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Written Answers to Questions
Thursday 18 February 1993
LORD CHANCELLOR'S DEPARTMENT
Justices of the Peace
Mr. Hoon : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many (a) women and (b) members of ethnic minorities have been appointed as justices of the peace in Nottinghamshire since 1989.
Mr. John M. Taylor : Since 1989, 151 persons have been appointed as justices of the peace in Nottinghamshire. Of that number there were 74 females and eight members of ethnic minorities--four males and four females.
Statutory Instruments
Ms. Corston : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many statutory instruments were laid before Parliament by his Department in each year since 1980.
Mr. John M. Taylor : The information requested could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS
Palestine Liberation Organisation
Mr. David Evans : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make it his policy to continue to decline to hold meetings at ministerial level with the leaders of the Palestine Liberation Organisation.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Glasgow, Hillhead (Mr. Galloway) on 10 February, at column 680 .
Ozone-depleting Substances
Mr. Chris Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many chlorofluorocarbon and
hydrochlorofluorocarbon installations are contained within his Department's buildings.
Mr. Goodlad : Four hundred and thirty nine.
Mr. Chris Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much funding has been allocated or spent specifically to deal with measures to reduce his Department's consumption of ozone-depleting substances.
Mr. Goodlad : The Department has allocated £75,000 in the 1993- 94 financial year for absorption chiller plant to reduce its use of CFCs/HCFCs, and £157,000 on high-frequency lighting to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
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Mr. Chris Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many refrigeration and air conditioning systems in the Department are equipped with automatic leak detection systems.
Mr. Chris Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how the departmental green Minister has promoted protection of the ozone layer with specific policy measures ; which possible measures have been considered and rejected ; and on what grounds.
Mr. Goodlad : The green Ministers for the Department continue to promote protection of the ozone layer through active FCO involvement in international environmental policy, the planned reduction of energy consumption in the Department and the reduction of use of ozone-depleting substances.
Mr. Chris Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which current uses of ozone-depleting chemicals by his Department are considered essential.
Mr. Goodlad : The Department is advised that the only ozone- depleting chemicals considered essential are those in inhalants supplied to posts overseas for medicinal purposes.
Mr. Chris Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs by what date his Department's use of ozone-depleting chemicals will conform to EC regulations on limits on these chemicals.
Mr. Goodlad : The Department is advised that it is only the production and supply of new ozone-depleting substances which must conform to EC Regulations. The Department will, however, reduce its use of ozone- depleting substances as soon as practicable.
Mr. Chris Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what targets have been set for the recycling of ozone- depleting chemicals within Departmental buildings.
Mr. Goodlad : None. Information is currently being compiled to enable targets to be set.
Mr. Chris Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many chlorofluorocarbon domestic fridges are contained within his Department's buildings.
Mr. Goodlad : Three hundred and sixty-seven.
Mr. Chris Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many catastrophic leaks of ozone-depleting substances have occurred within his Department's buildings on the last five years.
Mr. Chris Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what measures have been taken to ensure that ozone- destroying substances in use by his Department identified as controlled waste under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 do not reach the atmosphere.
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Mr. Goodlad : Equipment containing ozone-depleting substances is returned to the manufacturers for recycling.
Mr. Chris Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will give an undertaking to purchase only ozone- friendly fridges that do not contain chlorofluorocarbons or hydrochlorofluorocarbons for his Department.
Mr. Goodlad : The Department does not purchase fridges containing CFCs or HCFCs where acceptable alternatives offering value for money are available.
Mr. Chris Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what guidance has been sought and received on alternatives or substitutes to the ozone-destroying chemicals in use by his Department.
Mr. Goodlad : In 1992, the Department appointed a firm of consultants to carry out a programme of environmental audits of its home estate. A primary purpose of the audits was to seek advice on alternatives or substitutes to the ozone-destroying chemicals in use in the Department. The consultants are due to report shortly.
Mr. Chris Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commowealth Affairs how many portable halon fire extinguishers are contained within Departmental buildings ; and what measures are being taken to ensure their recycling and replacement.
Mr. Goodlad : One hundred and forty-five. They will be replaced this year and returned to the manufacturers for recycling.
Kashmir
Mr. Cox : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when a United Kingdom Government Minister last visited the Indian- controlled area of Kashmir ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : I am not aware that any official visits have been made by United Kingdom Government Ministers to Kashmir in recent years.
Mr. Cox : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussion he has had with the Pakistan Government as to possible aid from Her Majesty's Government to help resettle Kashmiri people who have fled from the Indian-controlled area of Kashmir ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : We have had no discussion with the Pakistan Government about helping to resettle Kashmiris.
Birmingham Summit
Dr. Lynne Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer of 5 February, official Report , column 393 , what subheads of what votes will be used to meet the cost of the Birmingham summit ; and how these costs were apportioned.
|£ million
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
FCO vote 1, subhead A 1 (1) |2.3
Home Office vote 1, subhead D1. Specific grant at 51
per cent. of the additional policing costs |0.8
Eastern Europe
Mr. Streeter : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans he has to open new posts in the independent states of the former Soviet Union and in eastern Europe ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Hurd : I am pleased to announce that we shall be opening three new embassies in the former Soviet Union and eastern Europe. They will be in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan ; Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan ; and Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. All of these countries are going through an important and difficult process of political and economic change. We want to be in the best position to help and encourage the development of democratic societies pursuing liberal economic policies and to promote trade and investment. In the case of both Baku and Tashkent, we are responding to direct requests from British industry to open embassies in each place.
This decision has been made possible by savings in support areas at home and overseas.
DEFENCE
Radiation Workers
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make it his policy to introduce a no fault compensation scheme for radiation workers employed by or contracted to his Department similar to the scheme adopted by British Nuclear Fuels and the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority.
Mr. Aitken : Consideration is being given to the introduction of radiation compensation arrangements similar in effect to those of the civil nuclear industry. The possibility of my Department's membership of, or association with, the BNFL/AEA scheme is under discussion with the industry and the trade unions.
Mr. Rudi Molinari
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much his Department spent on legal fees for participation in the court case involving the claim for compensation by Mr. Rudi Molinari, a former employee at the royal dockyard at Chatham, against his Department for damage claimed to have been received from radiation exposure at the shipyard.
Mr. Aitken : This case is the subject of continuing legal proceedings and the costs are not yet known.
Helicopter Carrier Ship
Mr. Ronnie Campbell : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will outline the programme for the procurement of the helicopter carrier ship.
Mr. Aitken : I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 9 February, Official Report, column 574.
Statutory Instruments
Ms. Corston : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many statutory instruments were laid before Parliament by his Department in each year since 1980.
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Mr. Archie Hamilton : The information requested is as follows :
Year |Number --------------------- 1980 |13 1981 |7 1982 |13 1983 |15 1984 |6 1985 |10 1986 |29 1987 |11 1988 |5 1989 |10 1990 |7 1991 |9 1992 |7
Contracting Out
Mr. McAllion : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will provide figures for the reduction in numbers of posts as a result of contracting out since 1979 in his Department and agencies for which he has responsibility.
Mr. Aitken : We estimate that, since 1979, competition for defence support services has resulted in a reduction of 18,000 posts in my Department and in the agencies for which we are responsible.
Armed Forces (Sexual Behaviour)
Mr. Michael Brown : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proposals he has for the regulation of inappropriate sexual behaviour between heterosexual members of the armed forces ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : Service personnel are made aware of the standards of behaviour required and that inappropriate sexual behaviour of any kind can lead to administrative or disciplinary action. Inappropriate sexual conduct of a heterosexual nature by members of the armed forces is dealt with under existing service regulations.
Mr. Michael Brown : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will bring forward proposals governing the conduct of British troops serving with homosexual armed forces personnel in combined NATO or UN peace -keeping forces ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : British Armed Forces personnel are well aware of the standards of behaviour expected of them and the consequences of any misconduct, heterosexual, homosexual or otherwise. We have no plans, therefore, to introduce regulations specific to those serving with NATO or UN peace-keeping forces alongside homosexual personnel of other armed forces.
MFV Pescado
99. Ms Walley : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will deploy Royal Navy facilities to raise the MFV Pescado.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The raising of the MFV Pescado is a matter for the civil authorities. Any request for assistance would, however, be given careful consideration.
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TRANSPORT
Traffic Calming
Mr. Mans : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when consultation on regulations under the Traffic Calming Act 1992 is to start.
Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : Commencing today, the Department of Transport and the Welsh Office are consulting widely on draft regulations with the local authority associations and other interested parties. We aim to draw the consultation to a close before Easter.
MV Goldeneye
Ms. Walley : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the reasons for awarding MV Goldeneye a load line exemption certificate ; what is the registration of MV Goldeneye ; and if he will carry out a port state control inspection of MV Goldeneye.
Mr. Norris : The owners of the unregistered salvage vessel Goldeneye applied for a load line exemption certificate which was issued after survey by a Department surveyor.
The ship is subject to inspection at any time and arrangements will be made accordingly within the inspection programme.
Unseaworthy Vessels
Mr. Devlin : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the number of foreign ships inspected in British ports in each of the last five years under the provisions of the 1982 memorandum of understanding to secure compliance of ships with international standards ; how many ships were found to have deficiencies ; under which flag those ships with deficiencies were sailing and what was the amount of deficiencies per individual country ; how many ships were detained pending the correction of deficiencies ; and what financial penalties were imposed.
Mr. Norris : The numbers of foreign flag ships inspected under the provisions of the memorandum of understanding on port state control 1982 and the number found to have at least one deficiency were as follows :
Year |Number |Number with
|deficiencies
----------------------------------------------------
1988 |1839 |915
1989 |1,692 |1,003
1990 |2,118 |1,272
1991 |2,500 |1,647
1992 |<1>2,105 |<1>1,439
<1>Provisional figure
Deficiencies were found on ships flying the following flags during 1991 and 1992 :
Algeria, Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burma, Canada, Chile, China, Cyprus, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, Ethiopia, Faeroe Islands, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Honduras, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Korea, Latvia, Lebanon, Liberia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mexico,
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Morocco, Myanmar, Netherlands, Netherland Antilles, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Saudia Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, St. Vincent and Grenadines, Sudan, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Taiwan, Togo, Turkey, Tunisia, Tuvalu, USA, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Uruguay, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Vietnam, Yugoslavia. The average numbers of deficiencies per ship inspection for the port state control region as a whole were :Year |Number --------------------- 1988 |1.35 1989 |1.49 1990 |1.62 1991 |1.80 1992 |<1>- <1> Not yet available.
Individual figures for the United Kingdom are not readily available ; nor are figures for individual flags.
The numbers of foreign ships detained were :
Year |Number --------------------- 1988 |37 1989 |44 1990 |79 1991 |116 1992 |124
Financial penalties cannot readily be measured, but usually comprise three main elements : the often considerable loss of revenue arising from delays in sailing, the cost of rectifying deficiencies found and the cost of any further inspection to ensure that these deficiencies have been satisfactorily rectified.
Railway Privatisation
Mr. Bayley : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what is the date by which comments were sought on his Department's consultative document "Railway Privatisation : A Voice for the Passengers" ; and when copies of this document were made available in the Vote Office ;
(2) how many copies of his Department's consultative document "Railway Privatisation : A Voice for the Passenger" were printed ; and how and when these documents were made available to British Rail passengers.
Mr. Freeman : The document was published on 16 December 1992 and 2, 000 copies were printed. It was placed in the Vote Office the same day and copies were sent to bodies likely to have an interest in the future of the consultative committees. The availability of the document was publicised in a press notice and copies have been provided free of charge on request. The requested reply date for comments was 22 January 1993.
Zebra Crossings
Mr. Cox : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many pedestrians have been hit by a motor vehicle while crossing a zebra crossing in England and Wales during the year 1992.
Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : Data are not yet available for 1992. There were 1,673 pedestrians injured by motor vehicles on zebra crossings in 1991 in England and Wales.
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Oil Tankers
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what immediate steps he proposes to take to improve safety regulations on oil tankers within British waters.
Mr. Norris [holding answer 12 February 1993] : Regulations governing tankers are under constant review within the International Maritime Organisation. The Department is at the forefront of these discussions and developments.
In addition, an initiative has been taken by national and international organisations concerned with tanker operations to develop a voluntary code with regard to tanker routeing around the United Kingdom coast. They have also given an undertaking to re-emphasise to masters the need to pay greater attention to passage planning and to provide early advice to coastal states when tankers are experiencing problems which affect their navigation.
Radio Transponders
Mr. Wallace : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport on how many occasions since 1 January 1988 Ministers and officials of his Department have taken part in meetings of the International Maritime Organisation or its committees to discuss the subject of fitting radio transponders on vessels.
Mr. Norris [holding answer 16 February 1993] : Department officials have taken part in four meetings of the sub-committee on safety of navigation and one meeting of the sub-committee on radiocommunications at the International Maritime Organisation since 1 January 1988 with regard to developing radio transponders for use on vessels.
Vessel Inspections
Mr. Wallace : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many port state inspections of vessels have been undertaken by officials of his Department at (a) Sullom Voe and (b) Flotta in each year since 1990 and in January 1993 ; and what percentage of vessels visiting these respective ports the numbers constitute.
Mr. Norris [holding answer 16 February 1993] : The directors of marine at Sullom Voe and Flotta carry out their own vetting procedure of visiting ships and alert the Department if they are concerned by the condition of a visiting ship.
In addition the number of port state control inspections undertaken at Sullom Voe and Flotta for the years in question is given in the table.
Number of Inspections Year |Sullom Voe|Flotta ---------------------------------------------- 1990 |15 |Nil 1991 |9 |3 1992 |4 |1 January 1993 |Nil |Nil
These inspections constituted the following percentages of individual foreign ships which visited these ports.
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Year |Sullom Voe|Flotta ---------------------------------------------- 1990 |10 |Nil 1991 |5 |4 1992 |2 |1 January 1993 |Nil |Nil
HOME DEPARTMENT
Overseas Political Organisations
Mr. Hunter : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department in what circumstances he would take steps to prevent political organisations of other countries from maintaining offices in the United Kingdom.
Mr. Jack : People in this country are free to engage in what political activities they like, including working for foreign political organisations, provided of course that their activities remain within the law.
Devon and Cornwall Police
Mr. Steen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 8 February, Official Report, column 439, how many recruits began service with the Devon and Cornwall constabulary on 7 December 1992.
Mr. Charles Wardle : Sixteen recruits began service with the Devon and Cornwall constabulary on 7 December 1992.
Royal Commission on Criminal Justice
Mr. Dowd : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the report of the Royal Commission on criminal justice is due to be completed ; and when he expects to publish it.
Mr. Jack : The Royal Commission on criminal justice hopes to complete its report by the end of June. The report will be published as soon thereafter as printing schedules allow.
Data Protection
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how the Council for Europe convention on data protection provides a framework for harmonisation of European Community data protection laws.
Mr. Charles Wardle : The Council of Europe convention for the protection of individuals with regard to automatic processing of personal data prescribes the basic principles which have to be observed in handling personal data within states party to the convention. Accession to the convention by all European Community member states, and the enactment of the necessary domestic legislation to give effect to the convention's requirements, would thus provide for a consistent data protection regime within the Community.
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