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Local Government Finance
Mr. Straw : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he will publish and place in the Library in hard copy and in machine readable form, as soon as possible after issuing his consultation paper on 1993-94 roles support grant, a table showing for each local authority its 1992-93 standard spending assessment with and without adjustments for changes in local authority functions and its 1993-94 SSA with the percentage changes, between both 1992-93 SSAs and the 1993-94 SSA ;
(2) what are the cash and real terms increases for total standard spending in England in 1993-94, after adjusting for changes in local authority functions, compared with (a) total standard spending for 1992-93 and (b) local authorities' budgets for 1992-93.
Mr. Howard [holding answer 27 November 1992] : Information on 1992-93 SSAs was placed in the Library in hard copy and in machine readable form following the announcement of the 1992-93 revenue support grant (RSG) settlement. Similar information on the proposals for the 1993-94 RSG settlement was placed in the Library, again in both hard copy and machine readable form, immediately following the announcement to the House yesterday of our intentions for 1993-94. There are several ways in which the 1992-93 SSA figures might be adjusted to allow for the changes in local authority functions in order to facilitate comparisons with the 1993-94 information. I shall provide a set of SSAs for 1992-93 on an adjusted basis, together with a full description of the underlying assumptions shortly.
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Public Buildings (Fire Damage)
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what has been the total cost to public funds arising from fire damage in public buildings in each of the last three years.
Mr. Baldry [holding answer 27 November 1992] : The total cost to public funds arising from fire damage to public buildings on the civil estate for the last three years, based on reports received by my Department, were :
|£
------------------------------
1989 |631,439
1990 |6,168,465
1991 |Nil
To date fire costs reported for the current year amount to £2,000. The cost for 1990 includes £6,000,000 arising from a single incident in a storage depot at Burtonwood. One incident was reported for 1991 but no cost was incurred. Fire incidents occurring on the defence estate are not reported to my Department.
Council Tax
Mrs. Mahon : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what assessment he has made of the impact on the band D equivalent council tax of a single person discount of 50 per cent. instead of 25 per cent.
Mr. Robin Squire [holding answer 26 November 1992] : On the basis of the provisional taxbase information provided by local authorities for consultation purposes, it is estimated that a 50 per cent. single person discount would reduce the national taxbase by just over 8 per cent. This means that the headline council tax for two adults would need to be about 9 per cent. higher in order to raise any given amount of revenue. For single person households the combined effect of the increased discount but higher basic tax rates would be a reduction of about 27 per cent.
Mr. Henderson : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish a table showing, for each region, the total number of band D discounted equivalents for council tax purposes form CTB1, row 11, total of columns 1 to 8 and the total number of dwellings on the valuation list, form CTB1, row 8, column 9, and a table showing comparable information for each region imputed from the illustrative council tax figures produced by his Department in 1991.
Mr. Robin Squire [holding answer 20 November 1992] : The information requested is as follows :
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Region |Taxbase March 1991 |Dwellings March 1991|Taxbase September |Dwellings September
|1992 |1992
|(millions) |(millions) |(millions) |(millions)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Northern |0.923 |1.243 |0.900 |1.294
North West |1.962 |2.516 |1.905 |2.607
Yorkshire and Humberside |1.535 |1.952 |1.486 |2.045
East Midlands |1.303 |1.572 |1.245 |1.663
West Midlands |1.639 |2.016 |1.619 |2.102
East Anglia |0.677 |0.816 |0.689 |0.874
South West |1.694 |1.842 |1.671 |2.003
South East |4.078 |4.143 |4.261 |4.415
Greater London |2.950 |2.824 |2.720 |2.946
|------- |------- |------- |-------
Total |16.761 |18.923 |16.270 |19.950
AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD
Bananas
Mrs. Dunwoody : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement about the arrangements for bananas agreed at the last meeting of Agriculture Ministers.
Mr. Curry : The Agriculture Council of 16 and 17 November discussed the Commission's proposal for the common organisation of the banana market. No agreement has yet been reached on the future arrangements for bananas. The Council will consider the issue again in December.
Mr. Channon : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what interim arrangements he is proposing to put in place to protect the position of Caribbean banana exporters during the interim period after 1 January 1993 before final decisions on the banana regime are taken.
Mr. Curry : The Government are working hard to achieve agreement on new EC banana market arrangments as soon as possible. If necessary, interim measures designed to protect our traditional suppliers in the Commonwealth Caribbean will be put in place on 1 January 1993.
Mr. Channon : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what proposals he intends to make so as to achieve a successful banana regime before the end of the United Kingdom presidency.
Mr. Curry : I am reflecting on the possibilities for reconciling the wide differences of opinion between member states in a way consistent with our objectives on this dossier.
Correspondence
Mr. Sproat : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the average time taken by the Ministers in his Department including himself, to answer letters from hon. Members, in each of the first three quarters of 1992, measuring the time from the receipt of the letter to the dispatch of the substantive reply.
Mr. Curry : In this Department, Ministers replied within 21 days to letters from hon. Members and noble Lords in 80 per cent. of cases in the first quarter, 91.7 per cent. of cases in the second and 78 per cent. of cases in the third quarter of this year. Numbers of letters received during the first three quarters were 1,931, 2,521 and 3,684 respectively. The Department does not hold information on the average time taken to reply to Ministers' correspondence.
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Running Costs
Mr. Sproat : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what progress he has made in achieving the target of a reduction of 1.5 per cent. in his Department's running costs for the present financial year, in the first half of this financial year ; and what specifically has been saved, by what means and in what areas of his responsibility.
Mr. Curry : The main areas which contribute to the Department's running cost efficiencies are : information technology ; staff inspection, to ensure the most efficient organisation of work ; and purchasing.
The efficiency gains which these measures provide are monitored and reviewed on a 12-month (financial year) basis, and information is not available on a six-month basis. Information on efficiency gains will be available after April 1993.
Plant and Machinery
Dr. Strang : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what the level of investment has been on agricultural plant and machinery for each year since 1979 ; and if he will give a breakdown of the different areas including tractors, combine harvesters, and farm buildings.
Mr. Gummer : Latest estimates of investment by the United Kingdom agricultural industry in building and works, plant and machinery and vehicles are shown in the table. Information on tractors, and combine harvesters is not available separately.
|c|Gross capital formation at current prices|c|
£ million
|Buildings and works|Plant and machinery|Vehicles
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1979 |397 |501 |100
1980 |557 |425 |82
1981 |516 |361 |103
1982 |617 |484 |112
1983 |645 |599 |122
1984 |661 |563 |129
1985 |556 |595 |116
1986 |432 |495 |122
1987 |396 |447 |126
1988 |447 |538 |140
1989 |473 |489 |161
1990 |545 |431 |201
1991 |436 |394 |191
Fishermen (Incidental Catches)
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many reports regarding incidental catches of marine mammals by fishermen his fisheries officers in England and Wales have received to date under the scheme set up to monitor the extent of this interaction.
Mr. Curry : There has been one report for England and Wales which recorded the incidental catch of three dead common porpoises.
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GATT (General Waiver)
Mr. Channon : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what agricultural products coming from least-developed or island states have been granted a general waiver from the GATT in respect of their imports into the EC.
Mr. Curry : The draft GATT agreement on agriculture, tabled by the GATT director general in December 1991, states :
"In implementing the commitments on market access, developed countries will take fully into account the particular needs and conditions of developing countries by providing for a greater improvement of opportunities and terms of access for agricultural products of particular interest to these countries, including the fullest liberalisation of trade in tropical agricultural products as agreed at the Mid-Term review, and products of particular importance to the diversification of production from the growing of illicit narcotic crops."
The GATT in any case provides for preferential tariff treatment to products from developing countries in accordance with the generalised system of preferences.
Horses (Exports)
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what measures he will put in place from 1 January 1993 to avoid the export of horses for slaughter under the EC trade legislation.
Mr. Soames : As indicated in the reply given on 6 November to my hon. Friend the Member for Uxbridge (Mr. Shersby), EC Directive 91/628 provides specifically for national provisions in relation to horses, and our rules will continue to apply from 1 January 1993.
EC Agricultural Fund
Mr. Spearing : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how much was spent by the European Community agricultural fund, for each year from 1980 to the latest date for which figures are available on (a) intervention purchase and (b) export subsidy on those categories of oilseeds in contention in the GATT, together with an indication of quantities for each year.
Mr. Curry : Figures for costs of intervention and export refunds for oilseeds (rapeseed, sunflowerseed and soya beans) are set out in the table. I will write to the hon. Member with the information which he seeks on quantities.
Year |Intervention |Export refunds
|(mecu)<1> |(mecu)
------------------------------------------------------------
1980 |8.9 |3.7
1981 |-5.3 |5.4
1982 |0 |3.8
1983 |-3.7 |3.7
1984 |2.1 |0.4
1985 |0.5 |3.4
1986 |0.05 |2.3
1987 |-0.4 |64.0
1988 |2.4 |24.9
1989 |7.4 |5.8
1990 |3.8 |1.0
1991 |0.5 |0.5
<1> A minus figure indicates that proceeds from sales
exceeded costs of purchase and storage in the year in
question.
Veterinary Medicines Directorate
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his answer of 4 November, Official Report, columns 286- 87, if he will list by visit for the last 12 months, the cost to the Exchequer of the international visits made by the director and chief executive of the Veterinary Medicines Directorate.
Mr. Gummer : Responsibility for this matter falls to the chief executive of the veterinary medicines directorate. I have asked him to write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Dr. J. M. Rutter, to Mr. Martin Redmond, dated 27 November 1992.
In his reply to your question, the Minister said that he had asked me to write to you direct.
I have attended two international scientific meetings on a fact-finding basis during the 12 months from 27 November 1991. 6-10 June 1992
Animal Health Institute/Food and Drug Administration Symposium on the Microbiological Significance of Drug Residues in Food--Rockville, USA.
Cost : £2,365.28 ;
21-26 June 1992
VIth International Technical Consultation on Veterinary Drug Registration-- Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Cost : £3,739.46.
The costs were incurred in accordance with Treasury rules for Civil Service travel and subsistence.
DEFENCE
Technical Co-operation Programme
Mr. Livingstone : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 21 May, Official Report, 256, when the technical co-operation programme mentioned in point (f) was set up ; what was its original purpose ; and which countries were involved at the beginning.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : On 25 October 1957, the then President of the United States and the then Prime Minister of Great Britain made a declaration of common purpose part of which stated that : "The arrangements which the nations of the free world have made for collective defence and mutual help are based on the recognition that the concept of national self- sufficiency is now out of date. The countries of the free world are interdependent and only in genuine partnership, by combining their resources and sharing tasks in many fields, can progress and safety be found. For our part we have agreed that our two countries will henceforth act in accordance with this principle."
Immediately afterwards, the Canadian Government declared themselves ready to join in this common effort. The resulting organisation was called the tripartite technical co-operation programme.
Chemical and Biological Warfare
Mr. Livingstone : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) pursuant to his answer of 26 June, Official Report, columns 357-58, what is the nature of the collaborative work between Canada and Britain in the field of chemical and biological warfare carried out since 1962.
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(2) pursuant to his answr of 26 June, Official Report, column 359, from what source his Department obtained the sample of shellfish toxin for the study in 1982 ;(3) pursuant to his answer of 29 June, Official Report, column 411, under which defence agreement the environmental testing of the S10 respirator in Australia was organised ; and what other chemical and biological warfare equipment has been tested in Australia through this agreement since 1962 ;
(4) pursuant to his answer of 16 July, Official Report, column 936 , under which specific international agreement or agreements named in the Official Report, 21 May, columns 255-56, technical and scientific information on VX nerve gas and possible binary gases was exchanged ; with which countries this information was exchanged ; in what form it has been exchanged ; and when the first information was exchanged ;
(5) pursuant to his answer of 26 June, Official Report, columns 358-59, how often the CB defence sub-group of the technical co-operation programme meets ; when and where the last meeting of the sub-group was held ; how many times the sub-group has met since 1967 ; and when each of the four countries joined the sub-group.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : Responsibility for the subject of the questions has been delegated to the Chemical and Biological Defence Establishment DSA under its chief executive, Dr. Graham Pearson. I have asked him to arrange for replies to be given.
Letters from Dr. Graham Pearson to Mr. Ken Livingstone, 1 December 1992 :
1. Your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Defence asking him pursuant to his answer of 26 June, Official Report, Columns 357-8, what is the nature of the collaborative work between Canada and Britain in the field of chemical and biological warfare carried out since 1962 (Question 3, Order Paper, 19 November 1992) has been passed to me to answer as Chief Executive of the Chemical and Biological Defence Establishment.
2. The United Kingdom abandoned work into offensive chemical and biological weapons in the 1950s as has Canada and collaboration between the two countries since 1962 has been into the provision of effective protective measures for the members of the Armed Forces of the UK and Canada against the threat that chemical or biological weapons may be used against them.
3. In both countries, the approach to the provision of such protective measures is made up of :
a. assessments of the hazard which involve evaluation of the potential agents that may be used against our Armed Forces and provide information on the sensitivity levels required for detection and protection,
b. techniques for detection, identification, monitoring and warning,
c. physical protection including respirators, individual protective ensembles and suits as well as collective protection, d. decontamination of persistent agents to reduce the hazard and, e. medical countermeasures to enhance the ability of the body to survive should exposure to chemical or biological warfare agents occur.
4. Such collaboration is carried out under the various collaborative arrangements detailed in the answer of 21 May 1992, Official Report, Columns 255-256. These involves meetings, visits to the respective Establishments and Headquarters involved and the exchange of information, personnel and equipment. The benefits from such collaboration include the sharing of limited resources and thus better value for money as well as the achievement of more robust conclusions as a result of peer review by our counterparts in Canada.
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1. Your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Defence asking him pursuant to his answer of 26 June, Official Report , column 359 from what source his Department obtained the sample of shellfish toxin for the study in 1982 (Question 4, Order Paper, 19 November 1992) has been passed to me to answer as Chief Executive of the Chemical and Biological Defence Establishment. 2. In my previous letter of 10 August 1992 to you I said that "The role of the Chemical and Biological Defence Establishment at Porton Down is to ensure that the UK Armed Forces have effective protection measures against the threat that chemical or biological weapons may be used against them. As part of this work, it is necessary to investigate the effectiveness of protective measures against the range of potential agents. As stated by the Minister of State for the Armed Forces, Mr. Archie Hamilton, MP, in his answer of 26 June 1992, Official Report , column 359 , a study on shellfish toxins was carried out in 1982 to establish whether such toxins have any effect on medical countermeasures against nerve agents. This work into the evaluation of the effectiveness of protective measures against the range of potential chemical and biological warfare agents forms part of the United Kingdom chemical and biological defence programme on which information is exchanged with the United States Department of Defence under the international agreements referred to by the Minister of State for the Armed Forces, the Rt. Hon. Archie Hamilton, MP in his answer of 21 May 1992, Official Report , columns 255-256 . In this instance, the study was carried out using material supplied by the US Army Chemical Research, Development and Engineering Centre at Edgewood, Maryland." 3. The sample of shellfish toxin was therefore provided by the US Army Chemical Research and Development and Engineering Centre at Edgewood, Maryland which has from 1 October 1992 been renamed as the US Army Chemical and Biological Defense Agency located at the Edgewood Research, Development and Engineering Centre.1. Your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Defence asking him pursuant to his answer of 29 June, Official Report, Column 411, under which Defence agreement the environmental testing of the S10 respirator in Australia was organised ; and what other chemical and biological warfare equipment has been tested in Australia through this agreement since 1962 (Question 5, Order Paper, 19 November 1992) has been passed to me to answer as Chief Executive of the Chemical and Biological Defence Establishment.
2. The environmental testing of the S10 respirator was carried out at the Joint Tropical Trials Research Establishment (JTTRE) under a Memorandum of Agreement between the UK and Australia relating to a joint programme of research, investigation and material testing at the JTTRE which was an outstation of the Materials Research Laboratory (MRL) of the Australia Department of Defence and is now designated as MRL-Queensland.
3. Some carbon-impregnated overgarmets were tested in the late 1960s and early 1970s in an indoor storage trial at the Joint Tropical Research Unit (JTRU) under an earlier UK/Australian Memorandum of Understanding which set up JTRU in 1962. The JTRU was subsequently incorporated into the JTTRE.
1. Your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Defence asking him pursuant to his answer of 16 July, Official Report, Column 936, under which specific international agreement or agreements named in the official report, 21 May, Columns 255-6, technical and scientific information and VX nerve gas and possible binary gases was exchanged ; with which countries this information was exchanged ; in what form it has been exchanged ; and when the first information was exchanged (Question 8, Order Paper, 19 November 1992) has been passed to me to answer as Chief Executive of the Chemical and Biological Defence Establishment.
2. VX nerve gas was synthesised in the early 1950s and information was first exchanged in the early 1950s between
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the UK, US and Canada under the Tripartite Cooperation Programme which involved the United Kingdom, United States and Canada and subsequently became the Technical Cooperation Programme referred to in the Official Report, 21 May, Columns 255-6. The form of the information was in oral presentations and papers presented at the cooperation meetings, the exchange of reports and through the exchange of information on a more informal basis between individual scientists and during exchange postings arranged under the auspices of this collaborative arrangement. In the 1970s, the chemical, physical and general physiological properties of VX became unclassified. Patents on VX were also unclassified.3. Insofar as possible binary gases are concerned, this has been the subject of much less exchange as the binary concept was developed by the United States in the 1970s and 1980s at a time when the UK no longer had an interest in retaliatory capabilities. Such information as has been exchanged of relevance to assessment of the potential hazard from binary gases has been largely under the UK/US/Canada MOU on Chemical and Biological Defence and the Technical Cooperation Programme.
1. Your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Defence asking him pursuant to his answer of 26 June, Official Report, Columns 358-9, how often the CB Defence sub-group of The Technical Co-operation Programme meets ; when and where the last meeting of the sub-group was held ; how many times the sub-group has met since 1967 ; and when each of the four countries joined the sub-group (Question 6, Order Paper, 20 November 1992) has been passed to me to answer as Chief Executive of the Chemical and Biological Defence Establishment.
2. The Sub Group E on chemical and biological defence has met 15 times during the period 1967-1992 and the last meeting was held in the UK at the Chemical and Biological Defence Establishment in June 1992. The frequency of meetings is about once every 12 to 18 months and is as often as necessary to meet the objectives of the sub-group to promote collaboration in chemical and biological defence research. The UK, US, Canada and Australia were founder members of the sub-group when it was activated in 1967.
Mr. Livingstone : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many memoranda of understanding have been agreed in the field of chemical and biological warfare involving Britain and the United States of America since 1963 ; what was the subject and nature of each memorandum of understanding ; and in which year each memorandum was signed.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The United Kingdom abandoned all offensive chemical and biological weapons in the late 1950s, since when the United Kingdom has been solely concerned with the provision of effective protective measures for the United Kingdom armed forces. It therefore follows that no memoranda of understanding on chemical and biological warfare have been agreed since 1963.
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 21 May at column 255 for details of general defence agreements between the United Kingdom and the United States of America in the field of chemical and biological defence.
Mr. Livingstone : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what contingency plans his Department established in association with the United States of America following the United Kingdom's decision to abandon offensive work in the field of chemical and biological warfare.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : I refer the hon. Member to the answers I gave him on 21 May at columns 255-6 and on 26 June at column 358.
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Dr. David Clark : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what information he has concerning the use of chemical or biological weapons in the former Yugoslavia ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : There is no clear evidence to suggest that any of the republics of former Yugoslavia possesses chemical or biological weapons, although the Yugoslav Army does have quantities of tear gas.
Toxicological Warfare
Mr. Livingstone : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when and where the 15th tripartite conference on toxicological warfare was held ; which countries participated ; what were the conclusions and recommendations of the conference ; and under which defence agreement the conference was organised.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The 15th tripartite conference on toxicological warfare was held in the United Kingdom in 1960. The participant countries were the United Kingdom, the United States of America and Canada, and the conclusions and recommendations of the conference have not been published. The conference was organised under an informal 1947 agreement to discuss like programmes of a chemical, biological and radiological nature.
CR Gas
Mr. Livingstone : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 16 July, Official Report, column 936, what are the main points of the draft text of the chemical weapons convention which relate to CR gas ; and what implications it would have for the United Kingdom stock of CR gas.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The main points of the draft chemical weapons convention which relate to CR gas are :
!Article I, paragraph 5!Use of Riot Control Agents!
!Article II, paragraph 7!Definition of Riot Control Agents! !Article II, paragraph 9d!Purposes not prohibited under the Convention!
!Article III, paragraph 1e!Declaration of Riot Control Agents required under the Chemical Weapons Convention!
!Annex 2, Appendix 1, Part XI!Allegations of use of Riot Control Agents!
The chemical weapons convention has no implications for the United Kingdom stocks of CR gas.
RAF Regiment
Mr. Hardy : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the present strength of the Royal Air Force Regiment ; and if he will make a statement on the role of this branch in the defence and security of RAF establishments and the maintenance of military skills in this service.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The RAF Regiment is undergoing force reductions from just over 3,000 regular personnel in 1991 to about 2, 400 personnel in 1995, a reduction of over 20 per cent. It is responsible for the defence of RAF airfields and installations at home and overseas against ground and low-level air attacks ; for counter-terrorist measures ; for measures to mitigate the
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effects of nuclear, biological, chemical and conventional weapons ; for the training of all RAF personnel in ground defence skills, and counter-terrorist guarding duties at stations in the United Kingdom and overseas. The RAF Regiment's volunteer reserve programme has led to the formation of eight auxiliary-manned squadrons for the ground and low-level air defence of stations and installations in the United Kingdom.Regular units of the RAF Regiment continue to perform operational duties in Northern Ireland, Belize, Cyprus and the Falkland Islands. Officers are also currently deployed on United Nations duties in Cambodia, Kuwait, Iraq and the former Yugoslavia.
Correspondence
Mr. Sproat : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what was the average time taken by the Ministers in his Department, including himself, to answer letters from hon. Members, in each of the first three quarters of 1992, measuring the time from the receipt of the letter to the dispatch of the substantive reply.
Mr. Rifkind : The performance of my Department in meeting targets laid down for replies to letters from hon. Members will be reported in our departmental report, due to be published early next year. The figures given will relate to the period 1 December 1991 to 30 November 1992.
Running Costs
Mr. Sproat : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what progress he has made in achieving the target of a reduction of 2.5 per cent. in his Department's running costs for the present financial year, in the first half of this financial year ; and what specifically has been saved, by what means and in what areas of his responsibility.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : Data for the current financial year are not yet available. In the financial year to 31 March 1992, however, the Department made efficiency improvements to a value of £234 million against a target of £192 million. The outturn in each of the Department's main management areas and by means of achievement was as follows :
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