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Mr. Norris : No discussions have taken place.
Ms. Walley : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what categories of information relating to the transport of plutonium it is his Department's practice not to publish.
Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : It is a decision for the consignors whether or not to publish operational details of plutonium transport.
Ms. Walley : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport on what occasions his Department has proposed a preference since June 1986 on the optimum mode of transport for plutonium.
Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : No such preferences have been expressed.
Ms. Walley : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what consideration the Health and Safety Executive has given since 1991 over the transportation of (a) plutonium, (b) uranium, (c) spent nuclear fuel and (d) nuclear waste ; and if he will make a statement.
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Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : The safe transport of radioactive material is a matter for the Department of Transport.
Road Salting
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what monitoring and evaluation Her Majesty's Government have carried out of alternatives to the use of salt for de-icing of roads and pathways ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : The Department has commissioned the Transport Research Laboratory to conduct research into alternative de-icing chemicals --including salt with corrosion inhibitors. The research project has the objective of assessing the performance of alternative de-icing chemicals in relation to their effectiveness as a de-icer, corrosive effect on steels and concrete, skid resistance properties, contamination of the environment, handling and storage characteristics and cost effectiveness.
The project has already assessed five principle alternative de-icers, comprising : calcium chloride, calcium magnesium acetate, urea, glycol and potassium acetate. The original project has been extended to allow completion of research on corrosion inhibitors following an American study on salt additives--commissioned by the United States strategic highways research program. An interim report is scheduled for the end of this month, with a final report due in June 1993.
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what information his Department has on the affect of salt used during cold weather on (a) trees, (b) grass verges and (c) concrete ; what research his Department has commissioned or carried out on these matters ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : The latest information available to the Department about the effects of de-icing salt on trees and other vegetation is contained in the Forestry Commission bulletin "De-icing Salt Damage to Trees and Shrubs", which was published in 1991. It was commissioned by the Department of the Environment and compiled in consultation with the Department of Transport's environment branch, with reference to earlier Transport and Road Research Laboratory studies on roadside vegetation and the DOT's winter maintenance statement of service and code of practice.
The Forestry Commission is now following up with a survey of salt damage to roadside trees in London, which is partially sponsored by the Department of Transport. A preliminary report has been issued and the final report is due for publication later this month and will be considered by my Department.
The Transport Research Laboratory is also currently carrying out research on alternative de-icing chemicals, as described in my reply to the hon. Member's earlier question today.
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will estimate for each of the next 10 years how much will be spent on repairing existing motorway carriages and bridges ; if he will estimate what proportion of this expenditure he expects to be attributable partly or wholly to salt penetration ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : The amounts to be spent on repairing trunk motorway carriageways and bridges will
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depend on the funds available and the continuous reappraisal of priorities for maintenance, renewal and reconstruction in the light of the latest survey and inspection data.There is no evidence that carriageway repairs will be required as a consequence of salt penetration, but the Department currently estimates that about £700 million will need to be spent over the 10 years from 1993-94 onwards for preventive treatment and repair of concrete bridges on motorways and all-purpose trunk roads to deal with problems associated with salt penetration. This figure could vary depending on the solutions adopted.
The work is being carried out as part of a strategic 15-year bridge rehabilitation programme which is being planned and programmed to ensure that work is carried out at the appropriate time to produce the most cost- effective solutions, and which includes assessment and strengthening of older bridges to current standards as well as work to safeguard bridges against deterioration.
Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list by grade, the number of staff employed by DVLA, Swansea.
Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : The number of staff employed at DVLA, Swansea, on 30 November 1992 was as follows :
|Number
-------------------------------------------------
Grade 3 |1
Grade 5 |3
Senior medical officer |1
Grade 6 |6
Medical officer |9
Grade 7 |24
Senior executive officer |37
Higher executive officer |117
Executive officer |250
Administrative officer |797
Administrative assistant |1,548
Support, secretarial and technical |288
|----
Total |3,081
Red Route
Lady Olga Maitland : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what has been the change in the rate of accidents on the pilot red route since its inception ; and what are the figures for comparable routes in adjacent London boroughs.
Mr. Norris : Casualties in the pilot corridor have fallen by some 17 per cent. in the 18 months since the start of the scheme, compared with the equivalent period leading up to the launch in January 1991. The latest figures for the boroughs through which the pilot route runs show an average reduction of about 7 per cent.
Airports
Mr. Haselhurst : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the progress made in the work of the RUCATSE-- runway capacity in the south-east--working group on runway capacity in the south-east.
Mr. Norris : The RUCATSE working group has made good progress in its study of the wider implications of the
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provision of additional runway capacity to serve the south-east. Starting from the 10 sites identified by the Civil Aviation Authority in its report CAP570, four--Bristol/Filton, Bristol/Lulsgate, Bournemouth and Southampton--were judged unlikely to make a substantial contribution to meeting demand and were therefore remitted for further consideration by the group's regional airports sub-group. Further work is being undertaken to assess the contribution that Lydd and Manston could make ; and Gatwick, Heathrow, Luton and Stansted are now subject to a detailed examination, covering the notional runway alignments identified in CAP570 and others, environmental impacts, noise and surface access issues. In addition, the promoters of an off-shore airport in the Thames estuary--Marinair--have made a presentation to RUCATSE and have undertaken to do some further detailed work. It is intended that a report on Marinair will be submitted to me in parallel with the final RUCATSE report.RUCATSE hopes to complete its work by next summer in the form of a report which can be expected to set out the advantages and disadvantages of development at a number of sites. I intend to publish the report as soon as it is ready and at that stage there will be a full public consultation on the group's findings. It will ultimately be for promoters rather than Government to make specific proposals, which would in turn be subject to the normal planning processes.
Ship Design
Mr. Lidlington : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when the Government expects to publish its response to the report "Safety Aspects of Ship Design" from the House of Lords Select Committee on Science and Technology.
Mr. Norris : The Government response to the Select Committee on Science and Technology's report was published today. Copies of the response have been placed in the Libraries.
Vehicle Testing Stations
Mr. Betts : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what information he has about the current performance of vehicle testing stations ; and what criteria he uses to evaluate their performance.
Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : My right hon. Friend monitors the performance of the vehicle inspectorate against financial and service quality targets quarterly. The performance of individual testing stations is a management matter for the chief executive.
Minicabs
Mr. Alex Carlile : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what proposals he has to enforce registration and training upon minicabs in London ; if he will set a national vocational qualification to achieve this ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Norris : I am currently considering the future structure of the minicab trade in London in the light of a working party report on the safety of users of taxis and minicabs in London which was presented to me in July. In
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the course of my review, I have met with a range of organisations whose views I am taking fully into account. I hope to make an announcement shortly.Severn Bridge
Mr. Alex Carlile : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many hours delay have been reported on the Severn bridge since 15 November due to repair work ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : Emergency repairs to the anti-skid surfacing made it necessary to restrict westbound traffic to one lane only from the afternoon of 30 November until early morning on 4 December. Delays of up to two hours at peak times were reported. There were much shorter delays on 5 December when a lane was again closed for the work to be completed.
There have been no other delays to traffic due to repair work during the period in question.
Mr. Alex Carlile : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will bring forward proposals whereby tolls on the Severn bridge will be suspended while travellers are delayed due to road closures because of repairs ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : The Severn Bridges Act 1992 allows the concessionaire, at his discretion, to suspend tolls. We have no plans to seek amendments to the relevant provisions. Recent repairs to the bridge took less than one week to complete.
Mr. Alex Carlile : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will introduce proposals to amend the Severn Bridges Act 1992 in respect of the level of tolls.
Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : No. The toll levels in the Act were fully debated in Parliament. The current tolls are contributing directly to the provision of the much needed second Severn bridge.
SCOTLAND
School Inspections
Mr. McFall : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the number and dates of Her Majesty's inspectorate school inspections in each primary and secondary school in Scotland over the last 10 years.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : The information is extensive. A copy of it has been placed in the Library. It refers only to inspections of primary and secondary schools which led to published reports since publication started in 1983. The lists do not include inspections of nursery, special or independent schools, colleges of further education or colleges of education which led to published reports within the same period ; nor do they include the further inspections conducted 12 to 18 months after each full inspection to follow up the recommendations contained in the published report. In addition, visits have taken place on a regular basis to educational institutions for a range of other purposes including follow-up to specific inquiries, gathering evidence for published reports on various aspects of learning and teaching, monitoring implementation of curricular advice, and the incorporation of further education colleges.
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Cunninghame District Council
Mr. Wilson : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will compensate Cunninghame district council because of the error in calculating the authority's non-domestic rate income for 1991-92.
Mr. Lang : Yes. I propose to make an ex-gratia payment of £250,000 to Cunninghame district council towards the additional interest costs which it has incurred, pending an adjustment of revenue support grant, as a result of the fact that, in estimating the council's non-domestic rate income in respect of 1991-92, my Department used incorrect rateable valuation data. The council has accepted my offer of this payment.
Parliamentary approval to this new expenditure will be sought in a supplementary estimate for the revenue support grants, Scotland vote--class XV, vote 20. Pending that approval, this urgent expenditure will be met by a repayable advance from the Contingencies Fund.
Local Government Finance
Mr. Gallie : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will announce the 1993-94 grant-aided expenditure figures for each Scottish local authority.
Mr. Lang : The GAE figure for each local authority for 1993-94 is set out in the table. Each authority's allocation of the GAE total has been determined having regard to the client group methodology which is agreed with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities in the distribution committee of the working party on local government finance. The table excludes figures for urban programme GAE which is not allocated to individual authorities. The addition of this amount--£63.255 million-- brings the GAE total to the previously announced sum of £5,086.4 million.
Regions and Islands |GAE 1993-94 (£000s)
--------------------------------------------------------------
Borders |94,642
Central |220,101
Dumfries and Galloway |131,903
Fife |279,251
Grampian |405,795
Highland |203,988
Lothian |575,445
Strathclyde |1,960,221
Tayside |331,039
Orkney |27,022
Shetland |26,237
Western Isles |43,041
|-----
Total |4,298,686
|c|GAE 1993-94|c|
Districts |(£000s)
--------------------------------------------
Berwick |2,135
Ettrick and Lauderdale |3,809
Roxburgh |4,035
Tweeddale |1,692
Clackmannan |7,318
Falkirk |18,537
Stirling |12,845
Annandale and Eskdale |4,161
Nithsdale |6,763
Stewartry |2,772
Wigtown |3,669
Dunfermline |17,764
Kirkcaldy |20,941
North East Fife |9,672
Aberdeen |28,435
Banff and Buchan |11,680
Gordon |10,543
Kincardine and Deeside |6,810
Moray |11,660
Badenoch and Strathspey |1,377
Caithness |3,123
Inverness |7,305
Lochaber |2,464
Nairn |1,173
Ross and Cromarty |6,598
Skye and Lochalsh |1,645
Sutherland |1,940
East Lothian |11,995
Edinburgh |62,245
Midlothian |10,876
West Lothian |20,574
Argyll and Bute |10,466
Bearsden and Milngavie |5,258
Clydebank |5,648
Clydesdale |8,363
Cumbernauld and Kilsyth |8,373
Cumnock and Doon Valley |5,883
Cunninghame |19,397
Dumbarton |10,233
East Kilbride |10,982
Eastwood |7,413
Glasgow |129,058
Hamilton |14,373
Inverclyde |12,355
Kilmarnock and Loudoun |10,857
Kyle and Carrick |15,688
Monklands |15,299
Motherwell |20,158
Renfrew |29,716
Strathkelvin |11,615
Angus |12,783
Dundee |26,153
Perth and Kinross |17,836
|-------
Total |724,459
|-------
All Scotland Total |5,023,145
Conifers (River Pollution)
Mr. Alex Carlile : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement regarding the recent finding of a committee of the Forestry Commission on a link between conifer trees and river acidification.
Sir Hector Monro [holding answer 7 December] : None of the Forestry Commission's committees has made a recent finding of this kind.
An expert workshop jointly sponsored by the Forestry Commission and the Department of the Environment concluded in June 1990 that the primary cause of surface water acidification was the deposition of airborne sulphur and nitrogen pollutants, but that there was also an association between trees and acidification resulting from the effectiveness of trees in scavenging these airborne pollutants. Whether the latter phenomenon would result in increased surface water acidification depended, however, on the sensitivity of the geology and soil in any given catchment area.
The members of the Forestry Commission's north Scotland regional advisory committee recently considered this and other scientific evidence presented to them in the course of considering planting grant applications over which objections had been raised on environmental
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grounds. They advised the commissioners that, in their opinion, there was sufficient doubt about the effect that tree planting on the specific sites concerned would have on surface water acidification as to prevent their recommending that the applications should be approved at this stage. In the light of this advice, the Forestry Commissioners have decided to delay taking a decision on these applications pending further monitoring of the sensitivity of the sites to further acid inputs from the atmosphere.Health Spending
Mrs. Fyfe : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much of the planned spending on health for 1993-94 will be spent on promotion of health.
Mr. Stewart [holding answer 8 December] : The responsibility for allocating resources to health promotion rests with health boards. In addition, the Health Education Board for Scotland received resources totalling £6.441 million in 1992-93. The board will shortly be informed of its allocation for 1993-94.
Mrs. Fyfe : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much he expects to save on the 1993-94 health budget from the 1.5 per cent. ceiling on health workers' pay increases.
Mr. Stewart [holding answer 8 December] : There will be no saving on the 1993-94 budget for the national health service in Scotland as a consequence of the ceiling of 1.5 per cent. on pay increases for national health service staff. The effect of this ceiling will be to free resources for direct patient services and investment in new hospitals and clinics.
Mrs. Fyfe : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much of the planned provision for health in 1993-94 will be spent on implementing the patients charter.
Mr. Stewart [holding answer 8 December] : My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister made it clear on launching the citizens charter that charters would be taken forward within existing resources. Thus there is no earmarked budget within resources for health in 1993-94 for the continued implementation of the patients charter : all parts of the national health service in Scotland will deploy their allocated resources to develop services in accordance with charter principles.
Mrs. Fyfe : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will publish a breakdown of the planned £744 per head spending on health in Scotland, showing how much will be allocated to (a) introduction of trust status for those units which have successfully applied, (b) management and administration of trusts, implementation of the patients charter and (c) promotion of health and illness prevention.
Mr. Stewart [holding answer 8 December] : It is not possible to provide the analysis requested.
Hospital Beds
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list for every health authority (a) the total number of hospital beds and (b) the number of acute hospital beds as at March 1991.
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Mr. Stewart [holding answer 8 December] : The information requested is shown in the table. The table shows information on bed complement. This is the number of beds approved by health boards. Beds in day bed units, borrowed beds and temporary beds are excluded.
|c|NHS-bed complement; all and acute hospital beds; by health board|c|
|c|of treatment; as at 31 March 1991|c|
Bed complement
|All specialties |Acute specialties
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scotland |52,738 |16,538
Argyll and Clyde |4,130 |1,282
Ayrshire and Arran |2,937 |1,104
Borders |939 |352
Dumfries and Galloway |1,407 |451
Fife |3,006 |806
Forth Valley |2,871 |641
Grampian |5,149 |1,419
Greater Glasgow |12,667 |3,978
Highland |1,885 |717
Lanarkshire |4,938 |1,578
Lothian |7,633 |2,374
Orkney |155 |61
Shetland |148 |51
Tayside |4,651 |1,636
Western Isles |222 |88
Health Service Trusts
Mrs. Fyfe : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much of the planned provision for health in 1993-94 will be spent on the introduction of trusts.
Mr. Stewart [holding answer 8 December] : Spending in 1993-94 on the introduction of trusts will depend on the number of expressions of interest in trust status and the number of applications which are subsequently approved.
Abortion
Ms. Janet Anderson : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many NHS hospitals in Scotland providing day-care abortion services are offering early medical abortion services in the first nine weeks of pregnancy with mifepristone and prostaglandin.
Mr. Stewart [holding answer 9 December] : From April to December 1991, five hospitals performed early medical abortions in the first nine weeks of pregnancy with mifepristone, and with or without prostaglandin.
Forestry Commission Land
Mr. Nigel Griffiths : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the Forestry Commission lands in Scotland already sold for which no access agreements have been concluded.
Sir Hector Monro [holding answer 25 November] : The information is as follows :
Region |Name of Woodland |Area (Hectares) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Strathclyde |Carrick (part) |68 Dumfries and Galloway |Springkell (part)|19 Dumfries and Galloway |Dromore |86
This list does not include those woodlands which were sold before the arrangements for securing continued public
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access to Forestry Commission woodlands after sale were introduced in October 1991, nor those sales which were too far advanced at that time to be included for consideration under those arrangements.EMPLOYMENT
Wages Councils
Ms. Quin : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if she will place in the Library a copy of the research commissioned by her Department on the effect of the abolition of wages councils.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : There has been no recent research into the effects of abolition of wages councils. However, in the early 1980s the Department published research into six councils, five of which were abolished by Labour, and copies will be placed in the Library, as soon as this can be arranged.
Mr. Alex Carlile : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what representations she has received from people in Wales regarding the abolition of wages councils ; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : There is no separate information available about representations received from people in different parts of Great Britain.
Disabled Trainees
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if she will make it her policy to ring-fence money for training and enterprise councils to secure specialist equipment to assist disabled trainees with their placements.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : The funding arrangements between the Employment Department and TECs take into account the higher costs incurred in providing support arrangements, for example, specialist equipment.
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has no plans to change these arrangements which give TECs the flexibility to meet the needs of individual providers and trainees as they arise.
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if she will make it her policy to instruct training and enterprise councils to give guaranteed training placements to all unemployed disabled people.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : Under employment training, people with disabilities who are unemployed qualify for places regardless of the length of their unemployment and are included in the aim group. People with disabilities will have a priority for places in training for work, to be introduced in April 1993. Under youth training, the Government extend their guarantee of a place to those young people who are aged over 18 years who were not previously able to join the programme because of disability or ill -health, or who had to leave the programme for the same reasons and are seeking re-entry.
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if she will instruct training and enterprise councils to undertake local needs surveys on an annual basis in order to ascertain numbers of disabled potential trainees.
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Mr. Michael Forsyth : Training and enterprise councils (TECs) are required to assess the training needs of their local area each year in consultation with other local interests including the Employmnent Service. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State ensures that, in particular, the needs of people with disabilities are taken into account before a TEC's annual business plan is agreed.
Disabled Employees
Mr. Elletson : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many (a) physically disabled and (b) sensorily disabled people are employed in her Department ; and what percentage they are of the total work force.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : Information is not available in the form requested, but 1,964 registered disabled people--3.3 per cent. of the total work force--were employed in July 1992, the latest date for which figures are available. The Department also employs other people with disabilities who have chosen not to register.
Training and Enterprise Councils
Mr. Betts : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what unspent revenues TECs had at the end of 1991-92 ; and what percentage of their overall budget this represented.
Mr. McLoughlin : My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State is unable to respond on behalf of my right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Scotland and for Wales, who now have responsibility for the delivery of programmes in those areas.
TECs in England are required, under the operating agreement, to produce audited accounts within four months of the end of the financial year.
These accounts reveal the total operating surplus as at the end of the financial year and on a cumulative basis ; however, this information is not published as a percentage of the overall budget. The accounts for the financial year ending 31 March 1992 are now in the public domain and available from individual TECs.
The need for this information on an aggregated basis has been recognised and the format of the Employment Department appropriation account for 1993- 94 onwards has been amended to take this into account.
Trade Unions
Mr. Ottaway : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if she will make a statement about the future of the schemes which subsidise trade union ballots and training for trade union officials.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : I have reviewed the operation of the trade union ballot funding scheme, which allows unions to reclaim certain costs associated with secret postal ballots, and the trade union education and training grant, which supports training for trade union officials and representatives.
The ballot funding scheme was set up in 1980 to encourage the voluntary practice of secret balloting at a time when there were no statutory requirements for unions to ballot their members before calling strikes or when electing their leaders. Since then, there have been major changes in industrial relations law and practice.
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Secret ballots of union members on the major issues affecting their interests are now generally accepted and in the most important respects are required by law. The scheme now operates largely as a public subsidy for ballots which unions are required to carry out to meet their obligations under the law. The Government therefore believe that the time has come to bring the scheme to an end. The trade union education and training grant was first paid in 1976 and has subsequently been renewed on an annual basis. It was intended to provide training for union officials to ensure that they were well qualified to carry out their collective bargaining duties, with a view to improving industrial relations and reducing strikes. Industrial relations have improved greatly, and strikes are now at their lowest level since records began. At the same time, fewer than 50 per cent. of employees now have their pay determined, directly or indirectly, by negotiations between employers and trade unions. More and more employees negotiate their pay directly with their employer on an individual basis, taking account of performance and skills. In these circumstances, the Government believe that there is now no justification for continuing to support this training from public funds.However, I have decided against immediate abolition of these schemes. Funding for both schemes will therefore be phased out over three years to allow trade unions time to find alternative sources of finance for these activities.
In 1993-94, the Government will meet the cost of 75 per cent. of each qualifying claim under the ballot funding scheme, and the trade union education and training grant will be set at 75 per cent. of the 1992-93 per capita figure. In 1994-95 these levels of support will be reduced to 50 per cent. and in 1995-96 they will be reduced to 25 per cent. Both schemes will cease to operate from 1 April 1996.
DEFENCE
Used Tyres and Waste Oil
Mr. Jopling : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list those defence establishments which make a practice of disposing of used tyres and waste oil by burning into the atmosphere ; what effect he estimates this practice has on the environment ; and what steps he intends to take to eliminate this practice.
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