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Mr. Jack : There are no plans to amend the law in this area.
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Primates (Experiments)
Mr. Dowd : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department further to his answer to the right hon. Member for Westminster, North (Sir J. Wheeler) of 2 December 1992, Official Report) column 215, about Shamrock Farms, what changes he proposes in terms of both numbers of staff and operational procedures in the Home Office inspectorate to prevent any repetition.
Mr. Charles Wardle : I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to a question from the hon. Member for Southwark and Bermondsey (Mr. Hughes) on 15 December 1992, Official Report, col. 101. There are no plans to alter the size of the inspectorate or its operating procedures.
Bus Lanes
Mr. Cox : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department many motorists were prosecuted for illegally driving in a bus lane in the Greater London area in each of the last three years.
Mr. Jack : The information requested is not separately identified in the statistics collected centrally.
Market Testing Consultants
Mr. McAllion : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 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. Kenneth Clarke : Since November 1991, the Home Office has awarded contracts to the value of £239,000 for consultancies as part of the market testing programme.
The following companies have been used by candidate areas to advise them on how best to respond to the market testing initiative, viz. Price Waterhouse
Shreeveport
Corporate Renewal Associates
PA Consulting Group
Worthy Associates
Coopers and Lybrand Deloitte were also employed to assist the Department in developing its market testing programme.
Correspondence
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what are his Department's target figures for days taken to reply to correspondence ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Kenneth Clarke : From 1 October 1992, the targets for answering ministerial correspondence are
35 calendar days (equivalent to 25 working days) for immigration and nationality department and prison service cases ; and 21 calendar days (equivalent to 15 working days) for correspondence on all other subjects.
Prisoner Statistics
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many men and how many women were sent to prison (a) on remand and (b) on sentence in each month of 1992 and in January 1993.
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Mr. Peter Lloyd [holding answer 4 February 1993] : The available information is given in the table. Data for September 1992 to January 1993 are not yet available.
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Receptions into Prison service establishments in England and Wales by Sex and Type of Custody: January-August 1992<1>
Males Females
Month Remand<2> Sentenced Remand<2> Sentenced
|Fine Defaulters|Others |Fine Defaulters|Others
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
January |4,700 |2,000 |4,500 |210 |110 |230
February |4,200 |1,700 |4,600 |210 |80 |210
March |4,200 |1,400 |5,000 |210 |100 |210
April |4,200 |1,300 |4,200 |210 |90 |160
May |4,200 |1,300 |3,900 |210 |80 |190
June |4,200 |1,700 |4,400 |200 |80 |170
July |4,400 |1,600 |4,900 |220 |80 |230
August |4,000 |1,600 |3,800 |190 |80 |170
<1> Provisional figures rounded to the nearest 100 for males and the nearest 10 for females.
<2> Untried only; excludes prisoners first received as convicted but unsentenced.
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was (a) the sentenced and (b) remand gaol population for England and Wales for each month in 1992 and in January 1993.
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Mr. Peter Lloyd [holding answer 4 February 1993] : The available information is given in the table.
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Prison population by type of custody: England and Wales-January 1992 to January 1993
Held in prison Held in police Total
service cells
establishments
Month-date |Remand<1> |Sentenced |Total<2> |Remand<1> |Sentenced |Total |population in
|custody
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1992
31 January |9,901 |35,098 |45,319 |760 |487 |1,247 |46,566
29 February |9,765 |35,896 |45,964 |982 |644 |1,626 |47,590
31 March |9,461 |36,086 |45,864 |1,217 |665 |1,882 |47,746
30 April |9,510 |36,141 |46,022 |1,136 |580 |1,716 |47,738
31 May |9,550 |35,495 |45,390 |744 |562 |1,306 |46,696
30 June |9,559 |35,564 |45,486 |845 |501 |1,346 |46,832
31 July |9,248 |36,187 |45,765 |694 |416 |1,110 |46,875
31 August |9,403 |35,682 |45,378 |725 |247 |972 |46,350
30 September |9,455 |35,339 |45,020 |565 |250 |815 |45,835
31 October |9,163 |33,933 |43,377 |442 |86 |528 |43,905
30 November |9,200 |33,236 |42,708 |259 |97 |356 |43,064
31 December |8,272 |31,785 |40,328 |218 |60 |278 |40,606
1993
31 January<3> |9,200 |31,800 |41,346 |152 |7 |159 |41,505
<1> Untried and convicted but sentenced.
<2> Includes non-criminal prisoners.
<3> January 1993 totals are provisional; the remand only sentenced figures have been estimated and are shown to the nearest
100.
DUCHY OF LANCASTER
Market Testing
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (1) when he will issue guidance to Departments on the application of the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 1988 to market testing ;
(2) what proposals he has to issue guidance to the private sector, or make available on request to the private sector, the General Guidance : Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 1988 and a document regarding the detailed implications if the regulations apply ; and if he will make a statement : (3) what guidance he proposes on whether the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 1988 will apply subsequent to market testing, where a
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contractor employs most of the former staff but not the pre-existing premises or equipment ; and if he will make a statement.Mr. Waldegrave : The Attorney-General made a full statement on 21 January to the Standing Committee on the Trade Union Reform and Employment Rights Bill which set out clearly the position on the application of the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations.
I am considering what further guidance might be helpful.
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what proposals he has for the funding of legal advice for tenderers for departmental service provision contracting out under the market-testing procedure ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Waldegrave : Potential tenderers must make their own arrangements for seeking and paying for any necessary legal advice. They can reflect these and all other relevant costs in their bid proposals.
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Milking and Mastitis Centre, Berkshire
Sir Richard Body : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what are the names of the companies that have given grants to the milking and mastitis centre in Compton, Berkshire.
Mr. Waldegrave : Between 1985 and 1992 the milking and mastitis centre was in receipt of funds from the Milk Marketing Board. The centre has recently entered into a contract with a commercial company, under which the company is funding work to the value of some £140, 000 over a period of three years. It is one of the terms of the contract that the identity of the company should be treated as commercial-in-confidence information.
Research Funding
Mr. Temple-Morris : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (1) what was the total cost of the alpha-rated research projects which were refused by each research council in the financial year 1991-92 ; and how much money was spent by each research council on alpha-rated projects in that financial year ;
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(2) what proportion of research projects in fundamental science and technology from university departments graded alpha has been rejected in each year since 1981 ;(3) what is the proportion of fundamental science and technology projects graded alpha and rejected which involved expenditure of less than £250,000.
Mr. Waldegrave : In the financial year 1991-92, the Agriculture and Food Research Council (AFRC), the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) refused funding for alpha-rated research projects worth £13 million, £22.8 million and £10.2 million respectively, and spent £21.7 million, £7.8 million, and £9 million on alpha-rated projects, respectively. In the academic year 1991-92, the Medical Research Council (MRC), and the Science and Engineering Research Council (SERC) refused funding for alpha-rated research projects worth £45 million and £151.8 million respectively, and spent £26 million and £105.6 million on alpha-rated projects, respectively. Figures for the financial year, for these research councils are not available.
The proportion of alpha-rated research projects rejected by each research council is shown in the table :
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Council |1981-82|1982-83|1983-84|1984-85|1985-86|1986-87|1987-88|1988-89|1989-90|1990-91|1991-92 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- AFRC |N/A |N/A |N/A |N/A |N/A |53 |27 |16 |22 |45 |27 ESRC |N/A |N/A |N/A |N/A |N/A |N/A |22 |46 |40 |56 |56 MRC<1> |N/A |N/A |N/A |N/A |17 |36 |19 |45 |53 |51 |57 NERC |49 |25 |61 |48 |63 |47 |48 |13 |37 |39 |43 SERC |25 |22 |22 |19 |21 |40 |35 |38 |46 |59 |52 <1>Figures for the MRC are for Project Grants only.
Figures which show the proportion of rejected alpha-rated research projects which involved expenditure of less than £250,000 in 1991-92 are as follows : 100 per cent. of the AFRC's, ESRC's, MRC's and NERC's awards in 1991-92 were less than £250,000. 87 per cent. of rejected alpha-rated grant applications to SERC involved expenditure of less than £250,000.
WALES
Market Testing
Mr. McAllion : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many staff in his Department are assigned to the market testing programme ; how much the programme has cost his Department since November 1991 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. David Hunt : The Department's efficiency unit is responsible for managing its market testing programme and it has the equivalent of approximately six full-time staff engaged on the work. The estimated cost to date is £233,000.
Mr. McAllion : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales 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.
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Mr. David Hunt : A market test of building maintenance services has been carried out covering building project services and building inspections. The contract was awarded to Kirkham, Williams and Lewis.
Nuclear Power Plants
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement on the environmental safety of the operation of nuclear power plants in Wales.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : The two nuclear power stations in Wales at Trawsfynydd and Wylfa are subject to strict regulatory controls, as part of which an extensive environmental monitoring programme is undertaken. The results of this monitoring are regularly published by the Government and have consistently shown that the levels of radioactivity in the vicinity of the two stations meet international and national guidelines.
GP Fund Holders
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) what is his estimate of the maximum and minimum capital allocation that fund-holding general practitioners in Wales will receive for hospital referrals in 1993- 94 ;
(2) what is the maximum and minimum for capital allocation that fund- holding general practitioner practices in Wales have had for hospital referrals in 1992-93.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : GP fund holders do not receive any capital allocations. A fund is provided to enable them to purchase the hospital services included in the fund-holding scheme. The minimum and maximum allocations to fund holders for these services in 1992-93 were £145,000 and
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£1,328,000 respectively. Individual allocations depend on practice list size--which will reflect the number of GPs in the practice--and on the historic level of use of hospital services. Allocations for 1993-94 have not yet been determined.Housing
Mr. Dafis : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how much money has been allocated to each local authority area in Wales for care and repair housing schemes during each of the last five years.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : I will write to the hon. Gentleman and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.
Renewable Energy
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many copies of his Department's planning policy guidance note on the development of wind energy and other renewable resources, published on 3 February have been printed ; and to whom the guidance note has been distributed.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : I understand that 4,500 copies of the joint Department of the Environment/Welsh Office planning policy guidance note on renewable energy have been printed by HMSO. Copies have been distributed to local authorities in England and Wales and for use by Government Departments, and others are available for sale from Her Majesty's Stationery Office.
Valleys Programme
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) what was the (a) number and (b) percentage, in terms of the total population of the valleys programme area, of economically inactive males for the valleys programme area for 1991 ;
(2) what was the percentage, in terms of the total male population aged over 16 years, of economically inactive males in the valleys programme area, at the latest available date.
Mr. David Hunt : Statistics from the 1991 census are currently being prepared for the valleys programme area and I will write to the hon. Gentleman to give a full answer to the question shortly. Until then I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Neath (Mr. Hain) on 13 January at columns 750-51, which gives the percentage of economically inactive males aged 16 to 64 for districts included in the valleys programme area.
Cardiff Bay Development Corporation
Mr. Richards : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what funds will be made available to the Cardiff Bay development corporation in the next financial year.
Mr. David Hunt : During 1993-94 my Department will make available to Cardiff Bay development corporation grant in aid of £44.9 million.
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Fire Service
193. Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what estimate he has made of the current capability of the fire service in Wales to cope with the demands made upon it ; and what representations he has had from the Fire Brigades Union on the resourcing of the service.
Mr. Peter Lloyd [holding answer 10 February 1993] : I have been asked to reply.
On the basis of reports of inspections during 1992 by Her Majesty's inspectorate of fire services, I am broadly satisfied that fire authorities in Wales are in this financial year complying with the nationally recommended minimum standards of fire cover and with the statutory duties under the Fire Services Act 1947. Her Majesty's inspectorate has, where appropriate, drawn the authorities' attention to some minor areas where they are failing to comply with these standards and duties. I have received no representations from the Fire Brigades Union specifically about the resourcing of the fire service in Wales, but my right hon. and noble Friend the Minister of State has discussed some resource issues relating to the fire service more generally with representatives of the Fire Brigades Union last November.
NATIONAL HERITAGE
Tourism
Mr. Pendry : To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if, following the change in the value of the pound sterling, he will reassess the case for central funding of the promotion of tourism in England.
Mr. Key : I have no plans to do so.
Mr. Elletson : To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if he will make a statement about the importance of sports-related tourism.
Mr. Key : The relationship between sports and tourism is strong and mutually beneficial. The Sports Council estimates that some 11 per cent. of expenditure by domestic and overseas tourists is sport-related.
My Department provides grant in aid to the Sports Council to promote sport and leisure activities in Britain, and this includes activities undertaken by tourists.
We have already committed up to £75 million towards an arena, a velodrome and for the preparation of the site for the Olympic stadium. If Manchester is successful, then the benefits to British tourism, particularly in the north-west, will be considerable.
Mr. Pendry : To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage, pursuant to his oral answer to the hon. Member for Eastbourne, (Mr. Waterson) of 25 January, Official Report, column 694, what assessment his Department has made of the levels of investment in tourism-related projects since the decision to suspend grants made under section 4 of the Tourism Development Act 1969 ; and what the figure was in 1989.
Mr. Key : The English tourist board (ETB) publishes a biannual survey of investment in tourism-related projects. According to ETB figures, projects with a total value of £2,921 million (excluding those with a value of less than £500,000) were under construction in England between January and June 1989. The corresponding figure for the six months from January to June 1992 was £1,062 million.
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This level of investment is many times higher than the total value of projects assisted by the section 4 scheme in England. In the 1988-89 financial year, expenditure on section 4 grants amounted to £13.2 million and total investment in projects assisted by these grants was just over £123 million.EMPLOYMENT
Market Testing
Mr. McAllion : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if she will list the firms of consultants used by her Department as part of the market testing programme since November 1991 together with the total cost ; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : The Health and Safety Executive, the employment Department headquarters and the Employment service have used the following consultants to advise on its market testing programme, at a total cost of £144,885 (including VAT and expenses) :
Coopers and Lybrand
Ernst and Young
John Pearce
KPMG
PA Consulting
Mr. McAllion : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if she will list all the market tests that have taken place in her 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 she will make a statement.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : Four tests have been completed. One is under negotiation and therefore details are confidential. Of the remainder, both the Employment Department headquarters and the employment service travel services contracts were awarded to Wagons Lit. In-house provision was maintained for the employment service's information technology mainframe service.
Mr. McAllion : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many staff in her Department are assigned to the market testing programme ; how much the programme has cost her Department since November 1991 ; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : Full information on the costs and staffing involved in the market testing programme across the Employment Department group are not held centrally. I will write to the hon. Member when the information can be collated.
Wages Councils
Mr. Jon Owen Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if she will give estimates for the number of black workers likely to be adversely affected by the abolition of the wages councils.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent (Mr. Smith) on 8 February 1993, Official Report, column 503.
Youth Training
Ms. Corston : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many youth training places are currently available in the Bristol travel-to-work area.
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Mr. McLoughlin : I understand from Avon training and enterprise council that as at 29 January 1993 there was a total of 258 YT places available in the county of Avon. Separate records are not maintained for individual travel-to-work areas.
Trade Union Reform and Employment Rights Bill
Mr. Peter Bottomley : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment which elements of the Trade Union Reform and Employment Rights Bill were not discussed in advance with the Equal Opportunities Commission.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : The Equal Opportunities Commission was consulted about the most significant provisions in the Trade Union Reform and Employment Rights Bill which concern equality of opportunity and in which it has a legitimate interest. The commission was not consulted about the provisions affecting trade unions or other broader industrial relations issues.
Health and Safety
Mr. Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many (a) improvement notices, (b) prohibition notices and (c) prosecutions have been issued or commenced by the Health and Safety Executive's offshore division (i) from 1 April 1991 to 31 March 1992 and (ii) since 1 April 1992 ; and what were the results and penalties in each case of a completed prosecution.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : The information requested by the hon. Member is as follows :
|1 April 19991 to 31|Since 1 April 1992
|March 1992
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Number of improvement notices
served |nil |8
Number of prohibition notices
served |2 |3
Information on completed prosecutions is as follows :
(i) Between 1 April 1991 and 31 March 1992, a total of three companies were convicted and fines of £850, £20,000 and £5,000, respectively, were imposed.
(ii) Since 1 April 1992, a total of six companies have been convicted. Fines of £100,000, £1,000 £30,000, £1,000, £1,000 and £5, 000, respectively, were imposed. Charges brought against two compamnies were not proved.
Economically Inactive Males
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what was the (a) number and (b) percentage, in terms of the total population, of economically inactive males in the United Kingdom, at the latest available date.
Mr. McLoughlin : The most recent results from the labour force survey for the whole of the United Kingdom are for spring (March to May) 1992. At that time there were a total of 5,733,000 economically inactive males representing 26.3 per cent. of the total male population aged 16 and over.
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