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Written Answers to Questions
Friday 12 February 1993
LORD CHANCELLOR'S DEPARTMENT
Visa Appeals
Mr. Madden : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many ministers of religion have appealed against refusal to grant a visa to enter the United Kingdom in each year since 1987 ; and how many such appeals were (a) upheld and (b) refused.
Mr. John M. Taylor : The independent appellate authority does not keep a separate record of the occupation or professional qualifications of individual appellants, and therefore the information requested is not available.
Legal Aid
Mr. John Morris : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department whether he will publish the external advice given to the Lord Chancellor on his proposed changes in legal aid.
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Mr. John M. Taylor : I have received a number of representations since I announced these proposals. The extent to which these are published is a matter for the organisations and individuals concerned.
Judges, etc (Numbers)
Mr. Allen : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what is the total number of (a) Lords of Appeal in Ordinary, (b) Lords Justices of Appeal, (c) heads of division, (d) High Court judges, (e) circuit judges, (f) recorders, (g) assistant recorders, (h) stipendiary magistrates and (i) full time chairmen ; what is the average age of each category ; and how many are (i) men, (ii) women, (iii) barristers, (iv) solicitors, (v) black or Asian (vi) ex-independent school and (vii) ex- Oxford or Cambridge, for the latest year for which figures are available.
Mr. John M. Taylor : The available information (as at 1 January 1993) is set out in the table. The figures for black or Asian office holders are believed to be correct, but the formal recording of the ethnic background of applicants for judicial office began only on 1 October 1991, so such information may be incomplete. Aggregated information relating to the school and university background of judges is not readily available. However, the results of a recent special exercise in relation to the university background of the more senior judges are included in the table.
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|Number |Average age (years)|Men |Women |Barrister |Solicitor |Black/Asian |Oxbridge
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lords of Appeal in Ordinary |10 |66.1 |10 |- |10 |- |- |9
Lords Justices |27 |63.4 |26 |1 |27 |- |- |23
Heads of Division (excludes Lord Chancellor) 4 62 4 - 4 - - 4
High Court Judges |84 |58.6 |80 |4 |84 |- |- |68
Circuit Judges |482 |58.1 |458 |24 |425 |57 |2 |261
Recorders |764 |52.0 |727 |37 |701 |63 |6 |n/a
Assistant Recorders (excludes Assistant
Recorders in training) |486 |45.4 |435 |51 |407 |79 |8 |n/a
Stipendiary Magistrates |78 |53.4 |69 |9 |38 |40 |1 |n/a
Industrial Tribunal Chairmen |61 |57.7 |50 |11 |31 |30 |1 |n/a
Value Added Tax Tribunal Chairmen |3 |63 |3 |- |3 |- |- |n/a
Social Security Appeal Tribunal Chairmen |25 |51.2 |19 |6 |4 |21 |- |n/a
Magistrates Courts (Wales)
Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what is the annual cost of magistrates courts in Wales.
Mr. John M. Taylor : The total cost of magistrates' courts in Wales for 1991-92, the latest date for which information is available, was £16,102,630. This comprises both central and local government provision, and both revenue and capital expenditure.
Legal Aid
Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what representations he has received concerning his new policies on legal aid ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. John M. Taylor : The Lord Chancellor and I have received a number of such representations.
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NORTHERN IRELAND
Tourism
Mr. Tyler : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps his Department has taken to implement the recommendations of "Tourism in the United Kingdom : Realising the Potential" as it applies to his Department's responsibilities ; and if he will make a statement.
Sir Patrick Mayhew : Those issues in "Tourism in the United Kingdom" which are the responsibility of my Department are being taken forward in collaboration with the Northern Ireland Tourist Board. The Tourism (Northern Ireland) Order 1992 which came into operation on 1 April 1992 provides enhanced powers for the board and places it in the pivotal role to promote, market and develop Northen Ireland as a tourist destination.
A corporate plan for 1992 to 1995 published by the board develops in detail the guidelines outlined in the 1989-90 strategic review of tourism in Northern Ireland.
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The statutory public consultative mechanism for tourism is in operation and the principles of the citizens charter are applied to the board's activities. The board will publish in the spring a report on "sustainable tourism" and open public consultation on the subject of tourism and the environment.A new selective financial assistance scheme has been introduced for the tourism industry which can assist both the public and private sector to develop and market areas prioritised in the strategic plan which aims to create jobs in tourism and add to the economy taking into account the effects on the environment.
Roads
Mr. Beggs : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what priority is being given to (a) upgrading the Larne to Belfast road and (b) submitting an application to the European Commission for funding improved transport links between Northern Ireland and Scotland ; and if he will make a statement.
Sir Patrick Mayhew : The Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland recognises the importance of the A8 Larne to Belfast road and a £2.5 million scheme to convert a further section of the road to dual carriageway has been included in the current five-year major road works programme.
Under the Northern Ireland transportation programme 1989-93 the European Commission has made available some £120 million European regional development fund grant to support transport infrastructure projects in Northern Ireland. Of this amount £4.4 million is being allocated in respect of a number of projects at the port of Larne from which there are direct shipping services to Ardrossan, Cairnryan and Stranraer. In addition the port of Belfast has been allocated £0.75 million grant towards the provision of facilities to accommodate the Seacat service to Stranraer. Belfast city and Belfast international airports, which provide services to Scottish airports, have both received grant support under the transportation programme for a range of projects.
It is expected that the present transportation programme will continue under the next round of funding post-1993, and will form an important part of the draft community support framework for Northern Ireland to be submitted to Brussels later this year.
Legislation
Mr. Beggs : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will publish a list of all legislation presently applicable in Great Britain which is intended to be applied to Northern Ireland.
Sir Patrick Mayhew : I keep the legislative needs of Northern Ireland constantly under review in the light of developments in legislation for the rest of the United Kingdom. In the current parliamentary Session planned legislation reflecting those developments includes provision on the subject of access to health records, fire safety, the civil service, social security, environment and safety information, and criminal justice.
Suckler Cow Premium
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many suckler cow premium application forms were processed during each month of
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1992 ; and what was (a) the shortest period and (b) the longest period to elapse between receipt of the application and payment of the claim.Mr. Hanley : The number of applications processed in 1992 was as follows :
---------------------- January |1,602 February |642 March |2,034 April |144 May |119 June |59 July |8 August |11 September |6 October |4 November |3,112 December |7,389
Information regarding the shortest and the longest period to elapse between receipt of the application and payment of the claim is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD
Decommissioning Scheme
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his answer of 29 January, Official Report, column 896, what checks he will make on whether a fishing vessel applying for decommissioning is owned abroad ; if vessels which have been registered overseas at any stop will be eligible for British decommissioning ; what steps he intends to take to check where beneficial ownership lies ; and if he will make a statement on the application of Community law to payments of decommissioning grants.
Mr. Curry : As I said in my answer of 29 January, the scheme will be confined to fishing vessels registered and licensed in this country. Checks will be made to ensure that this and all other conditions for payment under the scheme are satisfied. The rules of the scheme will be set out in a statutory instrument that the Government will shortly lay before Parliament. These will be in full accordance with Community law.
Market Testing
Mr. McAllion : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list all the market tests that have taken place in his Department since November 1991 ; whether the result was the maintenance of in-house provision or whether the service was contracted out ; what was the name of the successful contractor where appropriate ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Curry : Of the market tests completed since November 1991, only two have involved the comparison of bids from internal and external service providers. These were :
Headquarters reprographic services ;
Headquarters photographic services.
The result of both market tests was the maintenance of the in-house provision.
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Consultants
Mr. McAllion : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the firms of consultants used by his Department as part of the market testing programme since November 1991 together with the total cost ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Curry : The following firms of consultants have been used by the Department as part of its market testing programme since November 1991 :
Amtec Consulting ;
Coopers and Lybrand ;
Gould Consultants ;
Hoskyns Group ;
Leopold Joseph and Sons Ltd.
These private sector consultancies together with self-employed purchasing specialists used by the Department have helped to identify suitable candidates for market testing ;
evaluate services currently provided ;
provide training in market testing ;
support in-house bids ;
conduct the competition phase of market testing.
The total cost of these services to date is £80,926.
Beef and Butter
Ms. Walley : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what representations he has received from persons in the Stoke-on-Trent, North constituency about eligibility for free EC beef and butter ; and what response he has made.
Mr. Curry : My right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food has received a petition on behalf of the Bentilee Volunteers, Stoke-on-Trent seeking the inclusion of people in receipt of state pension, long-term invalidity benefit and unemployment benefit as eligible groups for the receipt of food under the EC surplus food scheme. The inclusion of such groups would reduce per capita allocations to 0.21 kg of butter and 0.18 kg of beef per year. To distribute such amounts would be impracticable and would be of little benefit.
Ms. Walley : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will extend the rules for eligibility for persons to whom designated organisations may distribute free butter and beef to include pensioners.
Mr. Curry : Those pensioners in receipt of income support or family credit or disability working allowance or who are homeless and destitute or living in welfare hostels are eligible for free food. To extend the scheme to all pensioners would reduce per capita annual allocations in the United Kingdom to approximately 0.24 kg of butter and 0.20 kg of beef per year. To distribute such amounts would be impracticable and would be of little benefit.
Oil Spillages
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what bio-chemical studies are undertaken of (a) beaches contaminated by oil spillages and (b) beaches adjacent to areas affected by oil spillages.
Mr. Curry : The need for studies following oil spillages is considered on a case by case basis.
Mr. Norman Hogg : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) on what basis he assesses the toxicity to marine life of dispersants used in the marine environment to disperse oil from oil spillages ;
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(2) on which species toxicity tests were conducted for the dispersants used to disperse oil from the MV Braer.Mr. Curry : I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Orkney and Shetland (Mr. Wallace) on 20 January at column 289. Full details of the toxicity testing procedures for oil dispersants are contained in the Fisheries Research Technical Report No. 39 which is available in the Library of the House.
DEFENCE
Music
Mr. Frank Cook : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the latest figure for the annual running cost of each of the service schools of music, broken down into principal categories of expenditure ; what is the annual intake of each of the service schools of music ; and what is the (a) civilian and (b) service teaching complement.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The net cash budget for the Royal Marines School of Music in 1992-93 is £6,693,000, of which £4,598,000 is for pay and allowances. This includes the cost of the 65 personnel of the Royal Marines band located at the school. The 1992 intake of trainees was 35 musicians and six buglers. The staff of the school comprises 47 personnel. Of these, 10 service personnel provide military training, and 23 service and 14 part-time civilian personnel carry out musical training.
The forecast running costs for the Royal Military School of Music in 1992- 93 are £1,730,000, which will be offset by estimated receipts of £192,000. Personnel costs account for £1,173,000. The annual intake capacity for initial musical training is 140, including 30 foreign and Commonwealth personnel. The teaching staff comprises six military and 11 civilian full-time instructors and 13 part-time civilian tutors.
The RAF school of music is collocated with headquarters RAF music services and the two units' operating costs are not recorded separately. In the most recent year for which records are available (1991-92) the combined operating costs were £3,947,000. The 1992 intake of trainees was 14 new entrants, plus 19 for advanced training. The teaching complement comprises one officer, four non-commissioned officers and one civilian.
Mr. Trotter : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the current established strength of each type of band in each of the services ; and in each case what are the ranks of the band members, the number of each type of instrument established and the annual running cost.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The available information which is not necessarily in the same format for each service, is as follows : Royal Marine Bands
The Royal Marines School of Music, Deal and the RM Bands at CINCFLEET and CINCHAVHOME each has a complement comprising : Deal
1 Lieutenant Colonel (Special Duty Band)
1 Lieutenant (Special Duty Band)
2 Warrant Officer 2
3 Colour Sergeants
6 Sergeants
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11 Corporals43 Musicians/Buglers
CINCFLEET
1 Captain (Special Duty Band)
2 Warrant Officer 2
3 Colour Sergeants
6 Sergeants
11 Corporals
43 Musicians/Buglers
CINCNAVHOME
1 Captain (Special Duty Band)
1 Warrant Officer 1
4 Colour Sergeants
6 Sergeants
11 Corporals
43 Musicians/Buglers
Instrumentation for all three above is :
1 Bandmaster
2 Flute/Saxophone
2 Oboes
2 Bassoons
2 Solo Clarinets
6 Clarinet/Violin
4 Clarinet/Viola
4 Saxophone/Violin
4 Horns
2 Solo Cornets
5 Cornet/Violin
2 Cornet Piano
5 Trombones
3 Euphonium/Cello
3 Basses
3 Percussion
1 Drum Major
1 Bugle Major
13 Bugler/Drummer
The Royal Marine Bands at Flag Officer Plymouth, Flag Officer Scotland and Northern Ireland (FOSNI) and Commando Training Centre Royal Marines (CTCRM) each have 42 personnel, comprising : FO Plymouth
1 Captain (Special Duty Band)
1 Warrant Officer 2
1 Colour Sergeant
6 Sergeants
6 Corporals
27 Musicians/Buglers
FOSNI
1 Captain (Special Duty Band)
1 Warrant Officer 2
1 Colour Sergeant
6 Sergeants
6 Corporals
27 Musicians/Buglers
CTCRM
1 Lieutenant (Special Duty Band)
1 Warrant Officer 2
2 Colour Sergeant
5 Sergeants
9 Corporals
24 Musicians/Buglers
Instrumentation for all three above is :
1 Bandmaster
1 Flute
1 Oboe
1 Bassoon
1 Solo Clarinet
3 Clarinet/Violin
2 Clarinet/Viola
2 Saxophone/Violin
2 Horn
1 Solo Cornet
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