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Urban Programme
Mr. Vaz : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the meetings his Ministers have had with representatives of the voluntary sector to discuss the impact of the reduction of the urban programme, including an account of the representations made ; and what action he intends to take as a result of these representations.
Mr. Robin Squire : I have met representatives of the voluntary sector to discuss how the changes to the urban programme might affect them. I welcome the valuable work that the voluntary sector does in urban areas and I am pleased that the urban programme will be able to continue to fund voluntary sector projects that have been approved in this or previous financial years, for up to four years. The voluntary sector draws its funding from a wide range of sources and non-urban priority authorities support such groups without additional assistance from central Government.
Forest of Dean Council
Mr. Marland : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the indebtedness of the Forest of Dean district council in each year since 1980.
Mr. Robin Squire : The information is given in the table :
Total external debt (temporary and longer-term) Year End |Forest of Dean £000 ------------------------------------------------------------ 1979-80 |20,000 1980-81 |22,000 1981-82 |22,000 1982-83 |21,000 1983-84 |26,000 1984-85 |31,000 1985-86 |31,000 1986-87 |25,635 1987-88 |22,872 1988-89 |26,777 1989-90 |26,653 1990-91 |31,334 1991-92 |30,523 Figures for 1985-86 and earlier have been rounded to the nearest £100,000 Source: 1979-81 CIPFA Return of Outstanding Debt. 1981-90 CIPFA Capital Expenditure and Debt Financing Statistics. 1990-92 Local authority returns and PWLB.
Local Government Debts, Essex
Mr. Whittingdale : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the indebtedness of Essex county council, Colchester borough council and Maldon district council in each year since 1980.
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Mr. Robin Squire : The information is given in the table :
Total external debt (temporary and longer-term)
Year end |Essex |Colchester|Maldon
|£000 |£000 |£000
-------------------------------------------------------
1979-80 |85,000 |44,000 |13,000
1980-81 |48,000 |46,000 |13,000
1981-82 |44,000 |44,000 |12,000
1982-83 |51,000 |41,000 |10,000
1983-84 |41,000 |42,000 |n/a
1984-85 |70,000 |49,000 |10,000
1985-86 |62,000 |44,000 |9,000
1986-87 |86,420 |39,365 |6,791
1987-88 |103,465 |34,655 |4,703
1988-89 |113,466 |36,512 |2,707
1989-90 |128,411 |46,246 |5,393
1990-91 |131,130 |47,890 |8,269
1991-92 |172,424 |50,444 |8,624
Notes:
Figures for 1985-86 and earlier have been rounded to
the nearest £100,000
Source: 1979-81 CIPFA Return of Outstanding Debt.
1981-90 CIPFA Capital Expenditure and Debt Financing
Statistics
1990-92 Local authority returns and PWLB.
Local Government Debts
Mr. French : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he will publish a table showing the indebtedness of each district authority in ascending order ;
(2) if he will publish a table showing the indebtedness of each county authority in ascending order.
Mr. Robin Squire : I have today placed the information requested about the outstanding debt of county and district councils in the Library of the House.
Community Charge
Ms. Corston : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many people registered for the community charge became liable to pay the charge as a result of attaining the age of 18 years after 31 March 1992.
Mr. Robin Squire : Individual community charge registration officers hold information about charge payers ; there are no central records.
Ms. Corston : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what plans he has to extend the community charge reduction scheme to people registered who became liable to pay on reaching 18 years of age after 31 March 1992.
Refugees (Local Authorities)
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what resources, additional to standard spending assessment provision, will be made available to local authorities providing support to refugees of former Yugoslavia.
Mr. Robin Squire : Details of the financial assistance in respect of 1992-93 which will be available to those local authorities most affected by the influx of displaced persons from the former Yugoslavia are set out in the Special Grant Report (No. 5) which was approved by the House
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on 3 February 1993. A further Special Grant Report incorporating details of a scheme of financial assistance for the financial year 1993-94 will be laid in due course.Oil Spillages
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will establish an advisory team to collate information on oil spill impact on the environment and pursue research into control and prevention measures.
Mr. Maclean : Information on oil spills and discharges throughout the north-east Atlantic is collected and evaluated by the Paris Commission, in which Department of the Environment officials play a full part. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland has announced an ecological steering group to consider what lessons are to be learnt and what research is suggested by the MV Braer incident.
City Challenge
Mr. Straw : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, pursuant to his answer of 8 February, Official Report, column 522, if he will place in the Library the information subsequent to the 1981 census which was used to amend the criteria for urban areas eligible to apply for city challenge.
Mr. Howard : Information on unemployment levels and derelict land was used to inform the selection of urban priority areas subsequent to the 1981 census. Both sets of information were published ; unemployment data in the regular statistical series from the Department of Employment and derelict land from the Department of the Environment's survey--"Survey of Derelict Land in England 1982, DOE 1984".
Transfers of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what guidance he has issued to Cherwell district council and Hampshire county council on the application of the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 1981.
Mr. Robin Squire : No guidance on the application of the regulations has been issued to either authority. My Department has, however, made clear in correspondence with Cherwell district council and with the local authority associations that in its view the regulations will not normally apply to the straightforward contracting out of local authority services in consideration of a fee. It is accepted that the regulations may apply in certain circumstances where the arrangements entered into with a contractor are more complicated, but any local authority which attempts to structure a contract to ensure that the regulations apply, or insists that contractors tender on the basis that they apply, may be guilty of anti-competitive behaviour and thus risk sanctions imposed by my right hon. and learned Friend.
Urban Partnership Fund
Mr. Anthony Coombs : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment which local authorities will receive assistance from the urban partnership fund ; and if he will make a statement on the progress of the capital partnership programme.
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Mr. Howard : There has been an enthusiastic response to our invitation to the 57 urban priority authorities to bid for a share of the £20 million urban partnership fund element of capital partnership. I am pleased to announce offers of support to these local authorities and their partners :
Birmingham, Bolton, Brent, Bristol, Burnley, Coventry, Derby, Doncaster, Dudley, Gateshead, Greenwich, Hackney, Hammersmith & Fulham, Hartlepool, Hull, Islington, Kirklees, Knowsley, Leeds, Leicester, Lambeth, Langbaurgh, Liverpool, Manchester, Middlesbrough, Newcastle, Newham, North Tyneside, Nottingham, Oldham, Plymouth, Preston, Rochdale, Rotherham, Salford, Sandwell, Sefton, Sheffield, South Tyneside, Southwark, Stockton, Sunderland, Wandsworth, Wigan, Wirral, Wolverhampton.
Along with support from the fund, the authorities will make use of about £33 million capital receipts and, taken together, the projects are estimated to lever in over £130 million of private sector resources. The projects will provide a major boost to regeneration activity and continue the partnership approach to renewal which is a central feature of Government inner cities initiatives and crucial to achieving lasting regeneration.
A wide range of project proposals to benefit urban areas and their communities were submitted. Those selected were the ones which best met the criteria. These include : whether the proposals address the needs of local people and business in the area ; whether they complement other activity in the area ; and value for money, including whether they lever in resources which might otherwise not be available for renewal of the area.
Each authority has today been notified of the outcome of its bid. Authorities whose bids were not successful, due to the heavy demand on the funds available, will naturally be disappointed. We hope that at least some elements of the proposals can be taken forward using their capital receipts.
A full list list of proposed projects has been placed in the Library of the House.
The urban partnership fund is only the first of a number of components of capital partnership for which successful bids will be announced. The others are :
Housing Partnership, including the Housing Partnership Fund ; Environmental Partnership, including programmes for recycling, waste management, contaminated land and landfill gas ; and Countryside Partnership, covering programmes of the Rural Development Commission and Countryside Commission.
TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Public Appointments
Mr. Canavan : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what public appointments he has made since 1 November 1992 ; and what information he has on the political affiliations of those appointed.
Mr. Eggar : My right hon. Friend is responsible for a total of over 800 public appointments. A total of 114 appointments, including reappointments, to 21 public bodies have been made since 1 November 1992. We do not routinely collect information on the political affiliations of those appointed, although sometimes this information is already in the public domain. The readily available information about the public appointments for which my right hon. Friend is responsible is published regularly in "Public Bodies".
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Motor Industry
Mr. Bell : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what discussions he has had with his EC counterparts about the level of (a) Italian Government intervention in support of Fiat and (b) French Government support of Renault.
Mr. Sainsbury : The Government have consistently drawn to the attention of the Commission cases involving alleged unfair state aid in the vehicles sector. The Commission's investigations have included reviews of state support for Fiat and Renault and have resulted in legally binding decisions on the level of aid permissible.
Clean Coal Technology
Mr. Dafis : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will outline the research undertaken by his Department to date on (a) the quality and (b) pollution levels occuring when burning (i) deep-mined coal produced within the United Kingdom coalfields, (ii) open-cast coal produced within the United Kingdom, (iii) deep-mined coal from each country that exports coal into the United Kingdom and (iv) open-cast coal from each country that exports coal to the United Kingdom.
Mr. Eggar : The key aim for Government support for clean coal technology research over the past few years has been to ensure that coal can achieve its full economic potential in contributing to United Kingdom energy supply taking account of the increasing severe environmental constraints. Although our programme has focused on improving the quality and reducing the pollution levels of using United Kingdom coals, much of the research would be applicable to deep mine and opencast coal from both the United Kingdom and overseas.
The present programme is funding a portfolio of 56 projects with a value of over £114 million. Many of these projects are collaborative projects undertaken in partnership with United Kingdom industry, universities, British Coal, and overseas organisations under the auspices of the European Commission and International Energy Agency. Most of this expenditure is funding research on advanced power generation such as British Coal's topping cycle technology, alternative uses of coal--for example, British Coal's coal liquefaction project at Point of Ayr, North Wales--and coal science research with universities and United Kingdom industry.
A wide range of reports on coal quality, emissions, and technologies applicable to both United Kingdom and overseas coals are published by IEA Coal Research which forms one of the projects supported by my Department. A list of its publications are in the Libraries of the House.
Mr. Tipping : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what total funding for clean coal technology, including funding by the International Energy Association, has been given in the United Kingdom for each year since 1985 ; and what comparable information he has for Japan and the United States of America.
Mr. Eggar [holding answer 9 February 1993] : The International Energy Agency does not provide funds of its own, but encourages voluntary collaborative arrangements between member countries who contribute funds to a number of agreements including those based on clean coal technologies. Figures for the distribution of such
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funds among member countries are not readily available and I cannot add any further financial information to my previous reply in the Official Report, column 206 on 3 February 1993. The United Kingdom has, however, participated in most of the coal-related IEA agreements.Wave Energy
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what change his Department has made in the method of calculating the cost of wave power since the report of the energy technology support unit (ETSU-R- 26) on wave energy in 1985.
Mr. Eggar : The method of calculating the cost of wave power as part of the 1992 review of wave energy is detailed in ETSU report R-72, "A Review of Wave Energy", a copy of which is in the Library.
Disabled Employees
Miss Lestor : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what percentage of employees in his Department are registered disabled.
Mr. Eggar : On 1 July 1992, the latest date for which information is readily available, 1.0 per cent. of the Department's employees were registered as disabled.
The Department also employs a number of people who are known to be disabled but have chosen not to register.
Japanese Investment
Mr. Morgan : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what consultations he had with the Japanese Ministry of International Trade and Industry in relation to flows of Japanese investment in manufacturing industry into each European Community country.
Mr. Sainsbury [holding answer 2 February 1993] : My colleagues and I hold regular meetings with the Japanese Ministry of International Trade and Industry. Our discussions on Japanese manufacturing investment are of a bilateral nature only.
Coal Industry
Mr. Raymond S. Robertson : To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many people are directly or indirectly employed in the coal mining industry (a) in Scotland and (b) in the United Kingdom.
Mr. McLoughlin : I have been asked to reply.
The latest available estimates of employees in employment show that there were 63,000 employees in the coal extraction and manufacture of solid fuels industry in the United Kingdom in September 1992. More detailed estimates are available only from the census of employment. The latest results relate to September 1989 and are as follows :
Employees in employment
|Coal extraction and|Of which Deep coal
|manufacture of |mines
|solid fuels
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scotland |3,400 |2,400
United Kingdom |96,000 |88,700
Note: Estimates for 1991 will be published in April 1993.
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The Department has no figures for people indirectly employed in any industry.Ship Building
Mr. Hutton : To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many engineering apprenticeships were available in the United Kingdom ship building industry in (a) 1974, (b) 1979 and (c) 1992 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. McLoughlin : I have been asked to reply.
Information relating specifically to the number of engineering apprenticeships available in the shipbuilding industry for the years 1974, 1979 and 1992 is not available.
PRIME MINISTER
Pay Review Bodies
Mr. Ward : To ask the Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the latest reports of the pay review bodies.
The Prime Minister : The 1993 reports of the review bodies on the pay of nursing staff, midwives and health visitors, the professions allied to medicine, the armed forces, and school teachers have now been published. Copies are available in the Vote Office. The Government are grateful to the members of the review bodies for the time and care which they have put into the preparation of the reports.
In November the Government announced that public sector pay settlements in the coming year would be restricted to a range of 0 to 1.5 per cent. In line with the approach to public sector pay restraint, the groups covered by the Doctors and Dentists Review Body, the Nurses Pay Review Body and the Armed Forces Pay Review Body would receive an increase in pay of 1.5 per cent. from 1 April 1993. These review bodies were, however, invited by the Government to continue work on other specific issues and consider their position on performance pay, as appropriate to their remit groups.
In accordance with this earlier statement, the Government will pay increases of 1.5 per cent. to doctors and dentists, nursing staff, midwives and health visitors, professions allied to medicine and the armed forces with effect from 1 April 1993.
The School Teachers Review Body had previously been directed to report on school teachers' pay and conditions in 1993-94. The Secretary of State for Education directed it to have regard to the Government's general approach to public sector pay restraint. The School Teachers Review Body has recommended an across the board increase of 1 per cent. from 1 April 1993 together with restructuring of classroom teachers' pay effective from 1 September 1993. The recommendations would cost a total of 1.5 per cent. in the financial year 1993-94 and an additional 0.35 per cent. in the following year. The Government therefore propose to reduce the across-the- board increase for qualified classroom teachers at 1 April to 0.55 per cent., but to make a one-off payment of £90 to those teachers on 1 May 1993. This, together with the implementation of restructuring designed to develop the relationship between pay and performance in schools, will give teachers, like most other review body groups, an increase in pay of 1.5 per cent. whilst containing the total cost within the settlement limit. Head and deputy head teachers will, as recommended by the review body, receive an increase of 1 per cent. on 1 April.
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The Top Salaries Review Body did not report this year. In common with Ministers and Members of Parliament, Top Salaries Review Body groups will receive no pay increase in respect of 1993. The Government will honour their commitment to pay the deferred second stage of the 1992 award, under which these groups will receive an increase of 2.9 per cent. from 1 April 1993.The Doctors and Dentists Review Body also decided not to report this year, but recommended an increase in the number of distinction awards for consultant medical and dental staff. The Nurses Pay Review Body and Armed Forces Pay Review Body also produced a number of recommendations. The Government have accepted all of these recommendations.
The Government are also committed under the citizens charter to establishing a regular and direct link between a person's contribution to the quality of services and his or her reward. The review bodies have therefore been asked to consider the longer-term development of performance pay which will make this a reality. The table shows the increases for each group, and their cost.
Review body |Pay bill increase |Public expenditure
|1993-94<1> |expenditure cost
|Per cent. |£ million
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Doctors and dentists (DDRB)<2> |1.5 |<3><4>61
Nurses and allied professions
(NAPRB)<2>
nurses and midwives |1.5 |<3>114
professions allied to medicine
(PAMs) |1.5 |<3>12
Armed forces (AFPRB)<5> |1.5 |85
School teachers (STRB)<6> |1.5 |<7>157
<1> Percentages by which the awards would increase the estimated 1993-94 pay bill.
<2> Great Britain. Northern Ireland health service pay normally follows Great Britain but
is decided separately.
<3> Includes cost of staff in NHS Trusts.
<4> Figures exclude general medical practitioners' expenses which are subject to
negotiation.
<5> United Kingdom.
<6> England and Wales. Scotland and Northern Ireland have separate pay regimes for school
teachers.
<7> Does not include any consequential increases in the paybill of sixth form colleges
becoming Further Education Corporations on 1 April.
The cost of implementing these increases will be met from within the public expenditure planning totals published in the autumn statement.
SOCIAL SECURITY
Housing Benefit Fraud
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what incentives he proposes to give councils to strengthen the numbers of staff engaged in the detection of housing benefit fraud ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Burt : My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced on 12 November a number of measures to encourage local authorities to bear down on housing benefit fraud. From April this year, the level of benefit subsidy for housing benefit fraudulent overpayments will be increased from 25 per cent. to full rate 95 per cent. It is also proposed to allow local authorities to share in any weekly benefit savings above a specified level and
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generated through their anti-fraud efforts. These savings will be paid through the administrative subsidy arrangements.Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what proposals he has to refund councils involved in the detection of housing benefit fraud their legitimate overhead costs, legal expenses and any other sums not recompensed by recovery from those convicted of fraud and conspiracy to defraud that council.
Mr. Burt : I have been asked to reply.
Under present arrangements, there is no specific element in central Government funding, including the amount paid for administration subsidy by the Department, to cover those costs. However, under proposed arrangements from April 1993, authorities will be able to share in any weekly benefit savings, above a specified level, which their fraud staff generate.
Pensioners
Mr. Winnick : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what percentage of pensioners had an income of less than £5,000 a year, at the latest available date.
Miss Widdecombe [pursuant to her reply, 11 January 1993, c. 675] : The following information was incorrect.
It is estimated that 61 per cent. of single pensioners had an income of less than £5,000 per year in 1988 (the latest available date).'
The correct information is as follows :
It is estimated that 61 per cent. of pensioners had an income of less than £5,000 per year in 1988 (the latest available date)'. Notes :
Family Expenditure Survey 1988.
Based on pensioner units--ie single people over state pension age and couples where the husband is aged 65 or over, regardless of whether they are drawing state pension.
FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS
Mr. Mohd Khalil
Mr. Madden : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when a decision will be taken on an application made to the British post in Islamabad by Mr. Mohd Khalil (Ref. IMM/B4131) to join his wife in the United Kingdom ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Lenox-Boyd : A decision was made by the British high commission in Islamabad on 28 September 1992 to refuse entry clearance to Mr. Mohammed Khalil as the entry clearance officer was not satisfied, as he is required to be under the immigration rules, that the primary purpose of the marriage was not to gain entry to the United Kingdom. Furthermore, the ECO was not satisfied that there was adequate support and accommodation available for Mr. Khalil in the United Kingdom without recourse to public funds.
Due to an administrative error, the formal notice of refusal was not sent to Mr. Khalil, but the ECO will now shortly do so. Any inconvenience this may have caused to Mr. Khalil is regretted.
Ministers of Religion
Mr. Madden : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many complaints were received by the British post in Islamabad before 1989 from
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those applying for entry clearance to settle in the United Kingdom or to visit the United Kingdom concerning priority entry clearance procedures being applied to ministers of religion ; and if he will make a statement.Mr. Lennox-Boyd : In 1989 many complaints were received by the post in Islamabad from sponsors and Members of Parliament in the United Kingdom about the waiting time for interviews for members of families seeking to join heads of households settled in the United Kingdom. The numbers of complaints was not recorded.
In order to give priority to family reunification cases, the queues were reorganised. As part of that exercise ministers of religion were reallocated from Q1 to Q3. This is the correct queue for applicants wishing to remain in the United Kingdom for more than six months other than those qualifying for Q1 ; those with a right of abode ; applicants with a prima facie claim to British citizenship ; aged dependents over 70 ; compassionate cases ; Q2, spouses and dependent children under 18 ; and Q4, reapplicants.
Mr. Madden : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many ministers of religion have applied for visas to enter the United Kingdom at British overseas posts in each year since 1987 ; and how many were (a) granted and (b) refused.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : The information requested could not be provided except at disproportionate expense. The records since 1987 would need to be checked manually at 156 posts worldwide.
Muslim Women (Rape)
Mr. Winnick : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what evidence is being collated by Her Majesty's Government over the systematic rape of Muslim women in the conflict in the former Yugoslavia.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is collecting a large body of information about alleged breaches of human rights and violations of international humanitarian law in the former Yugoslavia, including information about the sexual abuse of women. We propose to submit any substantiated evidence to the United Nations Secretary-General.
Mr. Salman Rushdie
Mr. Winnick : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the recent meeting between the Minister of State, the right hon. Member for Grantham, and Mr. Salman Rushdie.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : My meeting on 4 February was a significant step in raising the profile of Mr. Rushdie's continuing plight. It is almost four years since Ayatollah Khomeini issued his death threat against him. In the face of the continued threat to Mr. Rushdie and recent statements by senior figures in Iran, it was right to demonstrate our support by holding the meeting.
I brought Mr. Rushdie up to date on our continuing efforts to resolve the problem of the fatwa and our decision to raise our profile and encourage international leaders and organisations to rally behind his cause. I reassured Mr. Rushdie that we remained greatly concerned by the
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continuing failure of the Iranian authorities to repudiate the incitement to murder and the bounty offered in that respect by an Iranian organisation. This failure inevitably prevents the establishment of full and friendly relations with Iran.Secret Intelligence Service
Mr. Alan Williams : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is his latest estimate of the cost of modifications to the new secret intelligence service headquarters building ; if he will categorise that expenditure with amounts ; and what proportion the cost of modifications bears to the cost of construction.
Mr. Hurd : The latest estimate of the total cost of the new secret intelligence service headquarters is £236 million. The cost of the site and original construction was some £150 million and completion costs including fitting out and equipping the building are likely to be a further £86 million. Part of the cost relates to the specialised nature of the secret intelligence service's requirements. It is not usual or sensible to comment further on matters of this nature.
Overseas Missions
Mr. Steen : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many tennis courts are attached to British missions abroad ; how many have been built in the last 10 years ; at what cost to the taxpayer ; and what is the monthly maintenance cost.
Mr. Goodlad [holding answer 9 February 1993] : There are 81 tennis courts at Foreign and Commonwealth Office posts overseas. Eleven courts have been constructed in the past 10 years, at a total cost of about £225,000. The estimated monthly maintenance cost of an average tennis court is about £50.
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