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European Youth Initiative
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will provide a funding contribution towards the European youth initiative.
Sir Wyn Roberts : The possibility of funding a youth conference in Wales as part of the Marco Polo Cathay challenge initiative has been discussed with the promoter who has been asked to provide further information.
Photovoltaic Solar Energy
Mr. Dafis : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will develop a demonstration project involving the development of photovoltaic solar energy in up to 1,000 houses in Wales.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : The question of pilot projects would be for consideration in the light of the current programme of assessment studies which the Department of Trade and Industry has commissioned.
Green Issues
Mr. Chris Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how the Departmental Green Minister has promoted protection of the ozone layer with specific policy measures ; which possible measures have been considered and rejected ; and on what grounds.
Mr. David Hunt : The Government's policy on, and associated measures for the protection of the ozone layer
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are set out in the environment White Paper "This Common Inheritance", Cm 1200. Details of progress to date and of further action planned are given in the first and second progress reports, Cm. 1655 and 2068. Copies of all three publications are held in the Library of the House.As the Green Minister for the Welsh Office, I have played an active part in the formulation of this policy. Within the Welsh Office, as part of the Department's purchasing policy, environmental concerns are factors taken into account in all purchasing decisions. In addition a "green housekeeping" strategy for the Department is being prepared which will cover the use of ozone-depleting substances as well as other relevant environmental issues.
Renewable Energy
Mr. Dafis : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many projects were selected to qualify for the portion of the non-fossil fuel obligation granted to renewables in Wales in 1990 and 1991 ; how many such projects were (a) new, (b) involved with landfill gas generation and (c) wind projects ; and how many of each of those categories of project (i) still await planning permission, (ii) have been withdrawn and (iii) are on line.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : Twenty-two projects in Wales qualified under the non-fossil fuel obligation granted to renewable energy schemes in 1990 and 1991.
Of these 22 projects :
(a) 16 are new projects
(b) There are no landfill gas projects
(c) 14 are wind projects
Of these categories :
(a) New Projects
(i) Four are awaiting planning permission
(ii) One project has been withdrawn
(iii) Three are on line
(b) Not applicable
(c) Wind Projects
(i) Four are awaiting planning permission
(ii) One has been withdrawn
(iii) Two are on line
In addition seven wind farms have planning permission ; six of these are under construction.
Opencast Mines
Mr. Dafis : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the opencast sites within the south Wales coalfield area that are currently monitored for coal dust levels in the atmosphere.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : The information requested is not held by the Department. The main responsibility for monitoring air pollution around opencast sites rests with the environmental health departments of local authorities.
Family Planning Services
Ms. Janet Anderson : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list those health authorities which provided domiciliary family planning services in each year since 1985.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : District health authorities that reported making at least one family planning domiciliary visit in each of the years requested is listed as follows. It is possible that authorities not listed make provision for a service, but it is not taken up. 1985 Gwent and Mid Glamorgan
1986 Gwent, Mid Glamorgan and West Glamorgan
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1987 Gwent and West Glamorgan1988 Gwent
1989-90 Mid Glamorgan and South Glamorgan
1990-91 Mid Glamorgan and South Glamorgan
1991-92 Mid Glamorgan and South Glamorgan
Wind Energy
Mr. Dafis : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what plans he has to develop an offshore wind power generation demonstration project.
Family Health Services Authorities
Mr. Gareth Wardell : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what plans he has to change the functions of family health services authorities in Wales to make them into bodies with no providing role, but exclusively into purchasers.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : There are no such plans.
Child Psychotherapists
Mr. Gareth Wardell : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what funds his Department makes available to enable child psychotherapists to undertake the required four-year postgraduate training.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : None. Postgraduate training for child psychotherapists and other staff groups is a matter for employers.
Contaminated Land
Mr. Gareth Wardell : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will delay the requirement on local authorities to draw up contaminated land registers until his Department has issued guidance to those local authorities.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : There is no requirement on local authorities to draw up such registers until Parliament approves regulations under section 143 of the Environmental Protection Act, 1990. Some guidance has already been made available to local authorities via consultation papers issued by the Government on this subject and a final version will be provided when regulations come to be made.
A465
Mr. Hain : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if construction of the A465 between Aberdulais and Glynneath will now proceed, following capital allocations in the autumn statement ; and if he will announce a start date.
Sir Wyn Roberts : Nearly £3 million is being spent on this scheme in 1992-93. My right hon. Friend will shortly decide the allocation of resources to individual programmes for future years under the normal block arrangements.
Royal Armament Depot, Trecwn
Mr. Gareth Wardell : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when he will respond to the fifth report of the Welsh Affairs Committee, Session 1991-92, House of Commons paper No. 316, on the social and economic consequences of the closure of the royal armament depot, Trecwn.
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Mr. David Hunt : I am pleased to announce that the response has been published today as Command Paper 2093.
NORTHERN IRELAND
Agencies
Mr. McAllion : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will place in the Library a copy of the health and safety policy of each of the agencies within his Department.
Mr. Mates : Yes. Copies have been placed in the Library.
Teachers Pay
Mr. Stott : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assurances have been given by the Department of Education to the education and library boards that the funding of the 1992 teachers pay award would be fully met by DENI.
Mr. Hanley : When initial financial allocations for 1992-93 were made by DENI to education and library boards, they were informed that their budgets assumed an increase of 5 per cent. in teachers costs from 1 April 1992. Boards were also advised that should the pay settlement be greater than 5 per cent. the Department would seek to ensure that the increase would be covered by additional resources, but no guarantee could be given at that stage.
Curriculum Council
Mr. Stott : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what are the staff costs for running the Northern Ireland Curriculum Council ; and how much the council spends on research.
Mr. Stott : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what is the remuneration of the chair of the Northern Ireland Curriculum Council.
Mr. Hanley : The accounts of the Northern Ireland Curriculum Council for the 1990-91 and 1991-92 financial years show the following figures :
|1990-91|1991-92
|£ |£
----------------------------------------------------------
Staff Costs |730,130|962,574
Research and Development Projects |46,809 |160,198
The 1991-92 figures are unaudited.
The chairman of the Northern Ireland Curriculum Council is paid an honorarium which is currently £6,448 per annum.
Further Education
Mr. Stott : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what was the cost of setting up the computer information system for the management of further education in Northern Ireland ; and how much the Government are spending maintaining this system.
Mr. Hanley : The total cost of the project, which was completed on 30 September 1992, was £3,704,000. The
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Department of Education is making available £125,000 during the period 1 October 1992 to 31 March 1993 for ongoing support for the project, including hardware and software maintenance costs. From 1 April 1993, support costs amounting to some £250,000 per annum will be met by the education and library boards.HOUSE OF COMMONS
Employment Contracts
Mr. Rooker : To ask the Lord President of the Council how many right hon. and hon. Members have deposited contracts of employment for staff paid via the Fees Office.
Mr. Newton [holding answer 5 November 1992] : Six hundred and forty right hon. and hon. Members have authorised payment of their staff salaries direct by the Fees Office and are therefore required to lodge a statement of the main terms and conditions of employment of such staff. To date, 573 Members have lodged statements relating to 1,052 members of staff.
LORD PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL
Private Detectives
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Lord President of the Council what use his Department has made of private detectives in each of the last five years ; at what cost ; and if he will list the firms involved.
Mr. Newton : The Privy Council Office has not used any private detectives.
TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Plutonium
Mr. Dafis : To ask the President of the Board of Trade (1) if he will make representations to the Government of Japan to ensure that all sea shipments of plutonium between the United Kingdom and Japan meet the requirements recommended in the applicable provisions of the international maritime dangerous goods code and the International Atomic Energy Agency transport guidelines ;
(2) if he will make representations to the Government of Japan to ensure that all casks involved in the shipment of plutonium between the United Kingdom and Japan have been adequately tested as withstanding fire, collision and immersion conditions associated with maximum credible accidents ; and what representations he has made to Japan on the security of the casks ;
(3) if he will make representations to the Government of Japan to ensure that emergency port of call arrangements are fully agreed prior to the commencement of the shipment of plutonium between the United Kingdom and Japan.
Mr. Eggar : No such representations are necessary. The detailed arrangements are a matter for the Japanese authorities. The carriage of plutonium is only allowed subject to compliance with stringent international standards which meet in full the applicable provisions of the international maritime dangerous goods code and the International Atomic Energy Agency transport guidelines,
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to both of which Japan subscribes. In accordance with these reqirements, plutonium is transported in extremely robust special containers which are subject to rigorous fire, impact and immersion conditions. Appropriate measures are taken to ensure the security of these movements.Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will provide in separate tabulated form figures for the total annual amount of (a) civil separated plutonium exported, (b) civil separated plutonium imported, (c) civil plutonium in spent fuel exported, (d) civil plutonium in spent fuel imported, (e) civil plutonium in fresh nuclear fuel pins imported and (f) civil plutonium in fresh nuclear fuel pins exported, since April 1988.
Mr. Eggar (holding answer 26 October 1992) : Details of the United Kingdom's imports and exports of civil plutonium from April 1988 to March 1991 were given in the annual plutonium figures published by the former Department of Energy and placed in the Library of the House. The corresponding figures for 1991-92 are being compiled and will be published by my Department shortly.
Furniture Regulations
Ms. Walley : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list those organisations and other bodies which will be subject to the regulations relating to foam and second-hand furniture.
Mr. Leigh : The Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988, as amended in 1989, apply to all persons who supply domestic upholstered furniture in the course of business within the meaning of section 46 of the Consumer Protection Act 1987. In this context supply includes the provision of goods by sale, hiring out, loan or gift.
The regulations require that from 1 March 1990 new furniture must meet all the fire resistance requirements, and that from 1 March 1993 second-hand furniture--except furniture which was made before 1950--must also meet those requirements.
Ms. Walley : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what advice he has given to county councils trading standards officers concerning the recycling of furniture which does not comply with the foam regulations relating to second-hand furniture.
Mr. Leigh : No advice has been given by my Department to local authority trading standards officers about the application of the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988--as amended in 1989--to organisations which recycle or redistribute second-hand furniture.
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Consumer Advice
Ms. Walley : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will amend the Consumer Credit Act 1974 to introduce a statutory duty for the provision of consumer advice ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Leigh : No. The Consumer Credit Act 1974 regulates the way that credit is offered to consumers and requires those giving credit or hire facilities or debt advice to be licensed by the Director General of Fair Trading. There are no plans for the provision of consumer advice to be made a statutory duty.
Burn Injuries (Garments)
Mr. Miller : To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many incidents of burning have been reported in respect of garments carrying the "keep away from fire" label in the last year for which figures are available.
Mr. Leigh : My Department's home, including leisure, accident surveillance system statistics for 1990 record 43 accidents in which persons required hospital treatment for burn injuries as a result of any garment being worn catching fire.
The records do not show whether or not the garments carried a "keep away from fire" label.
Mr. Miller : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what steps are being taken to strengthen the Nightwear (Safety) Regulations 1985.
Mr. Leigh : There are no present plans to revise the Nightwear (Safety) Regulations 1985.
Mr. Miller : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement on the causes of reported accidents resulting from the burning of nightwear worn by children in the last year.
Mr. Leigh : In 1990, the latest year for which statistics are available my Department's home accident surveillance system (HASS) data on home accidents records three accidents resulting from the burning of nightwear worn by children under 14 years. The details given are :
Item |Subject |Source of Fire ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nightshirt |Boy aged 12 years |Gas fire Nightdress |Girl aged three years|Matches Nightdress |Girl aged seven years|Unknown
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Small Businesses
Mrs. Dunwoody : To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many small firms have gone out of business in each of the last 10 years.
Mr. Leigh : The number of businesses registered and deregistered for VAT in the past 10 years is given in the table.
Registrations and deregistrations: 1981-1991
Year |Registrations 000's|Deregistrations
|000's
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1981 |152 |120
1982 |166 |145
1983 |180 |145
1984 |182 |152
1985 |183 |163
1986 |192 |165
1987 |210 |169
1988 |240 |172
1989 |256 |176
1990 |239 |184
1991 |206 |203
Mr. Fatchett : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what new proposals his Department has to help small businesses collect outstanding debts ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Leigh [holding answer 3 November 1992] : Late payment debt is an issue which we are actively addressing. Following from the 1992 Budget, the President of the Board of Trade is, with colleagues : (
(a) introducing new contracting terms requiring companies awarded Government contracts to pay their subcontractors promptly, normally within 30 days ;
(b) consulting on proposals to require large companies to state in their reports and accounts how quickly they pay ;
(c) Promoting improvements to court procedures for debt recovery. Furthermore, the Department of Trade and Industry is providing financial support for three trade associations to operate pilot prompt payment initiatives. Many training and enterprise councils and other bodies also provide training for businesses on credit management and debt collection.
My noble Friend Baroness Denton of Wakefield, as Under-Secretary of State for Consumer Affairs and Small Firms, has given her personal commitment to help small firms experiencing late payment by large companies of public bodies and supports the initiative of the CBI and other bodies in relation to prompt payment.
Postal Services
Mr. French : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what representations he has received concerning the EC paper on the development of a single market for postal services ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Leigh : I have received a wide range of written and oral representations from users of the postal services, private sector competitors, Post Office employees, the Post Office itself and other interested parties both individual and corporate. I expect to receive additional representations over the coming weeks. All these representations will
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be carefully analysed and taken fully into account by the Government before we prepare our formal response to the European Commission towards the end of this year.Mr. French : To ask the President of the Board of Trade (1) what representations he has received concerning the possible privatisation of the Post Office ;
(2) which organisations, which sources and which individuals are being consulted in connection with the Government's review of the structure and organisation of the Post Office ;
(3) with which companies he has had meetings to discuss the possible privatisation of the Post Office.
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