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information is not routinely collected by the Benefits Agency. However, a one-off exercise was conducted in the Wakefield Metropolitan District in July 1992. At that time there were 1,055 customers receiving Income Support towards the cost of residential care or nursing home accommodation in the Wakefield Metropolitan District. Those Income Support customers in residential care or nursing homes outside the Wakefield Metropolitan District are dealt with by the appropriate Benefits Agency Office.I hope you find this reply helpful. A copy of this reply will appear in the Official Report. Copies are also being placed in the Library.
Family Credit
Mr. Steen : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will repay £45.71 to cover bank charges incurred by Miss Sally Howes of the Windmill, Dartington, Totnes, as a result of the delay in processing her claim for family credit.
Mr. Burt : The administration of family credit is a matter for Mr. Michael Bichard, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency. As Miss Howes' claim is a personal and confidential matter, he will reply direct to my hon. Friend.
Public Buildings (Access)
Mrs. Dunwoody : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) if Her Majesty's Government will make grants available for the installation of hand rails next to steps for public buildings ;
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(2) if Her Majesty's Government will provide grants for permanent ramps for public buildings to give access to the disabled.Mr. Baldry : I have been asked to reply.
No. A significant proportion of those who use public buildings are people with disabilities and the responsible building owner or building manager will appreciate that it is his job to see that, to give access to his building, handrails are installed by any steps, or ramps provided.
FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS
Iran
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information Her Majesty's Government have on the purpose of the nuclear research centres in Tehran and Isfahan, and the nuclear sites at Gorgan, Darkhovin and Saghand in Iran.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply I gave on 13 November, at column 1010. The International Atomic Energy Agency inspection team which went to Iran in February also visited the nuclear sites at Isfahan, Tehran and Saghand, but not Gorgan or Darkhovin. We are aware of reports that Iran plans to build nuclear power plants at both these sites.
Deregulation
Mr. Sproat : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) if he will list the main measures increasing regulation in any area for which his Department has responsibility, which his Department has caused to be put into effect since 9 April ;
(2) which Minister in his Department is responsible for the oversight of deregulation of regulatory matters which fall within the responsibility of his Department ;
(3) if he will list the main measures of deregulation, or simplification of regulation, which his Department has carried out, or caused to be carried out, since the last general election.
Mr. Goodlad : I would refer the hon. Member to the answer given to his question on 19 October 1992, at column 32.
Macedonia
Mr. Illsley : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will raise within the European Community the action of the Greek Government in prosecuting individuals who have dissented from that Government's policy with regard to Macedonia within the former Yugoslavia.
Mr. Garel-Jones : No, sir. The decision to prosecute is one for the judicial authorities of Greece and not the Greek Government.
Mr. Illsley : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he has raised within the European Community the attitude of the Greek Government towards dissension within Greece over the question of Macedonia.
Mr. Garel-Jones : My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs has not raised this issue within the European Community.
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Mr. Illsley : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make representations to the Greek Government to dissuade them from prosecuting individuals who have dissented and demonstrated against that Government's policy towards Macedonia in the former Yugoslavia.
Mr. Garel-Jones : No, sir. The decision to prosecute is one for the judicial authorities of Greece and not the Greek Government.
Mr. Illsley : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Greek Government regarding their suppression of dissent over the question of Macedonia.
Mr. Garel-Jones : My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs has not raised this issue with the Greek Government.
Mr. Allan Nicklin
Mr. Cormack : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many times the British ambassador in Saudi Arabia has met Mr. Allan Nicklin during the last six months ; and how many meetings the ambassador has had with Saudi officials in order to secure Mr. Nicklin's release.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : Her Majesty's ambassador has met Mr. Nicklin on five occasions and the charge d'affaires twice in the last six months. Since Mr. Nicklin was first detained there has also been very frequent contact between Mr. Nicklin and Her Majesty's consuls in Jedda and Riyadh.
The ambassador has had nine and the charge d'affaires two meetings with Saudi Ministers and Deputy Ministers, and frequent contact with senior Government officials, in our efforts to secure the Saudi Government's agreement to allowing Mr. Nicklin to leave Saudi Arabia. The ambassador has also spoken with the deputy governor of Mecca.
Files (Disposal)
Mr. Hain : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs for how many years his Department keeps departmental files before shredding or other means of disposal.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : With the exception of files on routine administrative matters, dealing with accounts, transport, office equipment etcetera, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's policy is to keep files intact until they are reviewed in their 28th or 29th year. Duplicate or ephemeral material of no historical value is removed with the agreement of the Public Record Office inspecting officer and files are released to the Public Record Office when they are 30 years old.
African Elections
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps Her Majesty's Government are taking, in conjunction with EC partners, to help ensure that forthcoming elections will be free and fair in Kenya, Nigeria and Ghana.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : As presidency of the EC, the United Kingdom works closely with its EC partners in pressing
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the elections in these, and other countries, to be free and fair. Steps include, where necessary, both public statements and private demarches. In addition, the United Kingdom has provided a wide range of both technical and financial assistance to the electoral process in Kenya and Ghana. This has included the provision of office equipment to the electoral authorities, ballot boxes in Kenya and electoral booths in Ghana. We have also contributed to the training of electoral officers and, through the Commonwealth secretariat, to the election monitoring process in both countries.It was announced on 17 November that the presidential election in Nigeria has been postponed from 5 December to 12 June. We will be consulting our EC partners about possible assistance to the electoral process when we have more details.
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list those restaurants and hotels in London used in the 1991-92 financial year for the purposes of ministerial hospitality.
Mr. Goodlad [holding answer 20 November 1992] : Publishing a list of establishments commonly used by Ministers of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office for official entertainment would have security implications.
For this reason, I am unable to give a reply to the hon. Gentleman.
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much was spent by Ministers in his Department on official entertainment in the financial year 1991-92.
Mr. Goodlad [holding answer 20 November 1992] : Expenditure on both wings of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on ministerial entertainment for the financial year 1991-92 was £349,678. This figure includes part of the grant in aid to the Government hospitality fund--which meets the costs of the greater part of all ministerial entertainment.
NORTHERN IRELAND
Bomb Damage
Mr. William Ross : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) what is his estimate of the date by which all the buildings destroyed and demolished as a consequence of the bomb explosion in Coleraine on13 November will be rebuilt ;
(2) what are the total sums which were agreed for damage to property arising from damage by terrorist action in each of the last three years for which figures are available ; and by how much those sums were reduced because of betterment ;
(3) how many buildings were damaged in the terrorist bomb explosion in Coleraine on the night of 13 November ; and what is his estimate of the cost of repairs ;
(4) what is his estimate of the total cost of the damage caused by the bomb explosion in Coleraine on 13 November ;
(5) what is his estimate of the cost of damage to property caused by terrorist action since 1 January to the latest available date ; (6) when he expects the repairs on all the buildings damaged by the bomb explosion in Coleraine on 13 November to be completed ;
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(7) what is his estimate of the betterment element in respect of the commercial buildings damaged and destroyed as a consequence of the bomb explosion in Coleraine on 13 November ; and what the total cost of interest charges would be on that betterment element at the present lowest level of bank interest presently prevailing in Northern Ireland ;(8) what is his estimate of the value of the commercial buildings damaged and destroyed or demolished as a consequence of the bomb explosion in Coleraine on13 November ; and what is his estimate of the cost of repairing and replacing those premises ;
(9) how many buildings have had to be demolished in Coleraine as a result of the terrorist bomb explosion on 13 November ; and what is his estimate of the cost of replacing them.
Mr. Mates : Responsibility for the subject in question has been delegated to the Compensation Agency under its chief executive, Mr. J. Robinson. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given. Letter from J. Robinson to Mr. William Ross, dated 20November 1992 :
I refer to your recent Parliamentary Questions concerning criminal damage compensation and in particular damage to property in Coleraine on 13 November. The Secretary of State has asked me to respond. Approximately 300 buildings were partially damaged as a result of this incident. The current estimate of damage to these properties is £5million. Six buildings were so seriously damaged as to require demolition and our preliminary estimate is that the compensation due for these claims will be around £3 million. The estimate for the total amount of compensation that will be payable is respect of damage to buildings, contents and consequential loss is £11 million. With regard to commercial buildings our loss adjusters estimate that damage amounting to £7.5 million was incurred. An estimate of the value of these buildings is not available. The levels of "betterment" involved cannot be estimated since they can vary significantly depending on the nature and scale of reinstatement. It is not possible to estimate with any accuracy the time that will be taken to fully repair or reinstate the properties damaged as much depends on matters outside the direct control of the Compensation Agency. However the Agency will ensure that all practical steps are taken to facilitate the processing of claims including, where necessary, the issuing of interim payments to assist claimants in the speedy reinstatement of their property.
The following table details the total settlement value of terrorist related claims cleared in each of the last three calendar years :
Year |Value £'000 ------------------------------------ 1989 |17,845 1990 |13,289 1991 |22,934
I regret that I am unable to supply details of "betterment" deductions as such information is not available.
The current estimate for the cost of terrorist related damage incurred in 1992 to date is £76 million.
Mr. William Ross : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many persons are out of work as a consequence of the terrorist bomb explosion in Coleraine on 13 November.
Mr. Hanley : The payment of benefit to unemployed people is the responsibility of the Social Security Agency under its chief executive, Mr. Alec Wylie. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
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Letter from A. Wylie to Mr. William Ross, dated 20 November 1992 :As I am responsible for the payment of benefit to unemployed people your recent Parliamentary Question about the number of people out of work as a consequence of the terrorist bomb explosion in Coleraine on 13 November 1992 has been passed to me for reply. While the full impact of this attack has yet to be assessed, to date three people have registered as unemployed as a result of the explosion.
I hope you find this information helpful. A copy of this reply will appear in the Official Report and copies will be placed in the Library.
Drug Abuse
Mr. Mallon : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many fatalities took place in each of the last three years in each health board area from causes associated with (a) solvent abuse and (b) illegal drugs.
Mr. Hanley : The number of solvent associated deaths in Northern Ireland during the past three years was as follows :
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Health and social |1989 |1990 |1991
services board
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Eastern |- |- |8
Northern |1 |2 |1
Southern |1 |2 |1
Western |2 |- |1
|------- |------- |-------
Total |4 |4 |11
Information about the small number of fatalities resulting from the illegal use of drugs is not available as these cannot readily be distinguished from deaths associated with the overdose--accidental or otherwise--of prescribed medication.
Mr. Mallon : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many hospital admissions took place in each of the last three years in each health board area from causes associated with (a) solvent abuse and (b) illegal drugs.
Mr. Hanley : The number of patients who received hospital treatment for solvent and drug misuse in each board area in the past three years is as follows :
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Board 1989-90 1990-91 1991-92
Hospitals Hospitals Hospitals
|Mental illness|Others |Mental illness|Others |Mental illness|Others
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(a) Solvent misuse
Eastern |0 |4 |5 |<1>- |9 |<1>-
Northern |1 |0 |0 |<1>- |4 |-
Southern |0 |0 |0 |- |1 |-
Western |0 |3 |0 |- |0 |-
Total |1 |7 |5 |- |14 |-
(b) Drug misuse
Eastern |35 |9 |36 |- |44 |-
Northern |4 |0 |3 |- |5 |-
Southern |3 |4 |5 |- |5 |-
Western |7 |1 |3 |- |8 |-
Total |49 |14 |47 |- |62 |-
Mr. Mallon : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people (i) under 16 years, (ii) under 18
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years but over 16 and (iii) over 18 years of age were treated for drug or solvent abuse in each health board area in each of the past three years.Mr. Hanley : The numbers of people treated in hospitals for drug misuse during the past three years are as follows :
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Mental illness Other hospitals
hospitals
In-patients Out-patients In-patients only
|Under 16 years|16-17 years |Over 18 years |Total |Under 16 years|16-17 years |Over 18 years |Total |Under 16 years|16-17 years |Over 18 years |Total
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1989-90
Eastern board |0 |0 |35 |35 |0 |0 |41 |41 |2 |3 |8 |13
Northern board |0 |1 |4 |5 |0 |0 |7 |7 |0 |0 |0 |0
Southern board |0 |0 |3 |3 |0 |0 |2 |2 |0 |0 |4 |4
Western board |0 |0 |7 |7 |0 |0 |8 |8 |0 |1 |3 |4
|------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |-------
Total |0 |1 |49 |50 |0 |0 |58 |58 |2 |4 |15 |21
1990-91
Eastern board |0 |0 |41 |41 |0 |0 |49 |49 |<1>- |<1>- |<1>- |<1>-
Northern board |0 |0 |3 |3 |3 |1 |7 |11 |<1>- |<1>- |<1>- |<1>-
Southern board |0 |0 |5 |5 |0 |0 |5 |5 |<1>- |<1>- |<1>- |<1>-
Western board |0 |0 |3 |3 |0 |1 |5 |6 |<1>- |<1>- |<1>- |<1>-
|------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |-------
Total |0 |0 |52 |52 |3 |2 |66 |71 |<1>- |<1>- |<1>- |<1>-
1991-92
Eastern board |0 |0 |53 |53 |0 |0 |58 |58 |<1>- |<1>- |<1>- |<1>-
Northern board |0 |4 |5 |9 |9 |7 |2 |18 |<1>- |<1>- |<1>- |<1>-
Southern board |0 |0 |6 |6 |0 |0 |4 |4 |<1>- |<1>- |<1>- |<1>-
Western board |0 |0 |8 |8 |0 |0 |15 |15 |<1>- |<1>- |<1>- |<1>-
|------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |-------
Total |0 |4 |72 |76 |9 |7 |79 |95 |<1>- |<1>- |<1>- |<1>-
<1>Information not yet available.
Mr. Mallon : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will give details of the monitoring procedures employed by each health board to assess and review drug abuse and solvent abuse problems.
Mr. Hanley : Health and social services boards, through their community addiction teams and health education and promotion departments, maintain close contact on drug and solvent misuse with the Royal Ulster Constabulary, voluntary bodies, other health professionals and interested groups within their areas. Each board is represented on the Northern Ireland Committee on Drug Misuse which monitors the extent of drug and solvent misuse in the Province and advises the Department of Health and Social Services on prevention measures.
There is also a statutory requirement for all doctors to notify the Department of Health's Chief Medical Officer of any person who is considered or suspected of being addicted to a drug or drugs controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971.
Mr. Mallon : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what was the total financial provision made available by each health board, and the Department of Health and Social Services, in each of the past three years for the purpose of combating solvent and drug abuse.
Mr. Hanley : I regret that this information is not available. Resources to combat solvent and drug misuse are included in overall health and personal social services allocations and cannot be identified separately.
Mr. Mallon : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what proposals he has to undertake public awareness campaigns aimed at informing (i) school children and (ii) the general public of the dangers of drug or solvent abuse.
Mr. Hanley : The Department of Education has issued detailed guidance on misuse of drugs to all schools, further education colleges and youth groups in the province. The Department of Health and Social Services has also published an advice booklet on solvent misuse aimed at parents and the issue of a similar booklet on drugs is under consideration. The Northern Ireland Committee on Drug Misuse is at present considering what further measures are necessary to help prevent drug and solvent misuse by young people.
Mr. Mallon : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many (a) successful and (b) unsuccessful prosecutions for drug and solvent offences have been launched in Northern Ireland in each of the past three years.
Mr. Mates : The requested information is as follows :
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Year Drugs offences Solvent offences
|Successful |Unsuccessful|Successful |Unsuccessful
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1989 |133 |15 |- |-
1990 |113 |9 |1 |-
1991 |157 |9 |- |-
1992<1> |229 |16 |- |-
<1>To 19 November.
Mr. Mallon : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what is the total number of officers employed on programmes dealing with drug and solvent abuses in Northern Ireland.
Mr. Mates : I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to a similar question from the hon. Member for Antrim, East (Mr. Beggs) on 16 November 1992, Official Report, column 7 .
TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Nightwear (Flammability)
Mr. Miller : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will consider amending the Nightwear (Safety) Regulations 1985 to ensure that chemical additives to cloth are banned where they make the material liable to ignition through a spark.
Mr. Leigh : My Department is not aware of any chemical additives to cloth which would render garments made from that material more liable to ignition from a spark.
Mr. Miller : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will consider the extension of the Nightwear (Safety) Regulations 1985 to ensure that garments carrying the "keep away from fire" label that might flare from a spark carry a stronger warning.
Mr. Leigh : The Nightwear (Safety) Regulations 1985 require that children's nightdresses, nightshirts and dressing gowns, except cotton terry towelling bath robes, must pass a test to ensure that they are made from fabric with slow burning qualities and do not therefore flare up quickly. All other nightwear, and garments commonly worn as nightwear, including cotton terry towelling bath robes, must carry a permanent label to show whether or not they pass this test. Such garments which do not pass the slow burning test must carry a "keep away from fire" label in a position where it can readily be seen by a prospective purchaser. I have no plans to amend the regulations.
Agencies
Mr. McAllion : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list those agencies in his Department which are being considered for privatisation or contractorisation.
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Mr. Heseltine : Of the 10 agencies in my Department, two have been announced as candidates for privatisation or contractorisation, the National Engineering Laboratory and Companies House. We will keep under continued review the prospect of further privatisation.
Bank of Credit and Commerce International
Mr. Vaz : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will meet representatives of the BCCI campaign committee to discuss the BCCI staff benefit fund ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Neil Hamilton : Mr. Saleem and Mr. Qayyum of the BCCI campaign committees met my right hon. Friend the Minister for Industry on 17 November 1992.
Iraq
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the President of the Board of Trade (1) what information he has in regard to the role of the Wickman-Bennett machine tool company of Coventry in providing machine tools to Iraq between 1985 and 1989, for use in its nuclear weapons development programme ;
(2) what information he has on the use to which United Kingdom origin precision technology exported to Iraq has been put at the (a) Hutteen and (b) Taji factories in Iraq.
Mr. Needham : I am aware that the inspections in Iraq by the United Nations Special Commission and the International Atomic Energy Agency have revealed the names of many companies around the world which have traded with Iraq, including some from Britain. It is possible that more names will be revealed as time goes on.
Any indications of wrongdoing will be urgently investigated and, if appropriate, will be a matter for the courts. However, it would be quite wrong to conclude, without further analysis, that the companies named have behaved wrongfully. Until the invasion of Kuwait, trade with Iraq was not illegal provided strategic export controls were not breached.
Iran
Mr. Robert Ainsworth : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement about his Department's handling of Wickman's export licence to Iran.
Mr. Needham : No. This Department does not make statements in public about individual export licence applications.
Export Control
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will set out the criteria he adopts in deciding whether to investigate media allegations of violations of export control regulations and end-user certificate commitments.
Mr. Needham : Inquiries following allegations of breaches or attempted breaches of export restrictions are matters for the commissioners of Customs and Excise.
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what contribution ministers or officials of his Department will make to the forthcoming seminar to be held by the Export Control Organisation on a practical guide to United Kingdom export controls.
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Mr. Needham : The seminar will be chaired by an official from the Export Control Organisation (ECO) of the DTI. Others from the ECO will make presentations on export control matters and will participate in workshops on specific aspects of export licensing procedures.
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will now make it his practice to report to Parliament on the details of individual export licence applications.
Mr. Needham : No. For reasons of commercial confidentiality, it has been the practice of successive Administrations not to disclose such information. However, I refer the hon. Gentleman to the minutes of evidence to the Trade and Industry Select Committee, 26 November 1991, pages 37 to 106.
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