condition. The protocol for investment in health gain, pain, discomfort and palliative care, launched by the Department earlier this month, recognises ME as a cause of pain and discomfort, and acknowledges the need for research on the nature and pattern of this illness, and on possible treatments.
The protocol was developed by the Welsh Health Planning Forum mainly to assist health authorities in developing their local strategies for health. ME will, therefore, be considered by all health authorities as they devise individual strategies.
Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement on the incidence of myalgic encephalomyelitis in Wales.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : Information on the incidence of myalgic encephalomyelitis in Wales is not held centrally.
Assisted Areas
Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is his estimate of public expenditure in those areas which have assisted area status for each of the years since 1980.
Mr. David Hunt : The information is not available in the form requested. To produce the data in this format would involve disproportionate time and cost.
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Orthoptics
Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many orthoptic patients were treated outside the Clwyd health authority area because of lack of staff or facilities in the past 12 months ; and what is his estimate of the figures for the next 12 months.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : The requested information is not held centrally.
Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what initiatives he intends to take to improve waiting time for treatment in orthoptic departments in (a) Clwyd health authority and (b) Wales.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : Funding is not made available specifically for improving orthoptic waiting lists as the setting of priorities is a matter for health authorities. However, central funding has been provided which will assist authorities in the reduction of overall waiting times.
A total of £1 million has already been allocated to Welsh health authorities under this year's waiting times initiative : Clwyd received £140,300. Funding is not aimed at specific specialities, but at those people who have been waiting more than two years for non-urgent treatment ; 18 months for hip or knee replacement or cataract operations and one month for urgent treatment.
Central funding of £2.1 million has been made available to Welsh health authorities under the treatment centre initiative : provision for Clwyd health authority has been made for 110 cataract operations at the ophthalmic treatment centre in Bangor at a cost of £91,630. The authority has also received £164,806, from £1.6 million set aside to assist health authorities in developing their day surgery facilities ; £12,500 of this allocation is being used to improve the provision of ophthalmic day case facilities.
Housing, Buckley
Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will meet representatives of Alyn and Deeside district council to discuss the provision of specific additional funding for the refurbishment of the houses of Terring crescent, Buckley ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : We have no plans to do so. It must be for the district council to decide what priority to give the refurbishment of these homes within the resources avaialble to it.
AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD
Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the number of confirmed cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy in each county in each month since June.
Mr. Gummer : The information as requested for Great Britain is as follows--some of these confirmed cases will have a date of clinical onset and date of report before 30 May 1992.
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County/region |June |July |August |September |October
|(30 May- 26 June) |(27 June- 31 July)|(1 August- 28 |(29 August- 25 |(26 September- 16
|August) |September |October)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
England:
Avon |68 |78 |42 |62 |18
Bedfordshire |7 |5 |3 |5 |10
Berkshire |17 |23 |16 |20 |4
Buckinghamshire |23 |36 |19 |21 |9
Cambrideshire |7 |9 |7 |7 |4
Cheshire |109 |215 |98 |127 |118
Cleveland |3 |4 |0 |6 |3
Cornwall |285 |189 |184 |126 |170
Cumbria |129 |89 |97 |73 |75
Derbyshire |70 |97 |62 |74 |29
Devon |410 |280 |236 |162 |262
Dorset |252 |167 |129 |137 |69
Durham |26 |13 |8 |18 |8
Essex |14 |22 |6 |9 |10
Gloucestershire |69 |65 |63 |67 |26
Hampshire |76 |86 |56 |39 |38
Hereford and Worcester |65 |55 |28 |72 |32
Hertfordshire |12 |17 |6 |5 |15
Humberside |22 |7 |3 |10 |6
Isle of Wight |18 |14 |9 |8 |18
Kent |43 |40 |32 |18 |12
Lancashire |137 |115 |126 |61 |87
Leicestershire |56 |51 |59 |65 |14
Lincolnshire |20 |25 |16 |17 |10
London |3 |4 |1 |1 |1
Manchester |3 |7 |4 |1 |10
Merseyside |7 |4 |2 |3 |0
Norfolk |108 |88 |59 |44 |22
Northamptonshire |17 |14 |28 |16 |10
Northumberland |31 |21 |8 |24 |16
Nottinghamshire |16 |32 |19 |14 |1
Oxfordshire |49 |52 |33 |27 |22
Shropshire |119 |87 |63 |81 |51
Somerset |313 |253 |186 |186 |80
Staffordshire |134 |85 |42 |119 |74
Suffolk |37 |44 |35 |26 |23
Surrey |24 |28 |21 |18 |10
Sussex East |47 |39 |18 |35 |6
Sussex West |56 |53 |44 |48 |21
Tyne and Wear |2 |0 |0 |2 |1
Warwickshire |42 |35 |12 |17 |14
West Midlands |4 |6 |1 |2 |2
Wiltshire |156 |179 |95 |109 |91
Yorkshire North |166 |134 |84 |164 |80
Yorkshire South |15 |13 |5 |11 |9
Yorkshire West |24 |13 |3 |25 |8
Wales:
Clwyd |56 |42 |33 |46 |36
Dyfed |218 |147 |146 |152 |88
Glamorgan North |2 |1 |6 |4 |0
Glamorgan South |6 |9 |11 |10 |6
Glamorgan West |5 |2 |4 |5 |1
Gwent |20 |17 |17 |14 |18
Gwynedd |13 |14 |14 |12 |11
Powys |52 |62 |23 |34 |28
Scotland:
Borders |4 |5 |9 |12 |5
Central |1 |4 |1 |4 |3
Dumfries |45 |57 |36 |47 |23
Fife |7 |0 |4 |2 |1
Grampian |23 |25 |22 |24 |22
Highland |4 |1 |4 |8 |4
Lothian |3 |1 |1 |2 |2
Orkney |0 |1 |1 |2 |2
Shetland |0 |0 |0 |0 |0
Strathclyde |28 |47 |25 |38 |34
Tayside |8 |3 |6 |15 |12
Western Isles |0 |0 |0 |0 |0
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Bananas
Mr. Wareing : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what plans he has to consult with his European Community colleagues on the question of future EC banana quotas ; what the effects are likely to be for the United Kingdom's trade with Belize ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Curry : The Agriculture Council will discuss the Commission's proposals for a common organisation of the market in bananas at its next meeting on 26 and 27 October. My right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food has discussed with the Prime Minister of Belize the proposed distinction to be drawn between traditional and non- traditional exports. We shall ensure that discussions in the Community take account of his concerns.
PRIME MINISTER
Single Market
Mr. Leighton : To ask the Prime Minister what measures are outstanding to complete the single market.
The Prime Minister : Of the 282 measures in the Commission's White Paper, "Completing the Internal Market", only 25 have not yet reached at least a common position or political agreement.
Of these, six fall into the agriculture area ; five deal with intellectual property ; five are related to VAT ; four are on company law ; two on financial services ; two on tax ; and one on rights of residence.
India
Mr. Khabra : To ask the Prime Minister if he will place in the Library the latest text of the extradition treaty with India.
The Prime Minister : The extradition treaty between the United Kingdom and India was signed on 23 September 1992 and copies placed in the Libraries of both Houses on that date.
Western Shoshone Indian Land
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Prime Minister what correspondence Her Majesty's Government have received from Chief Raymond Yowell of the Western Shoshone National Council, Nevada, concerning the continued use by the United Kingdom of the Department of Energy nuclear weapons test site on Western Shoshone Indian land.
The Prime Minister : The only correspondence I have received was in October 1991. The British ambassador in Washington replied on my behalf. A copy of Sir Robin Renwick's letter was placed in the Library of the House.
United Nations Day
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Prime Minister what plans Her Majesty's Government have to mark United Nations Day on 24 October.
The Prime Minister : The flag of the United Nations will be flown in Parliament square on 24 October.
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Our commitment to the United Nations, as a founder of the organisation and a permanent member of the Security Council, remains as firm as ever. The end of the cold war and successes in, for example, Namibia and Kuwait have given the United Nations new authority. We welcome that and will continue to work for a stronger, more effective United Nations which can meet the challenges of the 1990s.EC Commissioners
Mr. Winnick : To ask the Prime Minister when he will be making a statement on the appointment of the United Kingdom's EC Commissioners.
The Prime Minister : As announced on 20 October, I have nominated Sir Leon Brittan and Mr. Bruce Millan to serve in the Commission of the European Communities taking office in January 1993.
Ministry of Justice
Mr. Vaz : To ask the Prime Minister what plans he has to abolish the Lord Chancellor's Department to make way for a Ministry of Justice.
Government Consultants
Mr. McLeish : To ask the Prime Minister if he will publish guidelines concerning the appointment of consultants by his Government.
The Prime Minister : A guidance booklet on seeking help from management consultants was published by HM Treasury in May 1990. This booklet, copies of which are available in the Libraries of both Houses, also identifies central sources of advice and guidance for other types of consultancy, for example, information and technology and purchasing.
Subsidiarity
Mr. Spearing : To ask the Prime Minister if he will publish the 22- page document including a draft inter-institute agreement relating to the principle of subsidiarity forwarded to him by the President of the Commission of the European Communities.
The Prime Minister : The President of the Commission made a substantial presentation on subsidiarity at the Birmingham European Council, but he has not yet formally submitted a Commission paper. When the Commission submits a paper to the Council it will, of course, be published and deposited in the normal way.
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