| Previous Section | Home Page |
Training
Mr. Kynoch : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what public expenditure provision has been made available in respect of expenditure in 1993-94 by Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise on youth training and the new training for work programme ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Lang : The provision derived from the Great Britain planning figures for the relevant programmes in 1993-94 which has been included in the total budgets proposed for Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise, is as follows :
£ million
|Youth training |Training for work
|programme
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scottish Enterprise |78.7 |86.5
Highlands and Islands Enterprise |5.6 |5.2
The formulae for deriving the figures for 1993-94 from the Great Britain planning totals for the relevant programmes concentrate on labour market indicators. Scotland, which has the lowest unemployment rate of the four countries of the United Kingdom, is receiving over 10 per cent. of the provision for Great Britain compared to its 8.9 per cent. share of unemployment.
Column 816
Provision for youth training takes account of demographic trends and estimated staying on rates for potential schoolleavers. It will remain a contractual requirement for local enterprise companies to meet the Government's youth training guarantee.The training for work programme will provide broadly the same number of opportunities for unemployed people in Scotland in 1993-94 as are being provided by the employment training programme in the current year.
In addition to the specific funds for training, local enterprise companies have access to operating surpluses and can use the general arrangements for transferring resources within their budgets if necessary.
FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS
Iraq
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what decisions were taken by Her Majesty's Government on 19 July 1990 in regard to export control guidelines for Iraq.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 9 December 1992 at column 660 to the hon. Member for Neath (Mr. Hain).
Yugoslavia
Lady Olga Maitland : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when it is planned that the airport at Tuzla should be opened for humanitarian aid deliveries.
Mr. Goodlad : The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has no plans to open Tuzla airport at this time.
According to the European Community monitoring mission, the town is supplied efficiently by a system of land convoys to and from central Bosnia and food is not scarce.
Mr. Robert Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he is yet in possession of evidence which can form the basis for trial by the International Court of Justice of persons responsible for, and participating in, the operation of concentration camps for Muslim people in Serbia and Bosnia.
Mr. Goodlad : No. But we are considering how best to gather substantiated evidence of breaches of international humanitarian law committed in the former Yugoslavia, to submit to the United Nations Commission of Experts in Geneva (established by United Nations Security Council Resolution 780).
Mr. Robert Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information he has on the numbers of prisoners in concentration camps run by the Serbian authorities.
Mr. Goodlad : The International Red Cross (ICRC) estimate that 4, 100 are currently held in detention camps run by the Bosnian Serbs.
Column 817
AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD
Environmentally Sensitive Areas
Dr. Strang : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) which factors in the environmentally sensitive area programme account for the savings to common agricultural policy expenditure, in order of their costs ;
(2) if he will collate and tabulate the total savings in common agricultural policy expenditure arising from the environmentally sensitive area scheme since its inception per year and in total for each scheme and for England as a whole.
Mr. Gummer : The environmentally sensitive area schemes (ESAs) generally encourage more extensive farming systems, but the main provisions generating savings in common agricultural policy payments are those encouraging reversion from arable production to grassland and reductions in livestock grazing. Savings arising in the first five ESAs introduced in 1987 are recorded in the published monitoring reports deposited in the Library. The reports for the remaining ESAs introduced in 1988 will be published shortly.
Cereals
Mr. Marlow : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is his estimate of weighted average yields for cereals in each EC country.
Mr. Curry : Based on information from Eurostat the weighted average yields for cereals (in tonnes per hectare and excluding rice) in each EC member state in 1991 were as follows :
|Average Yield
-------------------------------------------
Belgium |6.57
Denmark |5.88
Germany |5.99
Greece |4.17
Spain |2.41
France |6.54
Ireland |6.26
Italy |4.24
Luxembourg |5.10
Netherlands |6.99
Portugal |1.43
United Kingdom |6.46
EC 12 |5.03
Source: Eurostat Crop Production Quarterly
Statistics No. 3 1992.
Fishing Industry
Mr. Morley : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what estimate he has made of the effect on employment in the fishing industry as a result of meeting the latest multi-annual guidance targets in respect of (a) beam trawl, (b) demersal trawl, (c) nephrops trawl, (d) seiners and (e) shellfish mobile.
Mr. Curry : The aim of the latest multi-annual guidance programme targets is to bring the various segments of the fleet into a better balance with the fish stocks that they exploit. A detailed breakdown of employment in the various segments of the fleet is not available but it is inevitable that fleet reductions, through decommissioning
Column 818
which the industry has demanded, will mean some loss of jobs in the industry. However, if stocks are allowed to collapse the jobs of all fishermen will be at risk.Slaughterhouses
Mr. Campbell-Savours : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) what permission he has sought for the slaughter of casualty livestock in excess of the weekly quota subject to derogation under EC requirements ;
(2) whether he will seek to exclude casualty livestock from the 12 livestock unit allowance for small slaughterhouses.
Mr. Soames [holding answer 8 December 1992] : As my right hon. Friend the Minister told the House on 2 December, Official Report, columns 223-24, he is arranging for the Council of Agriculture Ministers to discuss the question of small slaughterhouses at its meeting on 14-16 December.
I recognise the importance of ensuring that suitable facilities are available for the slaughter of animals which are suspected of being diseased or injured, and the State Veterinary Service will monitor the position carefully. Officials will take a sensible approach towards isolated instances where the weekly throughput limit is exceeded because of any emergency slaughter.
TRANSPORT
European Passenger Services Ltd.
Sir John Stanley : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what conclusions he has reached on the method of transferring European Passenger Services Ltd. to the private sector.
Mr. Freeman : Options for transferring international services to the private sector are under discussion within British Rail and Government. It is too early to say when we will be in a position to make decisions on the way forward.
Channel Tunnel
Sir John Stanley : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will ensure that domestic commuter rail services are not curtailed on either the Tonbridge or the Maidstone East line to London in order to make way for through channel tunnel passenger trains.
Mr. Freeman : British Rail gave an assurance to Parliament during the passage of the Channel Tunnel Act 1987 to the effect that existing domestic services would not be adversely affected by the introduction of international services through the channel tunnel. British Rail has every intention of standing by that assurance.
Network SouthEast
Sir John Stanley : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will maintain the subsidy paid to Network SouthEast at its current level in real terms ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Freeman : The specific allocation of the planned external financing limits for British Rail between 1993-94 and 1995-96 between grant and borrowing has yet to be agreed and will be announced, as usual, in due course.
Column 819
Construction Materials
Mr. Dover : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will require independent quality assurance certification for both the manufacture and the erection of any structural steelwork imported for use in the construction of any major transport construction projects, including the second Severn bridge crossing and the second M6 Thelwall viaduct.
Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : The supply, fabrication and erection of the steelwork for Departmental schemes must comply with the Department's Specification for Highway Works and the national bridge code British Standard 5400. There are no specific independent quality assurance certification requirements for the fabrication of steelwork in the Specification at present, but the Department will shortly be discussing with the British Constructional Steelwork Association (BCSA) the recognition of an independent QA scheme for structural steelwork. Once a scheme has been recognised it will be included in the specification for future projects.
The second Severn crossing is a privately financed project, although it must comply with the Department's requirements. There is a specific requirement for QA for the project. A QA scheme was proposed by Laing/GTM and approved by the Government agent, who will from time to time check compliance. The steelwork subcontractor's own QA scheme may be accepted, if it is deemed to be equal to that of Laing/GTM.
While there is no specific QA requirement for Thelwall viaduct, full compliance with the Specification will be insured by inspection and testing of both the fabrication process and the steelwork itself. If the latter is produced
Column 820
abroad, this checking will be carried out by the Department's representative in the country of manufacture, as well as during site erection.Rail Traffic
Mr. Hardy : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what changes have occurred during the last 10 years in the share and volume of traffic carried on railways within the United Kingdom ; and what detailed policies he is pursuing to promote this form of transportation.
Mr. Freeman : Figures for rail passenger and freight traffic are published in tables 1.1 and 1.9 of Transport Statistics Great Britain 1992 (HMSO), a copy of which is in the Library.
Rail passenger kilometres increased by 12 per cent. between 1981 and 1991 while tonne kilometres fell by 13 per cent. The rail share of passenger kilometres fell slightly from 7 to 6 per cent. while the rail share of tonne kilometres fell from 10 to 7 per cent. The White Paper, "New Opportunities for the Railways" published in July 1992, set out the Government's proposals for making better use of railways.
Railways (Orders)
Mr. Peter Bottomley : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will estimate the publicly-owned railways orders for (a) signalling, (b) rolling stock and (c) other capital spending (i) made and (ii) for work in each year from 1984 to 1996.
Mr. Freeman : The information is not available in the form requested. The table shows the figures for investment in railway rolling stock and infrastructure for the years 1985-86 to 1991-92.
Column 819
£ million cash
|1985-86|1986-87|1987-88|1988-89|1989-90|1990-91|1991-92
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
British Rail
Rolling stock |90 |81 |107 |208 |209 |265 |331
Infrastructure |309 |318 |419 |337 |487 |593 |674
|---- |--- |--- |--- |--- |--- |---
Total British Rail |399 |399 |526 |545 |696 |858 |1,005
Other Rail
Rolling stock |63 |71 |72 |77 |131 |157 |178
Infrastructure |155 |166 |246 |239 |342 |550 |486
|--- |--- |--- |--- |--- |--- |---
Total other rail |218 |237 |318 |316 |473 |707 |664
Total Rail |617 |636 |844 |861 |1,169 |1,565 |1,669
Notes:
1. Other rail comprises London Underground, Docklands Light Railway, Manchester
Light Rapid Transport and South Yorkshire Supertram.
2. Figures for other rail rolling stock include an allowance for investment in
wagons privately owned by BR customers. However, as information is only available
on end year stock, estimates have been made based on this and assumptions on
scrappage rates and the cost of a private wagon. The resultant estimates have a
large range of error. Therefore, an estimate, £50 million per annum, an average
based on the last five years, has been calculated and included as a tentative
estimate.
A6, Stockport
Sir Thomas Arnold : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects to hold the further public inquiry into the A6 Stockport north- south bypass.
Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : Not before next autumn. We are currently looking at the design of the Offerton road
Column 820
junction in order to reduce its impact. This work is taking longer than expected. I am conscious of the need to keep any further delays to a minimum.Vehicle Inspectorate
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list by grade and office, the number of staff employed by the Vehicle Inspectorate agency.
Column 821
Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : Following is a list by grade and office, showing the number of full-time and part-time staff currently employed by the Vehicle Inspectorate.
|c|1992-93 Staff in Post (as per Payroll)-October 1992|c|
Staff in post
Grade |Actual |Man year equivalent
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Grade 4 |1.00 |1.00
Grade 5 |1.00 |1.00
Grade 6 |5.00 |4.22
Grade 7 |25.00 |25.00
Senior Professional and Technical Officer |40.00 |40.00
Higher Professional and Technical Officer |100.00 |100.00
Professional and Technical Officer |449.00 |447.63
Assistant Vehicle Examiner |91.00 |91.00
Enforcement Manager |7.00 |7.00
Senior Traffic Examiner |31.00 |31.00
Traffic Examiner |172.00 |172.00
Senior Executive Officer |11.00 |11.00
Higher Executive Officer |21.00 |21.00
Executive Officer |57.00 |55.73
Administrative Officer |210.00 |195.53
Administrative Assistant |288.00 |232.37
Senior Personal Secretary |2.00 |2.00
Personal Secretary |3.00 |2.68
Typist |54.00 |33.92
Support Grade Band 1 |1.00 |1.00
Support Grade Band 2 |9.00 |6.28
Stores Officer Grade D |1.00 |1.00
Casual Typist |1.00 |0.54
Casual Administrative Assistant |60.00 |49.04
Casual Administrative Officer |2.00 |1.68
Vocational Sandwich Course Student |1.00 |0.20
|------- |-------
Total Non Industrial |1,643.00 |1,533.82
Tester/Craftsman |279.00 |275.70
Handyperson |45.00 |31.41
Auxillary B |3.00 |3.00
Storekeeper |2.00 |2.00
Casual Industrial |2.00 |1.03
|------- |-------
Total Industrial |331.00 |313.14
|------- |-------
Grand total |1,974.00 |1,846.96
|c|Part-time Staff|c|
Grade |Actual |Man year equivalent
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Grade 6 |1.00 |0.22
Professional and Technical Officer |2.00 |0.63
Executive Officer |3.00 |1.73
Administrative Officer |32.00 |17.99
Administrative Assistant |133.00 |77.37
Personal Secretary |1.00 |0.68
Typist |48.00 |27.92
Support Grade Band 2 |3.00 |0.28
Casual Administrative Officer |2.00 |1.22
Casual Administrative Assistant |25.00 |14.04
Casual Typist |1.00 |0.54
Vocational Sandwich Course Student |1.00 |0.20
Tester/Craftsman |5.00 |1.70
Handyperson |25.00 |11.41
Casual Industrial |2.00 |1.08
|------- |-------
Total |284.00 |156.96
Driving Standards Agency
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list by grade and location, the number of staff employed by the Driving Standards Agency.
Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : The Driving Standards Agency's staff in post at 31 October 1992 is shown in the attached table by DSA regional or HQ location. Part-time staff are included as full-time equivalents.
Column 821
|c|Driving Standards Agency-staff in post at 31 October 1992|c|
Grades Headquarters Cardington Training North East North West West Midlands Eastern South Wales Western South East Scotland Metropolitan Total
Nottingham Establishment
|NottinghamCambridge
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Grade 5 |1 |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |1
Grade 6 |1 |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |1
Chief Driving Examiner |1 |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |1
Grade 7 |6 |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |6
Deputy Chief Driving Examiner |2 |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |2
Senior Executive Officer |4 |- |1 |1 |1 |1 |- |1 |- |1 |1 |1 |12
Assistant Chief Driving Examiner |11 |1 |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |12
Higher Executive Officer |15 |- |1 |1 |1 |1 |1 |- |1 |1 |1 |1.5 |24.5
Supervising Examiner |- |- |13 |14 |9 |9 |5 |4 |8 |11 |9 |18 |100
Senior Driving Examiner |- |4 |48 |48 |38 |26 |15 |13 |30 |42 |29 |61 |354
Driving Examiner |- |- |142 |145 |98 |88 |58 |43 |91 |104 |91 |186 |1,046
Executive Officer |17.6 |1 |4 |2 |1 |2 |1 |2 |1 |2 |1 |5 |38.6
Administrative Officer |37 |1 |14 |6.5 |6 |8.5 |3 |1 |5 |7 |5 |20 |114.0
Administrative Assistant |21 |- |23.5 |18 |11.5 |11 |6.5 |5 |8.25 |15.5 |12 |41.5 |173.5
Personal Secretary |2 |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |2
Typist |4 |0.5 |1 |- |- |0.5 |- |- |- |- |- |1.5 |7.5
Support Grades |3 |- |5.3 |4 |1.6 |2 |0.8 |2 |1.7 |2.6 |4.9 |7 |34.9
Paper Keeper |1 |- |- |- |- |1 |- |- |- |0 |- |- |2
Industrials |- |3 |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |3
Telephonist |1 |- |1 |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |2
|------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |-------
Total |127.6 |10.5 |253.8 |239.5 |167.1 |150 |90.3 |71 |145.95 |186.1 |153.9 |342.5 |1,938.25
Casualty Reduction Schemes
Mr. Peter Bottomley : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much money he is allocating to casualty reduction schemes by local highway authorities.
Column 822
Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : The Secretary of State will announce the amount shortly, as part of the transport supplementary grant settlement.
Column 823
Vehicle Testing Stations
Mr. Betts : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) whether safety will be the prime issue in determining the future of vehicle testing stations following his consultation paper ;
(2) what criteria he will use to assess the various options for the future of vehicle testing stations contained in his consultation paper ;
(3) how many responses he has had to his consultation paper on options for the future of vehicle testing stations ; what types of organisation have responded ; and what were their views ; (4) what other options he considered before issuing his consultation paper on the future of vehicle testing stations ; and for what reasons they were rejected ;
(5) what steps he took to (a) inform the general public about and (b) to circulate his consultation paper on options for the future of vehicle testing stations ;
(6) when he expects to make an announcement on the future of vehicle testing stations following his consultation paper on options for the future.
Mr. Kenneth Carlisle [holding answer 10 December 1992] : As part of the review of the Vehicle Inspectorate's framework document my right hon. Friend re-examined the scope for abolition, privatisation and contracting out. Abolition, and the privatisation of the agency's enforcement activities, were judged to be inappropriate. A public consultation paper was issued on 14 September 1992 and sought views from a range of motor transport, safety, staff and other interests. There was an accompanying press notice. There have been 55 responses from organisations and individuals representing motor transport industry, police, road safety, motoring, local authority, environmental, staff and other groups ; my right hon. Friend and I have also received correspondence from 68 hon. and right hon. Members. Comments dealt with cost, road safety and staff issues, and the availability of testing services. A variety of views were expressed for and against each option.
My right hon. Friend is currently considering the responses and representations and will make an announcement in due course. Road safety remains a key Government objective ; as the consultation paper makes clear, we are determined that the standard of vehicle testing under all options should be maintained and, where possible, improved.
Drink Driving
Mr. Peter Bottomley : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to extend the availability of the Christmas and new year drink driving wrecks lives campaign on television so as to reach a wider audience ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : The Department of Transport's drinking and driving wrecks lives commercial is running on television throughout December.
To extend the campaign to reach a wider audience I should particularly like to acknowledge the initiative of the Portman Group, an organisation funded by the drinks industry to promote sensible drinking, who have paid for the screening of the Department's commercial in cinemas in Great Britain and Northern Ireland in December and January.
Column 824
The Department makes every effort to ensure that its campaign message reaches the broadest possible audience and liaises with local authority road safety officers, the police, voluntary bodies and private sector organisations. I welcome their involvement in taking forward the campaign.British Rail
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on his Department's policy towards the relative weight to be given to the provision for passenger traffic and for freight traffic in British Rail's objectives and investment plans.
Mr. Freeman : The objectives set by the Government for British Rail for the three years to March 1993 can be found in the board's annual report and accounts for 1989-90. My right hon. Friend will in due course be setting objectives for the period from 1 April 1993. The Government attach great importance to the efficient provision of both passenger and freight services.
WALES
Training
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many training places have been made available by each training and enterprise council in Wales for special needs trainees in each of the last three years.
Sir Wyn Roberts : TECs have not yet been in existence for three years and comparable information is only available by TEC for the 1991-92 financial year.
The information available is for numbers of those with special needs starting training rather than numbers of training places, and is provided in the following table.
|c|Special training needs starts|c| TEC |1991-92 --------------------------------- Gwent |849 Mid Glamorgan |933 North East Wales |214 North West Wales |727 Powys |299 South Glamorgan |680 West Wales |2,660
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how much money has been allocated for employment training special needs programmes by each training and enterprise council in Wales in each of the last three years.
Sir Wyn Roberts : The information requested is not available because within the overall unit price for employment training negotiated with training and enterprise councils, they are required to ensure that suitable high quality training is available for all trainees who are shown by assessment to have disabilities or other significant personal disadvantages which give rise to special training needs.
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what has been the average unit cost per month of training young people on youth training schemes in Wales in each of the last five years.
Column 825
Sir Wyn Roberts : The information requested is set out in the table.
|c|Youth training|c| |c|Average unit cost per training month|c| Financial year |Cost £ per month --------------------------------------------------- <1>1988-89 |186 <1>1989-90 |185 <1>1990-91 |217 <1>1991-92 |229 <2>1992-93 |213 <1> Outturn. <2> Planned.
Travel-to-Work Areas (Employment)
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many people were employed in each travel-to-work area in Wales in (a) agriculture, (b) production, (c) construction, (d) service industries and (e) total, at the most recent available date.
Mr. David Hunt : Data for travel-to-work areas can be obtained from the NOMIS database in the House of Commons Library, subject to the confidentiality restrictions of the Statistics of Trade Act 1947.
Column 826
Schizophrenia
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many people with schizophrenia in Wales have killed themselves or been convicted of manslaughter after returning to the community since April 1991.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : The information is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. Apart from those who have discharged themselves voluntarily, only a small number of long-stay patients have been discharged. This has only been on the basis of medical and other appropriate professional advice and where a care plan and appropriate alternative facilities are in place.
Farmers
Dr. Strang : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the total payments made to farmers for each year encompassing existing and new entrants as a whole within each designated environmentally sensitive area and for Wales in total.
Mr. David Hunt : The information is as follows :
Column 825
|c|ESA payments to farmers|c|
Financial year |Cambrians (original)|Cambrians |Lleyn Peninsula |Wales total
|(extension)
|(came into operation|(came into operation|(came into operation
|1 March 1987) |1 January 1988) |1 January 1988)
|£ |£ |£ |£
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1987-88 |21,864 |- |- |21,864
1988-89 |310,292 |- |64,066 |374,358
1989-90 |366,339 |111,488 |227,661 |705,488
1990-91 |476,882 |120,723 |284,102 |881,707
1991-92 |613,130 |493,442 |351,867 |1,458,439
Bellwin Scheme
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) how he defines eligible expenditure under the Bellwin scheme ; and if he has reviewed his definition in the light of the circumstances surrounding the recent flooding in Wales ;
(2) when and how he formally announced that Bellwin assistance would be made available to Welsh local authorities ; on what date relevant expenditure became eligible ; and when he proposes the closing date for applications for assistance submitted under the present scheme ;
(3) if he will allow capital expenditure on repair and replacement work to be eligible for Welsh Office funding under the Bellwin formula ;
(4) if he will make a statement on the application of the Bellwin formula in providing assistance to Welsh local authorities following the recent flooding ;
(5) on what basis he calculates the threshold level for financial assistance under the Bellwin scheme ; and if he will publish a table showing the current threshold levels for local authorities in Wales.
Mr. David Hunt : The Government are applying the Bellwin scheme for emergency financial assistance for local authorities affected by flood and storm damage following the severe weather in Wales last week.
Column 826
My officials are writing to confirm to county and district councils in south Wales that they are entitled to claim grant at the rate of 85 per cent. on eligible expenditure above a prescribed threshold. Eligible expenditure includes emergency works to safeguard life and property, damage clearance and repairs arising from the floods and storms between 30 November and 2 December. Capital works are not eligible for grant. Emergency works under the scheme need to be completed by 1 February 1993. Initial claims should be submitted by 1 March 1993 and final audited claims by 1 June 1993.Since 1990-91, thresholds for the Bellwin scheme have been calculated on the basis of £2.00 (1990-91) per adult on the community charge register, uprated by the annual September increase in the retail price index, and apportioned between county and district authorities according to their tier shares based on standard spending assessments. I will be placing a table showing thresholds for each local authority in the Library of the House, together with a copy of the letter to south Wales authorities referred to above.
EC Environment Council
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will attend the Environment Council of the EC meeting on 15 and 16 December to represent Welsh environmental interests.
Column 827
Mr. David Hunt : I will not be attending the December meeting of the EC Environment Council ; in accordance with long established practice, the environmental interests of the United Kingdom will be represented at that meeting by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment.
Traffic Survey, Caernarfon
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales on what date he was given the traffic figures arising out of his traffic survey undertaken in the vicinity of Caernarfon in the early summer of 1992 in relation to a possible outerbypass from Griffith's Crossing on the A487 ; if he will now make these figures available to Gwynedd county council ; and if he intends to publish them.
| Next Section
| Home Page |